School is approaching

Long time no see! Well, since last time, the boys have grown by leaps and bounds, Matthew built a massive treehouse in the backyard, Declan is already standing up on his own and will take a single step before falling down, we've added 6 hens to our homestead and we've decided to give school a try for this coming year. Milo and Autry got into the Montessori Learning Center at our charter school and we're going to see how it goes. I'll be homeschooling Fin with Rod & Staff this year and I just signed up the 3 oldest for Awana. I'm so excited for them and I get to serve as a Cubbies leader. It's going to be an exciting year but good grief all this back to school shopping is expensive and stressful. I've personally decided to quit Facebook and Instagram which has been so freeing.

Fresh photos

That lettuce meets it's maker tonight with our eggplant parmesan. My recipe is under Mama Cooks if you want it, btw.

And I made this little fly-away top for my niece, Brooklyn. Gina had shown me two similar tops that miss B already has that she likes but don't fit quite right and I was pretty certain I could eyeball it and whip one up. And here's the result! So now I'm praying that it fits her. lol

mmmmmm

I picked three beautiful eggplant today which means eggplant parmesan tomorrow night. It would be tonight but we're headed down for a bbq at my brother- in- laws tonight. Should be a great time. :o)
This morning's message was great. I love it when a pastor isn't afraid to teach difficult verses in scripture. Like 1 Cor 14:34-35
Well done.
And even more exciting, we have our first meeting with our EF (educational facilitator from the Charter school tomorrow morning and we'll get all of our curriculum for the year! Woot woot! It's like Christmas when the boys open their boxes and get to see all the fun stuff we get to "play with" all year.
After that, we are having some friends from church over to play and stay for lunch. Should be a fun day!

In very sad news, a very sweet friend of mine confided that they've miscarried a second time yesterday while trying for their first child. Please keep them in your prayers. Thanks.

Not a Toy!

I forgot to post a pic of what Autry cut his finger with. Tin snips are not toys. Now they know why I said, "don't touch!" Don't touch seems like a simple enough command, doesn't it? But no. They needed to find out why. And now they know. Handled.

note: these were in a box of irrigation pieces and mending supplies that somehow got left in the backyard. hmmmmm....

Tuesday- Today

This is how we roll at the beach... lol
Matthew and Milo were too far out in the waves for me to get a clear picture of them but they were there having a great time, too. We plan to go back next week!

And today we had quite the harvest party in the back yard! We've been harvesting deliciouseness for the last 2 weeks but never as much in one day as this. Then I blanched and froze the beans and peas and we'll be having those tomatoes in salads tonight and tomorrow.
Some sad news, for me anyway, is that my bestie, Delane, and her family are moving about 45 minutes away. But it's a good move for their family, so, who am I to complain about a 45 minute drive. Selfish selfish.

Whew...

God is good all the time and all the time God is good!
On Tuesday, We all hopped in the car to go hang out with my family for dinner and after picking up some strawberry shortcake supplies (mmmmmmmm) were headed to my parents house. On the way we saw a man laying on the sidewalk behind a parked rv with a crowd of people trying to help him and his motorcycle laying in the street. I said a prayer for him as we drove on by.
Then at my parents house everyone's getting into the hustle and bustle of getting supper ready and the phone rings. It's my Aunt Sandy. She's been in a car accident and she's bleeding in the street. So, my parents take off to the accident while my brother and Matthew and I continue making the food and watching the boys run amuck. After awhile my parents come back as Aunt Sandy and my cousin, William, are now loaded into the ambulance.
The story goes.... My Aunt is driving along and out of the parking lot of a strip mall bar a drunk driver cuts her off making a left turn and my Aunt slammed into them. Her car is totaled (sp?) and the drunk driver takes off. William got hit pretty hard by the airbag but is otherwise fine (we know now) but with the car filling up with smoke some witnesses are trying to get them out quickly. When a lady tried to pull Aunt Sandy out she started to pick her up but realized right away that something was wrong with her leg and had to put her back down. Praise the Lord the car didn't do anything crazy while they waited for the FD and cops to get there.
The EMTs were worried about William who, having Downs Syndrome, couldn't tell them if he was in pain or how he was feeling. He was just stoked to be in an ambulance.
So, when my parents get back we finish getting supper ready, my mom heads over to the hospital and the rest of us sit down to eat and hang out. But it's not exactly the joyful family gathering we'd all envisioned earlier in the day. With talk about how they're doing and what recovery will be like and what will happen with William and the like. My Aunt's ex husband went to the hospital and sat with William in the Trauma ER while they did a full work up to make sure he was ok and then took him home when he was discharged later that night. Aunt Sandy had several MRI's and CT scans which determined a lot of bruising and that her left leg was broken in two places. Now, for those of you who don't know her, She has SEVERE rheumatoid arthritis, the likes of which I've never seen anywhere else. She is so frail and fragile that a few months back she broke her leg standing up getting out of bed. SO, while we were happy to know that's all that had broken, we were nervous about how well they could repair it and what recovery would be like for her. She had surgery Wednesday and despite warnings that she may wake up with only one leg they were, in fact, able to reset her brittle bones and she has been in good spirits. Today, she was transferred to a "skilled nursing facility" to aid in her recovery and physical therapy. She's hoping to only be there a week but I have a feeling she may be there longer and that it would actually be really good for her to stay as long as she can to have the best care. She will be in a wheelchair for quite some time but the dr says that with proper PT she'll be able to walk again. Thank you all for your prayers as she recovers.
In other, totally less important, news:
The garden is exploding! It's so fantastic having berries and beans and peas to eat from the garden and the promise of so many more goodies in the near future!

Hey, anyone know what kind of white squash this is? I bought these as starts and they were labeled zucchini. But when they started spreading I knew they must be pumpkins of some sort but now the fruit is white without any banding. They're totally smooth and round. I'm confused.

One of my gargantuan tomato plants is covered in beautiful green tomatoes and I am just so excited for them ripen up already. However the other, just as large and even bushier, has none. So weird.
Last night, I made Parmesan Breaded Chicken from my Nourishing Traditions book with mashed potatoes and buttermilk bisquits. Sooo good.

Parmesan Breaded Chicken Breasts
8 Skinless chicken breasts
1 1/2 C unbleached flour
1 tsp pepper
4 eggs, beaten
2 C whole grain bread crumbs
1/2 C grated parmesan cheese
about 4 tbsp butter
about 4 tbsp olive oil

Trim the chicken breasts and pound lightly with the small prong side of a meat hammer. mix flour and pepper together on a plate; have beaten eggs ready in a bowl; mix bread crumbs and cheese in another bowl. Using tongs (or your fingers)

dip each piece first in the flour mixture then in the eggs and lastly in the bread crumb mixture. Saute a few at a time in butter and olive oil about 7 minutes per side, being careful not to burn.

Transfer to a heated plate in the oven until ready to serve.
This is a delicious substitute for fried chicken.

In the grind

Good grief. This past week has been a challenge. My bestie and I have been going through a rough patch lately and when we all hung out on the 4th it was awkward for various reasons. Then I've had a busy week with Matthew being home a lot more than usual, which seems like it should make things go more smoothly, but somehow it doesn't. And then i was a little crazy on friday trying to get the house ready to have Matthew's brother and his family over for dinner and hanging out that night. They brought up carne asada to grill and it was a really nice time. So, this morning, I realized that somehow the week had gotten away from me and I hadn't texted my bff and she hadn't texted me either, all week long. So, I sent her a quick note on fb apologizing for going mia and a shorter version of the above weeks play by play. She got back to me a little later and we kind of had another exchange, if you will, and now we both agree that it's time to work this out for real and get it behind us, whatever this is. Growing pains? I hate how it's been lately. I miss her. We're working on it. sigh....
On a happier note, I'm starting to notice a very slight tan developing on my legs. Woohoo! Now, honestly, it's not much to be proud of. And to most people here in SoCal, they're ghastly white but for me, it's quite the accomplishment. The garden is doing fantastic. My new broccoli sprouts have come up but still no sign of the new lettuce sprouts. I'm hopeful but not holding my breath. I'll keep you posted.
I still don't have an eta on my proposed chicken coop although My dad has said he'd bring up the wood a few times now. And we've gone to the feed store and checked out the chicks they have available and pricing and everything. But nothing set in stone. Again, you'll know as soon as I do. hahaha.... That's pretty much it, I think.
But now, I'm exhausted and I'm going to go veg on the couch with my Husband.
Good night all!

Updates

So, We are now 23 weeks along in this pregnancy! Little Declan True is a busy boy constantly kicking and flipping around in there. Yay! I'm knitting him a bright royal blue cabled baby beanie right now and starting to gather supplies to begin his bedding set. The theme will be owls. Hooty hoot!
I also just made a list of what I need to make some maternity clothes based on tutorials from diy maternity

Megan Nielsen has two excellent blogs and wonderful easy to follow patterns for both maternity and baby! Go check her out...
The garden is growing tall and bushy (depending on the plant) and the only no show is our lettuce. Bummer. I'm going to re-sow it and a few other bald spots and hope for the best.

We also had a great visit with Matthew's parents who came to visit last week. Which means we also got to spend some concentrated quality time with Gina and our nieces, as well! Yay!

The boys actually asked to do school yesterday. I think they miss the structure. So, we did a bible lesson from Landmark Freedom and a couple math and LA worksheets and games.

PLEASE watch these!

Food Allergies... Disease.... Cancer..... Why is our food making us sick?



This is why I garden. Why we shop at Trader Joes and Jimbos. Why I cook almost every single thing from scratch. This is why I've become a "food nazi." Yes, we have cravings for the junk food we used to eat liberally because the chemicals and the additives used sometimes have an addictive quality. But once you know the truth....

They say, "Ignorance is bliss," right?

Well, now, what will you do with the knowledge?

Please, do your own research. Watch the documentaries. Find out for yourselves and then make a change. My children and my husband are too important to not make sacrifices for, in order to feed them REAL food. What about yours?

aaaahhhh.....

Today was a pretty relaxing day, actually. After breakfast we went out back to work in the yard some more while the kids ran around on their new grass and jumped on the trampoline and Fin played in the playhouse. It was really nice. Matthew stained Peppers fence and I started planting veggie seeds in my new garden boxes that have finally found their permanent home.

We took a break and ran to Lowes as a family to get more stain and buy some starts that I didn't already have seeds for, and I made out like a bandit.
I planted:
lettuce, peas, carrots, green and yellow beans, broccoli, bell peppers, cucumbers, eggplant, garlic, chives, tomatoes and strawberries. And I still have our zucchini and straight neck squash to plant tomorrow. I'm so excited to finally have started planting. I've been chomping at the bit but haven't been able to plant any veggies because of all the other yard work. Fortunately our long growing season here in Sunny southern California gives me a grace period. And Matthew has decided that I do, indeed, need more garden boxes. So, although I doubt I'll see anymore before next Monday, I'm very excited to have more space to plant. I'd like to actually have enough to can this year. Last year, we ate everything as it came up.

A very tired gardener :)

These raspberries were gobbled up seconds later.

I, also, wanted to share that despite my excitement about the Calvert curriculum, finances and a change to the schools curriculum buying process have scrapped the Calvert idea for us. While we still get $700 or EU's to purchase curriculum from our charter school, it is now broken up into $400 for the Fall semester and $300 for the Spring. Calvert requires that you purchase the entire curriculum at once and thus we would have had to front the difference for both boys. Yikes. So, on the hunt I went for a new curriculum that was not only secular (already a bummer) but a complete package, within the $400 Fall budget AND that I liked.
And I found Oak Meadow.

http://www.oakmeadow.com/curriculum/first-grade.php
It's a Waldorf education style and I like everything about it although it's VERY lenient (and thus far below Milo's current level) in language arts. So, I'll be supplementing with A Reason for Handwriting for both boys(http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/easy_find?event=EBRN&N=1030439&Ne=1030439&Nso=1&Nu=product.endeca_rollup&Ns=product.number_sold) and AOP's Lifepac Bible worktexts (http://www.aophomeschooling.com/product/bib0100/)for Milo and This other workbook (http://www.christianbook.com/bible-story-puzzles-lessons-goodness-grades/linda-standke/9780887248658/pd/48650?event=1016BIB|1776486|1016#curr) for Autry.
Those supplements are out of pocket but so worth the money. So, now that that's settled in my mind and ordered I was at peace about it today.
God is good all the time and all the time God is good.

More pics of the yard!

I'm getting an itch for a bbq....

The yard !

Yay!!!!

More progress

Our sweet great dane, Pepper, is a giant. And as such, she steps on and breaks things that, to her, seem tiny and insignificant, like our new plants. So, for our sanity and to keep her from getting in trouble for doing nothing except being a careless dog, Matthew built this fence to create a dog run for her on the shady side of the house. It's a rather large space and contains 3 trees and quite a bit of open space for her to cruise around in when we can't be outside with her. He chose this fence design to be just at her head height (tall enough that she doesn't realize she could easily jump over if she wanted to) and with wide gaps in the boards so that if we are outside but don't want her around, like say a bbq or playdate where she might steal food or knock little kids over, she can still see what's going on and can visit with people who venture to her side. It still needs to be sealed but I'm very happy with how it came out!
While he was building that, the kids helped me plant all the berries and other plants that needed to go in the ground still. Matthew also got all the fruit trees planted and drip lines connected, as well. Well... all except our cherry tree whose intended home turns out to be in solid rock. So, now we've gotta find it a new home. And we will. Tomorrow he'll finish up the prep for the sod which comes Wednesday!!!! I can't wait to post updated pics. Check back soon...

The Orchard is here!

My sweet husband just got back from Clausen's Nursery with a grip of fruit trees, berries and other plants.
We now have a:
Hass Avocado
Valencia Orange
Granny Smith Apple
Red Fuji Apple
Burgundy Plum
Rio Red Grapefruit
Wonderful Pomegranate
Kansas Sweet Cherry
and a Golden Amber Apricot
joining our Navel Orange, Tropic Snow Peach, Lemon and Lime trees! I couldn't be more excited! Here's a pic of our new Pomegranate tree.

He also brought me 2 new raspberries, 2 blackberries and 2 more boysenberries to join our bramble patch.
Food in my yard! That's right y'all.