Life in our house the past few weeks has been a bit overwhelming. We are building a chicken coop, we have new chicks, the weather hasn't been that great, and we have been battling little colds, along with Kyle working some Saturdays. We have just been a little discombobulated.
We haven't really been going anywhere, except Blake goes to preschool, and I will admit that we are watching WAY too much TV. We played outside today for about a half hour and the boys got cold, so we came in. I didnt turn the TV on though. I gave them Play-doh to have some fun with and then we had lunch. I just cant wait for spring... They love being outside and Luke would have stayed out longer today, but Blake was the one who was really throwing the fit because he wanted to be watching Toy Story. Sorry boys... not anymore. Maybe we will start taking more trips to the indoor playtoys, but that make me cringe with all the germs that are on them! I just need something else to do right now... maybe the zoo??? Either way, I am determined to get all of us out of this funk, and to stop starting so many projects. Kyle works all day and then comes home and works some more, and then I never really get a break either. When the chicken coop is done, we are going to put a hold on any future projects for a while. We need to start having some real fun again, not just becoming slaves to our house projects!!
* I do really want to paint my bedroom though, so maybe one more little project :)
When I meant to send this to you, you weren't an angel, not in the heavenly sense, anyway... but its amazing how something can fall between the seats of your car and not be discovered for over a year. I know exactly what it is without even opening it. I remember because I picked it out especially for you... pink and black, your favorite combination of colors. It was your 50th Birthday card. I am sorry it never got sent to you. I hope you didn't think that I forgot about you. The good thing is, though, I looked at this letter and smiled for the first time... instead of looking at something of yours and crying. I guess that's progress... I feel you all the time... around me. Blake talks about you like you are here even though he knows that you are in Heaven, and it makes me smile, because I think that he feels you too.
Happy 50th Birthday to my dear Aunt Dawn... forever in my heart.
My dad made these little fire starters and they are simply amazing! No paper is required for starting the fire and he made them from left over stuff that he found in his garage...
**Side note** When I was growing up, my dad started fires with road flairs and propane torches... my, how times have changed :)
He took these old cedar shavings that he had from an old project and put them in the bottom of a plastic solo cup, then he melted down some old candles that they had, and he poured the wax in the plastic cup, and then added some more cedar shavings on top (you can also use sawdust). Let it cool, and then poped it out of the cup, and VOILA... a fire starter is born!
I took it home and put it to the test. A little skeptical, I positioned it underneath the kindling in our wood-stove.
I used a normal lighter, and a fire was lit! I didn't fuss with paper, or reaching to light the paper in the back and then you get that black soot all over your arms. It was perfect! Also, there wasn't any evidence of wax left over in the fireplace, so it must completely burn out.
Great idea! Thanks Dad!! I am going to put some in the trailer for camping :)
I have been thinking a lot about the men in our lives. Not the young men, but the older men, and how their masterful skills that have built them and our families, have been the very thing that has started to break them.
Both Kyle and I come from a long line of strong men with a detailed skill. Men that have more tools then dress shirts and shiny shoes. Men that are meticulous about their work, and somehow, it has become part of them. Men that put their heart and soul into what they can make in order to provide for their wives and children, and men that have gone without.
We come from a strong foundation of men that believe in doing something right the first time, and that everything that they make or use is a reflection of themselves. My eyes have just opened up wide enough to realize that all those years that they spent working...building...providing, is the very thing that is now breaking them. Their knees shake from countless trips up and down a ladder, their fingers calloused from years of using their tool, and their backs are bruised. The woman that has stayed home to tend to her children is now home tending to her husband. Holding him together so that he can once again be strong enough to do the same things that have broken him in the first place. Not because he wants to be broken, but because it is who he is.
I am proud of where we come from. Proud that our Fathers, Grandfathers, and many before were built so strong, and so powerful. They are men that not only built things with their hands, but they built their families with their devotion.. stronger then any metal or wood.
These men have exemplified courage and strength throughout the years and I may not have really appreciated it until now. They have made my husband strong, and they have humbled my heart. I now see that someday I will be holding my husband together, just as their wives have done, and I will do it with appreciation and without indignation. Knowing that what has broken him, is the very thing that has held us together for so many years.
We are so thankful for all of you...
So, I have this bag of onions. I got them from my dad who had my Uncle Frank bring them over from Selah about a month ago. I would love to say that I went through all 15-ish that my dad gave me, but it didn't happen, and as I went in to tidy up my pantry, I saw them, and thought that it was time to toss them. They were starting to get spots on the skin and looking withered in some places.
I thought to myself about how my Grandma Howard would kill me if she knew that I was wasting food like this... that I just threw it away. She is someone that uses every part of all of her food. rather ingenious though, if you ask me :) I didn't want to freeze them... I am running out of room. Then it hit me...DEHYDRATOR!!!
I know that I said that I wouldn't use Pinterest, but I did use it to look up a dehydrator recipe for onions, and it couldn't have been easier. you just peel and cut up the onions and throw them on the trays.
Helpful Hints:
I have a Waring Pro Dehydrator and I set it between medium and low... I think it took way too long, so I will set it between medium and high next time. and I rotated the trays ever 3 hours.
The lady on Pinterest said to do it out in your garage because the smell is really over powering. I used Kyle's shop, and I think that he is going to murder me when he goes in there... next time I will run an extension cord to the end of the driveway on a nice day... OH MY GOODNESS! That smell will probably never come out of the walls! Way stronger then I could have ever imagined!
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| Like my setup?? :) |
Also, I noticed that if my pieces were touching, then they didnt get done all the way and I had to leave those pieces in a little longer. Total drying time was about 20 hours. Probably would have been less if I had used a higher temp. You want them to be crispy, not leathery.
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| Finished product! |
All 7 onions that I dehydrated, fit into a quart size jar... talk about a space saver, and they will keep for a couple years! I feel really good about this. Kind of a step in the right direction for me as we are trying to live more simply and be more self sustaining. I have these onions now to throw into soups, dips and sauces... Also, I didn't throw something away... I figured out a way to kind of re-purpose it. Still for food, of course, but just in a different way! And, they are so pretty!
Welcome 2014!!
2013 was a good year for our family with many lessons learned in Love, family, and friendship.
I remember when we used to go out to parties on New Years eve and pretty much spend New Years day recovering... HAHA The good o'l days...right?? WRONG! There will be a time again where we go out with friends and celebrate, but for right now, we enjoy putting the little ones to bed, opening a bottle of wine, and playing monopoly. I always lose... I guess I am just not as aggressive as my dear husband. But we have a good time re-capping the year and discussing our family goals for the year to come :)
This marks the first full calendar year that I have been a stay at home mama, and I can honestly say that I think that I am finally getting the swing of things. Between house work, children, and time for myself... I think I have a really good thing going... BUT I have noticed that Kyle and mines "date nights" have been fewer and further between. Lets mark that one down on my list of goals for the next year! :)
This coming year, there are a few things that I really want to accomplish, and I am determined to do it. I really want to get back to the basics. I am talking about all of it... food, cleaning, living... I think that we have lost sight of what used to be good... We have our phones, ipads, kindles, TV's... I don't know the last time I read a book...yes, seriously, and I know how sad that is. I want to play more board games, and have less to do with whats on TV. I am not going to get hooked on 5 different shows this year. I am going to get down on the floor more with my kids, and really focus on them. We are going to build a chicken coop (I hear the chainsaw going as we speak) to teach our kids about raising chickens and learning where our food comes from. I am going to utilize every inch of my garden space this year and take advantage of canning so that I can enjoy my OWN veggies all year round.
I am going to go greener and use vinegar to clean my floors, and baking soda to get those tough grass stains out of my boys pants. I want to live the way that my grandma did. live simply and valuable. I cant wait for the summer when I can smell the clean sheets drying on the clothes line outside, and we are going to run and play and laugh and love.
Goodbye Pinterest... I have enough ideas to last a lifetime. Candy Crush, you would have been the death of me! Facebook will be looked at occasionally, but not as an app on anything. If I want to look at it, I will have to go sit down at the computer.
We are going to get back to basics. I dont need to buy expensive things to live a valuable life, I believe the opposite actually. I just need to put my heart into whatever I do. I have passion for my family and the way that we choose to live our lives, and it doesn't get any better then that...not to me, anyways :)
I am so excited for 2014... to learn, fail, grow and to strive!
