Finding my light.

How I have been spending my time, as of late

2011-04-04T13:17:00.000-04:00

So much has gone on since the last time that I posted... (sighs)

I quit school, due to reasons beyond my control.

Big Daddy lost his job, due to the danged ole' economy.

Big Daddy went back to work, part time hours so far.

The kids are bound and determined to drive me to the nut house.

I have started couponing again. So far, only getting about 47% savings, but it's a start.

We moved again... 5Th time in 10 years.

All of the kids have grown at least a foot each.

I have gained about 30 pounds. UGH!

Getting started with my canning, gonna really do it this year instead of just talking about it. (I already canned 6 pints of strawberry jam)

The only constant thing in my life at this point is the never ending laundry pile... Yay me!

Anyway, alot yet not much has gone on around here. Just trying to stay sane for the moment.

Bless y'all,

Jamie

Seriously? I can walk straight and I will prove it, just not today...

2010-08-12T12:16:00.002-04:00

So, as I have said my son will be playing football this year. Last night he had his "evaluations" to see what he can do. Basically, all of the 5-6 year olds get on the field and all of the coaches have their little clip boards in hand and run them through drills to see how they tackle, etc...

We get there a little early, (cause that's how I roll) and let me tell ya'... it was hot as Boo out there. We walked to the other side of the field where there was the only set of bleachers out there, cause I am new at this and didn't think to bring my big butt a chair to sit in. (Which, I was also the only mommy that brought their son in full-on football gear too. Complete with helmet and pads..whatever!)

There was an older group doing their evals at that time, so they told us to hang tight and they would call us when they were ready. So, I sat my happy butt down on the bleachers for a few minutes. It gave my son time to run around like a demon spawn on crack while making all kinds of new "friends".

I just so happened to see a rather large group of youngins' on the opposite side of the field, walking onto the field with all kinds of engery... It could only be my son's group... so I yelled to him, (again, 'cause that's how I roll)that he needed to get his little fanny out there on that field and show 'em what he could do. He didn't see where I was pointing, 'cause that's how HE rolls...but I digress. I had to get up and walk out there on the field with him to take him to his group and when I stood up, I hit my danged pinky toe on my right foot on the stupid bleachers. I kept walking, 'cause this is NOTHING new for me to do, and just looked down at it with the "yup, that hurt but can't stop right now" thought.

When I got back to the bleachers and sat down, I saw it! I had ripped my danged toe nail off and it was hanging by a thread. OUCH! Son-of-a...!!! I called my mom at that point, not that I was hurting that bad and wanted my mommy but because she was to be there at any minute with my nephew for his evals and I wanted a bandaid.

So, football evals done we get home feed the spawn and get them bathed and in the bed and by this time, my foot feels like I could just cut the whole danged thing off and not have another worry. It hurt! I took off the bandaid to look at it and it was already purple and gross. I had not only dismembered my toe nail, but also broke the stupid toe. I swear, you can't take me anywhere.

Now, as stupid as that sounds, I am more peeved that I broke the toe, because I am afraid that I can't wear my kick boo-tay shoes to my high school reunion this Saturday night. But, me thinks that I am just gonna suck it up and wear them anyway... yup, 'cause they are THAT kick boo-tay!!!...and once again- 'cause that's how I roll!

PS- I am thinking of filing a Workman's comp. claim, 'cause technically it was done while working... cause I am a stay at home mommy and I was technically doing mommy duties. I wonder if I will get approved? HMMM, I'll let ya know how that one turns out.

PPS- There had better not be any high school type drama crap Saturday night either! Thank God that Big Daddy keeps some bail money set aside for me!

PPPS- Just warning ya, I WILL cut someone from A**hole to appetite...nah, not really- but I sounded tough... didn't I?

Bless Y'all,
Jamie

2010-08-10T07:14:00.002-04:00

I have to say, that I am one happy camper right now. School started back for the kids yesterday and with only one hiccup in the day... I'd say it was so very nice to have the day to myself again.

What's the hiccup you ask? Well, it a funny story actually. I did the good mommy routine of taking my kids to school on their first day and walking them to class. I got home and was looking through my closet to try and piece together a rockin' outfit to wear this weekend to my 15 year high school reunion (UGH 15 years, I am getting old!) and found that I truly didn't have a thing to wear. It doesn't help that I am a stay at home (farmer)mom, so I got the wild hair to go shopping... cause that's how I roll, all flybytheseatofmypants and all... and did I mention that I had my days to myself again! So, off I went. I got to "town" and went store to store until I found something that would work, and really ended up with two outfits. (I should say that I am now known as the old crazy lady that kept them all in stitches in the clothing store and tried on practically everything in there, and only bought a shirt...yeah, the saleslady thought she was going to get a HUGE sale, but In YOUR FACE, I don't operate like that! and, Big Daddy would kill me.) Yes, I did say that I found two outfits, I found a dress and some dress pants to go with said shirt at the...gasp~ Dollar Store! WHAT?

Anywho, So, I rushed home with only about 20 minutes to spare before the crumb snatchers would be getting off the bus. Called my bestie and was talking to her while I waited ever so patiently on the front porch in the Georgia heat for the kids. As we were talking, I noticed that the time kept on ticking away, and yet there weren't any kids. I was getting nervous, but figured that it was the first day of school and all. Maybe there were some new students on the bus and the bus driver was trying to get used to the new route...so I waited, and waited and waited.

Finally, my neighbor pulls up across the street and I yell out to her to ask if she has seen the bus anywhere around. To which she replied...."Honey, it's not time for the bus yet." WHAT? This lady has lost her eva-lovin' mind. Of course it is time for the bus, it's past time actually. The bus dropped the kids off last year promptly at 2:40 and it is pushing 3:15 at this point. So, after a couple of "you're so stupid" type of looks shot her way, she proceeds to tell me...wait for it.... that the school has changed it's hours this year and the kids don't get released from school until 2:55! Because our schools are only going 170 days this year and not the usual 180. Again, WHAT??? When were they going to tell me this?

Still on the phone at this point with the bestie, she suggests that I look it up in the student handbook, so I did. Only to say "I'llbedanged", you mean I get a whole extra hour to myself everyday this year??? Say it ain't so! YEE HAW!!!

I really love our schools this year! And, yes it's because I get a little bit of my sanity back.

Bless y'all,
Jamie

Things that make me want to check myself into the women's prison...

2010-08-05T13:17:00.003-04:00

So, It has been a little over 4 months since I last posted. I am guessing that I haven't been too terrible missed, because I only lost 1 follower. But, I guess if you look at it in terms of numbers, I lost 25% of my readers... oh well.

Okay, fine! I was going to list all (or at least some) things that make me want to check myself into the women's prison.... so here goes.

* my son, and all of his tantrums and the way that he literally climbs the walls. I kid not, I found a foot print on the top of his door jam the other day and couldn't for the life of me figure out how it got there until he showed me how he can climb the door jams. UGH!

* My girls and their pre-pubecent ways. I told my husband (aka Big Daddy) that when both of the girls go through puberty that he would have to race me to the door. No way I am getting left here alone with them.

* Trying to go to school online during the summer because the kids are out of school and we can't afford daycare and don't have access to people (friends/family) that can take them during the day... won't be doing this again.

* Cleaning this danged house everday, because the kids don't get the concept of putting stuff away when they are done with it.

* The never-ending pile of laundry... I swear, if one more thing lands in the dirty pile that I just washed and folded... I will snap!

* The broody hen that we have that won't let you collect the eggs, and also pecks the other 2 hens.

* The kids eating and drinking in the living room. I think that should be self explanatory.

* People smack talking Big Daddy behind his back.

* Neighborhood kids that can't get a clue. Seriously... "No, the kids can't play now, just like they couldn't play 15 minutes ago when you asked or the 5 other times you have been here this morning. Get a clue already!"

* Wal-Mart, again- 'nuf said.

* People that make really, really good money and still cry poor mouth. Try living paycheck to paycheck before you come crying to me.

* Stupid drivers.

* My gal bladder

So, that was just the "short list". I could probably go on all day, but again- I have that never ending laundry pile and dirty bedrooms to clean today.

I would say "I promise to blog more", but who am I kidding. I plan on dancing nekkid' in my livingroom on Monday because that's when the kids go back to school... and I WILL CELEBRATE!!!

Bless y'all,

Jamie

what's happening..... now!

2010-03-30T08:12:00.002-04:00

I finished my first quarter of school. By the grace of God, I finished with a 4.0 gpa. I received an e-mail stating that I made the President's list at the school. That gave me the thought that "Yes, I can do this". I am doing this!!

My girls also got their report cards the same day, and WOW was I impressed with them! The girls are working so hard to make good grades. Don't get me wrong, they still hate doing homework, and they still have the occasional day that they come home with a note from the teacher about not paying attention but all in all they are dong well. I was worried this year, but slowly they are making it work.

My son is writing his name very well now. They make all of the students sign-in in the mornings and that is helping him out a lot. I was worried about that at the beginning of the year when the teacher told me that "They" don't allow the teachers to work on writing skills in depth in pre-K anymore. It blew my mind when she said that. I am glad that she is taking the initiative to do it anyway. He has also been reciting numbers and letters out of books or off of the t.v. lately. I was floored when he read me a toll free number from a commercial the other day. I teared up. My baby is getting so big!

My husband's hand is getting better as well. Praise God that we love each other and acknowledge that neither one of us are perfect and that we will always have our differences of opinions. We talk through them though, and that makes me happy. He is still on the part time schedule at work and that is making our budget get ever tighter as the weeks tick by. We have exhausted all of our "reserve" money that I kept from out tax return to pay the bills. I have been trying to cut back as much as possible to help ease the budget crunch. I am hoping that it will only be another week or so before they go back to the full time schedule again. Summer is coming on fast, so that helps.

The kids start spring break this Friday and won't have to go back to school until April 12th. I however start spring quarter on Monday, so they will be spending the night with my in-laws on Sunday night (Easter) and I will get them back at some point during the week. I am so blessed by my in-laws!! Hannah's birthday is coming up fast, on the 9th. She turns 8 this year. Man, time flies when you have kids, doesn't it!! I want to plan on doing something special for her. I guess it will all depend on money at that point. She loves to cook, so maybe I will let her help me cook that night. (can you say win-win?)

I have made a self-commitment to not be on the computer once my husband gets home at night. I want to try to be able to have some more time with him, especially once the kids go to bed. We don't really get allot of time to talk about his day or my day and even what's happening in the kids' lives at that point. There seems to never be enough time in the day to fit it all in. So, this is my way of trying to help the situation.

I have also decided to restart my Dave Ramsey financial book. I would love to be able to do the Financial webinar program that he has, but it costs about $100 to do it, and there isn't money in the budget for that. A friend of mine on Facebook said that he held a yard sale for him and his wife to do it, sounds like a good idea to me. There is plenty of stuff that we need to get rid of around here anyway. I told my husband at the beginning of the year that THIS would be our year, and so far we have wasted 3 months of it. We really need to get it together and do things right, especially with our money.

I am so proud of my girls for singing at church this week. Well, Lilly did great in practice (singing and smiling) but then when it came time to sing in front of a whole church, she had a melt down and just stood at the alter with her fists on her chin. Oh well, Hannah sang (like a deer in the headlights). They did great though. I am also proud to say that our little small church's children have planted a (5 raised beds) vegetable garden. They plan on building a veggie stand for the kids to be able to sell their goods at harvest time, or give away the food to the needy families in our area. Our church also helps support a food bank, so some of the veggies may find their way there too. It warms my heart that all of the kids are so into getting this project done. They have all been so excited about it. My kids want to walk over there every afternoon to check on the plants.

I also want to say Thank You for reading my blog. I may only have 4 followers, but it amazes me that 4 people want to read about this weird, wife, mommy, student, wanna be farmer redneck with issues. I would love to hear if any of you have done the Dave Ramsey way of finances. I have heard great things about it, but didn't know if any of you had experience with it.

Bless y'all,
Jamie

Oh Me, Oh My

2010-03-11T08:03:00.003-05:00

It has been quite a week for me. First, I would like to say that my kids have been battling the "sickness" for a couple of months now... This last week has been hard.

Last Tuesday Lilly was sick with the snotty nose and croupe cough. She was running a slight fever so I kept her home from school. She was so pitiful. She stayed in my bed all day with me and we watched the movie Ocie Nash. We love that movie. Lilly wouldn't eat much and finally took a nap with me before the other kids got home from school. She was feeling better on Wednesday, so I sent her back to school.

On Wednesday morning, I woke up with a horrible migraine. I have been getting them more frequently lately. We don't have health insurance anymore (just within the last 2 weeks) so I had to battle it out on my own. Needless to say, I stayed in bed all day with the curtains closed and complete quiet... since I had thrown the clock that hung on the wall of our bedroom out the back door. The constant ticking was driving me insane... I later retrieved it from the yard though. (read- no wall clocks were harmed during my migraine)

By Thursday, I still had my migraine and sent the kids to school. By that afternoon, I started coughing. It hit me fast and hard. Picture this though......
me + migraine + coughing = serious head pain. I seriously would have taken a bullet at that point. It was horrible.

Come Thursday night, Lilly started feeling bad again. She was coughing very much like I was and again running a slight fever. She started complaining of stomach cramps. I just knew something was wrong with her. My husband's brain automatically went to appendicitis... mine went to the "my baby is hurting and I must get her help now" state. I talked to my mom (via texting- she works at an ER) and she said that it was going around like wild fire, to keep her home and giver her a breathing treatment and cough meds and alternate tylenol and motrin for fever. I immediatly did the breathing treatment and cough meds with tylenol. Needless to say, she stayed home from school again on Friday.

So, on Friday morning I sent the other kids to school and Lilly once again stayed in my bed all day watching House, M.D dvds. We all love that show. My headache was gone but my cough was getting worse by the hour. I also started running a low grade fever. Taking all the meds that I could think of, I was feeling horrible.

Saturday didn't bring any relief for me either. I was feeling putrid and thank God that my husband was home this weekend to take care of the kids. He had them outside playing while he let me sleep and finally be able to rest a little... between coughing up my lungs that is.

Sunday came and I still wasn't feeling any better, and trying to rest as much as possible. Now, think for a minute about how when you are stressed out- to the max... not feeling good... and you still have kids and a husband and a house to keep up with... whatcha' thinking at this point... AAAHHHHH!!!! *cough, hack*!! That is not only what I was feeling, but my husband as well. Tempers flared and words were shared and needless to say- we had a blow up between the hubs and I. Shocker, right? Feelings were hurt... but we both took a step back and talked about it later.

Fast forward 6 hours--------> We were in the kitchen that night, cooking and getting the table set for dinner. I asked my husband to get the pitcher of sweet tea out of the fridge and put it on the table. He reached in the fridge and got the pitcher and he looked strange to me... struggling a bit with it. Now, I had just made a new pitcher of tea, so it was a little heavy... but come on, he's a big guy- he can handle it, right? No... His face was turning red and I finally looked at him and asked him what was wrong... that's when I saw it......... His hand... was... broken... Crap!!! Seriously? What the heck?

Seems that when we had out little "tiff" he was so upset at the situation that he punched something. NICE!! Hey- don't judge, I was proud that he didn't hit me! I applaud my husband for knowing when to step back from the situation and take it somewhere else. Looking back, we laugh at the "tiff". Like I said, we both are stressed out and tempers flare... we aren't perfect, we are human. We love each other more than anything. There is nothing that I won't do for that man, and vice versa. So, anyway- I had my dad take him to the ER to get ex rays and sure enough, he texted me and said..(this is the humor part) "Ironic, it's called a boxers fracture". So, when he got home I had to ask... "How ya' feeling Ali- are you floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee"? To this he replied... "No, I am floating like a Cadillac and stinging like a Beamer." (quote from the Disney movie, Cars) *snort.

I am still not feeling better, but at least through all of the stress, and stress on top of stress I can still wake up and know that without a doubt my husband loves me.... for me... and no other reason. Even if it makes him break a hand every once in a while. (I forgot to say that even though he had broken his hand that Sunday morning, he still changed the oil in my van that afternoon, while he had the kids outside playing to let me sleep.)

Bless ya'll,
Jamie

A Storm is Brewing...

2010-03-04T10:32:00.002-05:00

I can feel a storm brewing. You know, the kind that you can feel in your bones. The kind that will no doubt have an impact on your life in some way. That is the kind of storm that I am feeling is headed my way.

It has been building for a couple of months now. About six to be exact. I can't tell you an exact time that it began, but I know that it is coming. And with it could bring joy or extreme pain. I won't know until the day that it hits me.

Over the last few months, I have been so busy trying to set my life in motion with the future that I wanted. I have started college and have been trying to get my thoughts in-tuned with the future that I want to live. I have been pushing my family in the direction that I want to go, and haven't even considered the affect that it may have on them.

I may be wrong in doing that, or I may be on the right track... who knows yet. All I can do is my best, or what I think may be best at that time. I can't explain where these feelings are coming from, but I can seriously feel it in my bones. And that- scares the hell out of me.

Every morning when I wake up, I start the coffee for my husband. I set out his daily vitamins and tell him to have a great day and to drive safely. I get the kids up and ready for school and then on the bus... and pray that they look half-way decent. I drink my morning coffee while checking my e-mails and then get ready for school if it is a school day. If it's not, then I usually have homework to do. I then start a load of laundry and eat some breakfast. My day seems to always get off track at this point. It is about now that I feel lost. I honestly get so caught up in everything that has to be done that I never start to do any of it. By the end of the day, I have essentially started a load of laundry and never finished it and that is about the extent of it. Somewhere along the way I have gotten lost.

How does this happen? Do I have ADD? Maybe. I don't know how it happens, or even why it happens. I AM NOT PERFECT! I think that I have let myself bite off more than I can chew. I can't seem to find the balance for my life right now. How can I move forward if I am getting bogged down in the now of my life?

I have been getting severe migraines over the last few months. I can usually expect to get one just before my cycle, but they are coming closer together and twice the pain. I have no clue what is causing them either. I can only assume that it is stress induced. I haven't done anything to aleviate any of that stress either, only added to it... with the kids and school and PTO meetings (which I have missed 2 times now, ugh!) and then the husband and other child and all of that drama that goes along with the ex-wife. I can't seem to keep my head above water these days. Why have I let my life spriral out of control like this?

I have some meds in my medicine cabinet. I could be taking them and feeling better, but for some reason they are just sitting there. I can't seem to bring myself to take them. I have no idea why not. I know that they can only help me. I think maybe I look at them as me throwing in the towel. I look at them as me admitting that I am not Super Mom and I can't do it all.

As stupid as that sounds, it is what it is. I feel hopeless at this point. Completely useless to my family. Totally burnt out with life and I should be in my prime right about now. What is it that is making me feel so damned depressed? I have a great husband, wonderful kids and a 4.0 gpa in school. You would think that I would be on cloud nine right now. Instead, I am having one hell of a pity party for myself.

I guess what I am asking is, please pray for me. I seem to have lost that loving feeling for myself and I want to get it back, asap! I don't think that my husband can keep going it alone for the next 18 months while I finish school. He is worried about me and I don't want to add that stress to him either.

Sorry that this is a bummer of a post, but I had to get it out... or down- whatever. Any suggestions would be appreciated at this point... especially if you are going to suggest that you come clean my house for me... That would rock in my book.

Bless y'all,

Jamie

This is what my current event looks like... for this week...

2010-02-02T20:29:00.002-05:00

Letter to the Editor:
According to the Georgia Organics newsletter for February 2010, there will be another wave of support for the Farmers markets in Georgia this year.

The USDA’s grant for outreach, education and equipment made it possible for the food stamp program to try a pilot program allowing food stamps to be used at Georgia’s farmers markets. Initially three farmers markets were taking the food stamps. One of which was located in Savannah.

Georgia Organics has teamed up with the Wholesome Wave Project allowing the food stamps value to double at the farmers markets. This project is aimed at trying to lower the obesity levels of our state, especially the children of Georgia.

I understand that the food stamp program is exists to help the needy families get back on their feet and to make sure that no one goes hungry. I love the fact that they are now going to be able to have access to wholesome, healthy and locally grown foods for their families. I do however wonder how well this will catch on.

Last year being the first year of the pilot program with the farmers markets, only $2801 was reimbursed as part of this program. That accounted for $5600 worth of fresh foods. That dollar amount was from three major farmers markets from around the state. That makes me weary of this programs success. I can only hope that this program catches on quickly.

It makes me wonder where the minds of the parents are at these days with healthy eating habits for their families. Georgia ranks third in the nation for obesity. That is a scary place to be. I have 4 children and worry about every little thing that they are eating at school and while they are away from home. I try very hard to only purchase healthy foods to have around the house, especially for snacks. I just looked in my pantry, and wow do I have some rethinking to do. I found all sorts of unhealthy snacks in there. Some, I have to admit I buy just to see the smile on their faces and to get the “Thanks Mom”. I shouldn’t let that be a driving force behind what I purchase though. My main motivation should be the health of my children. It is hard to implement new dietary items into your children’s menu.

I would hope that more families, including my own would take a hearty look at what they are putting into their bodies as fuel. If every family in Georgia would give a farmers market a try, then that would not only help the locally grown markets but also give the people a little sense of what eating fresh is all about.

So, I challenge each and every one of you to eat locally once a week for a month. That sounds easy enough. right? That equates to the mighty four times in a month of supporting your local farmers and also makes you eat fresh once a week. Can you do it?
I am doing this for my family for the month of February and I will see how it goes. I don’t think it should be too hard, but we shall see.

So, as you can see we have to write it as if we were writing our local newspaper. I hope I get a good grade on this one. I will post my one from last week in a few minutes.

Jamie

I stink at blogging...and other stuff.

2010-01-12T08:10:00.003-05:00

I just want to apologize for my lack of concern to my blog. I love reading everyone Else's blogs, but find it hard to write my own. The constant thought of having to be funny or write about something that everyone else will want to read. UGH! It's painful.

I don't have a glamorous life, so I don't have too much to write about other than kids and husband junk. Who really cares about that kind of stuff though? Oh well, they say to go with what you got, so kids and husband junk it is!

The kids are fine and the husband works all the time.

There, you have been updated.

No, really. I started school yesterday. I am going to an area technical college to get an Agri-Business degree. It should take about 18 months to finish, but with me taking a full load, I am hoping to finish in about 15 months. I think this fits me to a T. Well, that and the fact that I had been researching farming loans and if I have this 2 year degree and complete 1 growing cycle of whatever crop or livestock that I choose, I could qualify for a million plus in government farm loans at a very low interest rate. So, that nailed it for me. When I told my husband this, he all but filled out the paperwork for me. I lucked up and qualified for the Hope grant and also a Pell grant. That means, I don't have to pay for school. That is such a huge blessing for us.

I was worried about going back to school at my age. Now, don't get me wrong, I am not too terribly old, but in my mind going to school with "kids" that just got out of high school worried me. I mean, I have been married longer than they have had their drivers licenses. And I have had kids longer! But, to my surprise, I was not the only older person in the classes... and not the only female either. I was relieved. The professor was very nice and helpful and also just around my age. It was really a nice time. We didn't stay the whole time, because it was the first day. We just pretty much went over what all we will be learning in these classes this quarter and what supplies we will need... then he gave homework. Yeah, on the first day. But it was okay, I got the majority of it done last night and need to go work on some now.

The kids are okay, grades are struggling but they will pull it together before too long. We are constantly working on the reading and math. Money and making change seems to be what Hannah struggles with the most. Lilly doesn't struggle with too much other than herself. If she thinks she can't do it, then it is hard to get her to try. Dale is just in pre-K so they don't tend to do much other than play learning.

Alright, I have to get the rest of my homework done and get ready for the PTO meeting this afternoon. And wash clothes and load the dishwasher. Whew, I hope I get used to all this excitement in my life. And, I hope I get better at blogging. I don't even truly understand how to load pictures on this thing. I need someone to teach a class on blogging. Any takers?

Bless ya'll,
Jamie

used vs loved

2009-07-07T13:58:00.001-04:00

This is an e-mail that my mother in law sent to me a few days ago. It spoke volumes to me, and I hope it strikes a cord in you too. Let me know what you think.

USED Vs. LOVED

While a man was polishing his new car, his 4 yr old son picked up stone and scratched lines on the
side of the car. In anger, the man took the child's hand and hit it many times; not realizing he was using a wrench.

At the hospital, the child lost all his fingers due to multiple fractures.

When the child saw his father.....with painful eyes he asked, 'Dad when will my fingers grow back?'

The man was so hurt and speechless; he went back to his car and kicked it a lot of times.

Devastated by his own actions.......sitting in front of that car he looked at the scratches;
the child had written 'LOVE YOU DAD'.

The next day that man committed suicide. . .

Anger and Love have no limits; choose the latter to have a beautiful, lovely life.....

Things are to be used and people are to be loved, But the problem in today's world is that,
People are used and things are loved...

During this year, let's be careful to keep this thought in mind: Things are to be used, but People are to be loved ...

Be yourself....This is the only day we HAVE. Have a nice day and Best regards

Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits they become character;
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

I'm glad a friend forwarded this to me as a reminder..

God bless you;
I hope you are having a wonderful day!

If you don't pass this on to anybody,
nothing bad will happen; if you do, you will have ministered to someone.

The Will of God will never take you to where the Grace of God will not PROTECT you...

Stay FAITHFUL and Be GRATEFUL.

“The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to go on the heights. For the director of music. On my
stringed instruments.”
Habakkuk 3:19
Bless ya'll,
Jamie

My never ending TO-DO list

2009-06-23T12:54:00.002-04:00

I have so much to do, and of course not enough time to do it in. We have a lot going on here so this list just keeps growing daily. Here are some examples of things that are needing to get checked off soon... With a sick child and a sick husband today, it doesn't like any of this will get done today.

1. BUILD A COOP- this has been on my list for almost 2 months now.
2. clean the children's rooms and declutter as I go.
3. clean master bedroom and declutter as I go.
4. clean kitchen and pantry.
5. clean laundry room and make room for additional food storage. (shelf units)
6. weed the garden and get rid of the nasty squash bugs that are threatening my plants.
7. prepare for the fall garden (we want to expand the growing area)
8. get a pressure canner and canning jars.
9. research buying a cow and chickens for the freezer.
10. prepare for the children's new school year ( clothes, supplies)

This is of course just a partial list. I have so much more that needs to be written down on here, but my mind won't slow down enough for me to get them straight. I hope I am not the only one that this happens to.

Anyway, I hope everyone is having a great summer so far, and I pray for each of you daily. I pray that God give you peace in the decisions that you are making, and I pray that you are seeking him in making those choices. I pray for your gardens, children, health, finances, animals, and much much more.

Bless ya'll,
Jamie

Things that make me smile....and laugh

2009-06-22T11:05:00.003-04:00

So, these days I am under some added stress and really try to find things that make me smile. Here is a short list of some of those things.... hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

thepioneerwoman.com- First of all, she has an awsome web page. Secondly, she has started an online book entitled "Black Heels to Tractor Wheels". If you find that you have about an hour to sit and read, start here first. It will have you laughing and remembering your dating years. And another must on her site is the to read the embarrasing moments section. It nearly brought me to tears.

I love reading about peoples lives, allbeit blogs, facebook pages, or anything else. I find it interesting that we truly do go through the same things as other people, just not nessesarily in the same exact way. If you were to google the phrase "blogs about _____" ( fill in the blanks yourself) you would be amazed at what comes up. Spend the couple of minutes and find some new areas of the web that you may not have seen before. I find more blogs to read and enjoy by seeng all of the blogs that my friends read. Some of the ones that I now follow, this is how I found them.

Of course, I find joy in my children. (MOST DAYS) I find myself at times laughing at the things that they say. For instance, and this will probably come back to haunt me later on in life but here goes.... The other day my husband came home from work smelly and wet with sweat, nothing unusual about that right? Anyway, all of my children run to him with open arms when he comes home, this is an everyday occurance and one that I love to see, but I digress.. my son takes one whiff of my honey and says " Daddy, you smell like tootie" I DIED!! Now if that doesn't make you laugh I don't know what would. (FYI tootie is what we call the va-jay-jay) My husband laughed too, but he still gave me the quizzical look. He took a shower immediatly. Out of the mouth of babes.

We are country, by every stretch of the word, so we find it funny when someone toots (farts as some people call it, my grandmother calls it bunny-ing) So my children, for some unknown reason have the need to announce when they toot and so goes the laughing. Until somone does it in the grocery store like they did the other night and then it's not so funny for me anymore. But, I guess you reap what you sew and this is what my husband has sewn for me.... no, I am not taking any credit for this one.

Another thing that makes me laugh is seeing my girls sing along to the radio. They will jam out to a song when they think no one is looking, but the moment they see that you are watching them, they immediatly stop and run away to hide. The same thing happens when my daughter Hannah sees me watching her dance in the living room.

My son has started break dancing. He's 4 after all, isn't that what 4 year olds are doing nowadays? He feels the need to show everone his new tricks. Even the neighbors. He was accross the street Saturday break dancing in our neighbor's yard before I knew he was even gone... they didn't mind, thankfully.

The chickens are funny to watch as well. You should see 6 chickens fight over a bug. They look like they are playing a game of keepaway. They will chase each other all over the pen until one of them finally eats the thing. They also love to play "Eat the gnat off of the dogs butt when she isn't looking" game too. Poor Marley doesn't understand this game and keeps getting pecked in the behind. I have to admit it's funny.

I also find it funny that no matter how many loads of laundry I can do everyday, there is always more when I turn around. WHAT?? Does it multiply in the basket? The same thing goes for the dishes.

I find that my bills have a sense of humor too. I pay them and they keep coming back every month... They act like a stray dog that is looking for food. I wonder if I stop paying them if they would stop coming... hmm... better not try that one.

I find it amusing that I only have 2 followers on my blog, and I have been writing for over a year now. I know that my life is pretty boring, but so are yours people and I read your blogs.... Now lets see how many followers I end up with after saying that?? 0?

Okay, so now I get to go wash dishes, clothes, children and whatever else I can find to clean up. That shouldn't be hard to spot.

Bless ya'll,
Jamie

I only have a few minutes...

2009-06-20T18:20:00.003-04:00

So, as time is getting more and more limited in my life, I only have a few minutes to update my blog. I know that you guys are just bursting with excitement, right? Okay, I'll just pretend you are.

It is getting hotter and hotter in the south and we are feeling it! The kids are getting cabin fever by not being able to spend a lot of time outdoors. We can be outside for only 10 minutes and we are dripping sweat. If you are not from the south (Lisa) then you don't realize that the south has a very humid heat, it takes your breath away. It is very dangerous to work in as well.

My husband is an air conditioning service technician and he is accustomed to working in the heat, but I don't think he was prepared for his day on Friday. He was changing out an old unit for a new one and was having to work in an attic. The temp in the attic was roughly 150 degrees. He got dehydrated and was really starting to get me worried. By the time he got home (at 10 pm) I made him strip his wet clothes (from sweat) and dry off. I pumped him full of fluids and made him go to bed. I hate days like that. I get scared that he could die of heat stroke. Ironically, his safety meeting at work this week was on heat stroke. He is fine, but seeing as how the summer just got started, I have another 3 months of worrying about him working in the heat.

The kids and I pushed the chicken pen back about 4 feet to give the girls some grass to munch on. They acted like they had won the grass lottery. It was so funny to watch them scratch like they had never laid eyes on grass before. We were only out in the yard about 30 minutes and had to come in because we were drenched in sweat. The gnats are getting bad here as well. Another not so favorite thing about Summertime in the south.

The garden is doing good. We have picked 25 cucumbers, 3 very small tomatoes(I don't know why they turned red when they were so small),8 zucchini, 2 bell peppers,2 squash, 2 colanders full of green beans and a couple of hand fulls of sugar snap peas.

I pulled up the sugar snap peas because they just weren't doing good. The Turnips got pulled up as well. They were eaten by bugs very badly and they were horrible looking. So, why waste the space in the garden when I can plant something else. I am trying not to get down about the fact that my squash isn't producing like I want them to. I am trying my hand at being patient for once in my life. We'll see how that goes for me... hehe.

Okay, so as of right now, my life seems pretty boring but trust me I have a lot more going on in my life but choose not to post about it. I just don't want to be the blogging downer. Don't worry, it is fine. I am fine.

A big ole' ANYWAY!!! I am so excited about the new blogs that I have found to read lately. You should really see the list of them, it's getting longer and longer everyday. I love taking a few minutes...alright, hours (when I can) reading all of them. I love the fact that like a book, I can get caught up in the story. And, it's almost like getting letters in the mail everyday from those far away friends.

So, I leave you today because I fed my children popcorn for dinner last night and I don't think I can get away with that 2 nights in a row. So I must go BBQ some pork chops, yummy. Until next time my friends...

Bless ya'll,
Jamie

Can anyone say... GIVEAWAY???

2009-06-19T14:23:00.002-04:00

On one of the blogs that I read, Shmoopywood, she is doing a great giveaway. Just thought I would pass along the information to those of you (2) that would be interested in entering, or even reading her blog. She keeps me laughing and has lots of info on her blog too. So, rush on over there and read a while and then enter of course for her home made soaps. Also, check out her ETSY shop.

Bless ya'll,
Jamie

shmoopywood: Shmoopywood Give AWAY!!

Another nest box giveaway....

2009-06-15T10:54:00.003-04:00

Just wanted to let you guys know about another nest box giveaway from Life on a southern Farm blog. Check them out... it ends soon, so hurry...

I will be updating my blog soon, we have been so busy with the chickens, garden, birthdays and children so be patient.

Bless ya'll,

Jamie

What to do, What to do...

2009-05-26T09:19:00.002-04:00

Summer break is in full swing here. I have to admit, I am always really ready for them to get out of school, but never prepared to have them here all day long. I have this mental list of all of the exciting things that we could do during the summer, but finances always stand in the way. So, this year we are doing the newly popular "Staycation".

We are only about 20 minutes from Statesboro, GA and there is a water park there. We could go for a great day of fun there for only about $40. That is about the same price as a trip to the movies. We are also directly in the middle of Savannah and Augusta. So that opens up new things for us to do. I know that the Science museum in Augusta is fun, we have been there for a birthday party before. There are so many wildlife parks around here too. National parks are another choice. The kids and I really would like to go camping for a while this summer, but with this being the busy season for my husband's job, he won't get to go. ( He's an A/C man.) I really could sit here all day and make a list of things for us to do. When you sit and think about what is around you, it is amazing to see all of the things we tell ourselves that we will get to and never do. This year, I plan on leaving our marks around this area. We need to get out and enjoy the places that make where we live home.

So when someone asks you what you are doing this summer, tell them you are getting outside to see all of the hidden treasures that your neighborhood has to offer.

On a related note, a friend of mine on facebook was talking back during our Spring break that he was GEOCACHING hunting... I didn't know what that was so I googled it. Turns out, that GEOCACHING is an online community that finds hidden treasures around your area, using coordinates, gps and other little things. You should really check it out. I had a hard time learning the lingo, but maybe you could fair better than I did. It is a way for people to get out and see their towns and have fun doing it. I have to say, it was very interesting learning about this. For more information you can go to www.geocaching.com

So, we have lots to do this summer and we can do all of this (HOPEFULLY) without breaking our budget. We'll see how things go. I hope you are enjoying your summer vacations so far... and for the rest of you that haven't started your summer vacations yet, start making your plans now. It will be here before you know it.

Bless ya'll,
Jamie

New and Exciting News!

2009-05-17T19:20:00.017-04:00

So, Just as I am getting on the ball with keeping my blog updated, my computer decides to take a vacation. So, thanks to some really great friends, they gifted me a "new" laptop. We are up and running again. Thank God!! He is so good to us.

Alright, where to start? Well, my newly turned 4 year old son decided to teach himself to ride his bike with no training wheels. I was working in the garden and he yelled "Look at me mommy" and there he was riding by me. He is so cute. I could just squeeze him.

We had started taking the chicks outside in the mornings when we get home from taking the girls to school. They love being in the sunshine and scratching around the yard. They never venture outside of the side yard and never got into the garden, so I didn't mind. One morning about 2 weeks ago, my son and I took them outside to play and we came back inside to have our breakfast. We do this every morning and the chicks always stay where they usually play. I went out about an hour later to check on them and there stood a huge, and I mean HUGE rotweiller dog. Let's just say that my heart dropped into my stomach! I shooed the dog away and then went looking for my chicks. They were no where to be found. I stated crying and immediatley called my husband. He said to go get the Cheif of police, their office is just accross the street. So, I loaded up my son and sped to the police office. ( WARNING>>> This story gets very country beyond this point!) I ran into the office and the chief was having his morning coffee with the mail man. The mail man looked at me and said, UH- someone is coming and she ain't happy... I yelled... A big ole rottweiler just ate my chickens!! He said, alright I'm on my way. He followed me back to the house and long story short, he knew who's dog it was and he went and got him. They came back to the house and the man paid me $60, yes $60 for my 3 lost baby chicks. I couldn't believe it. We were heartbroken, but my son and I loaded up again and went to Statesboro to buy new baby chicks before the girls got home from school. We bought 6 new chicks and only spent $13 of the $60. We weren't able to get a new rooster chick, they didn't have any. Instead we ended up getting 6 girls. Then, again... we lost 2 of them. 1 died in the cage, we don't know why, and 1 got loose outside when we were cleaning out the cage the very next day. Oh well, we still have 6 others... Yes, I can add... I was hoping that you would catch that. When my son and I returned home from getting the new chicks, the 2 girl chicks that we had, had come out of hiding. We did lose our rooster chick. He was eaten by the big ole' dog. So, we had 8 girls all together, but now down to 6.

My daughter, Lilly pulled her first tooth the other night. She was determined not to lose it at school. She pulled it herself and was too proud. Earned her $10 for that jewel. I told her that she could start pulling mine for that kind of money.

The garden is looking so good. It is growing up a storm. It is funny the amount of people from town that have come over to look at it. The other night, there were 5 people here looking at it at the same time. Just this morning another of our neighbors stopped and said to let him know when my squash is ready. The pastor from the church across the street came by about a week or so ago and said that I was the talk of the town with my garden. Well, at least they are talking about my garden and not about me as a person right!! I think it's funny the things people get all worked up about these days. I am glad that people are taking notice though. My next door neighbor who has plenty of space for a nice sized garden and says that he just doesn't have time to do it, even planted 4 tomato plants... that's right... I am wearing off on folks around here.... so you might want to look out!

We also have another newbie here on the homestead... Marley. She is a ?Chocolate lab puppy. We don't know how old or if she is a full blooded lab or not, but we love her just the same. She loves the chicks too. She will sit at their pen and bark at them. She only wants to play with them, but they peck her through the fence anyway.

Speaking of the chicks again... my loving husband has a new nick name... The Chicken Whisperer. He can go out and stand next to the bigger chicks pen and they will fly up and roost on his shoulders. He literally has to tuck them in at night. If he is out there and doesn't come to see them, they get out by flight and come to him. It is too funny to watch. I wish I could get a good picture of it.

We only have 1 more week of school and I can't wait!! I am tired and I, I mean WE need a break. I hope we are able to do some fun things this summer.

I am not well versed in how to properly upload pictures so that they will be in the right order. So, these are the pictures... hope you like em'

Bless ya'll,
Jamie

Making progress.

2009-04-20T09:33:00.002-04:00

Well, that didn't take long now did it? Yesterday the husband and I put together a compost pile. We had some left over fence material from where we planted the peas. We staked it on a 4 ft. radius. We wrapped the fence around the stakes and then tie strapped the fence together. It seriously only took 20 minutes and we were done. The husband started laughing at me as I was dumping all of the kitchen scraps and leaf piles into it. Look, it doesn't take much to please me these days. Any progress made is making me happy.

We had my father over for dinner last night. He was very excited for us with all of the progress we have made since the last time he was here. He even got into the spirit of homesteading... he kept walking around the yard mentally planning where he would put several things. (OH, over here you should put some fruit trees and here you could put the rain barrels and oh, I've been thinking about the chicken coop design...) I just smiled. I love him. He is leaving for 4 months next week for work. So, I will definatly be excited for him to return to see the garden at harvest time.

I've been looking on craig's list for fence material and wood to build the coop with. I emailed several people that had privacy fence for sale pretty cheap. I am really hoping that someone answeres my emails soon. You never know, someone might even say "come get it, I am tired of looking at it"... well, one can hope right?

Alright, I need to move on to my organizing of the house this week. I have several piles of laundry to do and get put away... the never ending saga. The children's rooms need to be put back together too. I did get the kitchen done, somewhat yesterday. We'll see what kind of progress is made this week. I am determined, finally.

Bess ya'll,
Jamie

Homestead pictures... Finally!

2009-04-18T11:49:00.030-04:00

The garden.

The peas.
The peas have a fence to vine up as they grow.
We have 2 trees out front that we didn't know what they were. We think, after much research on the internet, that they are some kind of pear tree. Hopefully they are not Bradford pears. We want them to be common pear trees that we can eat the fruit of. See the little pear like fruit starting to take shape?

My garden goodies, this is carrots and turnips, cabbage, and lettuce. The leaves have just started to change shape.
My garden from the front. Every row has it's own plant. The kids helped me make the row markers. We used popsicle sticks and foam sheets and just wrote on them with sharpie markers. They are holding up well.
My tomato sprouts. They have just stated to show through the dirt.
The tomato bed.

The onion bed.And of course our little chicks. Jacob, Lucy (aka Lulu) and Rainbow. The kids named them, can't you tell. They are Golden comets. Jacob, the cockrel will be white as a rooster and the girls will be a copper/penny color as hens. According to my research, these are fast maturing chickens and we should have eggs within 3-4 months. I can't wait. We are starting to plan the coop and will start building that soon. The children are most excited over having the job of collecting the eggs.

We have done a lot around here in the last few weeks. As you can see we have a lot more to do. We only have about 10 weeks to get the coop built. I have been calling all of our family and friends to see if they have any spare scrap wood that we can use to help cut down the cost of building materials. We want to build this as "green" as possible. And let's face it, it doesn't hurt to save a little money either.

I am striving to fill my freezer and pantry with "reserve" food by the end of summer. Also, we want to start a compost pile. We walked the yard this morning to plan where everything will go. We are getting an old moving truck body from my dad for storage. We have been using it at his house for almost a year anyway. He wants to clean up the yard, so he is planning on having it brought to us via tow truck soon. We can really use the storage too. Here is my list of things to do in the next 10 weeks. It looks like a lot, but really some of these things won't take much time to get done.

1. Fill freezer/pantry with reserve food.
2. Build coop for chickens.
3. Get truck body moved here and looking decent. Needs to be painted.
4. Get compost pile started.**DONE!! Yeah!
5. Harvest garden and put up veggies- canning or freezing.
6. Plan the fall garden, get seeds.
7. Have house organized and keep cleaned.
8. Get something done about getting electrical done in kitchen so that I can get a dishwasher installed, finally.
9. Somehow keep my sanity during all of this.
10.rework the family budget- We want to be living on only 70% income by the end of summer. We want to save 30% for future.
11. Change the way we think about money. We want our money to work for us, not us work for our money. If the money we spend doesn't come back to us in one form or another, we won't buy it. (ie: I would rather buy a fruit tree for $15 instead of going to the grocery store and spending $15 on 10 apples. Why do that when you can have all the apples you want from your $15 tree?)
12. Get the list ready for what fruit trees we will be adding to the property this year. Start setting aside money to purchase them.
13. Get rain barrels and have plumbed to water the garden with.
14. Change the way I run our kitchen... (ie: make sure that I keep all food scraps for the compost pile, and not let the children raid the food whenever they want.)

So, as you can see the next 10 weeks or longer will be full of hard work and lots of determination on our part. We (I) want to be as close to self sufficient as we can be by the end of the year. So these next several weeks will mean a lot to that goal.

I would love to know if anyone out there has any other ideas about being more self sufficient on a small scale. I'll keep updating the garden pictures as it grows.

Bless ya'll,
Jamie

Goings on around the Homestead.

2009-04-16T10:08:00.002-04:00

Well, I haven't had time to think let alone take any pictures. The kids went back to school this week. They were on Spring break last week. They are doing a lot of work this week, getting ready for their yearly standardized testing (CRCT). They come home so tired, but still have homework to get done.

We went strawberry picking yesterday after school. We came home with quite the bounty... 23 lbs of berries. I have frozen 5 gallons and we have a big bowl of them in the fridge for the kids to snack on. It's a good thing that they don't charge us for the ones that get eaten in the field.

We got the garden planted and looking nice. I am getting imapatient. I guess that is normal for newbies to gardening. I am anxious to harvest already. The kids are getting antsy too. They helped me tremendously getting it ready to plant. They all argue over who gets to water it. What is it about a water hose with children?

The baby chicks are doing great. My son and I went yesterday morning to get them a feeder and a waterer. We also picked up a 25 lb bag of starter scratch. We also got a dog kennel from my dad to put them in. They seem to like having more space. The kids ask to take them out every afternoon and I let them for a few minutes. The chicks have started trying out their wings. They are also very fast. When we let them out, they run around so fast, the kids get a kick out of watching them.

We had a death on the homestead this morning. My husband went outside this morning to go to work and the cat was laying outside the door, stiff. We don't know what happened to her, but there was no blood. I wonder if she didn't get bitten by a snake or something. Hubby took her to work with him in a box to bury her there. We didn't want the children to see her and he didn't have time to bury her here this morning. I was also worried about vultures coming to perch. We are sad to lose her. We haven't had her that long. She was a stray that took up here, and we loved her. She was a cuddly thing, never had a cat that liked her belly rubbed. I wonder if she didn't think she was a dog.

So, that is all that has happened here lately. Hope everything is going great where you are (Becky, seems you are the only one that reads this) and have a great day/week/month.

Bless ya'll,

Jamie

Giveaway notice... I love these!

2009-04-14T07:49:00.005-04:00

So, as you know, we received a gift of 3 baby chicks last night. I read a lot of farming blogs so I knew right where to go to seek help with them. I went to the "Life on a Southern Farm" blog, and she graciously answered my questions for me. She is having a giveaway this week. Chicken nest boxes that her husband (aka Farm man) builds himself. The giveaway is for a double nest box. I am really hoping I win, but I wanted to let you know about it too. Even if you or I don't win, they have great prices for these nest boxes, so go check them out.

(I am not so bloggy inclined, so I hope that this link works, if not, go to www.georgiafarmwoman.blogspot.com)

Good luck
Jamie

Baby Chicks!!

2009-04-13T22:29:00.002-04:00

EEK!!! I have been after my husband for several months about us getting some chickens. We only have a half an acre with our house, and we also live within the city limits, but there is no rule against chickens. And think of all of the free eggs honey... This has been my arguement. His arguement was that we really don't have the room, or the money to build a coop. Well, our neighbors don't seem to have a problem with us having chickens. Actually, they surprised us this afternoon with 3 baby chicks for the children to raise. We got 2 hens and 1 rooster baby. Right now they are in a box in our laundry room, all cozy with a lamp for extra warmth and chicken scratch and water. We'll have a couple of weeks to figure out the coop, but until then, the kids and I are in baby chick heaven. As soon as I take some good pictures of our new babies, I'll post it. Until then, I will be surfing the net to figure out what type of chickens they are.

Bless ya'll,

Jamie

2009-04-12T19:14:00.003-04:00

I have planted my garden and I am getting antsy for it to be grown already. I hope I am not the only one that gets this way. I started my seeds 3 weeks ago, and they took off. My sweet bell peppers and my jalepino peppers haven't been planted yet, they are still sprouting. I also want to succession plant, so I have just started my squash and zucchini and green beans. I should be able to plant them in a couple of weeks. I have't taken any pictures of them or the garden yet, but I will soon and post them. Keep in mind that this is my first garden, so don't be too excited. It isn't a professional garden by far.

The kids have been out of school this past week for Spring break, it went by so quickly. They helped me out alot in the garden, digging the rows. They aren't ready to go back to school. They only have another week until they take the CRCT tests, and I am a little worried. I just get nervous, this is Hannah's first time taking them and she doesnt' do well on timed tests. She gets that from me.

Any who... I only had a minute to get this post done, so now I have to get dinner started.

Bless ya,
Jamie

Give away notice!!

2009-04-07T14:14:00.003-04:00

Hey, just wanted to let you all know about this great site called "Food Storage Made Easy". I have fallen in love with this site/blog and hope you do to. Right now, they are having a give away for a binder with all of the baby steps to starting food storage. Check them out and let me know what you think.http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/2009/04/06/food-storage-binder-giveaway/

Jamie

2009-03-31T16:34:00.002-04:00

JEEZ!!! I really need to start updating this blog more often. I actually have no idea if anyone even reads it, but it wouldn't hurt.

SO, ALOT has happened since I last posted. We moved into this beautiful house and we are loving every square inch of it. We had started homeschooling and I loved it... But after a couple of months the children lost interest, and being the over protective mother that I am, I was scared that I was failing them. So, I bit the bullet and put them back in public school and they love it. We have been so blessed that they got some very good teachers. So far, they have been doing well. I am so proud of my children. Even though we have moved a few times in the last few years, they always seem to take it in stride.

We (I) have always wanted to live on a farm. That has never been a choice for us, financially speaking, so instead I have made the decision that just because we live "in town" that doesn't mean we can't be "farmers". We have just tilled up a 20 x 40 area for our garden. We started the seeds on Saturday in peat pots and we are praying that they germinate and start to grow. Once they sprout we will transplant them into the garden. So far, the only problem with it is that I can't seem to get the cat to stop using the garden as a potty spot. Anyway, let's just hope that this garden thing works out for me.

I haven't put it on paper yet, but my 5 year plan is to have acerage in which we can really homestead. I would love to have cows, chickens, goats and such. My girls would really love to own a horse, but I'm not sure about that yet. I just have this Norman Rockwell image of my son mowing the grass on a tractor. I don't know, maybe I am crazy, but that is my dream.

I'll post pictures soon, once the plants start to sprout and my garden actually looks decent.

Thanks for reading and God bless,
Jamie

Wow, has it been a month already?

2008-12-30T16:23:00.003-05:00

I didn't realize that it has been a month already! Time really does fly by. We have had so much go on around here since I last blogged.

We have moved into our new, old, house and we are settling in quite nicely. It is an old house, built in 1950, and had actually been moved here several years ago from somewhere else. We aren't sure of it's original history. We love this house. We love the city that we are in. It is small, quite, nice neighbors. Great small town living at it's best. The children are loving it too. There is a great park area just around the corner from us that they love going to.

We have started homeschooling and the children are loving that as well. There have only been a few days that they have given me trouble, but all in all, we are enjoying it. There is much to be said about having your kids with you all day everyday. I really felt like, although they are young, that I didn't know my children as well as I wanted to. There were too many outside influences for our children, and we didn't like where they were going. By homeschooling them, we have limited the outside influences and are more in controll of what they see and hear on a daily basis. We are not controll freaks at all, it is a personal choice that everyone is entitled to. We are having much fun with school work and craft projects. We did a Winter unit study this December. It included reindeer, Santa, the origins of the Christmas tree and ornaments. They kids made home made ornaments to hang on the tree and had a blast with it.

I have been busy teaching the kids, organizing the house, and researching for our new adventure... Urban Homesteading. It isn't something new by any means. Urban homesteading... To live in the city, neighborhood, or the like. To have a small area of land, for example- we have less than an acre lot. To have a vegtable garden, animals for meat and eggs. To be as self sufficient as possible. I intend on learning how to can our veggies so that we can have the fruit of our labor last as long as possible. I also want to learn how to can meat, so that we can make use of the meat sales at the grocery stores and buy more in bulk. I am absolutly astounded by how much information is out there on this subject. Try google and you will see what I am talking about. It amazes me every day at the new stuff that I learn. I have been working extra hard over the last week in the yard. Raking piles and piles of leaves. Trying to get the yard ready to make our planing beds. We hope to have our seeds planted by mid February. I was told by my neighbor that a good rule of thumb is to have them planted by Good Friday. I asked my mother in law about the planing that she did on the family farm as a child, and she agreed that the Good Friday thing is true. So, I have a lot of work to do still and I am praying whole heartedly that this doesn't flop for me. For those of you that know me, I don't do well with failure. Especially when it is something so close to my heart. And this deffinatly is close to my heart. I keep thinking of all the money we will be saving on our grocery bill every month.

To add to your garden education..wink.. I read about Victory gardens. Back during the world wars, the government asked for everyone to plant their own garden, due to the "regular" food was being shipped overseas to the military. So many people started gardens during that time. It wasn't uncommon for whole towns to plant one garden, one that all of the towns people would eat from. This help the war effors tremendously. So, this Urban Homestead idea really isn't that far fetched.

So, as you can see... my life is going to be very busy over the next few months. Getting settled, teaching the kids, growing a grand garden, and learning all about home making from the olden days. I am taking us back to the "Good ole days" type philosophy around here. If you want to know more, just ask and I will do my best at answering all of your questions.

God Bless,
Jamie

giveaway notice...

2008-11-27T19:49:00.003-05:00

Hey, I just wanted all of you to know that there is an awesome giveaway that you really need to check out. go to www.safethusfar.blogspot.com Great giveaway for those of you that are interested.

Thanks,
Jamie

The Mother Letter Project...

2008-11-24T08:58:00.005-05:00

I was reading on one of my favorite blogs Saturday. I love reading blogs during my "free" time. As a mother, I am always thinking and reading up on ways to make my day go easier, less hectic. Also, how to handle my day with grace and honor. So, when I read about The Mother Letter Project, I immediately, without hessitation sent in my letter. I really suggest you go to this blog, read about how to submit your letter.

To give you a little info about the project... A husband and wife have decided not to buy Christmas gifts for each other this year, instead they will send any money that they would have spent on each other to Africa to help the children. Also, they decided to make each other gifts this year. So, his idea... The mother letter project. You see, she is a mother with small children, and he wants people to submit letters of encouragement to her. How great of an idea is that??? I am swooning right now. You have a couple of weeks to get them to him. And, as an added gift, he will send you a copy of the completed letters after Christmas. So, you could say that it is not only a gift for his wonderful wife, but to all of us. I am so excited that a husband really loves his wife enough to do this for her.
www.motherletter.blogspot.com/
Have a blessed day... Jamie

Home, sickness and friendship

2008-11-20T20:34:00.004-05:00

I am getting more and more excited as the days pass. We have found a house, or as we have deemed it, our HOME! We intend on moving the first weekend in December. Along with moving, we have decided that we will homeschool the kids. From what I have read, the local schools there are not very appealing to us. It is in a different county than where we live now. Yey us!! I have been so giggly about it over the past week, planning the decorating, planning the school curriculum. I find myself really enjoying all the God is calling me to do.

The children have all been sick this week. On Monday it was Hannah and Dale,along with my husband. Tuesday was Hannah again, then Wednesday they gave me a break. So, Thursday it was Lilly's turn. Beleive it or not, I actually prefer that they all get sick together. Otherwise, it seems to drag out for a month or so. So, this way, totally works for me. The girls helped me make homemade chicken noodle soup tonight. That seemed to have made everyone feel better. Well, today at least.

On a different note, although I haven't called her yet ( horrible friend I am) Becky seems to be doing great. She is really researching all of the medicines that they have put her on, and also her *disease. I am so proud of her. She isn't letting this thing bring her down. She seems like she actually has a sense of humor about it... wink.

Again, thanks to all of you that continue to pray for Becky, her family, myself along with my family. We are all so grateful for your thoughts and prayers.

Praise God!!

2008-11-18T08:21:00.003-05:00

So, my friend had her procedure yesterday. As most of you know her as Becky. They told her that in fact she did not have a heart attack, she has Post Partum Cardiomyopathy. You can read her blog to get the more in depth description of what it is. www.mycrazylife-mommy2alj.blogspot.com/

I want to thank everyone that has prayed for her, you cannot imagine how much it means to her. She told me last night that so many people have called and came by the hopsital to visit her that we will have to rent the Civic Center when she dies. She has such a great personality. I love her.

If I find time to blog again this afternoon, I will. Until then, I have some Tackle it Tuesday projects to do. I am so excited about getting some of these things done. I have been putting them off for too long now.

Jamie

Praying for a friend...

2008-11-17T08:48:00.003-05:00

I have a friend. One that I had gone to school with for middle and high school. After we graduated, we went about our own lives, getting married, having children. You know, just life. During the last few years, we have had some communication with each other. The typical "Oh how your children have grown." type thing. Well, within the last several months, I have really come to grow in my own life, and have done so with the help of this friend. She is such a great inspiration to me.

She has gone through so much for such a young age, more than anyone else that I know. In going through all of this, she never led her own path, she ALWAYS let God lead her. That is such a big thing to me. Such a big thing. I have asked her, how she can go through the constant trials and never doubt God's will. She simply states, it is his will, his plan, his timing. It is crazy for me to try to tell God how to do His job. She is so right.

I am so guilty of trying to do things my way, and tell myself that I shouldn't bother Him with this little thing, or that. That is why He is here for us. We need to lean on Him during the bad and praise him during the bad, along with the good times as well. We all too often let the days go by without really thanking Him for all of the things in our lives. We need to be grateful that we get to wake up and experience all that life has to offer, good and bad.

So, I got the feeling that something wasn't right with my frend, so I e-mailed her. She answered back a few hours later...My feelings were right. She was in the hospital. She had a heart attack and didn't know it. At 31 years old, a single mother, a pre-school teacher, and no health insurance. I immediatley told my husband that I needed to go to the hospital to see her, he read her message and said to me, "Go now!" To be honest with you, I only skimmed the message, after reading the opening line..." I am in the hospital, I had a heart attack" I only skimmed from that point on. I got to the hospital last night right at 8:00 pm, just at the end of visiting hours, but they let us in anyway... I took another friend with me. We went in the room, and she giggled. Wheww! She was in awe that I came to see her. She was waiting on me to message her back... how funny. In all of this, she is still. Still in God's arms and in his plan. That just blows my mind!! She knows that He will take her to where she needs to be. Again, his will, his plan, his timing. What a great servant she is. An absolute inspiration to me.

We sat there while she told us what had happened. I was amazed that they don't know how this could have happened to her, the fact that she didn't know she had a heart attack, and what they plan on doing next. The doctors told her that it had to have happened about 3 weeks ago. She can't remember having any symptoms 3 weeks ago, other than a bad headache. She is scheduled to have a heart catherization this afternoon at 3 pm. I will be praying for her. I pray for her children. I pray for God's will, his plan, his timing.

Please, if you feel the calling, lift her up today. I will attatch a link (if I can figure out how to do that) to her blog. Read it for yourself and you will see just how inspiring she can be. http://www.mycrazylife-mommy2alj.blogspot.com/

God bless,
Jamie

House hunting

2008-11-15T13:31:00.003-05:00

We have found a very cute house that we really like. It is an old country house, that we would love to make our home. We continue to pray about our finances. We have money coming in every week and need to really be vigilant about paying all of our bills on time. We are still trying to play catch up on a few of them, but all in all, our money seems to be getting it done. Slowly, but at least they are getting there. We need to come up with about $2500 in order to secure getting the house. Please pray for us, we are really needing to get out of where we are now. I will keep the blog updated when I get further into this process. I am praying that we are in a home before Christmas. I feel like my children need that.

Thanks for taking time to read this, you don't know how much it means to me. Just to be able to write things down and not feel judged is wonderful for me. It is a great help to my sanity. Ha ha.

Tackle it Tuesday

2008-11-11T12:17:00.007-05:00

So, my project for today is getting my girls' room in order. We have let their room go over the past few weeks, so Mommy is "cleaning out". A much needed task. I am most excited about this for some reason. Maybe I am just tired of having to guess what I am stepping on in there. The entire floor is covered with toys, clothes and who knows what else. Wish me luck, I pray that I don't find anything that will make my stomach turn flips. I guess I really should have taken a picture before I started, so that I could post it for all to see, but that would embarass me too much. Anyway, good luck with your Tuesday projects.

How do you lead a lost child?

2008-11-08T11:36:00.003-05:00

As some of you know, I have a child, 16 girl, that came to me when she was 6 years old. She is my husband's child from a previous marriage. She lives with her mother and where she lives, we are about 25 minutes away from her. Due to certain happenings, we have had a strained relationship at times, and at other times, we are her "best friends".

We have always dealt with the problems of a divorce. The hurt, the pain, the anger, the hardship of having to take your child "home" from a weekend with you. We have dealt with the pain and anguish of our children that we have together as well. They don't understand why she can't just stay with us, they adore her.

Two years ago, she came to live with us. We enrolled her in our local middle school, and she way thriving. We can never seem to get on a good path because her mother always seems to have issues with whatever we try to instill. We were accused of being too hard on her, too many rules, not enough trust in the child to make the right choices. Just as we started to make headway, it happened. The mother jumped in, and stirred the trouble pot and off we were. Just as quickly as she came to be with us, she was gone. The mother didn't just stop there. She made as much trouble as she possible could for my husband. She even reported him to the child support recover agency, stating that he didn't pay her the support during the time that the child lived with us. Yeah, you read that right.

So, now 2 years later, the child is growing into young adulthood and seems to be at a cross roads in life. Go one way, the right way, or go down the wrong path. How do you direct a lost child, when you don't have any day to day access to the child? How do you keep that child encouraged to make the right choices when you really want to be in their face everyday holding them accountable for the choices that they are making? How can you be the parent that you need to be, when you have spent years on the sidelines? We have been on the sidelines, not by choice, but by being forced there by the mother. No matter how many times we have tried to talk to her about the child, and what we feel she needs, she answered by telling us that we have no say in the matters. We cannot control what rules are set forth in her home. I understand that, but when it comes to the well being of your child, and obviously she isn't making wise choices, you re-adjust and alter the rules set forth. Not every child is the same ,so the rules that are put together for one child, may not be the same rules that you will use for all of your children. Each have their own personalities and learning styles.

So, I ask the question again, how do you lead a lost child to make the best choices? How do you walk that fine line between being a parent and a friend to your children? I know that I was not made a parent by God to be that child's friend... I am a parent first! I will not always be the "cool parent" either. I only want what is best for my children. I want them to go forward in life and be productive, happy individuals that love their lives and most importantly, the Lord.

This is a round about the "speech" that we gave her last night. Please let me know what you think...

Every time you follow someone Else's way, you lose a little piece of yourself. With every boy friend that you have, you give away a piece of yourself. So by the time that you find your "Prince Charming, how much of you does he get? Every time you have sex, smoke that cigarette, drink that alcohol, you lose a little piece of yourself. Every time you cuss, steal, break the rules, you lose a little piece of yourself. How much of your True self are you willing to forfeit for approval of others? It is not the approval of your peers that you need. It is only God's approval. So what if you aren't one of the cool kids, so what if you don't feel like you have the right style of clothes. So what if they don't like you because you won't break curfew and drink. These are the choices that you have to make in order to grow not only personally, but spiritually as well. You do not have anyone in your life right now to hold you accountable for the choices that you are making. You need to find someone, anyone, that will truly hold you accountable for your actions and choices. Someone that will be in your face telling you the truth about what you are doing, not sugar coating it for you. You are at a cross roads in you life right now, so you need to decide which path you are going to take. You, and only you are responsible for the choices that you make. Therefore, you cannot blame anyone else for the consequences of those choices. Good or bad, they are yours. You take ownership of everything that you do. You were given the same gift that everyone else way, free will. It is what you do with that that counts.

So, I am taking this as a personal task to lead and guide this lost child to make the right choices in life. I will not count myself a failure if she doesn't. After all, like we told her, the choices are hers to make. She holds the power within herself to take the right path. Only she can choose which way to go from here. But, I can be there cheering her on, supporting her, encouraging her.

In love,
Jamie

Southern Academy Homeschool Co-Op

2008-11-03T11:32:00.002-05:00

So, although I am sending my two girls to public elementary school. I do homeschool my son, who is 3. He had a blast with his color pages today. He helped me pick out the ones that he wanted to color, and went to town on them. He really gets his feelings hurt when he doesn't stay in the lines, but he is learning. He is doing so well with his fine motor skills today. I think tomorrow I will have him sit to the table and sort beans. He loves working with his hands. He learns just like I do, very hands on.

I want to know is any other moms out there want to get together every week for a co-op of sorts. I know that there are already many in our community, but I don't know anyone in them. I only have the little one, so for me it would be easy to get involved at this level. Hopefully next school year I will have my girls homeschooled too. Please let me know if you are interested in doing this. I think it could be alot of fun and we could do field trips as well.

Thanks,
Jamie

2008-11-01T21:09:00.003-04:00

I wanted to show you my little darlings from Halloween this year. Of course not one of them would stand still long enough for me to take a decent picture, but hey, they had candy on the brain...They had so much fun, but nearly froze to death while trick or treating. Hannah and Lilly went as Princesses, and Dale was a ninja. The costumes were not my first choice, but that's what my mom bought for them... L-R Hannah, Dale, Lilly

Easy kitchen ideas...

2008-11-01T20:34:00.004-04:00

Hi everyone. I have been baking bread tonight, so my loving husband cooked dinner for us while I was kneading my dough. How sweet is he! Anyway, I got to thinking of the times when my schedule is running a bit too busy and I don't have alot of time to cook dinner. I have come up with several ways to "add" time to my day when it comes to the kitchen.

One way I save or add time in the kitchen is to do as much in advance as possible. For instance, when I purchase ground hamburger meat for Spaghetti or chili, I go ahead and brown all of it, then split the already browned meat up into sandwich or quart sized ziploc bags. Then put them in the freezer. Since the browning of the meat is the longest process for spaghetti, in my opinion, that is already done. All I do is empty the frozen meat in the pot of sauce, if I don't have any ready made sauce available, and start my noodles. By the time the noodles are done, the meat has defrosted and the sauce has warmed through enough for us to eat. Also, I have started using angel hair pasta, so they cook faster than the regular spaghetti noodles.

Another way to save time is to freeze spaghetti sauce that has the meat already added to it. This makes for easy meals, in minutes. When I make spaghetti, I tend to make more sauce than I need and just freeze the left overs. I have also come up with an easy lasagna recipe, shown below. (The picture above this post is my lasagna.) I can throw this together in minutes and bake within 45 minutes. Dinner in a flash. For those of you wondering, I think that as long as you can get dinner on the table in less than an hour, that is pretty much considered a flash to me. Especially when you consider how many people I cook for everyday. Try this recipe, I hope you like it, and please let me know what you think.

Easy Lasagna

1 box Lasagna noodles

2 quarts of Spaghetti sauce with meat

4 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese

In a 9 x 13 casserole dish, first put down a layer of sauce. Then add a layer of noodles, then cheese. Repeat this until you have filled the dish, ending with a layer of cheese. I cover mine with foil until the last 5-7 minutes, then uncover to brown the top. I usually have enough to make 2 9 x 13 dishes with this amount of noodles, sauce and cheese.

Once you have layered all of the ingredients, bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes. You can also cut baking time down to 30 minutes if the sauce is already hot and the noodles are cooked in boiling water on stove top.

I have found that 1 of the 9 x 13 dishes can feed 12 servings, since we usually offer salad and bread with this dish.

I hope you enjoy this, we sure love it. Even my picky eaters will devour lasagna if it is made this way.

Trying to find my light.

2008-11-01T15:27:00.001-04:00

As I continue to write online, I have come to see that I am trying to find my light. I was watching a movie today and that was the "theme" for the movie, to find the light. It got me wondering about my own light. What it is for, because we all have a light. It is just a matter of how we chose to use it, how we learn from it. I believe that our God, Jesus Christ gave us our light, and meant for it to serve a specific purpose. All of us have our own purpose, but also the same. We are to serve our God, to do what is right and just. I haven't been very good at this yet. That does not mean that I am doomed to hell for not using my light the way it was meant to. I know that my God, who is faithful and true, will give me time to "get it right".

I have had so many chances to enlighten myself, but have not taken advantage of any of them. Why do we go through life with the attitude that we can do it, meaning life, alone? We have a God for a reason, and we need to be leaning on him, praising him in every aspect of our life. Lift up praise to him when we are doing right, and doing wrong. We need to remember that He has a plan and purpose for us, and we need to seek him for guidance in order to find it. And then, accomplish it.

I plan on aspiring to bigger and better things for myself. I am trying to come into the woman that God intends for me to be. The wife and mother that I was made to be, the steward that I need to be. I am praying that he guide me along my path and speak to me when I need encouragement to stay on it. I pray that I do not falter. Everyday, each one of us has our trials and we need to encourage each other too. We need to lean on each other, and to pray for one another. I am blessed to have friends that listen to my trials and help me to see that they are there and happening for a reason. Thank you to all that help me. I am truly thankful to have you in my life.

On other news, My husband has found another job. He was offered a job in Savannah, so we are staying in this area. He feels like it was God calling him to stay here. Seeing as the job offer came so quickly and also offered more money than what he was making. In this economy, that was a huge blessing. So for now, we are content that God made this decision for a reason. We are praying that he lead us to the home we are supposed to be in. We have been living with my parents since April of this year and feel like it is time for us to move out. We just need God's guidance in where that should be, and also if it is His will for us to move out yet. So, as we continue to pray about these things, we also pray for our personal relationships with our Savior.

Thanks for reading, and hope that you will come back again soon. I promise to add things that will not only be about our religion, but also about being a stay at home mother, and wife, clearance shopping and coupon shopper. I love to bake, so recipes will be added too. I am trying to learn how to sew, so maybe some postings on what I am sewing. Also, trying to learn how to upload pictures to my postings, so bear with me. Feel free to add me to your favorites, or follow my blog. I love helping when I am led to do so.

I look forward to posting again. Maybe even another one today, if I can figure out the picture thing.

Jamie

New begginings

2008-10-22T20:25:00.001-04:00

My husband and I have been talking lately about moving. He has been looking for another job that would give him an advancement, and more pay. So far, he has sent out his resume to over 40 companies all over the south united states. He has heard from 3 of them within the last few days. Two of them are in the Charlotte, NC area, and one here in Savannah. He has a phone interview with one of the companies in Charlotte tomorrow, and also an interview in Savannah tomorrow. He will officially be unemployed in the morning. We have really prayed hard over the last few weeks about where God wants us to be. He, above all things will be the only one to decide where we end up. I really think, as a fleshly person, that we need to be farther away from here. I pray that God shows us very soon where we are to be, and what we are to be doing. I feel him, but haven't heard him yet. I know that he is with me everyday, and hope and pray that he be with my husband as well. I am really praying that he not speak to me about this, but to my husband. He (husband) needs to be the leader of this family, both spiritually and in his everyday leadership. He should be the one that God speaks to. Again, this is my flesh talking, and not quite sure if this is how it will happen. We can only keep praying, and watching our pennies until we hear...

Today the girls got their report cards from school. Hannah had 3 high B's and the rest were high A's with 4 1oo's. Lilly doesn't get actual number grades. She just gets a report on how she is progressing and if she is comprehending what she needs to learn. The "grades" are something like this... 3 means meets or exceeds expectations, 2 needs improvement, and 1 means they are exempt from that at this time... Lilly received a 3 on all of her actual learning letters, numbers, reading, ect... she received 2's on her behavior, socialization, ect... but we knew that she would be a spitfire... I am so proud of my girls. They continue to amaze me everyday.

Dale has been playing a lot lately, with a new suction cup dart gun. If you have a son, a 3 year old son, you know what I am talking about... He doesn't just play with the gun, he lives for this gun. He sleeps with it, he goes potty with it, he tries to shoot the dogs with it. He really loves his suction cup "shooter gun". He has gotten to be such a big boy in the last few months. He is finally growing enough, so much so that he actually fits in his average size 3t clothes, for his age. He has actually eaten meat 2 times this week. For those of you that don't know, my son really only like to eat peanut butter and little debbie cakes. He is an extremely picky eater and will not try anything new. So, for him to eat anything new this week is a milestone for him. I am proud of my little man.

Please continue to pray for us, if you don't mind. We will continue to pray and let God lead us. We are holding his hands and letting him lead the way.

A night at the movies, makes for one determined wife and mother.

2008-10-18T16:35:00.000-04:00

There have been a lot of things going on within the last few weeks. Some better than others, and still others are just yet another pothole in the road of life. I am a believer of all things happen for a reason, but those trying times make me wonder what in the world did I do to this earth to make it hate me so much. The other times, the good times, I take such great pride in what is going on in my life. I never took the time to give the thanks to the right place.

My husband and I went to the movies last night with some friends. We saw the movie Fireproof. It wasn't until then that I figured out why my life was unhappy and unfufilled. I haven't been giving God the proper accredidation for everything in my life. Good or bad, they are all there to teach me as I go along, and place me on the right path on this earth. What path that may be, I don't know yet, only God knows, and he isn't telling me just yet.

What a wonderful God we have. He, above all people and things in life, loves me and you without prejudice... forever! Wow!! That kind of love DOES NOT happen everyday. There is truly only one person that will ever love me, or you that much. We can strive to give and receive love of that magnitude, but never acheive it. Only one being will give you that much out of life and ask for only your love in return.

We came home from the movie, and it was late so we went on to bed. Today however, we discussed what we thought about the movie and talked for a while about what kind of marriage we both wanted. It was wonderful to know that we both wanted (roughly) the same things in our marriage. There were only minor differences. Those, we intend on working on the hardest. Those differences are the ones that will fester and boil over into a whole new problem. We both agreed that we will work together to make our marriage... Fireproof, unshakable, and unbreakable. I really want my husband to be honored to call me his wife, not obligated to. And, vice versa. The same goes for my children. I want them to feel honored to call me thier mother, not just another person that lives in the same house.

So, that is what is going on with me and my family. I hope to be able to let you all know of our progress soon. We are not going to rush this at all. We are going to take this one day at a time. I love all of you, and thanks for reading and supporting me on my journey of faith.

Job huntin', lyin', sewin' and farmin'

2008-10-14T12:15:00.001-04:00

Job huntin' / lyin'

Well, the last two weeks have been interesting to say the least. My husband has been looking into getting another job, one where he can advance. He has been unhappy with his current position for the past few months. From what I understand, they are asking him to put his morals on the line with customers, and he is not willing to do that. That is one thing that my husband will not do, is lie to customers by telling them that they need new equipment, when they don't. Just to sell something, not happening. We know as much as anyone, what it is like to be poor and need a new air conditioner. We have been there. Had it not been for him working in the business, we wouldn't have been able to get a new unit. By the grace of God, his company at the time allowed us to put it on their account and pay for it along and along. In this current economy, he cannot see himself lying just to sell something, when most of his customers are feeling the financial crunch.

You know, my pet peeve is lying, but there are times when I, myself, lie. You know we all do it... we tell our friends the little white lie... it goes something like this. "No, that outfit looks great on you." Those lies, I don't have a problem with, because what is worse, hurting your best friend's feelings, or telling them that the purple shirt with lime green spots looks horrid with their skin tone.

Sewin' and farmin'

I have so many things that I want to learn how to do before I get too much older. One is canning, one is sewing, one is crocheting. I also want to have my own garden that really produces food. Not just midget sized veggies that are just teaser veggies. laughing at you for not using the right soil or fertilizers. Anyone that has had this happen, knows the feeling that you get when you go to check on your little babies and see that they have peaked and only have these little itsy bitsy things on them. UGH!! How much of an ego buster can they be? Anyway, I have gone to Walmart and bought fabric and a pattern to make hand made aprons for Christmas presents. I have cut out the pattern and some of the fabric to size, now I just need to get in there and figure out how they go together. Then sew it up and, violot', should have an apron, keeping my fingers crossed all the way. I will keep my canning lesson for another time, maybe late fall... we'll see.

So, IF my honey gets another job, he is looking all over the southeastern states, we will be moving. YES!!! I am so ready to move. I have never lived outside of this county and am really looking to see the rest of our world. We don't even go on vacation, with the exception of this summer when the kids and I went to Atlanta with my sister's family and my mother and grandmother. Who really counts that though, it was still in the state, so I don't.

I imagine myself with the plain lifestyle. Living in a little wooden cottage with a couple of acres and a really wood burning stove. Sewing all of the clothes. Having a "mini farm" with a couple of chickens, maybe a cow or goat for milk, and veggie patch. OH, what a life that would be . My dream come true. Well, one can dream, can't they???

Alright, well, back to my apron lesson. Hope that honey hears something soon from that job n Charlotte, NC... dreams come true everyday, so why can't mine?? I'll keep you posted.

Jamie

Ready to move on...

2008-10-09T15:10:00.001-04:00

Something has really been eating away at me lately. I want to move out of Effingham county. I don't know where this came from initially, but it is there nonetheless. I don't want my obituary to read...

Jamie from Effingham county Georgia, died yesterday. She was a stay at home mother, and wife.

That would be a nightmare for me if that happened. I want to get out there in this world and see all that I can. Experience different things, things that don't happen in this county. Don't get me wrong, I love this county. It is my home, and always will be. I just want to know what else is out there. Something is missing from my sad little life. Everyday, it is the same routine. I know that other people must feel like this sometimes, but it is really hitting me lately.

Anyway, on to other news. My honey is thinking of changing jobs again. He will never make a lateral move, if he moves at all it will be for a better position. I am the type of wife that feels this... If your husband isn't happy at the job he's at, but loves what he does, then by all means, change companies... Because, when he is happy, he makes a difference at home. I don't think of it as constantly changing jobs, because he does the same thing everywhere he goes... Its no different than a hairdresser changing salons...

The girls are doing great at school. Hannah's grades are getting better on her tests and she is making friends easily. Lilly has been struggling with her attitude, but I think she is learning boundaries with her teacher. She also makes good grades on her school work. My little man, Dale, is getting used to being the only one home during the days. He still won't help with cleaning his room, but he will help wash laundry, so I can't complain too much. Well, I can, but you don't want to read about that.

Friends are great, they constantly surround me with support and advice. So glad that each one of them are in my life. Have you ever noticed that each one of your friends are there for a different reason. You always have the one to call when you are sick, the one that you call when you want to be wild, one for when you are wanting a girls day at the mall... list goes on. I didn't know if that was just me, or if every one's friend's list was like this.

Until next time y'all. Take care.
Jamie

preparing myself...

2008-07-31T14:55:00.001-04:00

School starts back next week, and once again, I am nervous about it. I'll be alright though, I usually am after the first couple of weeks. Lilly's birthday was yesterday, and we had such a wonderful day together with all the children. Celebrating our miracle baby. We started our day picking up Meme and Papa. We went to Old Fort Jackson, then on to Chuck E. Cheese for lots of fun and games. Then on to the mall, to get Lilly's ears pierced, she was excited, but then had a melt down during the process. After the mall, we came home and they swam with daddy, and mommy went on some errands... For dinner we made her favorite... Basghetti...(spaghetti) and pizza. Then we surprised her with Tinkle bell (tinker bell) cupcakes and ice cream... She loved it, she was so surprised by the cupcakes.... and happy. She really had a great birthday. Her party will be on Saturday, so of course she is still excited about it. She isn't however excited about the shots she will have to get on Friday in order to start school... she promises to "try not to cry" when she gets them done. Hannah will have to have one too. She promised "to cry". So, that is about it... until next time...
God bless, and Pray for me.

Jamie

My life as of late...

2008-07-17T23:46:00.001-04:00

I am currently laying in bed, t.v. on, but not watching it, with my husband sleeping next to me. We have had such a busy couple of months, he needs all the sleep he can get. I feel so sorry for him, having so much to do, and not getting enough sleep... he'll get to sleep in this weekend, hopefully.

Anyway... so, as some of you know, we have moved in with my parents. We are trying to save money, to put a house next door to them. They are supposed to give us an acre of land to put a house on, and I already have that house picked out!!! Just waiting until we can afford to get it. Kevin, my husband, has been working so hard this summer. He's an air conditioning repair man, so that is to be expected. The children are great, still not listening to me, and still yell and argue with everyone. One can only wish that they will, in time, get the idea of how things should work.

I am still a stay at home mother, and would love to go back to work just to help save money faster, but alas, am too afraid to leave my little one. That, and everything that I have found, well, stinks!! School will be starting again soon, and so will my unending want to home school my children. It always seems to really hit me when school is about to start. Maybe this year will be different, but I don't think so. I still have the drive to home school my kids, but no support system to encourage me to do so. I know that there are women out there that can understand what I am talking about. I will be fine, hopefully!! The girls will be going to a different school this year, so I hope that this school will be better than the last one... it was horrible in my opinion. I am going to see about being the room mother again, so that should help me cope with sending them to public school. My son will be home with me again this year, so I am going to home school him with pre-k stuff. Maybe he will be above average when he gets into pre-k next year. The first week of school is hard for him to deal with. Last year, he was a mess, not used to big sisters being gone all day long, and mommy is no fun!! We'll see how the next few weeks go. I am trying to prepare him now, for what coming. That's all for now. Wish me luck!!

Jamie