New Year...New, New, New....

On this New Year's eve of 2015 I look back and see how things have changed and how I would like things to change in 2016.   So,  I am still in school, on break and between semesters.  I loved my public speaking class this session.   I highly recommend that for every high school student.  This is a necessity if you are going to make a good impression on interviews or even presentations.  This next session will be all about criminal justice. 
  The boys are growing and ever changing.   I cannot believe Sprat is a sophomore in high school and Big T is in seventh grade.  They both are growing in their interests.  We will start planning college tours soon for Sprat.   Breathe.  . .
College???? Ughhhh. Am I really ready to push my baby out of the nest?  Many more post to follow on that one,  with tears. . .   Big T is turning into a nasty teenage alien.  I never thought my sweet T would ever become an awful teenager but, that is happening right before my eyes. 
  The hubbs is still recovering from his nasty fall on the ice in March, surgery, and finally going back to work.  Here is what I learned from that episode.  If you are a diabetic and have any kind of surgery or trauma you sugar is going to go through the roof.   The hubbs is a controlled diabetic and after he had to have surgery his sugar was upward of 500(this is VERY high).  Even if you are not insulin dependent they give you insulin to control your sugar.  Nobody told us this, so I flipped out.  This should really be something they make you aware of before any surgery.  Needless to say I cried myself to sleep that night in the hospital and it took weeks before his sugar came back to where he was before the fall.  I am very thankful for a family doctor who talked me off the ceiling that night and a pastor that visited and prayed with us before and after surgery. 
Our clan has so many things to be thankful for this year too many to list and many things to look forward to for 2016.
From my house to yours Happy New. Year!!!!  

It is Official I Am Old!!

I am slipping in my old age.  I have shared before about wagers I have made with the hubbs and my kids.   I normally do not wager unless I know I am going to win. 
My kids are the worst, in the mornings, trying to get ready and clothes and bags packed for school.  They wait until it is time to go out the door to scramble to find PE clothes and get the book bags packed.  After telling Big T to get his things together three times I was at my end.  He said, I am ready.  I could see his gym clothes and his gym bag in the chair not packed.  He said again, I am ready.  This is where my age has caught up to me and I slipped.  He said he was ready and I said he was not.  He said, I bet you I am.  So we bet and I lost.  Ughhh I detest smarty pants kids.  I did forget he has two sets of gym clothes and two gym bags.  He was indeed ready to go to school.  So I have to pay up.  I was completely over confident in this one.  I blame it on my age creeping in.  I will not admit that my son got the best of me.  

Sorry for the Break. . .

I have not had time to post these last several weeks and I do regret it.  I have been all over the place, between the kiddos and their schedule and my own.  Whewww! 
My public speaking  class has really been a challenge but, one I  am very happy to embrace.  This class has really thrown me out of my comfort zone.  I have learned that public speaking will not kill you, as I have long believed.  I have met some great young adults in this class.   My first speech was my hardest because it was all about me.   You would think I could talk all day about me.  I guess typing about me is much easier than actually being in front of a group and talking.  My last two speeches were on aspects of Dave Ramsey and I knocked them both out of the park.  Very proud of those two grades. 
The Constitutional Law class has been a big challenge too.  I will be glad when this semester is over.  I am going to try and get back in my groove with my posts, I beg for your patience as I try and adjust. 

I am going to brag just a bit on my very smart and handsome boys.  They both had straight A's this grading period.   I am
a very proud mom.  You may think it is no big deal to get straight A's but, when you throw in that they were both playing football and had practice every day it is an accomplishment.  
Stay tuned, lots of things to come. . .

Kids and Cars ? ? ?

Sprat enjoyed his birthday week.  Between football games and practice, school, and life in general poor Sprat did not get an official celebration.  We celebrated with the family at the lake over the weekend and we had cake and ice cream at our house the other day.  No, he did not get a new car for his sweet sixteen.  He will not have his license for a couple months yet because he has not put in his driving time like he should have.  I am not sure if he is afraid or if he just does not care about driving.  Most of the kids he hangs out with will not get their licenses till next year and that may be part of it.
I did not get a new car when I turned sixteen, I did get to drive my moms' old car and I was pretty thrilled with that.  Some of the kids I went to school with got new cars; they got Camero, Jaguar, and even a Porche.  I drove my daddy's truck to school right after I got my license because I could not drive a straight drive.  Once I learned how to drive a straight drive I got my moms' car.   I was thrilled just to have a car to drive.  I drove moms car till I graduated college and went to work.  Once I was settled in my new job and my new apartment I started saving my money so that I could buy my first car and moms car went back to them.  I think this is how things are going to go with my kids.  They can drive what we have, and when they have a job of their own they can buy their first car.

Preparation for the Big 16. . .

Cross another crazy week off the charts.  Whewww!  Gave my speech, got a little emotional at the end, no big  shocker there.  Oh, and I was a little long winded, hmmm, go figure. 
Got rearended  on my  way to school by a girl with no license.   Ughh.  No damge  to either car thank goodness.   I hope this was her wake up call. 
Getting ready for my baby to turn 16.  (Big tears here).   He has a few more months of permit driving before he actually will get his license.   When I asked him about a party or get together with his buddies all he said was, "I am not a girl."  I told him that boys turn 16 too and that he could just get together with his friends.  My hubby suggested that he should take Sprat and his friends to Hooters.  Thank goodness he was only joking.   I have been looking at some college football games he could go to and so far he has not been impressed.  We may have to put off the celebration until after his football season.  
Going to be another crazy week so hang on to your hats.

Personal Finance? ? ?

Sprat is taking personal finance this semester in school.  He brought home a list of questions for his dad and I on our experience with money.  I honestly believe I could teach a young adult personal finance class.   I think I have made all the mistakes out there with money.  I am very proud to say I learned from my mistakes and did not make the same one twice.  
One of the questions asked, if I could share one important lesson about money what would it be?   With out a doubt it would be, never sign up for a credit card.  I signed up for my first card as a freshman in college.   I was working partime and had a $2, 500 credit limit with a 29% interest rate.  What was I thinking?  That is the point, I was not thinking.   I was too young to know better and my parents had never warned me of the evils of credit cards.  I do not think they ever imagined a company would give me credit.
I think I have shared this before, when talking about credit cards,  about all of the offers the hubbs and I received in a month.   I had over $352, 000 and my hubby had over $450, 000 in credit card offers.  This would have been in 1998 when the credit card companies sent out these types of offers every day.  We did not have that kind of money nor did we need that kind of credit for anything. 
You can live without credit cards but it takes patience, planning, and delayed gratification.  These are three things the kids of today are not being taught.  They are the now generation.  They want it now and do not care how they get it.  My kids are guilty of this too, so please do not think I am pointing fingers.   This has been an ongoing lesson for both of my boys.  We talk daily about saving for that all important pair of shoes they absolutely must have or the game that they cannot live without.  If it is over and above what they NEED for school then they pay for it themselves.  Both the boys have bought their own shoes with their own money (birthday or commission) if it was something that was a want and not a need.  Yes, I am that mom.

First Speech Next Week. . .

A getting to know you speech, my first assignment.  Not sure I want anyone to know me.  Do we really want people to know us?   Yes, I post a lot of things here but I see this as more of an online journal.  Sometimes I vent, sometimes I want to share something new that I have learned, and sometimes I just write whatever is on my mind.
Back to the speech; I have to talk about an item from my past, present and future.  This is a hard one.  It is 2-3 minutes in length, if you go over or under you get points deducted.  I can get long winded so I am worried about the over 3 minutes issue.  I have had a real time trying to decide what items I will use to represent my past, present and future.  I think my kids represent my present and my husband represents my future but I am not sure about my past.  I think I am more complicated than a 3 minute speech.

Making Wagers. . .

My husband and I  have always made bets with each other on various topics.  Before we had our kids and when we were both working we would make sizable (several hundred $) wagers with each other.  
One day we were out of town and I thought I saw one of my students from my Sunday school class.  I pointed him out and of course the hubbs immediately dismissed  that it was him.  I was pretty sure it was him, so I bet my hubby a new designer pocketbook if I was right and he could get a new rod and reel of equal value to my pocketbook  if he was right. 
We happened to be at a basketball tournament when all of this happened so I had to wait till the game was over to go and see my student.  Long story short, it was my student and the hubbs was not happy. 
I usually won these bets with my hubby and yes they were silly bets but we have so much fun picking  with and teasing each other.   Sometimes we bet on who knows what.  We got into an argument about where the mini Coopers were built and who made them.  You can imagine the salesman's surprise when we pulled into the dealership to get the facts to resolve our bet.  You guessed it, I won and this time I got a mani/pedi. 
I am sharing all of these crazy stories so that I can share the latest between Sprat and I.   He was being hard headed, as teenagers do and refused to take any notebooks or pens or pencils to school on his first day.  I insisted that he would need to write things down and he needed to take a notebook and a pencil.  Naturally, being the loving mom I am, I packed a notebook, pens, and pencils in his bookbag without him knowing.  He was still insistent that he would not be writing anything down on the first day.  I do not know where they get this attitude?  Heeheehee.   He proceeded to bet me he would not be writing anything down.  He has the know it all attitude but he forgets that I DO KNOW IT ALL.  You moms know what I am talking about.  He bet me $100 that he would not write anything down.  Well, you know I could not resist this one.  I took his bet and when he came home from school last night he pulled out all of his papers that would need signing and low and behold he had written several things in his agenda and on his papers.  I did not take my child's money,  this little mishap will be worth way more than $100 later on down the road.  This little gem will stay in my mom arsenal of "do you remember when?" 
Here is to all the moms and dads fighting the good fight day and night, hang in there and know that your kids will thank you later on down the road.  It took me twenty-two years to learn and realize my parents were always right.   Love and hugs to you all.

First Day of School

Yippeee!!!!  First day of school.  I am so excited!  The hubbs and I have a tradition, that on the first day of school he takes the day off.  This way there are no distractions and we double team the kids to get them ready on time and out the door.   After the kids are gone we go out for a nice quiet breakfast, just the two of us.   There are always errands to run too, and we tackle those together.  Today we made trips to Goodwill and Sunnyside Ministries.  We also dropped by the shooting range for a little target practice.  Nothing like a little couples therapy at the range. 
The hubby and I have been doing this for several years now and we look forward to it every year.  I have been trying to take the kids pictures each year too on their first day.  Sprat hates having his picture taken so this took some effort.  I told him that some day he will have kids and they are going to ask; dad, why are you not in any of these pictures?   Or, they might ask; dad why are your eyes closed to tightly?  Here is our picture today.  Sophomore and 7 th grader, my goofy boys.

Public Speaking

Public speaking may be the death of me.   That is my on campus class this semester.  Yes, I get to give several speaches on varying subjects.  There is one other lady that may be my age, the rest are first year students and you can see their fear.  I did not take a public speaking  course when I was in college the first go around.  I think they should require a course like this in high school.  I know my Sprat would definitely benefit from it as well as most high schoolers these days.  
The one thing I have noticed about high schoolers,  is that they do not make eye contact when talking to adults.  If you have ever conducted an interview or have been interviewed you know the importance of eye contact.   I hope to pass along some of what we discuss in this class to my boys to help them along their way. 
My semester has already begun and the boys will start next week.  We are getting ready to hit full speed at our house.   My posting may be somewhat sporadic these next few weeks till we get into a routine again so please have patience.  Best of luck to all starting back to school and to the moms and dads behind those little buggers.

Kids and Collections. . .

All kids collect things; some collect baseball cards, certain toys, stuffed animals, barbies, and coins.  Big T collects knives and since the Gun and Knife show was in town this past weekend I thought we might go and see what they had.   This is a small show but there were a ton of people there.  I wanted to get there early so we could get in and get out, nice thought.  We got there a little before it was supposed to start and the line was already in the parking lot waiting to get in.  It did move fairly quickly once they opened the doors.  Big T was amazed at how many people just had guns thrown over their shoulders.   In the news last week was a story of a man shooting himself in the parking lot of a local gun show, by accident.  They were taking precautions, making sure the guns that were brought into the building were not loaded.  Once we got in the building everyone spread out and it did not seem as crowded.  There were lots of interesting items at the show.  There were the hard core preppers there with survival gear and there were a lot of guns and plenty of knives to dazzle Big T.  We went around and looked at everything before he narrowed down what he really wanted.  He found some unique knives and I even found one I liked.
My dad always carried a small pocket knife and so did my brother and sister.  I remember one Christmas they both got knives.  Dad believed everyone should carry a pocket knife, you never know when you might need one.  Big T does not carry one everywhere, he knows he cannot carry one to school.  When Big T gets older he will have quite the collection to share with his kids.  My dad enjoyed showing his collection to Big T and I.  

Commission Vs. Allowance for Kids. . .

Do you pay your kids an allowance or a commission?  Do you know the difference?  Do your kids know the difference?   This is a brief rundown of how I understand these words.  Allowance to me means; money given for just being around.  Commission, on the other hand, is money paid for doing work.  How do you want your kids to understand the money they are given each week?  Do you want them to take pride in their chores and do the work and get paid or do you just want to dole out your money to the couch potatoes that occasionally grunt hello when you come into the room?  I opt for the first one, I wanted my kids to have responsibility and chores in our house.  There are some things that they are required to do just because they are a part of our family and there are other things they get paid for.  Each chore has a dollar amount attached to it and if it is not done they do not get that money.  My hope is, this is teaching them to have a good work ethic.  My boys are 15 and 12 and this is what they are paid to do:  bring laundry down to be washed, put clean laundry away, take out the trash and recycle, stomp soda cans, and keep their rooms semi-neat.  These are the things they do just because they are a part of this family:  yard work with dad, get the mail, help with the dishes, unload groceries and anything else their dad and I can come up with that needs to be done.
I follow the Dave Ramsey plan with the boys too.  They have a give, save and spend envelope that they divide their money into each week.  I hope this is teaching them to spend responsibly and save and give to others in need.
I never had an allowance growing up, I had friends that did and maybe if I had I would have been better with money as a young adult.  My mom and dad gave me money when I needed it for clothes, movies or going out to eat but it was never attached to a specific chore.  I had things that I had to do around the house and at the barn.  I did not have money that I would call my own until I started working when I was a junior in high school.  I did not have a bank account until I started that job either.  My kids had savings accounts as soon as they were born.  I am sure I have mentioned this before but I will tell it again.  I had a big empty plastic water cooler bottle that we would put spare change in when Sprat was little.  I kept this in his room, when grandparents came to visit they had to pay to see the baby.  Ha ha ha ha ha!!!  just kidding.  Anytime they got money as a gift it went in the bottle and that in turn went to their savings accounts.  I only recently told the boys that they even had bank accounts.  The later they find out the better.  I ended up having to tell Sprat because he went to his daddy and told him I had stolen his money.  He told his dad he had X amount of money and now he had a lot less and of course I was the only suspect in this crime.   I did take his money to put in his bank account so it would not end up going to the grocery store for candy and junk.  Thank goodness my hubby was able to explain to him what I had done and I told him we had a savings account for him at our bank.  

Getting Back to School. . .

Is everyone ready for the kiddos to be back in school?  It is bitter sweet at my house.  My kids keep getting older despite my attempts to keep them my little ones.   I am excited for them to get back in their routine so that I can return to my routine.   I do crave my routine.
Big T will be in 7th grade and Sprat will be in 10th.  Ughhhh!!!!  I hate saying that, I do not feel I am old enough to have a 10th grader.  I still wish I was a MOP (mother of preschooler).  Those days were such fun, I wish I had relished in them a little more.  To all of you MOP's, enjoy those little guys for as long as you can because they morph so quickly into aliens/teenagers.   Just when they get interesting and you can actually carry on a conversation with them they think it is torture to be in the same room with you.  We fight this one daily.  I think they have this misconception that they are supposed to be aggravated with their parents, that it is some kind of rule or something.  Every now and then when we are all together enjoying our time as a family I see a glimpse of them having fun.  You must be careful not to draw attention to it though because they will clam up and retreat to that angry teenager mode again.  You must secretly enjoy those little moments.  I am trying to take advantage of every moment I can to be with the boys because soon GIRLS will come into this picture.  I know this is inevitable but I get a pain in my gut every time I think about it.  So far we have dodged the bullet with them both.  I hope they take after their daddy and do not date until college.  I think Big T is the ladies man, he is the one that had the little girls buying him pudding last year at school.   Girls are so forward these days, I know this is off of my topic, so I will save this one for another day.
As for today, I will cherish every little bit of time I have with my kiddos.

Salsa, Salsa, Salsa. . .

My hubby makes the best salsa around.  It even rivals many of the Mexican restaurants that make their own.   He has grown so much in our 23 years together, going from not eating onions to growing and grilling his own.  
I will share his recipe with you but our secret ingredient is lots of love.  We work in the garden together and we make the salsa together.

20 or so average tomatoes
4-5 jalapeno peppers
1-2 onions
2-3 cloves of garlic
Fresh cilantro
2tbsp cumin
2 limes zested and juiced

This is a 2-3 hour process but well worth the time.
Boil your tomatoes until the skin splits then remove from water and let cool.  Boil your peppers till soft, remove and set aside to cool.  Chop onion and saute in a little olive oil till translucent.   Press garlic and saute till slight brown.  Chop a small bunch of cilantro. 
Once your tomatoes are cool you can slide the skin right off.  We leave ours in a drainer over a bowl to catch excess liquid.  Hubby chops the peppers and sets them aside.  I use the blender to blend everything together.  We do not  care for chunky salsa.   I add some tomatoes, peppers,  onion, garlic, cilantro, and some lime juice and blend then pour into a large bowl.  I do this until everything is well blended then hubby adds the cumin and zest.  This makes about 8 cups of salsa.  We keep ours in the fridge and eat on it for a week or so.  Does not usually last very long with the kids around.   I think our salsa is so good because most everything is cooked and blended.  If you try this let me know how yours turns out. 

Time to Tackle Another Week. . .

I have a week of football ahead of me different times and both kids.  How do we keep up with all that our kids want to do and still carve out some time for ourselves and time with our spouses?  We need to make an intentional effort for ourselves as well as our spouses.  Whether you have kids or not this can still apply to you.  Our kids can and will consume our lives and that is not a bad thing.  I love my kids and my husband and I would do anything for them, with in reason.  My husband and I also love each other and know that when our kids are grown and out of our home that he and I are all we have.

You fall in love and marry the love of your life.  You spend lots of time together early in your marriage and then you have kids and your time gets divided or maybe it is a job that steals away that time.  This is not bad it just is what it is.  We all get caught up in our own things and sometimes forget about those closest to us.  When our life gets full we must make time for our spouses and ourselves.  I do not sleep a lot these days so I take advantage of getting up early and having that quiet time for devotions and prayer.  The hubbs and I have a little tradition that on the first day of school he takes the day off and after the kids are at school we go for breakfast and spend the day together.  The hubbs and I carve out days like that through the year as well.
 You must continue to nurture that relationship with your spouse, if you do not it will die.  There is no time like the present to carve out some time for you and your spouse.  If you already do this, great and kudos to you.  I would love to hear back from you to know how you do it.  

Tears and Weakness. . .

I am a very passionate person; whether it is my kids, family, my Christianity, or a job.   I do get weepy at times.  Sometimes it is when I am sad or missing someone close to me, sometimes it is during Church when our minister hits home a point.  Some people see this as a weakness, I assure you it is not.  I deal with and process things differently than most and sometimes that touches a certain part of my soul which comes out in tears.  In the Bible it talks about tears and how precious they are to God and that he makes a record of each one (Psalms 56:8).  Tears were also used to wash Jesus feet.
I saw this on Facebook one day; "tears do not mean you are weak, they mean you have been strong for way too long."   I am not sure I believe that one but, I do know that I am not weak.  There are many days I have felt I could not make it but, then God steps in and he lifts me over all obstacles in my path.
To anyone else that feels weak because you shed tears for others, do not.  You are not weak, it is ok to cry and show your feelings.  Those tears mean you are real and you are not trying to hide who you are.  I used to try to hide mine but I have given up on that.  My kids know how I am and it does not bother them because they know that I am real.

Should be a Semi-Normal Week. . .

Sprat is home after being away for two weeks at camps and I hope we can get back to normal.  Normal is subjective at our house.   My house is like a three ring circus and when we come out of the house  it is like a volcanic eruption. 
I hope at some point my boys learn how great it is to have a sibling and how blessed they are to have each other.
Sprat came home with wild tales of mission camp and how much fun they had.  Big T started leadership camp today and, to see him get off the bus with a huge grin is priceless.  He had a lot of fun and has this whole week  of learning ahead of him at our community college.   Sprat is back eyeball deep in football again and I guess until the season is over.  

I get a little nostalgic every year about this time, thinking about school starting back and the kids progressing along.  Every tick of the clock is another step closer to them making their way in this world and being on their own.  We want them to be on their own but it is hard to let go.  We want them to be happy, healthy, and successful in whatever they choose to do.  

Last Trip for the Week

Yesterday we went to check out the Bechtler House.  This is the home of the man that first minted the first gold dollar in the United States and it was right in my back yard.  Big T, grandma, Alli, and I are touring this time.  
We had a great time visiting with the family.  It really is amazing at how much history you can learn that is practically in your back yard.   I bet you think the gold rush started in California, nope.  It actually began in western North Carolina.  Christopher Bechtler began a mint to aid the gold miners of North Carolina.   He started in the early 1830's with a $5 gold coin and latter made a $2.50 and $1 gold coin.  Bechtler made the first gold dollar in the United States. 

I have hit the high points on all of our trips, please check out the websites I have mentioned for each trip to find out more or maybe even plan your own visit.  I think Big T has enjoyed his adventures this last two weeks, I know I have and I think we both have learned a lot.  Our trip would not be complete without a trip to see my sisters' house and to see her sweet goats.  Big T got some great pictures of them, he is quite the photographer.  We also went by one of our local high school agriculture barns to see their new piglets.   Check out Big T's pictures below.

Exploring Local History. . .

Big T and I are still exploring our little corner of the world.  We have an unusual home in our area called Korner's Folly, Jule Korner built the house in the late 1800's to use as a studio for his furniture and interior design concepts.  Big T and I set out yesterday to see this house, our little adventures these last two weeks have been a lot of fun for us both.  We have seen things that we may not otherwise have the opportunity to visit.  Next week Big T has leadership camp and Sprat goes back to football workouts and there will not be time for side trips.
I will give you a brief run down on the house, it really is a must see to appreciate how it all comes together.  To look at it on the outside it looks like a typical two story home, when in fact, it has seven levels and ceiling heights that vary from 5 1/2 feet to 25 feet.  I will not spoil all of your fun by telling everything, it is a must see to appreciate.  Check out their website:
www.kornersfolly.org  Below are some pictures Big T took.

Stay tuned we have at least one more trip this week maybe two if it all works out.  

Trip to the Dairy Farm. . .

Today Big T and I ventured out to a working dairy farm that gives tours.  These folks were the best!  The young lady that was our guide was very knowledgeable in the history of the farm since her grandfather started it.  We went on a hay ride around the pastures and got to see these beautiful cows. They milk their cows and make cream, butter, and ice cream right on the farm. We got to see the milking room and where the cows stay when they are expecting.    These cows are treated very well.   They are milked twice a day and the rest of the time they are kept in a cooling barn especially on hot days.  Here is the website for the dairy:  www.homelandcreamery.com
If you have a dairy farm near you that offers tours I highly recommend a trip.  We also stopped by a local pre-Revelutionary War battlefield.  We got our history lesson for today.  Check out your community around you, you might be surprised at how much history you will find.  We had a wonderful day learning a few things.
On another note, Sprat is at Mission camp this week with our Church.  So far they have torn down an old shed, for a neighbor of our Church, and taken away the garbage from it.   They have a few more things like this to do this week.

Field Trip. . . .

Big T and I went to visit my folks yesterday and we also went to see the Biltmore House.  I was able to talk my sister and her girls and my mom into going with us.  We had a blast and got to visit one of the most beautiful places in North Carolina.  We had a great day for our trip, the weather was perfect and the way we had planned it worked our great.  We visited the house and part of the gardens first then ate at the Stable Cafe.  We also went to the Winery and the museum at Antler Hill Village.
I had forgotten how truly  amazing this place was.  It has been years since I had been and many things had changed since I was here.   There were several things that Big T especially wanted to see; the pool, bowling ally, and the Napoleon chess set.   He was a little disappointed to find out they had moved the chess set to the museum at Antler Hill Village.   My favorite parts were the billiard room and the library with the spiral staircase.    We used the audio sticks and were able to hear detailed information about each room, it was almost like having a guided tour.  They told us about how Vanderbilt decided where and how to place the house so that they could take advantage of the beautiful views.   I was disappointed that we could not take pictures inside the house but we took a lot of pictures of the grounds.   I would love to go back at Christmas to see all of the decorations.  We had a great time.  Here are some of our pictures. . .

Stay tuned, we have a few trips planned for next week too.  

Sight Seeing with Big T. . .

Since Sprat is away at camp I thought I would take Big T on some short trips to check out some things that were not to far from home.  Today we did not get to go do what I had originally planned but we had a great day and it was quite educational.
Today we went to the first Moravian settlement in North Carolina, Bethabara.   I always thought it was Old Salem but it was actually Bethabara.  There are still a few of the original buildings there and they offer a quick tour.  You can also do your own walking tour of the grounds.  It was a little warm but well worth the visit.  We also walked to their graveyard for the Bethabara settlement.
We took a short trip downtown to a local glass blower shop, Olio.  I was fascinated by this place, Big T could take it or leave it.  We watched as an apprentice glass blower worked with the glass.  I could have stayed there all day to watch that.  We have another trip scheduled for later in the week and maybe two more next week so stay tuned.

Budget????

Have you made out your itemized budget yet?  I encourage you, if you have not put your budget down on paper, be intentional and do it.  If it is not on paper you might just float around your intentional spending and mess up your budget.  It is ok if you have to change your budget, it is a living organism and change is to be expected.  I always write mine in pencil for that very reason.  If you are married or are doing your budget with a significant other always talk with them when things come up and you think the budget needs adjusting.   Your budget should be a group effort and if you have kids you should include them in some of the decision making.  There are certain areas you would not consult them in but, things like entertainment and eating out the kids could weigh in on.  If we do not teach our kids that we as adults have guidelines and a responsibility when it comes to spending they will not learn that very important lesson.
This realization hit me right up side the head one day while I was out doing some shopping with my kids.  I had my list of groceries that I needed to buy and I was keeping to my budget.  Sprat picked up something that he absolutely had to have and was not on my list or in my budget.  I had to explain he could not have it and as you can imagine that did not go over very well.   The objections came with, "why don't you just swipe your card, then I can get it."  This opened the door to explain what that card really is.  We do not use credit cards, I do have a debit card and that is the card that Sprat was referring.   I think we send the wrong message to our kids when they see us swipe that card.  We think they understand the concept of a debit card but they really do not.  A plastic card is a plastic card they do not understand where that money comes from.  Sprat, Big T, and I had long talk about what those plastic cards mean and how they really work.  My kids did not know you had to have money in the bank to use those cards they just saw me swipe that card and walk away with our purchases.  I never thought about all of this before, we go about our lives going through the motions of buying groceries and going to the post office and not thinking about all the things our kids pick up on when they are young and go along with us everywhere we go.  We must be deliberate in our spending and in our education of our kids.  They pick up on more than you realize.

Let's Talk Tomatoes. . .

Do you love tomato sandwiches?   I love them and I eat them in a variety of ways.  There is your traditional tomato sandwich; bread, mayo, and tomato.  Very simple but oh so good.  My favorite is a variation on the traditional; bread, cream cheese, tomato, onion, and cucumber all sliced thin.  You can use either white bread plain or toasted.  My hubby brought home some pumpernickel, that with the cream cheese was wonderful.  My mom used to make little tea sandwiches and she would use the dark pumpernickel and rye bread.   She would use these for little get togethers with her friends and for baby and bridal showers.  She makes an amazing vegetable spread too, this does not have tomatoes but it is still worth mentioning since it does have onion and cucumber.
Vegetable spread:
2 carrots grated
2 cucumber peeled and grated
1 onion grated
squeeze the water out of each of these, then cream together with a block of cream cheese.   Add a dash of lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce and a little garlic powder.  Chill at least two hours, serve with crackers or as tea sandwiches.  One of my all time favorites.

Summer Activities. . .

I have been trying to find some cool things to do with Big T while Sprat is away at camp for a week.  I found this cool website and I thought I would share it with you.  www.factorytoursusa.com

You can click on your State or a State that you would like to visit and it will show you factories that give tours, some are free.  I found several places we may check out in the next few weeks.   I will be sharing our adventures too.

I found a working dairy farm and an automotive plant that I think would be really neat to see.  I hope Big T will enjoy these places.  We already have a trip planned with my sister and her girls and my mom next week and I am really excited about it.  I am going to keep you in suspense right now though.
Many of these places at factory tours are free the others charge a nominal fee.  Stay tuned for our adventures.  

Happy Fourth of July ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I hope everyone is having a wonderful fourth of July weekend.  We spent a lovely day at the lake yesterday and the boys got to do a little fishing.   Everyone loves a cookout and what better reason to have one than the celebration of our Independence.   We fished, played dominoes, and ate like Kings. We had your traditional hot dogs and hamburgers, potato salad, slaw, fresh onions, fresh cantaloupe, my salsa dip, corn on the cob, pasta salad, cucumber salad, and for dessert a frozen key lime something that was FABULOUS.
 The weather could not have been better, it was nice and cool from our morning showers.  I think we are supposed to stay pretty cool the rest of the weekend and I am glad for that.  I do believe this has been the hottest June and early July that I can remember.  I will post some pictures of the boys fishing below.   Happy 4th of July from my house to yours.

Technology and the Media. . .

Some days I think, have we really come as far as we think we have with regard to technology.  There are many days that I feel we would be better served without all of our technology that we seem to depend on so much.  With the influx of all of our "fabulous" technology we have opened our homes and our children up to predators of all kinds.  Bullying used to be only at school, now it follows our children home on their cell phones and computers thanks to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
I know I am a dinosaur and you, like my kids, probably think I grew up in the dark ages but I think I grew up in the best time.   Our news was on only two times per day for an hour maybe two at a time.  I am not saying we do not need to be informed of what is going on but, not everything is news worthy.  Some days I think they are just trying to fill their 15 hours for their news slot.  Let's take the weather, my hubby calls these folks "weather weenies," please do not get me wrong I know we need to know when we have severe weather approaching and I am very thankful when they alert us.  Let's be honest, you have seen it too, when the weather person is almost giddy while talking about a tornado or a snow storm approaching.
I also grew up watching "Andy Griffith" and "I Love Lucy."  I like Facebook just like everyone else but I am shocked most days at the things I see on there.  I use it to keep in touch with my family and friends that do not live near me.  With all the things going on in our Country this last few weeks I have seen some very nasty and negative things posted.  This is where I think the news media use social media to stir up trouble.  They post things in the guise of news in the hopes to create trouble.  It works, you can look at any "news" (I use this term very loosely) post on Facebook and look at the comments to see people attacking each other.   They are just like teenage girls waiting to see how many comments they can get from that post.  What ever happened to unbiased news coverage?  I do not think I have seen an unbiased anything from the news media in decades.  

Monday Blues

Crazy last couple of days.  Feeling sad today.  A friend passed away suddenly this last week, leaving behind a beautiful wife and two very sweet boys.  These boys will know what a very sweet man their daddy was and how loved he was by our community.   He will be missed by everyone that knew him.  My heart breaks for this family.  
He was several years younger than my husband and myself.   It really brings everything in to full focus.  
When I am gone will my family know how much I loved them?   I have told you about the letters that I write to the boys periodically, they may get a novel this month.  You do not know His plan for you and you do not know how long you have with your loved ones.   Take every opportunity to tell and show them how much you love them.
Things I want to do better for my family: 
I will try not to sweat the small stuff
I will always give them my best
I will always give them my time
I will always let them know how much I love them

I hope that my family will know how much they mean to me and how important they are.
My heart breaks for this sweet family and I ask each one of you to say a prayer for them this week.

Technology Etiquette. . .

I was reading an article from Dave Ramsey about technology and it brought up an interesting fact.  Americans check their phones more than 150 times a day.  This reminded me of an observation I made while out to eat one evening with my family.   I looked around  and  more than half of the people sitting around us had their heads down tapping away on their phones.   This is where my etiquette issues come in to play.  I think it is rude to those you are eating with to have your head buried in your phone rather than being with those that are right in front of you.  I do not think these folks are being rude intentionally,  they just do not realize how it appears.   We are so tuned in to our devices that we do not even think, it is an automatic response to the sound of the ping or bubble.  I am guilty of it too, but I am trying to do better for my family's sake.   Sprat does not even carry his phone much anymore and of course Big T does not have one.  The hubbs and I are the ones in our house that need to tone down the tech time.  We never get on our phones at the table, unless of course I am trying to take a picture.  These days I have to snap them where I can and many times it is when they are pined in at a table while we are out to eat.  I know sometimes it is unavoidable, especially when you may have a loved one sick or trying to keep touch with a loved one out of town.   

I just wonder what Dear Abby or Mrs. Manners would say to the lack of face to face contact that we have today?  I saw a commercial the other day talking about "dead time" or "dead zone" meaning no cell phones or tablets during family/dinner time.  Do we really have to have that to remind us of what is important?  

Sometimes I wonder, has all of this technology really made our lives better or has it just made our work day longer?  I know my hubby does some of his paper work at home after work just to stay caught up.  He has a company laptop, ipad, and cell phone that makes his work "easier" and enables 

him to do much of his paper work long after the "work day" is over.  

"Technological progress has merely provided us with more efficient means for going backward."  Aldous Huxley.  Here is another quote for today:  "Even the technology that promises to unite us, divides us.  Each of us is now electronically connected to the globe, and yet we feel utterly alone." Dan Brown, Angels and Demons.

Happy Monday. . . .Read On. . .

I have said numerous times that I read all the time; if it is not a text book it is a novel, magazine or blog.   My hubby is also an avid reader, of course he loves his war novels and history.  He loves Stephen King and has many of his novels.  I am very thankful that our kiddos both like to read.  Big T took after his daddy with a love for history books and Sprat likes a good mystery just like his mama.  I did not find my joy of reading until I was out of college and I found Robin Cook.  If you do not know him, he writes medical mysteries and I love them.  I was never a Harlequin romance girl, I did not care for those at all.  I even found a series of knitting murder mysteries, yes knitting.  They are easy and very interesting.  Give me a good murder mystery and I am set.   In the last several years, a group of my girl friends formed a book club and I joined.  I thought I needed to broaden my literary awareness beyond murder.  I have really stepped out of my zone in the books I have read with this great group of ladies.  This is not a hard core book club so if we do not finish the book it is no big deal.  We all have families and kids and they are very understanding when life happens.  I have tried to read every book but, I must admit there have been a couple that I did not read.
     One of our books we chose was sort of a murder mystery, "Gone Girl."   I was finishing this one up when my dear hubby got hurt.  He decided he needed something new to read and when I finished he started reading it.  I do not think we had ever read the same book, I thought this is going to be fun to talk about when he was finished.  I was very impatient for him to finish because I wanted to know what he thought and I wanted to see the movie.  I swore I would not see the movie until we both had finished the book.   I think you can gauge a good book by how you feel about the characters, I had definite feelings about both of these main characters.  I will not spoil the story or the movie if you have not seen it.  You will have definite feelings about this book and the movie.   The hubbs is now reading, "The Help," another good book and movie if you have not read or seen it.  
    I have started a new Stephen King  book that my mom gave Big T.  He is knee deep in another book right now so I did not think he would mind if I borrowed it.   I will let you know how I like it.  I only have a few months before I am back in my text books for school.  I will be taking a public speaking class and a Constitutional Law class.  Looking forward to August.

Update on a Couple Posts. . .

My hubbs went back to work on Monday.  I think he has had a good week, his leg  has been tired but that was expected.   He loves his work and is glad to be back at it.  He has been at this same job for 23 years and that alone, these days, speaks volumes.  
Now for the update on my sourdough starter.  I had lots of bubbles this morning, I am on day 5.  I think this one will be a keeper.  I will share a picture below.  I have about 3 more days of discarding and feeding before I can bake, I cannot wait.  Check out the Pocket Farmer www.thepocketfarmer.com,  great site with a lot of information. 
Today I will be making lots of casseroles to go in the freezer.  The zucchini is going crazy, I just wish I could freeze cucumbers too.  I am going to make some more zucchini muffins.  The hubbs loved those.  I would love to freeze those but I am not sure how they would taste after the fact.  They are very good fresh though.  

Look at those beautiful bubbles.  

Everyone Should Have a Hobby or 12. . .

Everyone should have a hobby, I have many hobbies.  I do not know if they are really hobbies but these are things that I love to do:  knit/crochet, reading, gardening, cooking, DIY (do it yourself stuff), fishing, and shooting.  I guess you could add blogging to that list too.   I have only recently learned how to knit and crochet.  I am not very good but I do enjoy it.  I do mostly scarves and shawls, I have made a hat or two.   I have found since starting to knit and crochet my eyes are really bad.   My distance vision is very good but up close I have to squint and strain, I think this is old age and I do not like it at all.

I have been painting too, this falls under the DIY section.  We have a cute wrought iron table and chair set for our back patio that has some rust and weather wear.  I decided I would steal wool the rust off and seal it with a spray to protect the iron.  Then I  sprayed in a gloss black, it's original color.  I got both chairs done but I have not done the table pedestal yet.  That is on my list to do this summer in between running the boys to and from football workouts.  I will share my chair pictures below.  

 I grew up fishing on our family vacations, I do not like lake fishing, I love salt water fishing.  The hubbs and I enjoy fishing together.  That is how I hooked my hubby.  I know corny right?  We went to the beach with some friends and he wanted to go fishing and he was surprised that I wanted to go too.  I out fished him that weekend and the next week he proposed.   Before we had the kiddos we would take little trips to the beach and go fishing all the time.   One time we even drove to the beach just to eat crab legs and drove back.   We were much more impulsive then, something about having kids that grounds you and makes you more responsible.  I would not trade our six years of impulsiveness for anything though.  That just makes me smile.  

My mom gave the gardening bug when I was little.  Mom always had a garden at the house and later she had one at the barn too.   Mom always had fresh peas, those were my favorite.  She used to get so mad at me because I would go out and sneak and pick her peas and eat them while she was busy in another part of the yard.  That has unfortunately bled over to my poor hubby, I sneak and pick his peas too and eat them before he can put them in the freezer.  I think he knows though, because each year he plants more peas.   I am so glad that my hubby caught his gardening bug from his mom and dad too.   I hope that my kids will learn from their dad and I the joys of gardening and eating fresh veggies.    Sprat loves the potatoes and he does help dig every now and then.  

My newest hobby is shooting.  My father-in-law gave me my first gun, he was worried about me being alone while the hubbs was traveling.  He was also a retired city police officer.  He knew the importance of a woman by herself being able to take care of herself.   I did not know how to shoot so I went to my dad, he took me out below our barn and taught me how to shoot my gun and a couple others.  I have since bought a new one and was in need of some refresher work with it.  I have found a great range that encourages women to learn gun safety and how to shoot well.  

Sourdough Starter. . . .

My sister gave me the best sourdough starter in the world.  It was a wild yeast starter, that means you do not add yeast to get it going.  I was a bad sister and did not keep it fed like I was supposed to, so I am trying to do my own starter.  I tried the one where you use whole wheat flour and orange juice and you feed it every 24 hours to start.  This one did not work for me, that does not mean it would not work for you.  I am now trying one from the Pocket Farmer, 1/4 cup of water and 3/8 cup bread flour. Add this every 12 hours and stir.  I am seeing some bubbles, which is good, that means it is active.  If after 24 hours you do not see bubbles discard and start over.  You also want to keep your starter (in the beginning phase) around 70-80 degrees.  It is a living organism and you must keep it cozy.   I am on my third feeding for this one and today I will discard 1/2 and add more water and flour.  Your starter, once it is growing should have a mild aroma of beer and should be the consistency of a good pancake batter.  You do not want it too thick or too runny.  Here is a picture of what I have so far.

My mom and my sister are my role models for cooking and caring for my family.  I know this is Fathers day week but I am going to brag about two of the strongest women in my life.   My mom always made homemade bread for us, not because she had to but because that is what her mother did. Funny how our moms influence our lives.  My moms homemade loaf bread is the best in the world, she did not buy bread until she and dad started eating whole wheat bread.   I am not sure if I shared this before or not but the hubbs started having food allergies not long after Sprat was born.  He could not eat any store bought bakery items, and that included bread.  My mom gave me her recipe that was her mothers.  This was the first time I had made bread.  It was a great feeling and every time I use that recipe I think about my mom and my grandmother (she passed away when I was little).  During this time of uncertainty with the hubbs and his diet, I made every thing from scratch.   That is a daunting task, to say the least, but between my sister and my mom and their wealth of recipes and help we survived and thrived.   The hubbs food allergies corrected themselves after a year or so and I do not have to make our bread any more.  I do make some every now and then just because my family and I like it.                                                   

I blame my sister for my obsession with sourdough bread and its' starter.  She gave me my first 

starter and I loved it but I was just lazy about taking care of and feeding it.  I guess it is a good thing my kids and husband are more vocal or they would be sitting around covered in mold too.    Just kidding. . . . . . .   Before I let her starter go to the dogs I made several loaves of bread and tried to make crackers.  My crackers did not turn out that great, they were a little thick.  I am going to give them another shot with this starter.   Once I get it going I will share the cracker recipe and how it turns out.                                                                                                                                              

Hard Drive Storage? ? ? ?

Do you need more storage for your computer?  Would you like to back up your MANY picture files to another source to protect them from computer failure?   I looked into to this for myself, that is why I thought I would share what I found with you.  There are many options for file storage away from your computer.  There are flash or thumb drives that have good storage capabilities.  You could buy and install an extra hard drive on your current computer system but, that would still run the same risk of virus and crash as your original hard drive.   

With those thoughts running through your head, what other option could there be?   There is a stand alone hard drive offered by Western Digital called a passport.  These offer portability and safety for your files, pictures, anything you want to keep safe and private.  There is the Passport X for gaming it is compatible with Xbox 360, Xbox one, and PC gaming.  Depending on which gaming system you use will depend on how much you can store on the Passport X.  The Passport X runs about $100.00.

The Passport Ultra runs about $80.00 and has 2 TB of storage for your pictures, videos, and extra files.  2 TB = 2,000 gb   

Since the kids are all gaming heavily these days I liked the Passport X for the extra storage that you get for your gaming console.  We had to buy extra storage for ours a year or so ago, I wish I had known this option was out there.  

Summer Vacation. . . Begins

The hubbs has gone back to work today.  I pray that he will have a good day and that his leg will not give him too much trouble.  The boys are still asleep.  They start football tomorrow,  I am a little worried about the heat we are expecting this week. 
Since the hubbs has been out of work since March, I doubt he will be able to take any vacation this year so we will probably be doing some stay-cation things.  Luckily,  there are wonderful things to do that are only a short drive away.   Looks like some day trips for us.  My mom was telling me that for the month of June the Biltmore House has free admission for kids.  I checked the website and kids (10-16) are free through September with an adult admission.  If you purchase 7 days in advance, adult tickets are $50.  Check out their website, they have a lot of options for tickets.  www.biltmore.com

There are also several science museums around and of course the zoo.  

The boys are going to be busy with a few camps too.  Sprat is very excited about Mission camp with our Church in July.  Big T gets to do a leadership camp through the school at the community college in July.   Of course they both have football camps too, I think we may enjoy some down time in between.  

If you are in need of ideas for what to do with the kiddos this summer check your local library they usually have a list of things being offered.  

Today we are going to enjoy a veg-out day, a day to do nothing.  Stay tuned, I will keep you updated on what is going on around here.  

Last Day of School. . . .

Whoot Whoot!!!!  Last day of school!!!!!  Yes, I am glad school is out for my kiddos.  In fact they are not going today.   Sprat did not have an exam today so he does not have to go and Big T will not have anything going on.  They are both sound asleep right now.  One of my friends referred to days like today as mental health days for the kids, it is more of a lazy day for me.   My dear hubby heads back to work on Monday so we are going to enjoy a nice day all together.  We are going to check out the new "Jurassic World" movie.  The hubbs and I went to see the first two at the movies when they came out.   We were not big movie goers before we had the kiddos, we would only go to a movie once or twice a year.  When the boys were old enough to go to the movies we went to most everything that came out for their age.  Big T saw "Finding Nemo," or slept through it in his little infant carrier.   Ahhhh, the good ole days.   They enjoy going to the movies and it is just one other thing we do as a family.  I do not remember my mom and dad taking us to the movies when I was little.  I do remember going when I was in 7th and 8th grade.  Mom would drop us off at the theater and then come back and pick us up at the Burger King across the parking lot.   That was our Friday night thing when I was younger, we all went as a group.
I remember the first 3D movie we took the boys to, it was "Journey to the Center of the Earth."  It was a great movie and great in 3D.   We had gotten a big tub of popcorn for us to share and about mid way through the movie and elbow deep in the popcorn Big T starts fussing about his eyes burning.  I am sure you can imagine, he said the 3D glasses were burning his eyes.  He had rubbed his eyes and had gotten the popcorn stuff in them making them burn and sting.  To this day he still blames those 3D glasses.
Here is my financial part of this post.  Since my hubby has been out of work for his knee we decided we would get a few things done with our finances.  Dave Ramsey has what he calls ELP's (endorsed local providers), these are financial consultants and real estate agents that are in your area that follow the Dave Ramsey system.    I decided I would look into an ELP to help us with a few things, this was several years before I actually took the Dave Ramsey class.  I told you I had read everything about him before I took the class.  At this time the hubbs company was going to give us control over his 401K and let us manage it rather than pay someone associated with the company to manage it.  I was not confident enough in my own knowledge about a 401K to take on that responsibility myself.   We found an ELP close to us and they were associated with the company that was handling our college fund for the kiddos.   That was just perfect.   I met with them originally and set everything up, they made recommendations with regard to the 401K and also made some recommendations with the college fund.  I took their suggestions and we made the necessary adjustments, this was almost nine years ago.   Flash forward to about a week ago.  The hubbs and I went to see our ELP to make a few more adjustments and to see if there was anything we needed to change with the 401K.   Dave Ramsey says, if you are getting a 12% return on your investment that you are doing good.   Our ELP said that we had made well over the 12% on our college fund and the 401K each year since we had been with them, that was a very pleasant surprise.  We had stopped funding the college fund while we were paying down our debt so now that we are debt free (except for the house) we started funding the college fund again.  We never stopped funding the 401K, you never turn down free money (aka company match).  
My tip for the day:  check out Dave Ramsey and his ELP for your area I would bet that most would offer a free consultation.  www.daveramsey.com  You will find the ELP section toward the bottom of the page.  Check them out and see what you think, it never hurts to talk and gather information.  I am all about gathering information before I make a major decision.  The more you know the better off you are.  If you have not read about Dave or his books I recommend checking him out, go to the Library.

Drying Herbs

You may not think drying herbs is craftsy but it is.  It takes talent to know how long to dry and how to dry.  There are several different ways:  you air dry by tying your herbs in a bunch and hanging them, air dry by laying them flat, or my way with a dehydrator.  I have used all three at one point or another.
The dehydrator is the quickest and most efficient, in my opinion.  Pictured below is my oregano and sage that I recently dried.  I did several trays of each with one empty tray right above the heat element, this way the herbs on the bottom do get burnt.  I leave mine for about 24 hours, I check them after 12 or so and rotate them if necessary.  I love the aroma of dried herbs especially oregano, my house smelled like an Italian restaurant for a day.  

When cooking with dried herbs you may add them while cooking, when using fresh herbs you should only add them at the very end of cooking.  This was something I had a hard time getting used to.  I have always added herbs at the beginning of the cook.  Per what I have read, you want to add fresh herbs at the end of cooking because you want to take advantage of that fresh flavor.   When using dried herbs be sure you mash them between your fingers to release their essential oils.  

Once you have dried your herbs you need to be sure you store them properly.  I use glass jars for mine, it keeps air and moisture out and those are the enemies of your dried herbs.  If you have some herbs you have dried or have purchased be sure to check for mold and moisture in your containers.   If you open your container and do not smell that lovely herb, it is time to discard it and get new.