College Visits. . .

Sprat is a sophomore in high school and between football, school and the orthodontist I am afraid we will have little room for college tours next year.  We have our first college tour tomorrow, it is a small private Christian school.  We are starting with a small school so that we will have perspective when we visit a larger campus this summer.  Sprat is still not sure what he wants to major in so we will be visiting many different places.  The one place he is sure he does not want to go is Appalachian State, he hates cold weather.   The way things are going so far, it is a plus that we at least know one place he positively does not want to go.
Yes, we are starting early but, I much prefer to start early than to be late to the party.   I hope visiting a college campus will get him excited about the possibility of going off to college and being on his own.  I will share some pictures of our visit over the weekend so check back.  I will also post a follow up about what we learned on this visit.
This particular school holds some family ties;  my Dad went to this college for a brief time before going on to NC State, one of my uncles played football and graduated from this college, and one of my aunts taught at this college.
By the time all of this is said and done Big T will know everything he needs to know, and then some, about going to college.    Stay tuned. . .

Things My Mom Taught Me. . .

Our mothers are our first friends, so to speak, and they are our first teachers.  What did your mom teach you?  My mom taught me that you always share what you have with others.  I remember my mom sharing what ever we got out of our garden with all of our neighbors.  We usually end up taking ours to Church and passing out cucumbers and zucchini as people make their way to their cars.  I love our Church family.  My Mom also taught me about respect and that you respect your elders.  Mom also worked very hard in our Church and she taught me to do the same.  Mom was over our nursery for many, many years and spent her own money to buy juice and cookies for the kids every Sunday.   Mom did not just teach by words she taught us by doing.  I learned more by watching my Mom than I could have learned had I taken a home economic class in school.  My Mom lead us by example,  I can only hope that my kids learn as much from me as I have from my Mom.
One thing my Mom was notorious for was making sure anyone that visited her house had plenty to eat.  I will never forget my roommate in college and I meeting mom and dad at the State Fair and the first thing out of my mom's mouth was; "how are ya and have you eat?"  She always fixed a ton of food to take to the Fair.  She was always prepared to feed the multitudes.  We usually spent several days there showing and of course they would catch a football game too.   Mom always made sure you had plenty to eat if you were around her.  She wanted everyone to be comfortable too.
Mom always worked in the yard, she mowed her own grass and plowed her garden and worked her gardens.  When I was in high school she had two gardens, one at the house and one at the barn.  I know I got my love of gardening from her.  I am thankful that my hubby's family was similar to mine.  He got his love of gardening from his dad.  
There are two things that I did not get from my mom.  Mom is very strong and can handle anything thrown her way.  I am not nearly as strong as mom, I think all of her strength went to my sister.  I am also not nearly as good at whipping up a meal as mom.  I remember my dad always came home for lunch every day and occasionally he may call at the last minute and say; "hey, I am bringing Bill with me for lunch today."  Mom could whip up a five star meal in the drop of a hat and it would feed whomever dad brought home.  I do not have that talent.
I am so blessed to have been raised by such a strong mom that taught me so much and she may not even realize how much she has taught me.  I would not be the woman I am today if it were not for the example that was set by my Mom and my sister.  I am truly blessed to have these two beautiful women in my life.  This black and white picture is of my Mom before she and my Dad were married.  The other is of my sister and my Mom at one of Big T's football games.

A Letter to Me at 15. . .

If you could write a letter to yourself at 15 what would you say?  Here is what I would write.
Dearest Me;
Please spend more time on your studies and less time on boys, they will break your heart.  The man of your dreams will not be ready for you until you have graduated college and started your first official job.   Do not tie your self down to one boy, and enjoy your friends.  Do not quit dancing, you will regret it.   Do not sweat the small stuff, nobody really cares.  Every opportunity to travel that you have, go for it.  When aunt Linda offers to take you to Costa Rica GO!    Spend more time with your horses and showing.   Have faith in you.

What would your letter look like?  This is kinda what mine would say.  This is why I am always encouraging my kids to step out of their box and be weird.   Normal is boring.   I want my kids to be able to stand on their own two feet and not depend on anyone else for their happiness.   Life is too short to depend on others to make you happy, make your own happiness.

Below are pictures of two of my loves, my sweet Patches and my very handsome hubby.  

Wonderful Weekend. . .

The kids tie dyed t-shirts after they had cleaned graves on Friday and I finally got them rinsed and dried.  They turned out great.  We have the best youth leaders around, they keep our kids involved in activities around our community and they also make it all fun.  I am very thankful for each of them.
Since my boys are getting older our Easter bunny did their Easter baskets a little different this year.  The bunny was checking things out on Pinterest and found a neat idea for boys.  This year Big T got a Lacrosse baseball hat and Sprat got a Detroit Lions baseball hat and the bunny used that for their baskets and then stuffed them full of candy and goodies.   I think they liked them, with teens you just never know.  Big T did wear his all day, except to Church.
Lots going on this week since the kiddos are out of school for break.  I am still in school so I will still be studying and working things in for them to do.

Happy Good Friday. . . .

We planted part of the garden yesterday.  We have three rows of potatoes, four rows of sweet peas, and three rows of onions.  I love sweet peas so much my hubby hopes that by planting more rows he will actually get to freeze some of them.  We only froze a very small portion last year because I ate most of them raw.  I have always loved raw sweet peas, I used to go to my mother's garden and pick the peas and eat them while I was playing outside.  Today the hubbs hopes to plant some broccoli plants, cabbage plants and some lettuce.  Sprat loves the potatoes and Big T loves the lettuce.  
It is funny to think back on last year at this time, the hubbs was trying to recover from his torn quadriceps tendon and muscle surgery and we were not sure we would even have a garden.  I feel very blessed that the hubbs brother planted our garden last year.  I also feel very blessed to see that my hubby is back on his feet and going strong.  
My hubby is my rock, he is always there to cheer me own in what ever I am doing.  He makes me laugh, cry, and sometimes cuss but I am blessed to call him; husband, friend, and love of my life.   I will soon have the pleasure of celebrating twenty-three years of wedded bliss with him.   I am proud to say that after twenty-three years that he still makes my heart skip a beat here and there.   We enjoy spending time together; whether it is working in the yard, snuggled on the couch watching a movie, fishing, or watching our boys play whatever sport they are playing.
The kids are going to clean gravestones today at our graveyard to prepare for the Easter sunrise service.   Our graveyard serves several Churches and each of the youth groups clean the stones and the women's fellowship groups decorate the graves with fresh flowers.   Our Easter sunrise service is beautiful, if you have never been to one I highly recommend it, it is a very emotional experience.   The Church bands are scattered along the hill and they play as the move toward the center of the cemetery where they converge and play as one band.  It really is the most beautiful and moving service.

Odd Things Around My House. . .

I was watching an old episode of Designing Women the other day, it was the one where they were to redecorate a house of an older woman.   If you do not know what Designing Women is, it was an 80's show about four women interior decorators and their lives.    This particular episode was about the quirky things they found in this house and the very interesting reasons why they were there.  It  made me think, what will people say about things they will find in my house one day when I am gone.  On the show the lady had a portrait of her husband hung upside down in the living room.  The reason was the lady had to lay a certain way on the couch and if the picture were upside down she could see it better.  She also had fishing lures in a glass case as if they were priceless jewels.  I laughed at that one because I got it immediately.   Her husband made those lures and sold them, that was like his display case of what he could do and since he had passed away it was evidence of what he had done.
I started thinking about all the odd things I have in my house and what people might think when they see it.  I have a zip lock baggie in my jewelry box with my precious Frito's baby teeth in it.   Sweet Frito was our very special Chihuahua and when she was a baby and her teeth fell out I would put them in the baggie to keep.  I am not sure why I did it, it just seemed right.  I have a baggie with Basil's teeth too.   I also have baggies with my kids teeth.  In my living room on a book case there is a pewter urn with my sweet Frito's ashes and a ceramic piece with her footprint along with her picture and her collar and tag.  She was a huge part of our family, my kids grew up with her.   On that same bookcase there are two wooden boxes that contain the ashes of our sweet Cainie and Jake our Labs that were also a huge part of our family.   There are no labels on these, so you would not know what they were just to look at them.  On this same bookshelf at the bottom are an assortment of turkey feathers.  Big T loves turkeys and my mom and dad always have turkeys in their yard and mom sends Big T the feathers that she finds around the house.  I also have little glass jars with sharks teeth in them.  The boys and my hubby love to look for sharks teeth when we are at the beach.  I have a jar for each beach and those teeth that they found there.  
I am sure I have more odd things laying around but to me they are not odd, they represent our lives as a family and all the things we have done.

Easter Fixings. . .

I usually bring deviled eggs and some sort of dessert to our family get togethers, this year I was asked to bring mac and cheese.  I have a great recipe for homemade mac and cheese that is actually my sisters.  She shared it with me when the hubbs was having his food allergy issues and I had to make everything from scratch.  Yes, I was a baking fool.  The hubs could not have any veggies that were yellow, red, orange, or green because of his salicylate allergy.  He was also not allowed anything that was pre-packaged.  That means homemade everything.    I learned a lot during these couple of years that this was required for his health.  I learned that I can do anything that I put my mind too and that the good Lord above will give you strength to overcome.  I am going to share my sister's fabulous homemade mac and cheese recipe.

2 cups dry pasta (I use whole wheat elbow mac)
1 cup milk
lots of grated cheese (I use a whole big block of cheddar, you can use mozzarella or jack)
2 eggs beaten
salt and butter

Cook your pasta according to package directions.  I grate my own cheese because there are things added to the bags of grated cheese that are not natural.  This also saves money.

Combine eggs, milk, and salt to taste.  Grease casserole dish.  Layer noodles and cheese 2-3 times then dot with butter then pour egg milk combo over the top to cover.  I usually top with extra cheese and you can add bread crumbs for some extra texture.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

This is not your traditional mac and cheese it will have a much different look and texture than what you normally see.  This is actually a healthier version of this childhood favorite.  My hubby and I love this.  

Until we eat again. . . Enjoy