Neighbors

(Part of my series on moving from Cotton-Top Hills. This post is an article that will be my second to last for our community newspaper.)

When you move into a new house, you never know what kind of neighbors you are going to end up with. You hope you’ve found a neighborhood that has children for your kids to play with and people that will welcome you with open arms, maybe even have neighborhood gatherings, and where you look out for one another. But the fact is, you never know any of that until you’ve already bought the house.

When we moved to Bushland, Eagle Tree to be exact, I was pregnant with our third child. I was a little afraid of not knowing anyone. What if I went into labor with my husband at work over an hour away? Would I have anyone to call for help? Within days of moving in I had my answer. It was winter and we were having one of our famous snow/ice storms. Our electricity went out and luckily we had some firewood that we were using to keep us warm. We were all camped out on the living room floor, trying to ward off the bitter cold, when in the darkness we heard a knock at our door. It was our next door neighbor who had trudged across half an acre to see if we were okay and if we needed firewood. We were so happy to know someone out there was thinking of us and if we needed it help was not far away.

We were welcomed with food, sweets, and friendly conversations. Our neighborhood is a little different, in that the houses sit on 2 to 10 acres, but that distance didn’t stop our neighbors from coming over and introducing themselves to us. It was a wonderful feeling to know my family had moved into such a welcoming place.

Over the years we’d gather for trash pick-ups along Dowell Road, summer picnics, pumpkin patch parties, and dinners. While we all liked our space, we also loved to get together and celebrate the wonderful place we called home.

              

Neighborhoods can be extensions of your family if you are lucky. I would say the Bushland community does that very well. There are not many places that you could live where your neighbor would drop everything to rush you to the ER, while another neighbor would take your three children for the night. Or a neighbor on the other side of your neighborhood whom you’ve never met, but knew on Facebook, would get on his tractor with snow on the ground and temperatures hovering in the negative digits to deliver two 50 gallon barrels of water, just so you could flush your toilets. And if you have neighbors who do that, it shouldn’t surprise you to get a phone call from a neighbor nearby offering her home while they are away for you to shower and hang out, while your frozen pipes thaw.

Yes, I think the Bushland community has many things to be proud of, but the thing I am most proud of is the genuine caring of the people who live here. I have lived in many places in my life, 6 states and 11 towns, and I can say Bushland is very unique. What a blessing it has been to raise my family in such a place for the last five years. It gives a parent a sense of peace to know their children have experienced humanity at its best, the way God intended.

Saying Goodbye To Cotton-Top Hills

This has been a long good-bye. We’ve known for months that the probability of us moving away from our home was great. But when you get that final call, the one that says it is happening, you can’t help but mourn.  We are moving closer to family, much closer, which is wonderful. It will be the first time in my husband’s and I’s adult lives that we have been close to where our parents are.  It is a blessing.

Cotton-Top Hills has been a blessing too. For my third and youngest child this is the only home she has known. For my two older girls, this is the home in which their adventurous spirit was given room to frolic and explore. For my husband and I, it has been a place in which we have poured our love into. Together as a family, we have made this beautiful place our home.

Soon, all we will have is our memories and we don’t ever want to forget some of the things that have made it so special. Together we are creating a scrapbook of memories, some I’d like to share here.

The first is this picture, taken soon after we moved in.

We could have named this place At The End Of The Rainbow, for almost every time we get rain we seem to have a rainbow. This one was a double rainbow. My girls love the fact that they can see the entire thing from our front yard. Nothing beats the wide open skies of the Texas Panhandle.

Stay tuned for more scrapbook entries

Finally, I’m Making Some Lists!

 

So I’m making lists galore around here this year. I’ve always known that when I make a list I’m not only better organized, but better prepared. But, I’m afraid many times I neglect making one. Maybe it is fear of seeing all I need to do lined out in front of me. Sometimes it is me refusing to spend the time physically making one up. I’m not sure why, but I can be really good at throwing roadblocks up in front of my success and ignoring the call to make a list is just that.

My first list is a grocery list for the week, followed by a menu plan. A written menu plan, not a bunch of thoughts floating around in my head and rushing to the pantry each night to see what’s for dinner. So far it is working wonderfully.

Next is a list of what I want to accomplish with homeschool for the remainder of this year. I totally stress myself out thinking I am ruining my children’s education on a daily basis because I’m afraid we are not covering it all.

Then is the list for chores I’d like to get done for the day, and for the week.  When it is staring me in the face, it is very hard to ignore that  yes, I do need to clean all the baseboards today.

And the list I am the most excited about is my writing list. I finally have one! No longer am I wallowing in my excuses of what I might do if I have time. Now, because of all my above lists, I actually have the time for my writing. Go figure. And yes, I am a slow learner. All my blogging writing friends have written many a post about organizing, time management, goad setting etc. Well, it took awhile but it has finally pushed me to get it together. Thank you!

Just to make sure you understand my lists I need to clarify. They start off neat and then become a mess with crossed out lines, check-marks, and arrows moving things around.  I’m constantly reminded that my plans need to align with God’s plan and I need to be flexible. The good news is that when I plan, being flexible is easier.

On another front I just want you to know my physical blogging facelift is still in the works. But I’ve already started switching up my posts here to include all aspects of my life, not just writing. Thanks for reading along.

Now, tell me, what about a list do you find the most daunting?

40% Off On Women's Tea Collection

I just got a wonderful offer from one of my affiliates, Tea Collections. They are offering a 40% off coupon that is good TODAY only, after Friday morning you can get 25% off until Sunday. I'm so excited because fall is in the air and I would love to have a nice sweater or two to help ward off the chill in the air.

To get the discount click on my Tea collection link on the sidebar and enter this code when checking out TEA4UFF. It's that easy!

Happy shopping:)

More Early Shopping

Okay, so by now you have all heard that my sister is having a baby around Christmas. Which makes me think of all the traveling I will be doing back and forth across Texas to attend baby showers, holiday parties, and family events. Which leads me to thinking about not only traveling with my kids, but my 2 dogs. Luckily, I have found some luggage of sorts that will really help me with carting my dogs around with me.

I can’t wait to share this review with you from CSN stores.  If you have dogs that travel with you in the car on trips or just to the vet you need to know about this product.  I’m thinking it will make life easier.  I will let you know as soon as I receive the product for review.

 

 

 

*I am receiving a product free of charge to write a review on from CSN stores.

A Baby Is Coming...

Did I tell you I am about to be an aunt again? Well, not until December, but I can't wait! My one and only little sister is having a baby.

Here she is with my kiddos.

We don't know yet if it is a little boy or girl, but are hoping to find out soon. That does not stop me from doing some baby shopping. I love shopping for little baby clothes! It seems many of my friends are having babies and I've found myself needing lots of sweet gifts. So I was happy to partner up with my new affliate Tea Collection. To me it has a down home, yet elegant feel. And the neat thing is it is unique.

Tea Collection has recently launched a new website and has taken their popular products typically found in specialty and department stores directly to consumers. Their clothing is inspired by cultures around the world and it's much more stylish and is always changing. Tea Collection designs clothes for babies up to eight years old. A great option for summer or back-to-school shopping.

So if you need to go shopping for some clothes for your kids or for gifts, please head over to Tea Collection and check them out. I think you will find some adorable clothing that anyone would be happy to receive!

Christmas Shopping In July

I say  it is never to early to start shopping for Christmas, especially if you have little ones on your list!  I wanted to share with you a neat online children’s toy store called Ebeanstalk, that will make your shopping easier.

I love shopping at Ebeanstalk because they have a feature that will list toys by age and  even gender.  They have tons of baby toys to choose from as well.  The website is easy to use, which is a plus for this busy mom.

Sometimes choosing kids toys can be difficult, but they make it a snap.  They have a panel of experts that help test the toys and place them in age appropriate categories according to the development that is occurring during that stage.

If you have a special someone that you’d like to give a gift too, check out their Grow and Learn series.  A gift will be sent out every 3 months, appropriate to the development at that stage.  I think this is a really neat feature that I haven’t found at other online toy stores. 

So remember it is never too early to shop for Christmas!  Have you shopped at Ebeanstalk?  I’d love to hear about it if you have, if not head over and see what neat toys you can find.

Mulberries In The Park

Sometimes it takes me awhile to process things.  I’d like to think that I have so many thoughts going around in my head at one time that I overlook simple things. Like the names of streets and the fact that some actually mean something.  Recently, we were at the park by our house and my husband discovered the big tree we like to swing from is a Mulberry Tree.  Hmmm, just so happens the streets that runs by it is called Mulberry.  Maybe I should have recognized that tree 3 years ago when we first moved in, after all the hint is right there on the street sign.

Anyway, all is good because now we know.  And of course the pioneering spirit of my girls would not let all those wonderful mulberries go to waste.  So off we went to the park with step ladder and pails. The tree is huge and most of the mulberries are up high.  My girls helped each other out grabbing the branches and bringing them down closer.  Little One held the pail for gathering.

It was a lot of fun, but hard work too we discovered.  We picked a lot of little mulberries to fill our pail.

Our purple hands told the story of what we’d been up to that day.

We also learned that these berries are clusters of fruit and little tiny bugs like to live inside of them.  Not to be deterred by such talk we consulted the internet and found you just need to cover them with water and let them sit for a bit. Sure enough, after about 30 minutes all the little bugs floated to the top.

Then Em went to making her pie

Didn’t she do a beautiful job?  The taste was very sweet and yummy.

And my girls were so happy to find yet another thing that grows wild here in the Panhandle that they could put to good use. 

 

Emma’s Healthy Breakfast Sandwiches

My ten year old is on her way to culinary school.  Okay, not quite yet, but it’s where she wants to go someday.  She cooks for us constantly and is thinking up new twists on everyday recipes.  This breakfast sandwich recipe was derived from a sandwich she had at a little restaurant in Galveston, The Lunch Box cafe.

For bread she likes to use baguette, but we use whatever bread we have around. This morning mine was on English Muffin. First toast the bread.  Spread honey over both slices and natural peanut butter on one slice.  Top the peanut butter side with blueberries. Top the other slice with sliced strawberries and walnuts.  You could use pecans, but we had walnuts today. Put the two slices together and enjoy.  It really is very yummy and nutritious, not to mention easy!

I’ve linked this post to Beauty and Bedlam.  Head over there for more Tasty Tuesday recipes!

Art on the Go – BusPainting

I was so excited when my mother-in-law Pat introduced me over the internet to artist Kathleen McElwaine from Leander Texas.  Kathleen does beautiful watercolors and on the bus! 

She commutes on the bus into Austin twice a day and began a series of watercolors entitled BusPaintings.  She says, “Early on when I began taking the bus, I did do some character studies of people riding the # 983 Express. But then I became hesitant, thinking that perhaps I might be imposing on a near stranger's personal space -- one's mobile sanctum. As a representational artist I constantly look for character … What are the distinguishing characteristics of people … plants and animals… skies or, landscapes?"

She now has an Etsy store and besides selling her beautiful artwork, she will create a watercolor profile picture for you to use on Facebook.  She did my profile and I love it. Better yet my husband loves it.  He thinks she captured my friendliness in the painting.  That was sweet of him to say, I’ll have to bake him some brownies.  Anyway, I want to share my picture with you.

I love it!  The picture I sent her was one of me with no make-up, wearing the John Deere sweatshirt my father-in-law gave me.  I think she captured my spirit wonderfully.

Please stop by her Etsy store or her website to look at her work.  I’m already thinking of some Christmas gifts and maybe a few profile surprises for a couple of friends.

Thanks Kathleen!

Would You Dress Up Like A Cow For A Free Meal?

YES! The answer is yes.  Now would you? If the answer is yes then head over to your local Chick-Fil-A for free meal this Friday.

Check out the Chick-Fil-A website to get more details.

Last year my oldest opted out of the dress-up. Something about her mother being totally embarrassing and what wouldn’t you do for some free food comments.  But at the restaurant she realized she was among cows. Big cows, medium sized cows, and little bitty cows.  This year she says she will participate. So maybe it is cool to dress like a cow, if you get a yummy Chick-Fil-A meal.

Here’s my herd.  Hubby and I wore some cow signs we printed off their website, but I guess I didn’t get pics of that.

So don’t be a chicken, dress up as a cow and then eat some chicken!

“Decluttering” Our Lives

My family has embarked on a journey to declutter and simplify our lives.  You hear a lot about organizing your house from experts. They even have television shows that help families to get rid of their junk.  Well, I wouldn’t mind someone coming in and clearing out all my stuff for me and giving me a lesson on organization.  Better yet, I don’t need the lesson, but if they’d give me all those neat organizational containers I’d be very happy.

So far no one has called to take care of cleaning up my house so we decided to go it on our own.  I just look around and begin to feel claustrophobic with all the stuff closing in on me.  Anyway, this is all part of our family’s plan to “declutter” and “simplify” our lives.

We started with our little barn.  We built it before we even moved into our house.  The plan was to have a place to store boxes as we began moving things.  Well, it filled up with boxes, bikes, tools, lawn equipment, furniture and it all stayed there.All of this was in our barn, along with a riding lawn mower and push mower.  Where did this all come from?

WB decided to build a workbench and some shelves.  Probably should have done that in the beginning, but I’m sure we were a little busy moving into our new house and he was dealing with a hormonal pregnant woman to boot.

It took all day in scorching heat.  I got a few breaks as we found boxes of photos that needed sorting and organizing.  But WB is no stranger to hard work and he kept going.  He’s my little Energizer bunny.  Wait, I don’t think he’d like that comparison. He’s a Gladiator, yes that’s better, my mighty Gladiator.

At the end of the day we had several piles of items for our Boy Scout church garage sale, a full dumpster and this

a clean barn.  I can see the floor.  WB and I can practice our ballroom dancing in here.  Well, we don’t ballroom dance, but we can turn a mean two-step. 

Honestly, we’re sleeping better at night now.  Something about having clutter in your life, it takes over.  Not just your house, but your attitude and really, your well being.  All these material things begin to weigh a person down.

As of today we have “decluttered” four rooms in our house.  We have five more and the attics. It’s a cleansing process and it feels so good when I can look at each room that has been “simplified”.  I’ll keep you posted!

Patriotic Poppies For Memorial Day

A fun way to celebrate the upcoming holiday of Memorial Day is by making crepe paper poppies, or Patriotic Poppies.  This tradition began after World War I when the American Legion began making these poppies to sell to raise money for veterans.

A Canadian physician and soldier wrote this poem during WWI referring to the battlefield of Flanders.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
  In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
         In Flanders fields.

So this Memorial Day my family has decided to help celebrate by making these Patriotic Poppies to help us to remember all the soldiers that have given their lives for our freedoms.  You can wear them in your hair or lapel or you can use them to decorate with, it’s up to you.

First start with several layers of red crepe paper. You will need a round template( we used different size bowls) and a pencil:

Trace around the bowl onto the crepe paper.

Once you have your circle cut out you need to make two small holes in the center through all the layers.

Next you take a green chenille pipe cleaner and insert through first hole.

Then feed through second hole like this. You can twist the pipe cleaner behind the flower to make it stay. This will be your stem.

Next separate    each layer and swirl forward to make the petals.

 

Aren’t they pretty?  And so simple to do!  We had great fun with these.  If you’d like you could add leaves to the stems with names of family or friends who were killed in battle.  We are going to wear our Patriotic Poppies with pride on Memorial Day!

Kids Getting Creative In The Kitchen

So the other night my oldest daughter made Bibimbap, a Korean dish. She got the recipe from Sara Moulton’s new cookbook Everyday Family Dinners.

First she made some Kim chi, which is basically a pickled cabbage mixture. Next she made a Sesame Miso sauce, sautéed some carrots and spinach, and browned some tofu. The dish also contained shitake mushrooms, scallions and brown rice. It was topped with a fried egg and chili sauce.

I was really proud of Em for picking this dish to make. She’s more a meat and potatoes gal. But, one thing about my kids is that they are willing to try new things. They love to experience new tastes and learn about other cultures. We had fun discovering what Miso was, a type of fermented soybean paste, and that it comes in white or red.

I enjoyed all the different flavors that fused together to make this dish. Em was a little disappointed. It was a little too much different for her. But that is okay, because they would never know if they liked it if they didn’t try it. This is a favorite saying of Soph’s.

And speaking of Soph she contributed to the meal as well. She created these fruit bites as appetizers or dessert.

They were strawberries, blackberries, lemon and mint. Each one of us got a spoon and we slurped them down!

I love being at home and in the kitchen with my girls. It is always an adventure.

Pulled And Stretched Pork Recipe

Well, Smockity Frocks is holding another "What's In Your CrockPot?" carnival and I'm so glad. We use our crockpot more and more around here. It makes dinner time so much easier on everyone! We've discovered pulled pork and how just a little goes a long way. So I like to refer to it as pulled and stretched pork! Not to mention it is super easy and so yummy!

Pulled And Stretched Pork

Piece of pork loin or boneless pork chops (thick cut)

-the amount of pork is up to you and the size of your family. I have served my family of 5 with an inch cut of whole pork loin.

onions

favorite BBQ sauce

water

vinegar

black beans (optional)

Place pork in crock pot with sliced onions. I usually use one whole onion, but you can use less or more depending on your amount of pork. Pour BBQ sauce over pork and onions, enough to cover bottom of crock pot. Add about 1/2 cup of water and I like to add 1 TB of vinegar. I was raised mostly on the East coast and vinegar and pork BBQ go hand and hand.

Cook on low for 6 hours. In the last 30 minutes you can add a couple cans of black beans. This is a wonderful way to stretch the meal if you don't have that much meat.

We like to serve on tortillas with grated cheese and some sour cream. We've also had it on yeast rolls.

Enjoy!

Head over to Smockity's for more great recipes!

Frugal Master Bath Makeover- Update Knobs

So we've hit a little snag with our granite counter tops. They are in, but there has been some quality issues so we are awaiting the owners phone call to straighten things out. In the meantime I thought I'd share a frugal way to update your knobs.

In a post on my main blog awhile back I shared my tips on spray painting your knobs to avoid the expense of buying new hardware. They can be very expensive.


I have found that spray paint is your friend. They have spray paint that is shiny or even leaves a hammered effect. We were sure what color to go with in this project so we tested several different colors to see what would work best.

When we decided on a color we used a very scientifically exact method of making sure the paint was evenly distributed on the knobs...

Bamboo skewers in the dirt.

They turned out really nice and have held up well. There are a few worn spots on the ones we did in the bathroom, but a lot of grimy and wet hands touch those:)

We've got the tiles for the floor in the master bath so hopefully this weekend that will get finished and I will have pictures to show you. We saved some money with the tiles, almost half, for basically the same look. I'll share that whole story with you soon!

First Breath - Photo Contest

One of our passions around here is photography. I love to take pictures, WB loves to take pictures and now our children are getting into it. I decided to enter the I Heart Face Photography contest this week. It's titled Dramatic B&W.

WB took this photo minutes after our first born arrived into this world. There is so much I could say about this photo. The gloved hands you see were only a couple of the hands that worked on her within minutes of her being born. My room had a team of NICU doctors and nurses calmly awaiting her arrival. Luckily for me, after 17 hours of labor, I was too exhausted to be terribly alarmed. WB was equally clueless, as he had his camera posed and ready to photograph the event. Seconds after this picture was taken she was whisked out of the room under a hood of oxygen. NICU would be her home for the next week.

Since WB is a contributing blogger here at this site I thought I'd share his first glimpse of his first born. His little girl, who turned out to be quite the fighter.

Head over to I Heart Face Photography to see lots of other awesome pictures. And don't forget to sign up for my 18X24 Photo Poster give-away before you leave!

March Give Away- Free Photo Poster Print And A Winner!

I have an awesome March give-away from U-printing for one of my lucky readers. They are giving away:
18x24 Poster Print for One (1) Winner (one of your photos)
Paper Stock: High Gloss or Semi Gloss
Specifications: 1 Business Day Turnaround Shipping: FREE UPS Ground Shipping Eligibility: Limited to US Residents only

I have several of these posters at my house and they are framed and hanging. Everyone comments on how nice they look, so I think you will like them too. It is a wonderful way to showcase your favorite pictures. U-printing not only does poster printing but they do promotional printing as well. So be sure to head over to their site and see all the neat things they have going on.

So all you need to do to enter is leave a comment. For more entries tweet it, facebook it, or link to this post in your blog. Come back each time and tell me what you have done for more entries. The winner will be announced Wednesday, March 31.

Good luck!

*I have to have an e-mail in order to award you the prize:)
And I will be receiving one poster print as well for hosting this give away.

Congrats to Spencer you are the lucky winner!!

The Painting Is Complete!

Yes, the painting of the cabinets is done for the most part. Tips to anyone who paints their cabinets sand first, sand lightly in between and wait 24 hours between coats to keep it from chipping. Some you just have to learn the hard way I guess.

This my little vanity area before.

Here it is after.

Notice the light fixtures. I like these much better then our old ones and they did not cost that much at Home Depot. I did see some bronze light fixtures I loved, but they cost over twice as much as these. Being frugal minded I blubbered like a baby reluctantly put it back on the shelf. Oh and did you know there are a gazillion different light bulb choices? If you don't believe me go browse the lightbulb aisle in your home improvement store. I started to get a little grumpy at all the choices. WB, being the wonderful husband he is, recognizes my grumpiness sometimes even before I do. Anyway, I just couldn't decide.

WB calmly let me believe it was all up to me until he saw me fast approaching my melting point in which he stepped up to some nice round lightbulbs and said, "I believe these will cast you in a warm glow setting off your red highlights and if it's possible make you look even more stunning then you already are." What? You don't believe men say things like that? Well, those might not have been his exact words, but whatever he said made me melt. And there is my bit of marriage advice. Marry a man who knows how to sweet talk you in the lightbulb aisle.

This was our sink area before.

Here it is after.

Oh, and WB got some inexpensive drawer pulls at the home improvement store. We have painted our cabinet pulls in the past and it has worked nicely. This time the weather outside wasn't so nice and to save time we bought these. The key is to find some that are inexpensive. You could easily spend hundreds of dollars in drawer pulls, but for me these look fine and I'd rather spend that money elsewhere.

Next is the counter tops. We went with granite. We thought about doing our own concrete counter tops, but decided against. Number 1 it would take some time. WB only has the weekends to work and he is in the middle of training for a 150 mile bike ride sooooo time is limited. Number 2 I'm not sure my back would survive carrying a concrete slab up the steps to our bathroom. But there are some ways to save with granite, which I'll share in the next makeover post:)

Painting Cabinets

I have to admit I have been in hiding since painting my cabinets. Not because I don't like them, but because I was discouraged. Let me explain. We picked a color. It is not the color WB's dear parents chose, which was a very nice color, just turned out a little too light and orange for our liking. We chose the top color.

I got busy taking down the doors and we started painting. I could have sworn I uttered the words "Shouldn't we sand this?" But WB says he never heard those words leave my mouth. I was probably dreaming this whole episode or something. But after we put on two coats and waited a day I saw some chips where the white paint was showing. I was mortified. Did we just paint all the cabinets for them to slowly chip away? WB wasn't very concerned as he was ready to move on to the floor. Whoa, there cowboy! I am all about being frugal and doing this ourselves but I don't want it to look like, well like I painted it.

Which moves me to lend some marriage advice. Oh come on, you knew I was going to work in some marriage advice somehow. When you begin a project don't just assume the other person knows what they are doing. Sometimes I just get into the "Yes dear" mode and I forget to voice my concerns or ask my husband if he has any. Very easily you can fall into the trap of believing your spouse has done the research when he is thinking you've done the research. And well, then you end up with chipping paint.

So here is the plan. We are going to paint another coat. I read online where it is a good idea to sand between coats very lightly. Also, you should wait several hours before adding the second layer. Ahem, we were a little too anxious to be done and see how it looked and we skipped a few things. But it can be fixed so we are fixing it. Then we will move on to the floor. Which we have picked out, but since this post is rambling on I'll just have to share it tomorrow, along with the cabinets.

Can you offer me any other painting advice, quick before I go start painting again!