Look Mom no tooth!!!

Our resident Laura Ingalls, came home from swimming at Grandma's house and surprised us all by having a hole where her amazingly loose tooth had been. To be honest I can't believe that she didn't swallow the darn thing in her sleep, it was THAT loose!!!

I was so excited when she showed me I said, "Shannon Wow you lost your tooth!!" Looking up at me with her toothless grin she says ever so seriously.... " No mama I didn't lose it, it's in daddy's pocket." Any more sweet and I would be the one loosing teeth!

So today I tell her we need to snap a picture so we can E Mail Grandma Cassel and show her. She says OK... runs out of the room, because she has to get ready for her photo shoot... (her sisters really need to cut back on Americas Next Top Model) and comes out of her bedroom in the bonnet, again with the sweet 5 year old thing...

I am just going to drink this all in because I know all to soon this sweet little thing is going to be abducted and some alien lifeform will take her place when she is about 13 and will not bring her back to us until she is will into her 20's.

180 Days Gone!

Yes, another school year done!

The kitchen is closed until August.... I don't know why California hasn't got the memo that school shouldn't start until September but they really need to get on the bus... I hear all the time that we need to cut school spending, well cooling a school for the month of AUGUST has to cost a pretty penny!

It's not going to change so I will stop complaining right now and start enjoying my sumer vacation.

What do I have planed for this summer you ask? Well... we are going to garden, can, raise a couple of pigs for the freezer and get ready for the winter...

We are still feeling the crunch of the "GREAT RECESSION" and it doesn't look like its going to get better any time soon so the only thing we can do is save as much money as we can, while we can make it. The best way to do that is to grow your own food so you don't have to give that money to the grocery stores... Thats another rant.... 4 bags of groceries for 100 bucks!!!

So we have got a garden going and this week I will add some more plants. The chickens are laying tons of eggs, and I even have a hen who is sitting on 6 eggs. I think all the boys from that hatch will go in the freezer.

I was planing on going to the auction this week and pick up a couple of feeder hogs. Between the pigs and the chickens we should have all the extra zucchini ate up. That alone is supper exciting!!! I wont have to beg family, neighbors, and perfect strangers to take that squash off my hands!

OK. so now I have to go. I will post pictures of our summer......

Best Pasta Salad I Have Ever Made.....

That is a huge title to live up to because I have made a LOT of pasta salads, but this one had the whole family LOVING IT!!! And if that wasn't enough it was super simple to make.

Here is what I did....

Marys Best Pasta Salad

1 lb Penni Pasta (or what ever pasta you have on hand)

1 green bell pepper 1/2 inch chop

1 red bell pepper 1/2 inch chop

1/2 red onion chopped

1 jar marinated artichoke hearts (dump in the whole thing juice and all)

1 large avocado 1/2 inch dice

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Cook pasta and drain. Put everything in a bowl and dress with your favorite Italian dressing or use this one...

Let it cool for a while and enjoy!!!

Our House Dressing:

2 T. Ketchup

3/4 c. Vegetable Oil

3 T. Vinegar

2 T. Sugar

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 t. poppy seeds

put it all in a jar and shake shake shake..... ( tell me your not singing that song???)

Elk Brown Stew

1 1/2 pounds Elk cubes for stew (you can use beef)

Flour about 1 cup

Salt and pepper to your taste

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

2 cups tomato juice

1 1/2 cups water

4 small onions, quartered

1 1/2 cups diced potatoes

3 medium carrots, diced

3/4 cup diced celery

Dredge meat in seasoned flour. Heat oil and garlic in electric skillet at 400°. Add meat and brown well. Turn heat control down until pilot light goes out. Add paprika, allspice, sugar, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, tomato juice and water. Cover and simmer 1 1/2 hours or until meat is tender. Stir occasionally, adding more water if necessary. Add onions, potatoes, carrots and celery. Cover and cook 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Okay this is the basic recipe..... Now for the changes I made for today's dinner because I cant follow the same recipe all the time....

Today I doubled the basic recipe. I also added 1 medium onion because thats all I had, I didn't add celery because I am out. I added 1 1/2 cups red wine and 1 can of diced tomatoes, because I can. Also I added all the vegetables at one time after I added the tomato sauce, and dialed the heat down to warm so it can cook all day. Why you ask??? Just because it makes the house smell wonderful and I can sneak a taste now and then. Thats all.

Now we must move on to something sweet........

Once A Year Posting......

How in the world did a whole year pass by and I didn't post one new thing???

Could it be the new High Schooler? Maybe it was the Middle School Middle Child? (that is a whole topic in itself!) Perhaps its the Preschooler.... It cold be "Honey could you do_________, for me" list that is ever growing. Or maybe it's the fact that I have to volunteer any free days I have....

I need to fix this Once a Year Posting. I will work on it and get back to you....

See you next February!

LOL

Happy Valentines Day Eve.

I use to look forward to this holiday in the hopes of a secret admirer sending me flowers or chocolates. Even a card slipped under a door, but then I grew up and married a man who for the last 19 years has forgot this holiday even exists. The first few years I was devastated, the next few I was just mad, and now I have zero expectations that anything romantic will occur on this day and its just a fun time for the kids. It works for me.

This year since times are tight I had to get creative with my Valentines for the kids. I came up with this cute Idea. I found the cute little bear you see above on a google search. Then I printed it off on pink paper and attached a small dollar box of chocolates with a cute little valentine message for each kid. Total cost for the project $3.oo. I had a Walmart gift card with a 4 dollar balance so all in all it cost me nothing. I like that!!!

Another Month

I am amazed at how fast January went by! Life gets busy and time flies by without us even taking notice until its gone.

We have been very busy with the girls and Basketball Season. We have had a tournament every weekend this entire month. Needless to say one of us (the resedent 4 yr. old) have had enough and have firmly stated that they will stay with Aunt Kim and go to no more games!

Hubby has had no luck on the job front. There is just nothing out there! A few times he has went to places that said he was a day late.... Spring will be here soon enough and we will be back in the hay business and having no free time. I keep thinking, if we can make it through this winter, then we should be able to save enough money this summer to get us through next winter and if a winter jobs comes around next year it will just make it less tight financially.

Our grocery bill has went from 70-100 dollars a week down to 20! I have been able to do this using the WIC Program, and the meat we grew or hunted. That is a nice feeling.

I am trying to focus on all the things we have instead of what we are doing without. There are lots more people out there that are doing it well on much less. So I am counting my blessings!!!

January went by in a blur, I am going to try and make an effort to find something everyday in February to take notice of. Slow things down a bit and enjoy this life.