Hopeful Housewife

It’s late Saturday night. I’m surrounded by piles and piles of freshly washed, dried, and folded clothes. My cats are pacing my feet, and our wooden windchimes are making a glorious sound in front of our house.`

It hasn’t been a particularly easy 24 hours, but I have such peace at this moment. As I heated up some late (really late) dinner for myself, I reflected on the week we’ve had and felt compelled to share them with you.

Cats.

Yeah, cats. If you’re not a cat person, you may not understand this part. If you are, I probably dont have to continue. I stand by the fact that my cats are much better therapy than any med I could take. I was heartbroken this week to discover that Mr. Cat was peeing all over my house. He’s fixed, but yeah, he’s a Tom Cat at heart. I cried at the thought of surrendering him back to the shelter. I considered tolerating the pee, knowing I’d be cleaning constantly. I sent a scathing email to the shelter because I was told his “destructive behavior” that was listed on his paperwork was him chewing the morning newspaper. No one can tell me that when the cat was surrendered by its previous owner(s), it wasn’t made public to them. Had I known what his “behavior” was, I wouldn’t have adopted him, and wouldn’t have had to break the news to my kids. I felt really angry for a couple of days until I heard that the hubs’ brother would love to take him as his cat with “tuxedo” markings recently passed away and he’d be willing to take on Mr. Cat.  The $200.00 I had invested in Mr. Cat suddenly seemed worth it.

Re-housing Mr. Cat also opened up the opportunity to take one of my Moms’ cats, who the hubs is obsessed with. He has been pestering my mom for months to let him take her home with us. She finally agreed this week, and the look on hubs’ face when he discovered her sleeping in our room when he got home was just fabulous. Marquette hasn’t left his side in 2 days.

The Hubs.

I am blessed to have a husband that not only compliments my cooking, tells me I’m beautiful, treats me like a lady, and lets me steal the covers, but he also seems to know when Mama just needs a sack of mint oreo cookies.

Turn it off week.

Ok, So the real “turn it off” week is in April, but I refused to turn the TV on this week. It was nice to just enjoy my kids, and not hear anything in the background. Hubs and I also went to bed earlier. The whole family just had much more snuggle time. It was very refreshing.

Chicken Dijon.

Ok, recipe from my childhood, and I woke up the other day thinking about it as soon as I opened my eyes. Lucky for me, I had everything I needed…except dijon mustard, which judging by the title of the dish, I’m sure you know is essential. Thankfully, Mom had some, and my dinner was a complete success. It’s really just one of the easiest, tastiest dishes I’ve ever had, or made.

Friday night service.

I just really enjoy going. I feel so at home there and at peace. The Spirit really moves there and after some emotional times this week, it was a really great release too. Hanging out at IHOP with the rebel crowd is fun too. I seem to have found an adopted Grandmother there too. I really feel like a child in her Grandmothers arms when she hugs me. She makes me want to take care of her.

 Organizing.

I spent several hours the other night organizing all of my curriculum and sewing stuff. The hubs brought me an awesome shelving system thing and it holds everything and then some. I feel lighter somehow knowing that the majority of my stuff has a home.

Spaghetti O’s.

Sometimes you just have to have some, even if they really shouldn’t be considered food.

Life is good. Really, really, good.

So the kids recently picked up the phrase, “Last one there is a rotton egg!”

In an effort to keep up with her siblings, Piper has tried on numerous occasions to say this little taunt as well.

Only, in her newly 4 year old brain, it comes out like this:

“I’ll beat ya a fast egg crack!”

I think we should petition to have the phrase permanently changed. 

The regular school year is almost up. I’d love to say that I’m excited and cant wait for some academic freedom, but alas, we have summer schooling too. It’s times like this I hate that I cant pay $240 a WEEK for therapies for the kids. If I could, I wouldn’t have to be tied to a charter school.

Dont get me wrong…I am pretty happy with our school! The curriculum is intense, but thorough too. My teachers are amazing people and I’m so blessed to have them helping us in this journey.

We have a fair amount of academic freedom, but in a perfect world, I’d really like to do unit studies.

I just started doing “The Prairie Primer” (Thanks Heather!!!!) and its just SO much fun. This summer, while we’ll do our required work, we’ll spend a lot of our time working on Prairie Primer stuff too. We went to the library and picked up several books that will help us with the first few lessons, and I just ordered the girls a little surprise. I found a cornhusk doll on etsy.com! She’s super cute and I’m happy that the girls will be able to see the type of doll Laura had (although ours will be significantly fancier I suspect!)

Regardless of our approach, the kids are learning, having fun, and dont mind doing summer school. I’m reminded that we’re blessed to have this opportunity every relaxed, effortless, simple morning. No more waiting for the bus, trying to make it to class on time, making sure lunches are packed, hoping the kids have matching socks, or wiping tears away from the faces of frustrated, overwhelmed children.

Summer, here we come.

Four years ago today, I was looking at my third and final child and marveling at the fact that she had turned a week old.

I was trying desperately to remember every detail of every single day. I was failing miserably, and finding myself mourning the loss of every day, knowing she was my last.

I was learning to juggle three children, perfecting breastfeeding, and changing my shirt four times a day so as not to smell like baby puke.

I was watching her grow before my eyes, knowing all too well that before long, she’d be a “big girl” and there wasnt a thing I could do about it.

I was thanking almighty God that I had the ability to stay home with my children so as not to miss a minute of the newborn experience.

I felt confident as a mother…no more bumbling through, trying to figure out that Mama thing. I had it down to a science, and felt pretty good about that.

And now, I sit here, exactly four years after I celebrated her first week in this world. This is the part where I’m supposed to say I can’t believe its been four years. That time has flown…that she grew up overnight.

But I wont.

Because I can believe it. I was here. I was a part of it all. I tried to savor every moment and experience every day so that I didn’t have to wonder where the time went.

Time hasn’t flown. We’ve lived every day, many were hard, and sometimes if felt as if time wasn’t passing at all. Unfortunately, there’s no pause button on the most amazing times, so I hold them close to my heart.

I *can* believe she’s four. She’s as “four” as they come. Sassy, smart, and self-confident. I’m so proud of my wee one, and know that she will do amazing things in her life.

I’m just happy to be a part of the process.

Happy Birthday, Dear Piper…Your Mama loves you. Every single day.

If there is such a thing, that is.

I think this picture might be the perfect example of my insane family.

Hubby, never smiling in a picture, but always smiling in real life. He’s lost about 40 pounds thus has a lot to smile about, but still wont.

Trinity, trying to mimic her brother’s pose, and simultaniously yelling at him for not doing it right.

Piper on her own, probably watching someone walk by with an ice cream cone and plotting how she was going to convince us to buy her one.

Gavin, striking his “Dude” pose, obviously proud of himself and the mop on his head he calls a hairstyle.

And then, Me. Ever the optomist, hoping that we were all looking the same direction and perhaps appearing that we like eachother.

So I thought I’d share an update on my backyard farm, lol…

We now have 3 dogs. Our dane, our doxie, and now our german shep/mastiff mix puppy, Katie. She’s a b it psychotic (you know, like a puppy should be) but I have a soft spot for her lately. Yes, even after she tore up my potato patch and my corn/green bean portion of my garden. I could have killed her. She’s lucky she’s cute.

My hens are gorgeous I ended up having 2 roos, which were taken to my mother’s house. They were super happy there until Katie’s sister Corey killed them both. I was pretty devistated.

The hens, however, are thriving and doing well. After losing a few (3 due to dog, 2 due to gender) I now have six hens: 1 red, 1 barred rock, 1 brown leghorn, 1 wild feral, so cute its ugly hen, and 2 bramahs. Gorgeous girls they are.

So aside from my Katie-caused casualties in my garden, I do have peppers, squash, and tomatoes coming up. My rosemary and sage bushes are thriving, and my compost pile is doing well.  I’ll take the good with the bad.

The latest addition to our home, Mr. Cat is a riot. He’s a little nuts, but we like him that way. The other day I could have sworn I heard him pee in the toilet, but thought for sure I was imagining things. This morning, I heard the tinkling again, shot out of bed, and sure enough, I caught him sitting up on the pot, peeing. This is not something we taught him, of course, but kind of a nice trick if a cat was going to have one.

This, by the way is even more entertaining because I also recently busted Miata, our other shelter cat using the loo too. So yes, I have two toilet trained cats.

Fascinating stuff.

Wonder if I can train them to use a toilet brush.

I hadn’t been to a yard sale in a while. I decided to follow the signs to one today. I am so glad I did!!

I obtained the following items:

Vintage Yahtzee Game: 10 cents

Salad Spinner: 75 cents

Vintage decorative egg cutter: 20 cents

2 different pyrex measuring cups: 25 cents each

Crock pot insulated carrier: 50 cents

Roll up puzzle mat/storage,  new in package: 1$

Perhaps my most exciting find…

A BRAND NEW Butterbell butter crock. White, exactly like one I almost bought on ebay for 15.00…

 Get this…

25 cents!!!! Still has original sticker!

I’m pretty excited!

See, thrift shopping and yard sale hopping doesn’t have to be junk collecting.

Mama’s Kitchen Cooking School

*Sugar Cookies*

Cooking classes for children  2-5. Introduction to the kitchen, kitchen safety, kitchen lingo, and hands on creation.

*Little Helpers*

Cooking instruction for children 6-12

Beginning techniques, entertaining basics, table and hosting etiquette, recipe writing and reading.

*Steamin’ Teens*

Cooking instruction for 13-18 year olds. Special occasion cooking, cooking complete meals, advanced techniques, food and kitchen safety, the science of cooking-rising, acidity, beginning food preservation, Math in the kitchen-budgeting meals, measuring, portioning for groups.

All classes include supplies, an apron, and curriculum.

Each class $10.00 per 1 hour class. Class meets once a week in my home.

DAY CLASSES AVAILABLE FOR HOMESCHOOLED STUDENTS!

CONTACT ANDREA GARZA, (message for phone number)

Roamschooler@yahoo.com

ASK ABOUT OUR SUMMER CAMP!

As stated in the article, yes, I can make a loaf of bread for roughly $.30 cents. That requires a few things though:

1.) Buy your yeast in bulk. Mine is just over 3.00 for a huge brick of it.

2.) Lately I’ve had to use all purpose flour to achieve this price. The cost of bread flour has basically tripled in less than six months, so its closer to .75 cents a loaf if I use bread flour, which is worth it if you ask me.

3.) I use a bread machine. This is not required, but most of my recipes will be written as though you are using one. Most of the time, I use the dough cycle, then pull it out, shape/braid/mold it the way I want, let it rise again then bake in the oven. Lately, however, its been gettin’ hot here and I’m back to the machine. It’s just impossible to cool the house off when the oven has been on it seems.

Ok…So here are a few recipes I use often.

Basic White Bread: (the slightly higher than .30 cent loaf)

Large loaf setting:

1 Cup water (about baby bottle temperature)

1/4 cup margarine or butter ( of course, margarine is the .30 cent method, but considering I’ve probably whipped up some butter, its not too expensive to use the real thing.

1 egg

2 Tbs. Sugar

1 Tsp. Salt

3 Cups Bread Flour (but yes, you can use all purpose, it just wont be as fluffy)

1/4 cup nonfat dry milk

2 1/2 tsp. Yeast

Add all ingredients in order into the bread machine. Select the 2lb setting, and the “white bread” setting as well. If your machine has a crust color setting, pick your favorite way to eat it.

Push start and walk away.

When you pull it out, I recommend slicing it in half lengthwise THEN slicing it into sandwich slices. The slice size is more appropriate that way.

Another fun one is Sally Lunn bread. Certainly not spendy to make,although higher than .30 cents a loaf… still cheaper than store bought by a long shot.

1/4 cup Milk

1/2 cup Water

7 Tbs. Butter or Margarine

3 Eggs

1 1/2 tsp Salt

1/4 cup sugar

3 cups flour (bread flour recommended!)

2 tsp. Yeast.

 Please do not add more yeast thinking 2 tsp is not enough. Also dont add more salt than it calls for. This is a high rising loaf, and adding either of the two could make a real mess for you.

Bare Bones Bread: The .30 cent Loaf!

1 1/2 Cups Water

2 tsp. Sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt

3 cups bread flour

2 tsp yeast.

Set white bread cycle for 2 lb loaf.

Enjoy!

My 15 seconds…

 Or maybe its more like 5 seconds. Either way, I’m excited.

http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-pennywise20-2008may20,0,6692804.story

I’m excited. Then again, it doesn’t take much to excite me. I am, afterall, the woman who talks to chickens every day to lift her spirits.

Life is good.