That Campfire Smell

The mornings were wonderfully cool!!! Hubbie stoked the fire and it flamed right up.

We had breakfast duty for this weekend's camping. Somehow that first night I only sleep in those morning hours... thru the night we enjoyed the owl hoots, an unknown squalker and in the depth of the darkness we were entertained by a racoon... we followed him with a midnight clean up!!! The girls were up at 7... time for a cup of tea and breakfast.

8 Deer!!! Making a solo run to the other side of camp at 7p... Hubbie spied the deer just before the Trout Pond. He came and picked me up and five kids... and the deer yet outnumbered us... the doe and fawns were beautiful and calm at our watching... the young had lost their spots and dad was not in sight.
Nature!! The walking stick, shedding salamander & dragon fly entertained us. We killed our fair share of mosquitoes and ants. We only noticed the flies as we left!!

Fishing!! The girls claimed we broke the world record with 82 fish!! Wow!!! They caught a fish every minute for our fishing time!! Good thing that was not our dinner plan... and we released all save one for Ladybug to keep a bit longer.

Snakes Alive!!! The big kids found a long grass snake & Hubbie found a little garter snake. Hubbie is way comfortable with snakes... and he encourages his girls....

We also saw a baby squirrel that was adopted by friends... We saw it's eyes open over the weekend! They fed it puppy formula. How do you care for a baby squirrel??? They wrapped it in a towel and carried it in a pocket!!! They knew how!!!

The catastrophe for us was a sick little girl and a horrible mess in the tent... with HUGE help from Kara.... we recovered and made back up plans.... if she got up sick again... I was leaving....

By God's grace... we slept all night... no coons or anything!!! She felt great ever since!!!

Sunday coming home the vote was unanimous... everybody was ready to camp again!!! And laundry was not even done.... everything yet had that campfire smell...

Even so... I'm eager to go too!!! I'm glad we have another date!! (Just not this weekend!!) Want to come????

We found we are looking into a camping upgrade... the bikes are horrible to pack with... so now we either leave the bikes for scooters or get another method of hauling them.... but first Hubbie thinks we'll fix the brakes!!!

Loving it!!! Grace! ss

Turned to Collectors

Humf! We've been turned over to the collectors! Grrrr....

We've paid medical bills every month since hubbie's surgeries!!! We've balanced paying about 5 different bills from that time.

We'e tried to pay each one.. and have so wanted them all done....

Since I've not seen a statement lately I called.... and they turned the account over.... (HUMF... great now I'm ready to stop paying.... grrrrr...... ) Alas... they were not happy with my untimely response to an April letter that was returned in August.... Humf!!

Grrr... to be done with them all!!! I have sent them a lousy check to be done.... grrrr... no car repairs this month as Hubbie knows we need work on the brakes...

His grace is sufficient!! He provides!!! Need to stop the gripe... Grace! ss

Limping Turkey

The turkey legs from our cooking group were so good.

We ate them tonight... and Ladybug inquired...

"Is this leg from a turkey?" "Yes baby it is from a turkey..."

"Is the turkey limping now?" "No the turkey did not survive the loss of his leg."

"Is he dead..." "Yes, the turkey is dead, we could not take just his leg."

Kind of gave us flashbacks of the fish debate, she still will not eat fish because of her fishing trip. She considers herself a great fisherman but she does not want to eat them. Will our youngest child become a vegetarian when she discovers the how the hamburger makes it to her plate?

Daddy ATE My Science Experiment

He truely did!!! He ate Lovebug's science experiment!!!! Oh, how we laughed!

Her experiment was from the hard to find Science Lab in a Supermarket by Friedhoffer.

Materials:

• 4 small bags of potato chips
• a clothespin
• a refrigerator

Procedure:

1. Place an unopened bag on the counter.
2. Open the 3 other bags
3. Leave one opened on the kitchen counter (Daddy ate this one!)
4. Fold another one's top and close w/ the clothespin
5. Place the third in the fridge
6. Compare in a day or two which tastes best

We all agreed the unopened chips were so much the best. Daddy said the one's he ate were soggy... as well as the ones in the fridge... and with the clip.

We also learned that we need to better mark our science materials... :)

Loving Learning with the Girls!! Grace!! ss

To Mop or Not

When was the last time you mopped?

With lots of laughter my Hubbie recently mopped the kitchen after literally throwing into the air his glass of juice... he did catch it.... but alas the "oh so sticky" juice was airborne!!

He used our super industrial mop bucket & such... but it takes labor.... that's hard to come by!! Only a catastrophe makes it necessary!!

Now I'm literally eager to mop... thanks to a new mop... I finally joined the Swiffer WetJet crew! I've actually been eager to clean the floors!!! That's a big improvement!!

Not sure this will have a long term impact... but right now I'm enjoying it!! I've even mopped 2x this week... and have yet another mop project to tackle!!

Come take my poll & tell when you mop!!!

Grace! ss

10/1 Poll Results: You mom weekly: 25%, monthly 12%, and most at a catastrophe 62% Thanks for your vote!!!

Ike-ed

after ike

no power saturday night....

we'd prepared w/ a roast in the crock & spaghetti sauce made....

we lit every candle. we pulled out all our camping stash... we ate the ice cream...

we were totally without news

the garage made a good camping spot! we played 42 (dominoes) deep into the night... the coleman lantern was bright!!

in the dark. grace ss

hey Jesus was in the dark... and He is the light of the world.

Before Ike

What do you do with a hurricane?


Do you catch the headlines in the news? Do you realize there's a hurricane the next day when your power goes out?? Or maybe only if it hits headlines in the news....


We watch the weather... morning noon and night we catch it blow by blow... We see the videos the first round... and many times after.... and we wait!!!


As we wait... Oh! We are it's direct path... 200+ miles up!!!



Here's a capturing of all of us.... sans me!! Only I held the camera....

Waiting!! Grace! ss

Y'Ike

All eyes have been glued... we've seen the same footage of Ike over & over....

At daybreak we'll see what's really happened. We've so enjoyed Galveston in days gone bye... What will be left?!

At this moment... all is beautifully quiet.... peaceful sleep...

I'm up with a stuffed up head... a cold... and a sinus battle taking form...

I'm thankful... for family!! for 4 bedrooms to hold all 11 of us!!!

All plans for tomorrow are off... cancelled women's brunch & father daughter dinner!!! God must have other plans for us!!!

Grace!! ss

Psalm 77

16 The waters saw you, O God,
the waters saw you and writhed;
the very depths were convulsed.

17 The clouds poured down water,
the skies resounded with thunder;
your arrows flashed back and forth.

18 Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind,
your lightning lit up the world;
the earth trembled and quaked.

19 Your path led through the sea,
your way through the mighty waters,
though your footprints were not seen.

Family Here... Ike-ing

Yea!! My family made it.... The covered the 200 miles!! Leaving at 9is and arriving at 4ish!!! That is alot better than the Rita 17 hours!!!

Oh!! My brother did come!!! Lovebug was thrilled. She did not want to sleep in her sister's "messy room!" Sleeping bags are in our room & girls are sleeping!!

Here's our traffic report.. it is cool with web cams!!!

Here's Hubbie's cool hurricane map!! Look at the deep waters... We even expect Ike here!!! When?? 7a Saturday!!

This round may be for the long haul!!! With a 20+ foot storm surge & Beaumont is like 20ish feet above sea level... it could be very wet... & very deep!!! Oh!!!

Glad we can keep our seven here!!! God is good!!

Grace!! ss

Ike - Round 2 for us

At 6 am the mandatory evacuation notice was given!!

We've got family coming!! Only my brother is going to ride out the storm. We're excited to have Mom & Dad, Karen, Jenny, Nicole & Austin...

Google has a cool hurricane map!!!

Corner to corner clean!!! Oh, the girl's room's yet need to be seriously clean... with Austin at 9 months we must be ready! I have a box of toys now for little ones!!! (I'll call if I need anything... we are good for go!)

Running!! Grace!! ss

Clothes... Out with the Old!!

Out with the old!? Gracious! The girls have oodles of clothes & shoes that do not fit. That's just what I have boxed away for fall.... and I've not yet even purged closets & drawers.

Just how do you rotate out the old clothes??

I'm no master at this!! I know I want all this gone... and I don't want to go to Goodwill and give it away. Do tell how you win at this?????

A friend said to get a huge container. I filled that up in the spring with the fall small things. That's worked great this fall. I'm in the midst of 3 loads of laundry... wash, hang, price...

The first batch went to my local consignment spot... not only did they take all of my first batch!!! They gave me $40+ for my last drop... from spring, I guess!! Wow!!! I turned and spent half of it there again... but that works for me! They also gave me all the hangers I needed. Yea!

My last 2 batches did not make the time slot for drop off. I'm planning to take them to the CCC sale. (I committed to this before the alternate plan!!) I'll drop off oodles... work my volunteer time with the girls this year... and then shop the sale early!!!

At the moment I think I'm winning... I've yet to get into the attic... Oh, I want to win....

How do you handle.. out with the old & in with the new???

Learning & Trying!! Grace! ss

Nasty Little Bugs

The search has been overdue. Today I began the hunt for the nasty little bugs flying from my pantry. Yuck. The little moths have been clinging to the ceiling and fluttering by....

I finally found them in some brown rice... guess I should have used that a long time ago.

Now to put the peaches in the fridge.... gnats there.... and the bananas are bagged. For a while I banned bananas because of gnats. The battle has a new front.

Here some info on bugs in your cuboards. Looking into it... seems rice is often a suspect!!! How old is your rice?? It should be max 3-4 months old!! I've used my white rice..... and that's left my brown rice for the bugs.

I'm throwing away many many things. The pantry is better & debugged. The last of my sugar free stuff is in the trash too... my natural Dr. said the splenda is bad for me... I've set out some excess jello to make!!!

Glad that's done! Grace! ss

Hitchhiker

We picked up a hitchhiker today.... He was hanging around the car beside us and latched on with us.

He stuck with us from skating to the library... and waited for us outside as we picked up a book on the Drinking Gourd our folk song, a Spanish DVD & Bach's Magnificat.... inner library loan is great!!!!

Surprisingly he stuck with us all the way home!!! He always headed into the wind.... at times he had a leg or two flying...

See him still hanging on to the mirror??? He was great to watch the whole way!!! The better shot is him just before Lovebug sent him flying to the safety of the trees!!! I'm glad they did not cage him after his long journey!!!

He is a Fork-tailed Bush Katydid, Scudderia furcata

Family: Tettigoniidae, Long-horned Grasshoppers and Katydids

This is cool... Lovebug is just learning about... Kings Play Chess on Fine Glass Sets... the mnemonic for Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species

Here's Lovebugs versions... Kiss Princess Cause or Frog Gets Sick :)

We've added a science option on top of our AO study. This from the Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day by Jeannie Fulbright. We'll work at a slow pace... but this was fun!!!

Enjoying making connections!!! Grace! ss

Our Gustav Whirlwind

Watching the storm come ashore in LA... mom wanted to beat the rain and head home!!!

Just as quickly as they've come... they are gone again. Bitter sweet! Lovebug cried and cried with their decision to go.

Our Gustav impact is left to clean up.... and many are in a far harder clean up. Our Church is #6 on the Red Cross help list... and there's bus loads there. That means all before us are full...

This has been a Labor Day!

Grace!! ss