Found This at the Grocery Store Yesterday

I skimmed a few pages yesterday and am looking forward to pouring a cup of tea and sinking into its pages later tonight. I love MaryJane's books and magazines. They encapsulate so many of the changes we've been making for this year towards a simple life and inspire me to continue in this journey.

Should Dumpling Really Be Climbing Stairs Already?

The boy isn't even eleven months old yet and already he's headed up the stairs. That boy is as tenacious as an Airedale terrier chasing a cat. He has no "Off" switch, or at least not one I can find.

I haven't posted in a few days mostly because I am chasing both my little monkeys around. Even Pumpkin, who is so mellow most days has caught Dumpling's "Let's Go Exploring" energy and is off and into everything. I can't turn my back on the two of them for four seconds before one or the other is up to something. Naptime is a blessed break for us all. I've napped the last few days mostly just so I can keep up.

The exercise and eating changes are going well. I've got a chart on the fridge with boxes listing the daily workouts for the next twelve weeks. Each morning after I exercise I put a star in the box for that day. Yup, I taught Kindergarten, I just don't have any more little chart stickers. It's a good visual for me to see the progress I am making and an incentive, however small, to keep at it as I don't want an empty box glaring at me.

I am looking forward to Sunday though as that is my "Free Day" where I won't exercise and can have anything I want to eat. We're having company for dinner that night. We're splitting up the cooking-they're bringing Jack's Famous Homemade Pizza and I'll supply the salad and dessert. This is going to be some dessert. I know they love chocolate almost as much as I do, so it'll be fun to plan. Of course, any leftovers will have to follow them home, or go with Sweetheart off to the office so I'm not tempted by them come Monday.

Here's a question--where do you store all the stuff after you can it? The pantry is already full of regular groceries. I'm sitting here with 35 jars on my counter. Not the best plan for working around in the kitchen. Guess I'm off to the basement to clean off my Hoosier cabinet. It has gardening and craft things on it. I need to see what can go away or be moved. I REALLY want my counters empty. Stuff, even useful stuff, drives me nuts left on the counters.

Better jump to it before the boys awaken. Hope you all are having a lovely week and not getting too hot!

Monday Morning!!

The coffee is percolating on the stove this morning. Gramma's Pyrex percolator is still going strong! It smells so good. I'm looking forward to pouring a cup in just a few minutes.

Sweetheart did such a fantastic job cleaning the basement that I was able to easily go down there and work out this morning. Well, it was easy once I dragged myself out of bed! He even loaded Superchick onto an mp3 player so I have my workout music. The Body for Life (BFL) program alternates three days of weight training and three days of aerobics with the seventh day a *free day*/day of rest. Today was upper body weight training. Done! I'm not sure, however, that I'll be able to lift that cup of coffee.

Doing BFL also has you eating six small meals of healthy proteins and carbohydrates as well as drinking a ton of water. Four glasses already done. I am wide awake now and ready to go for the day. It's time to go get the monkeys out of bed. Don't worry--this won't turn into a BFL Blog. If you're not a fan of BFL, that's fine, but it does work for me. I'm only posting about this as a way to help hold myself accountable and encourage someone else I know as she was mentioning starting up.

We're off to the library after breakfast (Scrambled Egg White Burrito) this morning to pick up Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell. We recently bought the BBC movie and LOVED IT so I'm looking forward to reading the book. I loved her Wives and Daughters both the book and the movie.

Have great day!

In The Kitchen

I was drinking my coffee the other morning when I thought of my Grandmother's percolator in my cupboard. I had tried using it a few times over the years, but had no idea how to really use the thing. I think I just boiled the grounds to death. It always seemed to be boiling away at all hours of the day when I was a kid.

Then I started reading a book set in the South, Wrapped in Rain, coffee percolating on the stove appeared several times. So imagine my delight when I popped over to Cherry Hill Cottage where she had the coffee on! I pulled my out of the cupboard and washed it. Following her directions, I have it ready to go in the morning. Mine (Grandma's) is just like the one in her picture. Hope this works.

Right now on the stove I have the last batch of pickles processing. Thank goodness. That half-bushel basket made 12 quarts and 9 and a 1/2 pints of pickles. That's a lot of pickles! Now we just have to wait the 4-6 weeks before testing them. Maybe I'll enter some in the country fair this fall. Hah!

This officially ends my canning for the month. Although I want to do more as other things become ripe, I am tired of it all right now. I would like to try Miss Bonnie's corn and black bean salsa she wrote about. It sure sounds good. However, I am looking forward to seeing the top of my counters again!

Having now been pregnant three times in three years like Arlene, I am visiting her site, Losing Weight After Baby. Arlene was a friend back in college and just about the neatest God-loving person I know. I found her again after a mention of her in the Biola University Alumni magazine I received recently.

Knowing me, I need more than just encouragement and suggestions, I need a specific plan. Therefore, I am starting the Body for Life program on Monday. This helped me after Pumpkin was born. I was able to lose all the pregnancy weight plus some. I also loved how strong I got. I thought I'd stick with it, but when I became pregnant with Dumpling, I just had to eat what I could keep down. I did continue to exercise through my pregnancy with him, but once he was born I stopped. Now I'm still carrying around the weight from being pregnant with Dumpling and simply added on the weight of being pregnant with Jimmy. It's time to make a change.

Sweetheart is back from Hawaii and we are all sooooooooooo glad. We missed him so much. He's busy downstairs cleaning up the exercise area so that I can start using it. It had just become the dumping ground for things, especially baby things, so it needs a lot of help. We had just put things we thought we need in a few months for Jimmy down there, but we've decided to just store everything baby for awhile. We'll see where we're at in a few months.

My Mom did stay with us for two nights and we were able to help her out. I took her to the doctor yesterday. They said she'd probably need a month to fully heal. Ouch. Her knee and leg are so bruised and swollen. It hurts to just look at it. Please keep praying for her. She decided she'd rather be at home. I think she'll be able to rest better there, but we miss having her here and would have kept her as long a she needed.

Shannon has been doing a series entitled What I'd Like You to Know having guest posters on a variety of subjects. This post on mourning the loss of a baby is really good. It had me in tears, of course, but was well worth the read.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend. I am off to clean up the pickle mess and hang out with Sweetheart who just came upstairs. Thanks for stopping by!

The Mysteries of Canning

Ok...a half a bushel of tomatoes made just under seven quarts of tomato sauce. Six quarts of strawberries made just under four pints of strawberry jam and three quarts of berries in juice. But cucumbers, oh my...the recipe said eight pounds would make seven pints of cucumbers. I weighed out eight pounds and got thirteen pints of pickles. I had to do a double batch of the pickling juice. On top of that it, taking out the eight pounds of cucumbers barely made a dent in the basket of cucumbers. I'm going to be canning quarts of cucumbers for days!!!! Argh! Should hope they taste good!

DOES ANYONE KNOW IF I'M DOING SOMETHING WRONG? This is the first time I've ever attempted this. The good news is I guess I'll end up using up the quart jars covering my counters.

I'm off to the airport to pick up my Mom in an hour. She's agreed to stay here tonight. I am so glad. It'll be good to have her here and be able to help her. Then we'll head back to the airport in the morning to pick up Sweetheart!!!! I'm so glad. I've missed everyone. Time to check the cucumbers...

Hello Friends

Today we went to the zoo. My Dad and Stepmom gave Pumpkin a membership to the zoo for his birthday. We love going. It is usually just the boys and I as we go on weekday mornings. We had a wonderful time going a few weeks ago with Sweetheart and my Dad and Stepmom when they were in town. Sometimes we'll meet up with friends. It is also nice to go with just my guys because we can go at our own pace and just spend as little or as much time as we'd like to that day.

We were only there about an hour or so today. We stayed on the shady side and just meandered around. Pumpkin loves the penguins. We also got to see some baby flamingos. They were just little, white puffballs on legs. Noisy though!

It was quite warm out so on the way home when we passed a lemonade stand we stopped. I almost always stop whenever I see a lemonade stand. I chatted with the Mommy while her three kiddos got the drinks together. It was a nice little break in the day and the cold lemonade sure was nice. Pumpkin's sugar buzz afterwards was pretty funny. He ran around jabbering a mile a minute and running everywhere. Luckily, it wore off before naptime.

It reminded me of me. I had a coworker a few years ago who loved Starbucks and always came in with a venti triple something-or-other at least once a day. Occasionally, she would bring me something. The students thought it was funny because I would start teaching at warp speed as soon as the caffeine hit. I don't know how my co-worker survived on that much caffeine all day long. I couldn't.

I finished canning all the strawberries (that we didn't just eat) and all the tomatoes. So after nap today the boys and I piled into the van after naptime and hit the farmer's market around the corner for a half-bushel of cucumbers to make Sweetheart some pickles. I'll put them together tomorrow while the boys nap. I've been up w-a-y too late canning every night.

I used the pressure canner last night on the tomato sauce and am happy to say that nothing blew up. It was my first attempt at ever using a pressure cooker. Now that I've done it once, I'm ready to pressure cook everything! Ok, maybe not, but at least I'm not afraid of the thing anymore.

I am not able to be at Bunco tonight as my Mom is still at my sister's in California. I wish it was just because she was having too much fun to leave, but unfortunately it is because she fell yesterday and really messed up her knee. It's a good thing to be home tonight as I plan to clean up and go to bed early.

Plus, my friend Terri is coming over to visit in the morning since we didn't get to see one another tonight. There are a few things I'll do to have things nice before they arrive in the morning. Then we'll go get my Mom tomorrow afternoon from the airport. I am hoping she'll just want to stay with us if she's not able to get around. I'd rather have her here where I can help her out than have her at her home and wish I could do something. We'll see what she decides.

If you think of it, please pray for her. She is the greatest Mom ever and the sweetest person you could know. It's hard to think of her in pain.

Can I just say this isn't my family's best summer? Recap: Dad-pacemaker, Son-injured foot, Brother-in-law-major surgery on his ankle, Me-miscarriage, Mom-injured knee. Guess it is just how it goes sometimes. Looking forward to Autumn...But still enjoying each day as I can!!

Simple Woman's Daybook

For Today...

Outside my Window...

It is a beautiful sunny day here in Denver. It is July so it is hot.


I am thinking...

about Sweetheart and missing him.


I am thankful for...

such a blessed life. Though the events of this summer have not been what I would have chosen, He is faithful.

From the kitchen...

I tried to fix my runny jam via these instructions. We'll see how they turn out! I am enjoying my leftovers for lunch today from this Pioneer Woman Cooks recipe. It will probably be dinner as well! Last night I blanched and peeled the half bushel of tomatoes. They FILLED this bowl up completely. I'll make them into tomato sauce as time allows and will try out my pressure canner for the first time. Hope it doesn't blow!!! (I'll be waiting to try it out AFTER the boys are in bed tonight just to be safe.)

I am creating...

a huge mess in the kitchen! I've run the dishwasher WAY too many times this week with all the canning stuff.

I am going...

to need to run out and get a few groceries including lemon juice for the tomato sauces. We'll go after naps when it will hopefully be a bit cooler out.

I am wearing...

a long black skirt, a white tank, and my apron of the day with my hair in a barrette. I am barefoot, wishing I was still pregnant, and hanging out in the kitchen as usual.

I am reading...

Mrs. Sharp's Traditions: Reviving Victorian Family Celebrations Of Comfort & Joy, Ball's Blue Book of Preserving, and West From Home, a collection of Laura Ingalls Wilder's letters to Almanzo during a trip she took to San Fransisco to visit their daughter, Rose.

I am hoping...

to get all those tomatoes canned!

I am hearing...

the London Symphony Orchestra play Franz Schubert's Entracte No. 3 from Rosamunde.

Around the house...

are jars--lots of jars!!!!

One of my favorite things...

is red gingham fabric. Random, I know, but there are little touches of it all over the kitchen including the little quote book I received from Quill Cottage's Art Swap. It was made by Nancy. It is adorable and I will post pictures once I have a camera. I bought some more gingham so that I can dress up the jars I'm canning once they're done. I also picked up some ticking with roses and a pretty beige and rose calico as well. Just trying to make the everyday a little more special.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week...

I have Bunco with my dear, sweet friends tomorrow night. I was sick last month so I am really looking forward to seeing them all. (Thanks Mom for babysitting!) Sweetheart returns on Thursday. Otherwise, our calendar is W-I-D-E open. Wanna get together? :)

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...

Alas, no camera this week. If you click on the Mrs. Sharp's link you can look inside the book at the wonderful illustrations and pages. I love this book!

Hop on over here for more Daybooks. (I think this wins the award for most links I've ever put in one post!)

Updated Later:

My sweet boy is back! I guess the Timeout worked. He apologized and was the sweetest boy, quick to obey and cheerful. He's napping now as is Dumpling, so I'm off to the garden for some zucchini, thyme, basil and chives for dinner. This recipe, Farfalle with Zucchini, sounded good to me.

Think I'll boil a few extra noodles and melt some cheddar on them for Pumpkin. Don't think he'll be too keen on the Pioneer Woman's dinner idea, but we'll try it. Dumpling eats anything--and everything!

This and That

86 As a 1930s wife, I am Very Superior Take the test!

I saw this over at Allison's and had to check it out. How funny. I must confess to not washing the milk bottle tops, nor wearing stockings, nor giving my husband a shampoo or manicure. Apparently those don't count for too much. Not sure how I'd rate here in 2008...Guess I'm just behind the times, as usual.

I can tell you how I'm rating as a Mommy today: not the best. Dumpling is sleeping, though how he is managing it over Pumpkin's tantrum that is going on in Timeout, I have no idea. Personally, I've just turned up my music so as not to have to listen to him. Daddy left for the week on Friday. I think we're (the boys and I) just having a bit too time together time. Too bad Sweetheart is gone until Thursday. asdkjjljrioerrioieriejjoioreoiadknkf! It's been going really well until about 20 minutes ago.

On to other things....

I am canning while Sweetheart is gone. This is the first time I've ever attempted it, but I've got everything in place ready to go. I made some strawberry jam last night and since I bought a flat of strawberries, I've got more to do. The jam hasn't jelled yet though I did cook it to the jelling point temperature wise based on my candy thermometer and adjusting for our high altitude. I guess we'll just have strawberry sauce.

I also bought a half-bushel of tomatoes for salsa and spaghetti sauces. I'm planning to tackle those this evening after the boys are in bed. Still reading recipes to find one I like.

I must say that having the right tools makes the job much easier! I bought a Canning Utensil Set yesterday. Usually, I would just try to make do with what I have, but I am so glad I spent the money on this. I'll try to add a link to a set later, if I can.

***

I received my beautiful items from Sandy's Art Swap the other day and I must say that I love them all. Since Sweetheart has the camera with him, pictures will be done later. In fact, I probably won't be able to post any pictures this week. He told me he's taking some great shots in Hawaii. Can't wait to see them, though I'd rather just SEE HIM!!! And no, not because Pumpkin is still pitching a fit upstairs, but just because I miss HIM.

He is in Hawaii for a conference his company is putting on. So basically, he got a first-class, all-expense paid trip to Hawaii for our 10th Anniversary. And I'm here. We tried to figure out a way for me to go, but finances and little boys made it just not realistic. Plus, I'd be in Hawaii sitting in the hotel room, or trying to keep little boys from throwing themselves into the ocean, while he is in meetings morning to night. I wouldn't even be able to join him for the evening events without a babysitter. It made more sense for me to just stay home. Besides, the events of the last few weeks have been such as to not make me wish to be anywhere else right now. I'd rather be at home.

Time to go now. Back to being Mommy!

Life Continues

It's hard to know how to begin the next post. I wrote the last post after it was confirmed that our baby was already gone, just not born. It took a few days for everything to come to pass. To put it nicely, it was easier and faster to birth Dumpling. Sweetheart stayed home to take care of all of us last week which was greatly appreciated. Mom brought over some meals which we thoroughly enjoyed. I tried to just do what I could each day which was mostly sleep, especially after being up most of two nights in a row.

We had a son. We named him James Edward. Couldn't you just see a little Jimmy chasing his brothers? He was little, so little, but perfect looking. We'll not know this side of heaven why this all went the way it did. And that side of heaven, I probably won't care.

Last Friday was our tenth Anniversary. Not the best week for a celebration. We just got through the day and that's okay. Due to everyone schedules we had already planned to go away overnight in August. We were disappointed at the time that it had to be that way, but now we're thankful. Isn't it wonderful how things do turn out for the better? I am looking forward to relaxing here with Sweetheart in a few weeks.

I wanted to thank you all for your sweet comments and prayers. Your continued prayers are greatly appreciated. I am planning on making a little memory book for James to include the cards we've received and to write our own thoughts in. I am also planning to print out the comments from the last post and include them in the book.

I've been thinking about the best way to let people know what happened. Outside of the blog and a few phone calls, I've not done anything. I need to though, as yesterday I got a call from an old friend back home who had heard I was pregnant a few weeks ago and wanted to call and congratulate us. Kinda awkward for both of us. Plus, I'm not up for calling and rehashing things. So I am thinking of sending an email out. I just can't figure out how to word it all. Suggestions are greatly appreciated. I know that others of you have experienced this. What did you do?

Coming back here to write at all has been hard. I've thought about just deleting the blog, or just posting that I'm done, but I can't. I started this blog during a difficult time as an outlet and a way to have contact with the outside world during a time when I was housebound for a few weeks. Through this blog I've made friends across the country and friends that I see now here in town. I have been greatly blessed.

It seems hard to just go on and write like I did before though. Life hasn't stopped for the rest of us, nor should it. I hate the idea of just prattling on pretending that nothing happened. And yet, each day passes. I still have thoughts to write, pictures to take, boys to care for, tea to brew, books to read, lessons to learn, bread to bake, and a life to lead. We'll just see how it goes. I'll just be taking each day as it comes.

Psalm 139

"For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.

When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.

All the days ordained for me were written in your book

before one of them came to be."

***

Sadly, for this mama,

those days were not to be on this earth

where I might have held you,

and cared for you,

and watched you grow.

I already loved you

I will always miss you, my littlest one

Bread Supplies

I've been baking our breads for the last few years since I had Pumpkin and stopped teaching. Since we got our grain mill back in January I've been grinding wheat into flour for making the breads. I'd been buying the wheat just at the natural food grocery store by the pound as I needed it. Their prices were comparable to what I was seeing on-line for organic wheat, but without the shipping costs.

A few weeks ago Sweetheart found another local source for grains. He picked up a few things for us and ordered some more wheat so that I could just have it on hand. The boys and I went last week to pick up the order. That's when I met Nadine from The Family Baker. She lives in Arvada just by where we used to live a few years ago. She runs her business out of her home where she raises and schools her seven children that still live at home. (The other two are older and apparently live on their own.)

They used to belong to a co-op that had grains delivered regularly, but after a few years she and her husband started their own business. Her husband passed away two years ago and now she is running the business herself. She is a distributor for Bosch and the Nutrimill as well as a bunch of other supplies for natural cooking and baking. I wish we had known about her before we bought our Bosch and Nutrimill!

She loaded up the wheat and the boys and I stayed and visited for well over an hour. In fact, Pumpkin was very sad when it was time to go. Both the boys really took to her. She is such a neat lady and we found that we have quite a few thing in common! We chatted like old friends. How I wish we were in the same neighborhood now.

If you are looking for baking supplies, do stop by her website. You can pick up orders if you are in the Denver area, or have things shipped to you as well. If you've read this blog for any length of time, you know that I don't advertise for others, or even very often recommend things, but this is worth it to me to pass on information about such a terrific find.

By the way, her price for the wheat is HALF what I was paying at the store. Plus, I like knowing who I am buying things from and what I'm supporting, don't you?