Steadfast Steps

Pantry Challenge - Final Week

2012-01-30T19:14:00.000-06:00

The end of January brings us to the official final week of the Pantry Challenge. Overall, I would say it was a good thing. It made me stop and think about how much I spend on groceries, what we are eating, and involving the kids in the process of food preparation! Here are the final results:
Goal #1: Spend less on groceries. Goal accomplished! I did have to make a trip to the local grocery store this week for sugar and a few other items. We happened upon some overripe pears that were in small bags for 99 cents a bag. We bought all 4 bags and there were some really nice pears in there. We ate quite a few, made pear bread, pear crisp, and tried baked pears! We also decided to buy lettuce, tomatoes and tortilla shells because we haven't had tacos in months! So my total spent this week was $35.25. That brings my January total to $109.61. I wasn't far under my $125 budget, but I'm pretty happy with how I spent my money this month. I got several really good deals on fruit, and still have enough to last most of February.
Goal #2: Make more room in my cupboards. Besides one lonely box of Jell-o and a small can of diced black olives, I don't have any items in my pantry that we don't use on a weekly basis. Goal accomplished!
Goal #3: Reduce the stuff in my freezer. Still a work in progress! I greatly reduced the amount of frozen vegetables, made a nice dent in the meat supply, and almost cleared out the frozen milk. We still have quite a bit of stuff left, but considering it has to last until mid-summer, that's probably a good thing!
Goal #4: Have fun! We did have fun this week in the kitchen. We tried baked pears and pear crisp this week, which we have never had. Both turned out really good. I also did a lot better this week in ~~letting~~ making the kids help more with meal preparation.

I enjoyed this month, but I also realized that I already do quite well when it comes to eating from our pantry. We don't buy a lot of things we don't use. We do need to work on eating out less though. We spend a lot of money in that area because it costs so much to eat at a restaurant. Eating at home is so much cheaper and better for you, I just need to make myself do it. I am hoping by teaching my kids to cook, that they can cook when I don't feel like it, avoiding eating out due to pure laziness! I will be continuing on my quest to get my freezer emptied out for defrosting! I hope you have been inspired to eat from your own pantry by all the great bloggers who participated in this pantry challenge. Be sure to stop over at Good Cheap Eats and see how the month went for everyone else.

Pantry Challenge - week 3

2012-01-22T22:33:00.000-06:00

Our pantry challenge is still going, but we struggled a little this week. We had lots going on and Kevin was gone for 4 days. When we have a lot going on, we tend to eat quick & easy meals so we didn't use a lot of our meat and we ate a Subway a couple times with our gift card from Christmas. When Kevin is gone we like to eat breakfasty type foods because he doesn't prefer breakfast for supper or lunch. We had pancakes, waffles, sausage, and french toast. This uses up baking ingredients and bread, but again not much meat or vegetables. Hopefully this week we can get back on track and finish cleaning out that pantry! Here is how I did on my goals:

Goal #1 - Spend less on groceries. This week I ordered my groceries from Azure so it was my big spending week. I ordered 38 pounds of oranges, 20 pounds of apples, 5 pounds of flax seed, and 25 pounds of oatmeal. I spent $62.68. I also had to buy a frozen pizza, a box pizza, and a bag of shredded cheese for a 4-H cooking lesson (comparing pizza costs, tastes, & prep time) which cost me $6.99. Added to week 1 & 2 total of $11.58 - my total for January so far is now $74.26. I am well under my $125 budget for the month, so if I can stick to it for next week I will be very happy with this challenge!

Goal #2 - Make more space in my cupboards. I used 1 jar of pizza sauce from my pantry so I didn't get much accomplished here this week.

Goal #3 - Reduce the stuff in my freezer. Didn't get far on this either. Most of the meat I thawed out for the week is still in the refrigerator, so we will have to get that used right away this week.

Goal #4 - Have fun! We had a lot of fun making pizzas for the 4-H lesson. We learned that we will never again buy the pizza kit in a box. The sauce was terrible, it cost more than homemade or frozen, and it took longer to prepare than homemade and frozen. We did like the homemade pizza and frozen pizza about the same, but overall homemade pizza was cheaper per serving. We also enjoyed making and eating waffles & pancakes this week. We also made homemade pretzels this week - it was fun bending them into lots of different shapes! We may not have accomplished much else, but at least we had fun this week!

How is your pantry challenge coming? Want to see how everyone else is doing? Check it out over at Good Cheap Eats.

All pain....No Gain

2012-01-17T15:00:00.001-06:00

This post brought to you by Walgreens. All opinions are 100% mine.

Sometimes you need to fill a prescription by next week, so you place a mail order for a 90-day supply. Sometimes you need a prescription on a Tuesday afternoon when you leave the doctors office, so you stop by your local pharmacy and get it that same day. Sometimes you need a prescription on a Saturday night at 10pm because you just realized you ran out of medication. It is times like this that you rely on Walgreens to help you out. In fact, you might rely on Walgreens in all three of the above scenarios. How would you feel if you were forced to fill your prescription at a different pharmacy, further away, with less convenient hours, fewer choices, and higher prices?

If your prescription insurance plan is managed by Express Script and you are a loyal Walgreens customer you may have to do just that. Walgreens and Express Script were unable to come to an agreement when their 3 year contract ended on December 31, 2011. What does this mean for you? It means that to use your in-network pharmacy, you will have to go somewhere other than Walgreens. And since Walgreens dispenses generic medications more often than other pharmacies, you may also have to purchase more expensive, name-brand medications.

Walgreens values your business. They are taking steps to minimize the disruption by offering a special discount on their Walgreens Prescription Savings Club. For the entire month of January, the price of annual membership is only $5 for an individual - a savings of over 70%. Membership saves you money on over 8,000 medications, discounts on prescriptions & supplies, and bonuses when you purchase Walgreens and Nice! brand products. A family membership offers these benefits to you, your spouse, your dependents under age 22, and even your pets, for only $10 a year.

I 'liked' Walgreens on Facebook to show them my support for what they are doing. I hope you will too! You can also find Walgreens on Twitter to see the latest happenings and product updates. Walgreens is in the business of serving their customers with convenient store locations, convenient hours, and competitive prices.

So look for the Express Script name on the back of your prescription insurance card to see if you are affected. Then let Express Script know how you feel about this change. Stop by your local Walgreens and sign up for the Walgreens Prescription Savings Club today. Make your voice heard. Don't settle for all pain, no gain.

Healthy Living - Eating REAL Food

2012-01-17T10:00:00.000-06:00

The next step on our journey to healthy living was to eat more "real" food. When I talk about real food, I am referring to food that generally doesn't come in a box off a shelf at the grocery store.  I recently heard a tip for eating healthy that recommended eating from the "perimeter" of the grocery store. Generally, you will find fresh fruits and vegetables, refrigerated dairy products, fresh meat, and frozen foods around the perimeter of the store. Most boxed, processed, & bottled foods come from the center shelves.   The fresher a food is, the less processing it has been through, the better it is for you.
You may be thinking that it costs more to eat fresh. That's what I thought too. However, if you watch for sales and shop smart you can eat healthy on a very small budget.  You can also find affordable fruits and vegetables at food co-ops (like Azure), farmers' markets, and from your own garden.  At first, it was hard for us to make this switch. Like I mentioned before, I was trying to save money, not just eat healthier. We started out by trying to eat more fruit and vegetables and less "boxed" convenience products. We also grew lots of tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, beets, carrots, etc in our garden. We were able to can a lot of veggies and ate them fresh from the garden as often as possible. Once you are in the habit of eating fresh, it is easier to do so, even in the winter. Now we order 20-30 pounds of fresh fruit from Azure every month. Any fruit leftover at the end of the month is either frozen or canned to use later. The fruit from Azure is much cheaper than our local grocery store and mostly organic. We eat the vegetables we have canned ourselves, along with some fresh vegetables from the store when we can find it on sale.

Eating fresh is an important step in healthy living. First, you get a lot more vitamins and minerals from your food. The longer food sits or the more it gets processed, the fewer nutrients it retains. Second, fresh foods do not usually have additives like artifical colors & flavors or sugars. Third, fresh food tastes better.   Although fresh food may cost a little more initially, the savings will come in the form of fewer doctor visits and less supplements/vitamins. Fresh food tastes better, nourishes your body more, and helps keep you healthy!

Pantry Challenge: Week 2

2012-01-16T10:24:00.000-06:00

Week 2 of the the Pantry Challenge and we're still going strong! I am starting to feel like I am actually accomplishing something this week. Despite my busy schedule with all the new calves, we managed to eat most of our meals at home and only made one stop to the grocery store.

My first goal is to spend less money on groceries. I did grab a bag of oranges and a head of lettuce while we were at the store. The 5 lb. bag of oranges was on sale for $1.99 and the lettuce was $1.59. So this week I spent $3.58. That brings the total for January to $11.58. :)

My second goal is to make more space in my cupboards. We didn't eat a lot of canned food this week, but we did use up a couple things I have had forever, finished off the peaches, and are down to ONE package of Jell-o left. We also finished off the last package of whole wheat spaghetti noodles (I bought several packages and it turned out we didn't like them so they have been tough to use up).

My third goal is to reduce the amount of stuff in my freezer. With 3 baby calves to feed we are making quite a dent in the freezer half of it is full of frozen milk. We also used up some more meat and a few packages of vegetables.

My fourth goal is to have fun. I can't really say that I enjoyed cooking this week. I mostly just tried to get through the week with all my extra chores to do. I didn't try any new recipes, but we did make No-Bake Cookies with chocolate peanut butter - that turned out really good (and very chocolatey!).

If you are doing the pantry challenge, I hope it's going well! If not, it's never too late to hop on board. Head on over to Good Cheap Eats and see how everyone else's pantry challenge is going!

The craziness continues.....

2012-01-13T09:11:00.000-06:00

Saturday morning my friend Dawn called to tell me about a cow she saw on Craigslist. I checked out the pictures and had to call about it. She was a 7 year old Jersey cow that had lost her calves in December and was now almost dry with mastitis in one quarter. We came a negotiable price and on Monday morning we were off to buy a cow! Arriving at the farm to see Molly, I realized that she was in worse shape than I had anticipated. She was in a small pen in muck 6 inches deep. She was not getting proper nutrition and the mastitis in the left rear quarter was out of control. But Molly's personality completely won me over. She was curious, friendly, and quiet. She let us rub her and mess with her. I knew we were taking her home. I also knew I had a long road ahead with regards to helping her get healthy again. She needed good food, minerals, decent hay, and a calf to clean up the mastitis (a calf can heal mastitis twice as fast as I can because of the constant butting/massaging the calf gives her). She had a little milk in the other 3 quarters and I am hoping to bring her back to full milk by putting calves on her. We stopped at the dairy on the way home and picked up 4 heifer calves - 2 Holsteins and 2 Jersey crosses. We picked out the newest born calves we could find because they have the best chance at survival. The dairy doesn't treat the calves real well, so it wasn't surprising that we did end up losing 1 this morning. The other 3 calves are looking great. Molly has adopted 2 of them (she wanted all 3, but we decided 2 would be enough for her to handle and we will bottle feed the other one). Molly is already looking better and her mastitis is slowly, slowly loosening up. Today I turned Molly and the 2 calves out into the pasture with the rest of my cows. I am excited for the possibilities I have with her!

Molly

Molly's adopted calf - June

Molly's other adopted calf - Daisy

Bottle calf - Squirt

Squirt's barn buddy - Becky (the lamb we got in December that was an "oops")

Amish Cake Pie

2012-01-10T13:32:00.000-06:00

A couple months ago I got a cookbook called The Homestyle Amish Kitchen Cookbook - Plainly Delicious Recipes from the Simple Life. It has some great recipes in it. I have tried several new recipes and have yet to be disappointed. I really enjoy cooking homestyle foods from basic ingredients. This week we tried "Cake Pie" and once again we were delighted with the results. Here's how to make it:

Use your favorite pie crust recipe to make an 8 or 9 inch single pie crust. Place this in your pie pan.
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1 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Cream butter & sugar together. Mix egg & milk together. Mix flour and baking powder together. Alternate adding milk/egg mixture and flour mixture - stirring after each addition. Add the vanilla and mix well. Set aside.
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4 Tbls. cocoa
1/2 cup sugar
6 Tbls. water
1/4 tsp. vanilla

Mix together cocoa, sugar, water & vanilla.
Pour chocolate mixture into the unbaked pie shell.
Next pour the mixture you set aside on top of the chocolate mixture. The chocolate will come up around the edges. The pie crust will not be very full - don't worry it will rise during baking.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes - toothpick in center should come out clean.

Cool & Enjoy!

This recipe is unlike anything I have ever had before. The center is cake-like (tastes like a homemade pound cake) with a thin layer of chocolate on the bottom and sides that is chocolate pie consistency & taste. Of course, the whole thing is completed by pie crust (which I love!). Very interesting & very yummy! I will definitely be making this recipe again!

Pantry Challenge Week #1

2012-01-09T17:06:00.001-06:00

The first week of my pantry challenge went well. Here is an update on how I worked toward my goals for the first week:

My first goal is to reduce my spending for the month (and stay out of the grocery store). I did have to go to the store, but it was for good reason :) I found a coupon in my local ad to buy 2 bottles of grapefruit juice (on sale for 2/$4) and get a 5lb. bag of grapefruit for free. I did this twice so I spent $8 this week on groceries.

My second goal is to make space in my cupboards. I am mostly trying to get through the older stuff that I bought once upon a time and never used. We made quite a dent in the pile of Jell-o I had in the pantry, we also ate about half of the case of peaches my mother-in-law gave me. I also did some cupboard reorganizing this week. Refilled and labeled most of my jars. The pantry is looking good!

My third goal is to reduce the amount of meat in my freezer. We are still plugging away on this. I got out the meat for week and several bags of frozen veggies.

My fourth goal in the pantry challenge is to have fun. I tried a new recipe this week (which I hope to share later this week), and I spent Saturday morning doing some baking for my family. I love to put on an apron and spend the day in the kitchen baking up goodies and trying new things! :)

I hope your pantry challenge is going well! I am excited to start week #2!

Phase II - Complete

2012-01-06T22:08:00.000-06:00

Several months ago, when I got my last batch of broiler chicks for the summer, I had this idea to try and raise my own broiler chicks for next year. I was told that broiler chickens cannot survive as long as most chickens because they grow too fast and will die of heart attacks or their legs will give out. I was also told they cannot lay eggs. And I was told that if I ever got them to lay eggs they would not be fertile or hatchable. Well, if you know me, you know I don't like to listen when someone tells me something cannot be done. I formulated a 3-phase plan to make my dream a reality and I started on Phase I.
Phase I was to raise some broiler chickens well past the usual butchering age of 10 weeks. I started with about 20 chicks and once I could tell the hens from the roosters, I sorted off 6 hens and 2 roosters to save. I intentionally chose the smallest ones. I continued to feed them reduced rations and at 10 weeks they were just over half the size of the others chickens that were ready to be butchered. At about 15 weeks I let them out to live with my laying hens. They were surprisingly sturdy and able to fly almost as high as the laying hens. They walked a little slower and ate a little more, but at this stage I was pretty sure they were going to make it. Unfortunately, I lost both of my roosters to two separate accidents on the road. I guess now we know why chickens (especially stupid broiler roosters) should not cross the road. Phase I - complete.
Phase II is to get the chickens to actually lay eggs. I waited and watched for some white eggs to begin showing up in my henhouse. In October and November my chickens all stopped laying completely, so I knew the broilers had yet to lay eggs despite being way past the age they should have started. Finally in December the hens slowly started back up. I was getting a white egg almost every day and even though I have a hen or two that lays white eggs, I was crossing my fingers that this egg belonged to a broiler. In order to know for sure if this was one of their eggs, they needed to be separated. This week I was able to get a space made for them in the barn and I put all 6 broiler hens and the rooster I plan to cross them with in the barn. Then I waited for the coveted eggs to appear. I peeked in on them tonight and WOOHOO! 2 eggs! Most surprising of all is that the eggs are BROWN!! I had been expecting and looking for white eggs. They may have been laying longer than I realized. Oh, how I love proving people wrong! Phase II - complete.
So on to Phase III - actually getting the eggs to hatch. I am going to wait 1 week before I start collecting eggs because I don't want them fertilized by any of my other various roosters around. Then I will collect 10-12 eggs and incubate them. I should know about 6 weeks from now if my experiment was a success or a failure. Stay tuned......

Something to think about......

2012-01-05T16:52:00.000-06:00

Thousands of years ago the Mayans predicted that the world would end in 2012. Many people believe this to be true. Others believe that a major, world-changing event will occur because of the "aligning of the planets" on December 21, 2012. Being a Christian, I believe only God knows when the world will end - it could very well be 12-21-12, but it could also be tomorrow or 10 years from today. The Bible advises us to be prepared for the future but not to worry about tomorrow.

I haven't much studied up on the Mayan prophecy to know exactly what they predicted or why, but I know that it has got some people worried. Between the scariness in the world in general, and the end-of-the-world predictions, there are many people who feel we need to prepare. And while I agree that it never hurts to be prepared for an emergency, there are people who will wait until the last minute and start hoarding food/supplies. I think there are still people with canned foods in their pantry from Y2K. :)

Being prepared for an emergency is a good idea. Having food to eat and water to drink if you lose power, communications, and/or transportation for several days or weeks is a wise move in preparing for a disaster. I happened upon a blog today about emergency preparedness and one commenter had this wise piece of advice that I would like to pass along to all of you:
One thing that we need to realize is that even if nothing happens in one year one thing that will happen is the panic buying that people will do. I expect major shortages of just about everything from about October through December. People are going to start hording…just in case. We need to make sure we are prepared so we don’t get caught up in that panic.

Are you ready for a disaster, natural or otherwise? Are you prepared for the future? The world WILL end and when it does the ONLY thing you need to have done to be ready is accepted Jesus as your Savior. The rest he will take care of.

Healthy Living - Baby Steps

2012-01-03T11:47:00.000-06:00

As I have learned from Biggest Loser, getting and staying healthy requires a permanent lifestyle change. If you have already made this change in your life, I applaud you, and would love to hear your comments on what you are doing to continue this change. If not, I hope you will join me in this series as I show you some of the changes we have made in our lives and more that we hope to make.

Dave Ramsey recommends "baby-steps" in his books on financial freedom and Fly Lady has a "baby-step" program to becoming more organized & neat. Change is never easy, but baby-steps can be. If you look at where you want to be compared with where you are today, it can be overwhelming. If you just look at the first step the entire task doesn't look so daunting. Over the course of the past year we have taken many small steps towards eating and living healthier. We have many steps left to take, but I feel we have come a long ways. You don't have to do your baby-steps in any particular order. Start with something important to you or that really needs to change and go from there. I didn't lay out a plan or even have a final end in mind, I just add each change as I think I am able. I talk to people, read blogs, read books, and search the internet.

When I first decided to make a change in our lives it was primarily to save money on our food budget each month. So my first step was to make all of my own bread. I started out small, making a loaf here and there. For the first several weeks I was just trying to get good at making it, finding a recipe everyone liked, and adjusting my kids to eating homemade bread because the texture is so different from store bread. I gradually reduced the amount of bread I was buying until I was making all of it myself.

Making my own bread was important for two reasons. First, I could save a lot of money and second, I knew bread would be healthier made fresh, at home, from ingredients I can pronounce. I now make about 2 loaves a week and I make it all on one day.

After several months of eating nothing but homemade bread, I bought a loaf at the store one day. As I placed the loaf in my cart, my middle son exclaimed, "Look mom - that bread comes already cut!" I think now about how far we have come since that first "baby-step".

Pantry Challenge

2012-01-01T19:54:00.000-06:00

I have decided to join the Pantry Challenge at good (CHEAP) eats and I would love to invite you to come along. I love the idea of using what I have, rather than buying more. I have been on a mission lately to declutter my entire house and reduce the amount of "stuff" we have that we are not regularly using, so this pantry challenge will fit right in with my goal. Since there are no rules to the challenge, here are the goals I have:
#1 - Reduce my spending for the month. By ordering fruit and a few essentials from Azure, I think I will be able to cut my total budget in at least half and not go to the grocery store even once this month :)
#2 - Make space in my cupboards. I like to stockpile, but I do have some things in my pantry that have been there forever and really need to get used up.
#3 - Reduce the amount of meat in my freezer. Like some of the other participants, my freezer is overdue for a defrosting. Having a VERY full freezer can be a mixed blessing. I know we have enough meat/veggies to see us through several months, but eventually I need to see the bottom and do some intensive thawing and cleaning. This really needs to happen before we butcher chickens this summer and begin to once again fill the freezer.
#4- Have fun. I love to plan. I enjoy cooking (usually). I like to try new recipes. I am excited to have fun seeing what kinds of great things we can eat this month while saving money.

The pantry challenge host will be posting a link each Monday so we can see each other's progress, so I intend to update and link up on Mondays. Feel free to join me! Happy Pantry-Challenge-January!

New Year..... New Goals

2011-12-28T12:16:00.000-06:00

Another year has come and gone. Of course I didn't accomplish all I wanted to in 2011, but that won't stop me from making a new set of goals for 2012 :) Each new year is like a chance at a fresh new start. A chance to do things better, try harder, reach farther, grow stronger.
My goals for 2012:

* Continue to grow in my faith. Reach out to others through Sunday School, church, and Bible Study. Be consistent about reading the Bible and praying.

* Exercise more. Lose 20 more pounds.

* Take the next steps on our journey to become more self-sufficient. I am planning to plant more of fewer items in my garden this year. I want to can/freeze more than I did last year - especially as our kids are growing and eating more. I would like to reduce our food budget as well as our dependence on the grocery store. I also plan to start milking 2 cows this summer so I would like to learn to make cheese and start saving money to build a new barn.

* Live as frugally as possible. Kevin is having shoulder surgery in August and will not be able to work for 4 months. We need to have enough money saved up by then to live without income for 4 months (as well as pay the hospital bill).

* I plan to work hard on consistency this year. The one area I fail is in keeping a consistent schecdule, a consistent positive attitude, and having consistent consequences for my kids. I start with good intentions, but that is as far as I get.

* I want to spend more time reading and working on projects for myself. I have a lot of started projects so I want to finish them and start some new ones I have been excited about trying.

What are your goals/resolutions for the new year?

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas....

2011-12-23T11:18:00.000-06:00

everywhere we go....
We finally have a little snow on the ground. Just a light dusting - nothing crazy - but enough to make me happy! We have 5 Christmases planned for our family with today being the first one :)
Today the kids opened their present from each other. Since they (and I) knew these would most likely be toys we decided to open them this morning and let them spend the day playing with their new toys. I like to space the gift opening out so they can enjoy each gift as they receive it, before moving on to the next one.
Saturday morning (Christmas eve) the kids will get to open the presents from us. We stuck to simplicity this year. We got them a John Deere farming board game to share. The boys are each getting their own copy of the newest Wimpy Kid book (they don't even know it's out yet - so it will be a great gift) and Montana is getting a Barbie DS game. Barbie games seem hard to come by so when I saw one on Black Friday for a great price, I snatched it right up. For their main gift each of our kids are getting a "coupon book". I didn't want to buy the kids toys for Christmas and I wanted something that would last all year so I had an idea to make them coupons to use all year. There are 52 in each book and they will be allowed to use one per week. Some of them are for simple things like no chores for a day, a bag of chips, or a day off of school. Others are for bigger things like going to a movie at the theater, staying the night in a hotel, or going to the pool (in the summer). I am really excited about this gift and I hope they will be too. The anticipation is killing me!!!!
Saturday night we will celebrate Christmas at Kevin's grandparents home. We will have soup for supper followed by opening gifts. Kevin's grandma is a wonderful cook (like most grandmas) so we really look forward to this tradition each year.
Sunday morning we will go to Sunday School and church. I absolutely love it when Christmas is on a Sunday - it just makes it seem so much more special. After church we will go to Kevin's dad's home and celebrate Christmas with Kevin's dad & stepmom, his 2 sisters and their husbands. No one else in Kevin's family has children so this is usually our biggest Christmas. I happen to know that they are getting some pretty cool gifts this year since Kevin had to help assemble the bicycle and mini-bike :)
Next week we will be back to school, but that doesn't mean Christmas is over for us!! New Year's weekend we will celebrate with my side of the family. This is where all the cousins are so this is usually our loudest, craziest, most chaotic Christmas (I love every minute of it!). My dad and mom, 3 sisters (and 2 husbands) will all be there, plus all 11 of our kids ranging in age from 11 months to 12 years old. We will most likely spend all day Saturday at my parent's home (and probably part of Sunday). It will be really great to have everyone there at the same time since it doesn't work out very often.
I am really looking forward to Christmas and spending time with our families. Christmas is the most joyous season of all. Knowing that our Savior was born to free us from all our sins fills my heart with warmth. If you don't know Jesus, Christmas is the perfect time of year to meet him - as a baby in the manger!

'Tis the Season

2011-12-17T17:41:00.000-06:00

Christmas is coming. The "countdown calendars" remind me daily how close we are getting. The tree is up & decorated with presents all around it. The only thing missing is a white, snowy covering on the ground. I shouldn't complain (or probably even mention the white stuff) as this winter/fall has been exceptionally mild so far. Although I don't like ice, wind, or cold, I do love snow. It makes me feel cozy and happy - all snuggled up in my house enveloped in a world of white.
I didn't send Christmas cards this year - it seems to be a fading tradition around here - between the time & cost I just don't seem to get it done - so here's the "Christmas Letter for 2011".
We did make it through our first semester of school and, for the first time in a long time, we aren't even very far behind. I was more relaxed on the scheduling this year, but I was also more consistent on getting our work done each day. We are still using the Alpha Omega curriculum and the kids seem to be liking it. We did switch our Language curriculum a few weeks ago - I didn't think they were getting much out of the lessons and they all hated it. I am happy with how the school year is progressing and all that they are learning so I am looking forward to the second half of the school year.
Montana just celebrated her 9th birthday, which means by BABY is halfway to adulthood. That's scary to me. Although I hope the next 9 years will go slower, I know they won't. I better take advantage of every moment. She is still in to the girly things- makeup, jewelry, fancy clothes, dolls, purses, decorating, crafts, etc. I love that about her. We are working on a couple sewing projects and she finds plenty to do to keep her busy.
Wyatt turned 10 this year and he is definitely an animal lover. He cares a lot about the calves, chickens, lambs, dogs, & cats. He is also getting more into electronics and computer games. He has finally done some growing and so far has managed to remain taller than Montana :) He is still quiet & shy, but don't be fooled - underneath he can be quite the antangonizer and troublemaker! I so love his character!
Wichita is 12 - the last year we will be without a teen in this house for a very long time. He is still into computers & gaming, but also enjoys shooting targets with his BBGun and/or bow & arrow. He likes to be industrious and busy with his hands. I love that he is such an engineer. He is a lot like Kevin. He is outgoing and absolutely loves going to camp in the summer. I think we will send him to robotics camp for 4-H this year and start channeling that energy and ingenuity into something constructive.
Kevin started the year out trucking and then ended up working for a good friend. He really enjoys the job at the fertilizer plant. He isn't doing the same thing day in and day out. Versatility is very important to him. He is still working away on his '57 Chevy and I can see real progress :)
I am still loving living on the farm. My milk cow Dixie, along with the many other animals, keep me busy, but I love it. I also am working on my first ever quilt. As the kids get older, they are able to do much more for themselves, especially in the way of school work, so this frees me up to do some of the things I want to do. I have devoted a lot of time this year to learning to eat healthier and changing what we put in and on our bodies. I enjoy learning new things and especially learning old things (like how things were done long ago) and trying to incorporate those things into our daily lives.
God has blessed us in many ways. We have all grown spiritually, physically, & mentally this year. I looking forward to what he has in store for us in 2012.
God bless each of you! Merry Christmas to you all!!

And the Winner is.....

2011-12-14T10:21:00.000-06:00

I did my chores. Ran errands. FINALLY settled down with my cappucino to watch the live finale of Biggest Loser and guess what? I can't watch it online. I can watch clips, but not the whole show. Ugh. NBC you irritate me. After watching the clips though, I have to say I am not terribly disappointed to not be able to watch the show. What a let down.
John ends up winning the whole thing. He is just not a very likeable contestant and I was so hoping Antone would beat him. I didn't expect it, but I still hoped. Since I knew the hopes for Antone were low, I was really counting on Vinnie winning the at home since I had picked him to win the whole show. Not so. He got beat by 3 pounds. 3 POUNDS cost him $100,000. Can you believe that? Worse than that is that he got beat the ONE person on the show I dislike most - Jennifer. Anybody would have been better than her. I'm really disappointed in the finale. It wasn't the end for the season I was hoping for.
There is one redeeming grace though. I watched the preview for Season 13 and not only is Dolvett still here but it appears that it is JUST Bob and Dolvett. That means no Anna!!!! That makes my day. I don't mean to sound horrible, but Anna just isn't Biggest Loser material. '
So with Season 12 in the books, we add another group of contestants to the Biggest Loser family. The drama resumes in January and another group of people are already on the ranch, sweating off pounds, learning to live healthy, and changing their lives.

$10 off any order

2011-12-10T23:01:00.000-06:00

If you join Vitacost you can receive $10 off your order of any size. They have TONS of items under $10. They also offer free samples to choose from available for several different products. If you join and then share the link with a friend you will get another $10 when they get their $10!!

Click here!

Biggest Loser Season 12 Week 12

2011-12-07T12:30:00.000-06:00

Technically it isn't week 12, but that's what they call it. The contestants all went home for a few weeks and then EVERYONE came back to compete in the marathon. The winner not only guaranteed themself a spot in the final 3 but also won $25,000. There were cash prizes for 1st through 5th places. As revealed in the preview last week, Ramon won first place. He was followed by Courtney, John, Jessica, & Patrick. Four out of 5 were from the young group and John has become a powerhouse of strength and endurance. I just hope he can stay the course and keep the weight off - sometimes the fiercest of competitors end up gaining it back because the competition, which was the main motivation, is over.
Vinny didn't pull through for me as Biggest Loser so I still have hope for him in the at home contest.
Final Three are John, Antone, & Ramon. I fully expect John to win, but would love to see Antone (or even Ramon) pull out the win. Antone has been one of Bob's favorites from the beginning I think and he would be a great person to win the title. I can't wait to see the live finale next week (even though I can't watch it live). Of course, I am also excited for Season 13 to begin in January. I love watching the transformation the contestants go through as they lose weight and ultimately change their lives forever. It really motivates me to get moving and get healthy.
I have made a lot of changes in my family's eating habits that I completely attribute to this show. I also lost over 20 pounds this summer. I want to continue to improve our health and lifestyle - especially to set a good foundation for my kids to build on.

November Projects

2011-12-05T21:40:00.000-06:00

Remember when I told you I was making November NON-procrastination month?
Remember that?
Well, good.
Then you will also remember that I did NOT say that about December ;)
Therefore the fact that I have been meaning to write this post for a week does not matter!
Right?
Right!

I did do quite well in November. Montana & I finished our latch-hook project and matching pillows that was meant for a Christmas gift last year. And guess what?!?!? She drew the name of the person she was going to give it to AGAIN this year! YEAH! I also got a cross-stitch project done that I had been working on for.....um....well.....ummmm..... I can't remember how long. Several Christmases and birthdays have passed for the lady it is intended for, but it is done and even framed!! Woo Hoo!!! I got another little cross-stitch project almost finished (just need to outline). I also got 2 of my 4 hats knitted. Kevin's is orange and Montana's is pink & brown.
I thought maybe I would get a few more projects done in December, but then Kevin bought me a quilt kit which I just HAD to start on RIGHT AWAY!! I know I won't have it done anytime soon, but I've always wanted to make a quilt so I am excited to see how it goes!

Biggest Loser Season 12 Week 11

2011-11-30T10:23:00.000-06:00

Final week on the ranch for ALL the contestants brought us the fan favorites: makeovers & "put the weight back on" challenge.
The contestants put all their weigh back on and battled up a steep hill in a race for a 1 pound advantage. At this point in the game 1 pound is pretty important. John came in first to win the advantage. Antone was right on his heels, followed by Sunny, Becky, and then Vinnie. Each of the 5 contestants got a year supply of soup from Progresso and $5,000!
Then off to the big city for Beverly Hills makeovers. They all looked awesome in their new clothes with great hair & makeup for the girls. They also got to have a spa treatment! Becky was the most awesomely transformed with her short hair-do and new body. Of course, they each got to see one member of their family with their new makeovers. They also got to go to a show with their family member.
Which brings us to the weigh-in, determining the Final Four. Sunny put up a 1 pound weight loss and the rest of the contestants pulled really good numbers. I would love to place the blame for her poor week on the time spent at makeovers or on her trainer, Anna, but honestly I think she threw the weigh-in. I think Bob was on to her. He was pretty upset about her one pound - more upset than Sunny was. She tried to act speechless and/or upset, but wasn't doing well with it and Bob seemed to see through her. Sunny knows she has no shot at winning the title & $250,000, but she may have a shot of winning at home. In my opinion this was confirmed when Becky (her best friend and roommate from Day 1) voted to send her home, in hopes that she could wint the $100,000 at home prize. I do see her point and I can totally understand her motives - I just hope it works out for her.
So that leaves John, Becky, Antone, & Vinnie in the Final Four (I got 3 out of 4 - not bad right?!?) Now they go home for awhile. Then, EVERYONE comes back for the marathon - a new thing this year. The winner of the marathon is guaranteed a spot in the finals. Then they apparently, somehow get down to final 3 and we get to see the live finale. My only question is - If the marathon winner is an automatic final 3 contestant, are we eliminating TWO players next week? So we have final 2 & the marathon winner competing in the finale? If so that adds two more people to the at-home contest, both of which have a great chance of winning. And, if you believe the previews, which seem to make it pretty obvious, Ramon wins the marathon. Hmmmm........ Why would the previews be so obvious?

Gingerbread Mansion

2011-11-29T18:26:00.000-06:00

Today we skipped school....shhhh...
Instead we built a gingerbread house mansion!!
Kevin found the pattern on the internet and while I mixed up the gingerbread dough and cut out the pattern pieces, he and Wichita went to the store for all the sugary goodies we needed. We let the pieces harden for 24 hours. Monday night we mixed up the "glue", aka frosting, and assembled the roof and side pieces. After letting these harden overnight we were able to finish the assembly today and do the decorating. While it was really complicated and there were times I was sure it wasn't going to work, it actually turned out better than I expected and was easier than I anticipated!! So here is the finished project (sorry no "in process" pictures - I was completely covered in stickiness throughout this process!)

we used fat pretzels to hold up the porch roof

we used twizzlers for the "tin" roof of the tower and covered the top with icing for snow

chocolate sugar wafers worked great for shingles on the main roof with icing for snow over the flat area and decorated with gum drops - we were quite liberal with the icing so we had lots and lots of snow on the roof

licorice path from the side porch

and a path from the main door made of dinner mints

Wyatt's gumdrop snowman with a gumdrop hat and tooth pick arms :)

the completed mansion!!!!

oh and our lampstands made of candy canes with a yellow gumdrop on top - the base is a large marshmallow covered in icing for the snowbank

We had lots of fun working on this project as a family! Plus it beat a normal day of school hands down!
We are going to enter it in the gingerbread contest on Saturday.

Office Max - GREAT DEAL

2011-11-24T07:18:00.000-06:00

Office Max has several different dry erase items on 100% max rewards today. They also have some Sharpie markers and black retractable ink pens for 100% reward. If you don't have a MaxReward card you can easily sign up for one online and begin earning rewards back. When they offer a "100% max reward", that means you get the full purchase price back in credit on your card. Since I did the paper deal a few weeks ago and earned $68 in max rewards that made this deal even sweeter. Here is what I did:
I ordered 1 package of black sharpie markers, 1 package expo dry erase markers in bright colors, 1 dry erase wall cling, 1 dry erase wall cling calendar, and 3 packages of retractable black ink pens. The pens were buy 2 get 1 free. My cart total came to just over $50. Since a $50 order qualifies for free shipping I was able to avoid shipping charges. I used my $68 credit on my MaxRewards card to pay for the merchandise, costing me $0 out of pocket. I still have $12.72 on my reward card and I will be receiving a credit for the $50 I spent today. My kids love the dry erase markers and accessories so we will definitely get a lot of use out of my deal today!!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU ALL!!!!

Biggest Loser Season 12 Week 10

2011-11-23T12:08:00.000-06:00

One more week, one less contestant.
The temptation this week was Thanksgiving goodies. All the contestants participated and there were 3 prizes to win. Each contestant could pick a plate with some sort of Thanksgiving food on it and there was a number attached to the bottom. They could eat as many plates as they wanted within the time limit and the contestant with the lowest number won. Vinnie ate 1 plate and had a 10 under his plate so he took the 3 pound advantage. Becky ate 2 plates and got second place with her second plate so she got the home gym. Antone ate two plates also and got 3rd place earning him $500 per pound lost at the weigh-in this week.
So then on to the physical challenge. The challenge was to be the fastest to climb 5,280 feet on the Jacob's ladder. I can only imagine how exhausting and painful that would be! John was the first to win and he chose the 1 pound advantage for himself which came with a 1 pound disadvantage for someone of his choice. Sunny finished 2nd and chose the 6 month Biggest Loser meal plan for herself and a 6 month meal plan to give to an eliminated contestant - she chose Bonnie. Ramon finished 3rd winning $2,500 for himself and $2,500 to give to another player - he chose Vinnie.
The very next day, as exhausted as they may be, was the last chance workout and weigh-in! Of course the 2 people to fall below the yellow line are up for elimination. John weighs in first and only drops 5 pounds - he did have the 1 pound advantage though and gave the disadvantage to Sunny. John has really alienated himself from the other players, but it is too late to do anything about it now and he just as well play the game, making Sunny or Becky the obvious choices for the 1 pound disadvantage. Antone dropped 8 pounds, earning himself $4,000 and staying safe this week. Vinnie obviously won the weigh in with his 3 pound advantage - I don't think he even needed it to be safe this week after losing 11 pounds and putting him over the 100 pounds lost mark. Ramon ends up having a bad week only losing 5 pounds putting him under the yellow line and under John. Sunny needed 6 pounds to overcome the disadvantage and only lost 5 putting her one-one-hundredth of a percent under John and therefore under the yellow line. John said he felt bad about that, but REALLY?? If he wants to stay (which he does) he needed it to be this way. If he had fallen below he would be gone for sure. Anyway, Vinnie & John vote for Sunny and Antone & Becky vote for Ramon. Ramon's percentage was lower so he goes home. (He did great at home by the way - training with Jessica and even going skydiving with her). Sunny gets to stay (which she rightly deserved) and John is further alienated.
I would really like John to go (which would leave MY final four), but don't want Dolvett to leave. I don't want Sunny to go, but I would be happy to see Anna leave. Next week is going to be tough no matter what happens!! At least I have the reunion show to look forward to - which airs tonight so I won't get to watch it until probably Thursday night or Friday morning :(

Random Ramblings

2011-11-19T19:50:00.000-06:00

I am super excited because my heifer calf that got AIed a month ago is PREGNANT!! And not just pregnant but doubly so. Apparently the blood test can even tell when the cow is carrying twins and so unless something happens between now and July 23, Bessie will be delivering twins. I really, really, really hope they make it safely into the world and that Bessie does ok in the delivery (a matching set of heifers would be super awesome!)
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My milk cow Dixie was in standing heat yesterday so I called the AI guy and we got her bred. I chose to go full-blood Ayrshire this time so I am praying for a nice heifer. I would like to get an ayrshire heifer out of her and once it is milking age I will probably sell Dixie.
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Today was cold, drizzly, and miserable. I am so not ready for winter. How did I make it through 10 below 0 ? 20s is about killing me today.
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I bought a coat for our pony, Stormy, to wear in inclement weather so I put it on this morning and it is super cute! I bought a bright colored, polka-dotted pony coat and it looks great on him!
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We had 4-H today. We played a turkey racing game and made turkeys in disguise (we disguised them so they could survive Thanksgiving!). We had some really creative ideas - there were turkeys dressed as a ninja, an Indian, a sheep, and a leprechaun. There were turkeys wearing pink pjs, black from head to toe, a fancy dress & heels, a button-down trench coat, and more! It was lots of fun (I think the kids even enjoyed it!).
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I got new tires on my Tahoe so I am ready for ice & snow. My van doesn't do well in ice or snow so having the Tahoe will make life easier for sure.
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I made the best pumpkin pie ever and we had it for dessert tonight. I even made whipped cream to go with it. Now I know why I don't make it very often - I can't resist eating it all!!
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My weight loss competition ended this week and all in all I have lost 25 pounds since April. I really have another 15 I want to lose but its hard and I might have to work for them. With winter coming, I think it would be a good idea to get the kids involved with exercising with me so maybe I will put that on the daily schedule - then we all can get some exercise.
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Hope your weekend is a good one!

Biggest Loser Season 12 Week 9

2011-11-19T19:31:00.000-06:00

Biggest Loser was one of the best ever this week. My favorite part of each episode is the physical challenges. They always come up with great challenges and equally great prizes. This week the challenge was a pentathalon, so in 5 different events using 5 different abilities they were trying to earn the most points. They had to use popularity, knowledge, physical strength, edurance, speed, balance and strategy in the various challenges. The contestant with the most points at the end of the week won immunity and the contestant with the least points had a 1 pound disadvantage. Antone won immunity and Bonnie had the one pound disadvantage.
This was the first week as singles this season. They continued to wear their same colored shirts and continue to train with their trainer they got assigned a few weeks ago, but they weigh in individually and 2 people fall below the yellow line. This week those 2 people were Becky & Bonnie. Even though there have been many weeks that I don't care for Bonnie, I was impressed to see her give up her spot and ask to be voted off so that Becky could stay. They didn't even show most of the elimination because everyone did vote for Bonnie as she asked and so that leaves 6. Bonnie continued to do great at home and really looked thin in her "where they are now" video.
Next week Biggest Loser is on TWICE!! One is the Thanksgiving episode (I always think the holiday episodes must be the weirdest to film since it would have been summer when they actually filmed it.) and the other is a reunion episode. I am really excited to see the reunion episode - I have seen a lot of the past seasons and LOVE seeing how all the contestants are doing because I feel like I know a lot of them personally even though we haven't ever met! Oh, and makeover episode should be coming soon too!