Saturday

I would love to tell you how I have decided that this is my day of rest, which it usually is. I would love to tell you that besides a few cleaning tasks, I have nothing planned except trying to find a good Sandra Bullock movie on TBS or reading a preselected book from the library today. I would love to say that I have no one coming over tonight so if I don't want to do the dishes today, I don't have to! But, it's not in my life plan today! Nope! Because I decided that Thursday was the day that I needed to crack the whip and get my house in order. It was a tornado zone from top to bottom. My dear husband actually commented that he has never seen it get that bad before. He usually says this same comment anytime the house is that bad, but this time I had to agree. So we slackers took the day off of school on Thursday, but that means that we have to school on Saturday! It sounded like a good idea at the time. Now, I am not so sure!

Weeeee Got One!!!!!!!!

Can you name that movie? I bet you can't! I bet that I have to give you another clue. How about the State Puffed Marshmallow Man? Come on! There is only one movie on this earth that has a giant, walking marshmallow man ready to take on the city. If you guessed "Ghost Busters" you have my admiration. I will hold you in the highest respect whenever I see or talk to you.



I loved that movie. When I was growing up, my brother and I used to take my dad's flashlights and shine them in dark places to see if Slimer the green sliming ghost was hiding. We would then pretend that the flashlights were our weapons and sucked up the ghosts just like the real Ghost Buster's would do! We were so cool!



Now? What was it that I felt I needed to share? Oh yes! We got one! My husband, the manly man that he is, finally got his deer this year. He hasn't had many places to hunt, and the places that he has been able to hunt on he's had to share with about 200 other hunters. This year, however, he and one of his best friends were blessed to get permission to hunt on 600 acres of land. Not only did they hunt there, they also got permission to hunt on the land neighboring the 600 acres to make that a grand total of 1200 acres to THEMSELVES! I would say the odds were for them.

He called me while still out of breath from the hunt of his dreams. Finally, instead of driving home with out his primary goal, he brought the family some meat. I am feeling a little pioneerish, but its free and I had some tonight in a stew.........amazing!!!!!


Well here it is. Here is my man with 2008 deer! Great job honey! I am proud! He plans to go out next weekend for round two.

His and Her Toys!

After neglecting my duty to my adoring readers, I have finally come home to my blog. I have come to the space where I can say what I want, think what I want, share intricacies of my homestead, and have people read them with laughter and find them somehow entertaining! I love you all for laughing with me! Thank you for being patient with me!

Now for your next installment of my random thought process.......drum roll............His and Her Toys! Those of you without children don't worry. This is not about my picks of the year from Toys R Us. With that said, you don't need to cover your eyes. Let me assure you that this is rated G for everyone. I promise! Would I steer you down a path that I wouldn't tread myself?

Now, We were talking about the adult toys (G rated remember!). My husband, being the manly man that he is, is a wood worker. He loves building things from nothing. He loves working with his hands. He loves critically thinking about putting something together that didn't even exist before he thought of it. In order to do this kind of work, you need to have the right tools. You need some good working toys, I mean tools, to get the quality that you want, the quality he must have.

You need.......another drum roll please..............

This is one of the first toy purchases we made as a couple. Actually this is the upgraded version of what we first purchased! If any of you don't know what the brand De Walt means. Just think money! Lots and lots of money.

This is my newest toy! My darling Kitchen Aid Mixer! I have wanted one of these since I first started to put my kitchen together 10 years ago with a Target wedding registry list. Because of my inherited frugality issues, I decided that I could probably get by with a 40 dollar mixer instead, and then I would get more needed gifts at the wedding. I kicked myself for many years after that! My patience paid off though. After hearing how I burned out 3 mixers in 3 years, one of my dear friends saw this on clearance and bought it for me. I am forever and eternally grateful to her. Every woman wants one of these. If they don't, they are lying, or they don't cook!

Now this is his favorite toy!

I wouldn't be showing the true glory of the toy if I didn't show you the name. It is made by Grizzly. This is where I am going to point out the genius ideas of advertising. All men's toys are manly sounding like Grizzly. You know it gives you the image of the big, tough bear that he probably hunted after it tried to go after his camp's food supply. If the tool has the name of Black and Decker on it, then it probably isn't manly enough to be included in a real man's garage.

This is my other favorite tool/toy! My dream machines! If you haven't heard about how we met click here: http://ordinarilyrandomme.blogspot.com/2008/06/i-can-move-mountains.html I move mountains with these girls! And notice the girly brand name: Whirlpool. What comes to mind with that? As if laundry and relaxation ever will coexist! One can dream.

Pumpking Carving!

With 4 children, things can get pretty messy and out of control in a short time! We had to lay some ground rules before they "had at it" with the pumpkins. Let's remind everyone that we are doing this on my kitchen table that is in a room with a carpeted floor. Don't ask! I have only ever lived a few months in a house that didn't have a carpeted dining room. It seems to be my curse! Even building our own house didn't take it away!

Now, notice in the picture above, my son's first instinct as he grabs the carving knife. I would like to point out to all who think boys won't be boys if there aren't any weapons around. Boys will be boys, and they always find weapons. They make weapons from nothing. They crave weapons. If it is already shaped like a weapon, then it's all the better, and fun!


Princess just jumped right in! "Really! We get to make a mess and you won't be mad????"

Baby Princess is a little disgusted. She took some coercing. Don't worry she eventually realized the reality that she can squeeze the guts all she wants and I won't care!

This is "Mr. Analytical". Not only is he the cleanest kid I have, but he takes the utmost care and time to do everything. The job was not done until every possible seed and gut was removed in as orderly fashion as he could come up with. We eventually had to help in order for it to be finished before Halloween.

My "Hunk of Love"! This is one of his favorite times of year. Fall means a lot of things to him, but this day is ranked on top. Why? Well he is highly addicted to pumpkin seeds. Oh yes, highly addicted. Throughout the entire process of carving he is surfing through the guts picking out every single seed. At least 10 times he makes sure that the kids don't miss a single seed. He has it down to a science. He separates the guts and the seeds, he rechecks the garbage piles to see if any were left behind, he rinses off any left over guts, he rinses again, and again, and then we salt and bake. I am always impressed with his patience while doing this. The beautiful thing about having 4 kids, is having 4 massive pumpkins loaded with seeds.

Coming up! Halloween pictures!

Busy Bee!

I have discovered something that I actually already knew. Anybody who has read this blog or knows me personally, knows that I am busy. Sure we are all busy. We have normal duties that have to be fulfilled. Some are stay-at-home moms that are the basic cruise directors of their house, some work, some volunteer, and some....well some are really busy doing things that no one can figure out. I can't decide if I want to know or not. I don't have time to. I 'm too busy!


Anytime that I go out to the store, I get looks and comments like: "Wow! You have your hands full! Are those all yours? You sure are busy!". This is when I smile and sometimes chuckle. This is when I whip out the big news and say "Yes, I am busy. And oh, by the way, I home school them!" It's my favorite part. I watch their jaws drop, their tongues roll down to the floor, and their eyes open wider than humanly possible. Then I turn around, clap my hands three times, and ask the kids politely to get back in line behind me. (Ok, the end was a slight exaggeration. One can dream, right?)

So I'm busy. What else is new? I have a full day. What I do sometimes struggle with is the fact that I still look for things to fill my day. No, I am never bored. There is always something to do. I just find things that look cool or sound like a good idea and then spend my "extra" time studying them, or doing them. Or I think that I have all the time in the world because I don't work, and my kids don't spend 8 hours a day in school. Sure we can do things later in the day. Sure we can stay up late and sleep in. We home school. We can do what we want.

Well my dears, I am finding that the more I try to buck my schedule, the more I find that I am yearning for it. I am going for the less is best routine. I am going to stick to that routine. I am going to get off the computer and get in the shower right now. Because even before I sat down to type, I knew that this was not in the schedule!

Quote of the Day!

My dear friend Andrea is so wise. She leaves me a comment on most of my posts and makes me chuckle. After reading my latest post, she gave me a bit of her wisdom. I have declared it my quote of the day.


TV remotes - one of the reasons men and women will never understand each other!

I don't know!

TV has been the blame of some weird phenomenons here. The other day, I caught Princess and Batman watching my TV in this position. I don't even ask what they are doing or trying to accomplish anymore. I just laugh, take a picture, and say "I don't know!". Yes, weirdness runs in the family!

We have another habit that's forming in our house. My dear son has taken another step into manhood. He is about to turn six next week! In his great walk through life, he has learned an unwritten man trait. A trait that every woman winces at once in her life. If that woman has married or had multiple brothers, the chances are high that she winced a lot.

My dear first born son has mastered the remote control. He has learned to yearn for it. He knows what each button is for. When he sits and watches a movie, he will not stop looking for it before sitting down. It might as well be duck taped to his hand.

He has picked up the habit of rewinding and replaying the good parts over and over and over again, until his siblings run screaming from the room for me to come and take the remote away. When I come in, he instantly puts the remote down and acts like he didn't do anything. He bats his icey blue eyes at me, and innocently says, "What mom?". I instantly know what went on. I don't know if it is my mom instincts or if it is the reality that I somehow lived through growing up with 3 brothers that all did the same thing. Icey blue eyes or not, I know what he has been up to!

He also has the man habit of high volume. He doesn' t have a hearing problem. He simply has little man ears. My daughter and I can listen to the volume at an average level of 10 to 12. My son and husband??? It is more like 35. I don't know if it is nature or nurture. I have come to the conclusion that it is no coincidence!