Happy Thanksgiving

Hope all have a wonderful day and eat lots and lots of good food.

"He who lives only unto himself withers and dies, while he who forgets himself in the service of others grows and blossoms in this life and in eternity."

Gordon B. Hinkley

A New Do...

My daughter loves the Twilight books of course all the girls she knows love them right now. Hubby and I have read them after she raved about them and they are very much teen entertainment. But she loves all books and reads ALL the time. Right now she is reading while Yguy is washing the dishes she waits till he has a little pile drys and puts them away and then reads till there is another little pile or until he nags her.

Well it didn't surprise me yesterday when her hair dresser and friend asked how she wanted her hair, same as before or different. She shyly said like Alice (on Twilight) so the two of them looked on the internet and Anna went to town cutting, shaping, and showing Ash how to get the look.

Well we all love her new do it looks very nice on her and she has gotten rave reviews from her piano teacher and the teachers son and hubby, as well as her seminary teacher, and most important her dad, well her mom as well but dad is very important.

Today our family went to Baton Rouge to the temple and it is always very spiritually refilling. When we have the kiddos with us we take Yguy to Bass Pro in Denham Springs he loves tieing flys for flyfishing. So we go by that section and let him drool and then walk around and head on home.

Today as we walked around and looked at the gigantic snapping turtle in the indoor pond (and I mean gigantic it could take down our boarder collie dog), the ducks, the small turtles, cat fish, Donnie the raccoon, and of course the flytieing stuff many thoughts came to mind.

Santa was there decked out in all his country glory along with his elves with Bass Pro name tags. They had a 30 foot tree with a turkey for the tree topper, fishing poles, stuffed wildlife, and many other things that make men drool. People were Christmas shopping going all out like we all do with alot of things not just christmas.

As I looked around, while the boy child teenager drooled, I thought of all the money that was being spent on things that will be outgrown, destroyed in some frivalous way, or just plain tossed when it is of no use or not really liked in the first place.

Lately I have had many things running thru my mind when it comes to spending money and having things. Are things really so important, no not really. I just have to move it and dust it anyway. Or toss it, or store it, or well you all know what we do with our stuff.

My favorite is paying to store stuff you don't use anyway. Whoever invented storage units is very rich right now and those who have that as a bussiness probably do pretty well. Storage unit warehouses are like grave yards a waste of good real estate. Coming from someone whose husband is a grave digger...Hes heard my opinion on this alot.

Yes, I have used storage units and now I wish I would have just yard saled or thrift stored it all. They do come in handy like when your moving and have nowhere to put your belongings, or say a death in the family and nowhere to put their belongings as you slowly go thru it all. Someone once said you never see a uhaul following a hearse, cause you can't take it with you. Oh and yes I have family members buried in graveyards. :0)

But as I have been going thru my mind and thinking about where our money goes I have started seeing everything as money. I have always looked at diapers as a waste its like wrapping a dollar bill on them and then tossing it after they've used it. I used alot of clothe diapers when my kids were in them, yes I used plastic too sometimes. And they were so much easier but they are still in a landfill somewhere and the money to buy them isn't helping me or that landfill but the person I bought them from.

Or the food we buy the more packaging it has, the less you get, and the more you spend. Oh and lets not forget the vitamins and minerals your not getting because of what you just ate and the empty calories that just stuck to your hind quarters oh wait those are mine they stuck to....

Its not easy to brake away from the disposable life, do we work hard day in and day out just so we can have convience when it has added inches to our measurments, blood pressure meds to our morning routine, and a bigger number on that scale. But are we actually working as well as taking pride in what we do instead thinking its drugery.

We are a fickle society with lazy and weird notions on what happiness is really all about, I think. I am just as fickle I like a soda pop sometimes OK, I crave the sugar in them all the TIME! I have to much stuff, I like to veg sometimes on this mind numbing thing called cyber space, and we have far to much disposable income. That shouldn't be!

But as I am TRYING to change and become a better person, it is SO hard, those faults in myself are coming clearer and clearer. I need to take that step and Keep Calm and Carry On.

Maybe these thoughts and ideas are coming for a reason they are making me see what I do in another light is the time I am spending really productive, the money I am spending really being spent on healthy, helpful, uplifting, and lets not forget a good deal.

One day I will see everything in the light its suppose to be seen in but for now I keep my paper bag handy for those hyperventalating days that overwhelm when some new thought is trying to come to fruition. That light comes on and yet another area I need ALOT of work on comes to light. I will take a slow deep breath and think....

Keep Calm and Carry On.

Turtle Pilates....and Heart Healthy Crackers

These are the crackers I made yesterday.I joked with the kids that they have heart healthy tomatoes in them and they are shaped like hearts.

This is Tadpole the turtle during his morning pilates. His front legs were stretched out as well. He has started doing this recently its kinda funny but I wander if he is doing it for a reason. We just put him in a bigger tank with more swimming room. But with the weather changing he is napping longer and eating less. Last year he hibernated all snuggled down in the rocks but so far he hasn't buried himself just yet.

Have a blessed day and home your stretches are as good as his.

We're Cracken Up....

Well not really but we did make crackers today. I love homemade crackers they taste better than store bought and they can be fun to make especially when you find a recipe that just works.

We are getting the leftovers of Ida the tropical storm/tropical depression last night we had alot of rain and today overcast and LOTS of wind. We were on the west side of it and that is the best side to be on if you have to be on any side of a hurricane LOL. It is very cool and breezy it made for a really nice walk after lunch today with the kids. And I am sitting on the front porch enjoying the breeze/gusts.

We picked fall huckleberries and I have some fresh ground wheat soaking on the counter to make muffins in the morning. I also picked some sassafras to make tea but I let the pan boil dry and ruined it. I will try again tomorrow the pan is soaking right now I have been scrubbing and soaking.

What can I say I got distracted.

The kids are mummifying lemons over the next few days so I have baggies on the counter with different methods of mummification. At least they didn't want to try one of the cats. Just Kidding....;)

We had 7 of our cats following us today one was our asthmatic house cat we had to stop and wait for him a couple of times his weazing and all. He is fine in the house but when we let him out he gets all weazy and congested. I could make him stay in but he loves the outdoors and it keeps him from going buggy in the house. He is a cat and he has to go outside and do cat things plus he likes to use the wide outdoors instead of the litter box.

Well the kiddos are all done with school work and are playing outside in a tree. The windchimes are tinkling away, a glorious aroma is wafting out of my windows as the beans with bay leaf and thyme are simmering away in the crockpot waiting for the smoked sausage to be added, and the Sundried Tomato Basil Crackers are cooling on the the counter.

I hope your day was as blessed as mine I pray that it was.....

Basic Farmhouse Crackers from MaryJane's Farm Nov 09 issue

1 1/2 cups flour (I used fresh ground white wheat)
1 1/2 t cream of tarter
3/4 t baking soda ( I didn't have cream of tarter so I used baking powder instead of the these 2 ingredients I use Red Mill aluminum free we love it)
3/4 t salt
1/4 c oil
1/2 c water
1 medium egg
2 t sugar (I used agave)
1 t balsamic vinegar
1/4 c sesame seeds, toasted

1 Preheat oven to 350 lightly spray baking sheet with oil
2 In a medium bowl, combine 1st 4 ingredients and mix well
3 Add oil and stir until mixture looks like coarse meal.
4 In a small bowl, whisk egg, sugar, and vinegar. Set aside
5 Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and roll out very thin. Brush with egg mixture and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Cut them into what ever shapes your heart desires. I used a little heart cookie cutter I have. Place crackers on baking sheet
6 Bake for 15-20 minutes and then transfer to racks for cooling.

To make the Sundried Tomatoes Basil crackers you need
1/4 cup fresh basil ( I used dried but not as much)
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes
2 T olive oil
2 T parmesian cheese, grated
1/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper

In a food processor add all ingredients and blend well. Add mixture to above dough after step 4 and omit sesame seeds

art.com

Today is my birthday, my 36th birthday to be exact. A day that isn't all that special to me I like my husband and kids to wish me happy birthday but I don't want gifts, or a special dinner, or fanfare. Just to be remembered....

As I think of this past year and all that has gone on since my last birthday I wonder how it all went by so fast. There are 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day, 364 days in a year, but it all goes way to fast. I was told when I turned 30 that now it will speed up and boy has it.

My husband turned 45, my daughter 15, my son 13, my youngest would have been 11. We celebrated 16 years of marriage and 10 years of homeschooling.

My son surpassed me in height by 2 inches my daughter seems to have stopped growing and is a 1/2 inch shorter than me. To her dismay. :0)

I have found that the music I listen to affects me in a profound way and with that have learned that I love soft, classical, and lovely music to feed my soul.

Grey hair has sprung up more this year and I find that I am OK with it. It doesn't really bother me at all my son likes to stand over me and count, I think he over does it. And with blond hair it doesn't show as easily anyway.

I have made new friendships, learned alot about myself, become very protective of my family and the time with them, learned that the world outside isn't all that important, and strived to make my relationship with Heavenly Father stronger.

I hope this next year brings as much growth and understanding. And that the things in my character that need refining continue to pop up and that I learn, grow, and except the things that I need to learn with a humble heart.