BEANS!!!

For the last few years my SIL and I, have planted corn in a garden
together. Then when the corn is ready to be harvested we make a morning
of it ...picking, husking and cutting.
This year we didn't need as much corn in our freezers so I planted a row
of potatoes (for the potato bugs to eat) and my SIL planted a row and a
half of green beans.
She alerted me that the beans should be picked on Mon.
So this morning at 6:40 AM I routed my dear children out of bed
and gave them 20 minutes to eat and dress.
We had one hour to pick beans before we needed to get to a dentist appt.
I could soon see we were going to be neck deep in beans.
Zeke was still sitting in one spot and had half of an ice cream bucket
filled.
We picked as fast as possible and we had LOTS of beans.

I have noted over the years, that some years God gives us corn, some
years we have lots of beans, some years it is tomatoes. Some years He
blesses all the crops and we can barely store all the food. But somehow
it seems to me He is reminding us to be thankful for what He
provides....This year our sweet corn is sort of pitiful, it's not even
shoulder high and it is going into tassel, maybe we will just need to
bend to pick it.
The poor potatoes- we don't live close to the garden and we did not
notice the potato beetles busy chomping on the stalks.
The girls got to help me pick potato bugs one day, but they didn't think
it was all that great of a job. So the potatoes might not produce either.

Really, we live in an area that we can buy fresh produce from the "truck
farms". If I put out the word that I need beans, or tomatoes mom will
call in a day or two and ask how many baskets I want. "The neighbors
have extra". But I really want the children to understand how food
grows, and learn to "eat by the sweat of their brow".
They don't think I'm funny, but someday they will understand---I hope.

I will freeze most of the beans and pressure can some. I love having
canned beans, canned potates (the little ones) and canned chicken,
sitting on my shelves. Open about 5 quarts and brown some butter and you
have something D*nty Moore could never produce.

Saturday Night Supper

Come join me for our supper....

I love this kind of weather...well it was a little humid today....but the kind of weather when you can cook outside

We love our fire pit, although someday I will get DH a grill for Father's Day, but the food won't taste the same.

I mix up my yeast dough  (you could probably use thawed, frozen dough)

Oil a cookie sheet or other work surface and make 6"-8" rounds of dough

When the fire is good and hot...probably 450-500 degrees lay the rounds on the rack....keep watch for browning, then flip the bread. If you are making pizza - flip the bread out onto a dish....spread sauce...sprinkle cheese....put it back on the grill to finish the other side

Or don't add the sauce and cheese and use the bread for your next sandwich  YUMMY!

Thankful Thursday (it's almost Friday but...)

Was going to do this last week

I'm thankful for a little girl who flies down the drive on her tricycle, 

pedaling as fast as she can!

I'm thankful for big brothers that will play a game of 4square "for just
10 minutes" just because....

I'm thankful for the gift card for $25 when my bill was $24.98.

I'm thankful for the web sites that showed me apartments between $50 and
$80 a night (DH was laughing when I told him my search range)

I'm thankful for the one last scooter at W*lmart for $19.97 and it was PINK!

I'm thankful for an 8 year old who can mix a cake mix for me.

I'm thankful for 2 boys who get the laundry washed, hung out, folded and
put away. (Didn't teach ironing yet)

I'm thankful for the Chinese language CD's at the library...we might
remember a few phrases!

I'm thankful for sidewalk chalk

 

Yes, Maggie this does get addictive....gotta go to bed

One more thing...I love my front flower bed,now that we replaced the flowerbed with pavers and planter...no more weeding (the grass needs mowing but....)

BTW the odd looking critter a few posts back, was a moth, gotta check
the official name...but we call it the bird p**p moth.

Trust Issues

I realized yesterday- I'm having trust issues....When we started this adoption process I blithely told my mom, "If God wants us to take all the kids along, He will provide a way."  Great trust for a scenario months into the future.
Now we are getting close to the date....We received our I-80* approval on Friday. That possibly puts us within 6 wks of travel....most likely will be 10 wks, but MAYBE....
But God does not see fit to lay out His plans clearly in front of my nose....I like to have things taken care of, planned out, in black and white.
Well now we are within weeks and I still don't have a clear picture. We received the price sheet from our agency, keeping 4 kids in 5 star hotels for 17 nights is a bit expensive.(to say the least). So we have these options:

Mom and Dad go and complete Chi*a's part of the adoption, leave the kids at home and Dad go home after those first 7 days and take care of the kids at home  OR do the reverse, but dad doesn't do paperwork willingly.

OR Mom and Dad take the entire trip and maybe take one kid, BUT there is not a long line of baby-sitters to take care of the 4 or 5 at home....I know- you should think of these things before you go off doing a hare-brained thing like IA.
                                                               OR....
Our agency allows us to make our own plans, if we have been to Ch*na before, they will see that we get to the important appointments at the right time, but otherwise we make our own arrangements through Beijing Women's Travel. I think it
sounds like a wonderful idea....possibly even affordable.

But now for the trust...
Do I trust myself and an unknown person at a travel agency to make plans...what if I forget something? Will someone pick us up at the airport? Six people don't fit in one taxi so what if we get separated? What if the hotel is gross? I got a few e-mails from people with ideas and suggestions...BUT I don't even know them...Can you see MIL's face when I tell her I am making plans for her sweet son and his beautiful children based on recommendations from someone I don't even know?
My mother has a tiny bit more faith in my common-sense,but not much. :-)
Does God want me to go ahead and make the plans and let Him handle the details!?
But!!!?

         So please pray for my brain these next few weeks...    
  that I can see a plan that works for our family and that will leave everyone safe and cared for....and not give any grandma's a heart attack.

Father's Day Gifts

Wow! Advertising is harder than I thought.
But I will take a stab at it.
My Middle Son has been carving wooden fishing lures since August of last year. He has been selling them here and there.
Since he was not able to find a job this summer I set up an Etsy shop for his lures

Take a look...even if the men in your life don't have time to fish, they can frame the lure and hang it over their desk.

Each lure is hand carved, he does the painting/ artwork with directions he found in a library book.

He does the hooks and best of all he gets to test the designs in the creek.....and they catch fish! Of course now I need to teach him to carry a camera and take some pictures of the fish.

Up to now he has been donating all the money back into our adoption fund, he has visions of funding part of the the trip.

Go ahead and click the Etsy button on the left of the blog...takes you to our shop....Whats4supper.

More Hours of Sleep?

Does anyone know the name of that creature?  Yes it is a creature...not a pile of bird doo.



I was reading and old Reader's Digest (borrowed mom's) article said if you want to get more done during the day, you should add an extra hour of sleep to your schedule.   Yeah, yeah, I keep trying and somehow it is still 11PM before I get to bed.


Today is Thursday..and I am Thankful that I have a husband that will at least try to fix a dishwasher....and SUCCEED, after ordering parts 2 times and washing dishes by hand for over 2 weeks, we now have a working dishwasher!

But you know what?...I found a good job to keep some people busy  during the day.  Maybe we will let the dishwasher rest during the week and use it only on weekends...

Oh and stay tuned, I came up with a new item to put on my Etsy shop, if you haven't taken a look, please do...the fishing lures are my son's (his summer job) and the bags are mine.

"Notice of Action"

On Monday, we got a "notice of Action"...basically a receipt notice of our I-800 paperwork....maybe we will soon see the "real" approval from US*IS.  I am also waiting on an answer from our agency as to the in-country lodging and tour fees...we need to decide how many kids we can afford to take along, I'm actually considering sending DH and 2 of the boys and staying home, but I'm not sure I can do that! Also not sure if we can leave the kids home....we will have to wait and see what the Lord provides.

We received updated photos of our son a couple of days ago, when I looked at them I realized something had changed quite a bit....the other pictures we have show a little boy with his feet wrapped in bandages/cloth for footwear.  The pictures we have of his feet show there is no way he could really wear shoes and keep them on his feet.
DH was trying to come up with a shoe that would protect his feet and be comfortable until we can see the surgeons. Anyway when we got these pictures -He is wearing SHOES!  I talked to our agency and asked what was going on...did he have surgery?
They informed us that they had "fake feet" built according to his size and age and he puts on some socks and then the feet and then the shoes... I am very curious especially since it does not look as if he is putting weight on both feet, I hope he is not in pain...
Underneath I am wondering...when we put our goals on our LOI, I put down something about him being able to wear shoes and run like other children...did they think my only  goal was the shoes?  I sure hope not!

First Week with NO School

Our last day of school was on Friday. Little Sister was looking forward
to her siblings being at home "all day".Somehow I don't think it is as
fun as she thought.
She has been having rough days...usually in the afternoon...a nap would
help, but I'm trying to wean her from them.
I think some of the problem is all the bossing from the bigger kids, Big
Sister usually controls what they play and about 2PM Little Sister has
had ENOUGH.
But that does not excuse the tantrums!
Just how does one get a little one to STAY in a time out chair?

Today was better....she did fine till 4PM then a snack helped.

We put up the pool on Mon, but the water going in was 62 degrees, today
it warmed to 74 degrees and the girls were sure it was warm. So they
went swimming...Little One was indigo when she finally wanted to get out
20 min later.