Oh What a Beautiful Morning

I just had to snap a picture this morning in the semi-darkness.

Unfortunately, my picture doesn't do God's beauty justice.  But you'll just have to take my word for it.  Beautiful!  I love how you can see the glow of the sun ready to make an appearance over the mountain.  The moon was just sticking out through the trees, and wow! 

The sky was clear and all the stars were shining.  Of course with no cloud cover it was also freezing.  But my spirits were quickly warmed at this sight. 

It can be hard dragging myself out of bed to go do chores in the morning.  But I sure get to experience some amazing sights that the Lord made.  I'm sure thankful for that! Sights like this make waking up a little easier.  

Sausage Gravy Casserole

Let's set the scene a little before we begin, shall we?

Saturday.  About 11:45.  In the kitchen.  Making lunch.  Decided on sausage gravy over noodles with buttery sliced carrots on the side.  Yum!  The sausage is browning.  The water is boiling.  The carrots are peeled and sliced.  I'm looking forward to eating. The kids and Bryan are watching some TV, enjoying some relaxed time together...

Ready?  Action!
---

Bryan: "Honey, are you going to eat lunch before you leave?"

Me: "Where am I going?"

Bryan: "Isn't your dog class this afternoon?"

Me: "Oh yes...thanks!  We will be eating first.. just give me a minute"

---

Hmmm...at the current rate, the lunch I was prepping was going to be done at 12:15.  We had to leave at 12:30.  That wouldn't work! I'd be late to puppy kindergarten.  Didn't want that!

Time to improvise.  I do that a lot in the kitchen.

I grabbed some tortillas, mayo and lunch meat from the fridge and Ellie helped me assemble wraps for lunch.  Once I get all the kids going with their lunch, I return to the kitchen.  My sausage gravy is getting close to done.  The carrots are finally tender.  And my noodles are ready to drain. 

Not wanting to waste anything, I used my few remaining minutes to drain the noodles.  I added a little extra chicken broth to my gravy.  And I mixed them together in a greased 9X13 pan.  Hmm...noodles and meat in a pan.  That makes...Dinner!

Looking at the carrots, I was inspired further.  I stirred them in and realized with satisfaction that I had a complete meal sitting here.  I threw foil on top of my makeshift casserole, and got it in the fridge until later in the day.

Good thing my wonderful husband fixed the stove for me while I was gone!

Dinner prep was simple that night.  Turn oven on.  Put pan in oven.  Set timer.  Wait.

And my experiment?  It was sure tasty!  And filling.  And the carrots made a great addition!

I love it when things work out like that.

If you'd like to make a batch, first mix up some sausage gravy.

Sausage Gravy

1 pound pork sausage
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups milk
Salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste

Brown your meat in a large frying pan until cooked over medium heat.  Stir the flour into your hot browned meat.  Add the butter and sizzle it all around, cooking about two minutes to get rid of the flour taste.

Slowly add broth while stirring to get rid of flour lumps.  Add milk.  Stir some more.  Let cook over medium until thick, stirring fairly frequently to avoid scorching.

Meanwhile, boil enough water to cook a pound of whole wheat egg noodles.  And peel 2 pounds of carrots and slice into coins.

Put your carrots in a pan with a lid, about 1/4 cup of water, and 2 T butter.  Cook over medium heat until just fork tender.

Cook your noodles al dente and drain.  Put noodles in a 9X3 dish.  Quickly stir sausage gravy into them.  Add drained carrots and stir.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Hope you enjoy as much as we did! 

Living the Crazy Life Without Going Crazy

Life is crazy!  I've definitely uttered those words on more than one occasion.  With so much on our plate, it kind of feels like a three-ring circus around here at times.  But, between homeschooling, church, farm chores and responsibilities, doctor appointments, and shopping, life must happen.  And I want to make sure that life is a good one.  With memories for my kids.  And them not having regrets about their crazy mom who made life miserable!

So how do we survive the crazy life without going crazy?  Here are five simple things that have been key for me.  If you have others, I'd love to hear them, so please share!

1.  Spend time with the Lord

Even if it's just singing hymns and praying while milking the cow in the wee hours of the morning.  Or a few Bible verses printed out and hung above the sink you can focus on while washing dishes.  Or a whispered prayer for patience as you discover that the two year old found a marker.  And practiced making lovely circles and lines on the floor of her bedroom. 

My point here is that time with the Lord does not need to be scheduled. It doesn't need to involve all kinds of apps and books and study tools.  You can go to the Lord throughout the day.   Your heart needs to be pointing towards Him all day long.  And that can happen even when life is crazy.  And probably should happen more during those seasons. 

2.  Don't overbook

Just say no.  It's a two letter word that brings much freedom.  No.  Say it with me now.  NO! 

Skip the family function.  Stay home from the monthly Bible study.  Don't  feel pressured to join in on every homeschooling group that meets in your area. 

Those three things can all be good things.  But if they are the tipping point for your mental stability, and the health of your family, they are not worth it.  Period.  Don't drag your family off in every direction if you don't have to.  It's better to skip something than to be totally stressed over it. 

We've said no to what others would consider important.  No--Owen no longer goes to therapy.  Driving all over the countryside to see an OT, a PT and a speech therapist just wasn't worth it.  We did it for many years.  I wish I would have learned to say no sooner!

We also ditched a couple of specialists. The geneticist for example.  We're supposed to be seeing her annually still.  But you know what?  She didn't really do anything for us or Owen once she made the diagnosis.  So we said no a few years back. 

Embrace the items on your plate.  Let go of what you can.  And learn to say no.  There will likely be a season in life when you can say yes again.  But until then...use those two letters. 

3.  Keep life simple where you can

Gourmet meals?  Nope--they don't happen.   Beautifully ironed pillowcase?  Nope--won't find those here!  Wonderfully planned out intricate homeschool lessons that take hours and hours to complete?  Again, nope. 

I make it a point to simplify life where possible.  Life is crazy enough on its own without me going and creating more crazy.  Simple meals.  Simple cleaning.  Simple schooling.  It's good enough. 

4.  Embrace the moments more

Some days we just stop.  And purpose to enjoy each other.  We stay in jammies all day.  We eat popcorn for lunch and veg with a movie for quiet time.  We do the essential chores and let everything else go.  It'll all be waiting for me tomorrow--I promise you that much! 

But my kids?  They are growing.  They won't always be here longing for me to play tractors.  They won't always want to sit and snuggle up together with a movie.

Jayme is already 12.  The years with kids in the house are fleeting.  Enjoy every moment that you can. 

Spend time together whenever possible.  Have helpers in the kitchen.  Clean together.   These little moments add up to a lifetime of memories.  

Don't be in such a rush to get everything done that you miss the people you are supposed to be doing it with. Don't live life on auto-pilot, mindlessly moving from one task to another on your never ending to do list.   



5. Add some humor

Take time to laugh.  Laugh with your spouse.  Laugh with your kids.  Enjoy the work that you are doing.  Race to feed the chickens.  See who can blow the biggest bubble with the soap you're washing dishes with. It might add a step or two to your tasks, but it'll make your spirit lighter.  And sometimes a light spirit and a good laugh is all that stands between me and the loony bin. 

Just remember...sometimes you can't take away the crazy. So learn to embrace it.  I sure wouldn't trade my crazy life.  I love it! 

Who knows...maybe that just proves that I am crazy!

Pic Round Up #8

I'm really starting to enjoy capturing life's little moments with my iPhone.  I used to wait until I had picture perfect moments to snap the shot, and as you can imagine...that didn't happen too often. 

Here's the weekly round up.  This is the first week where I've taken time to bring the pics into Photoshop before posting to practice my editing skills. I mainly cropped, but I tried a few filters.  Photoshop has sure changed a lot between CS2 that we used to have and the new Creative Cloud version...lots of learning to do eventually!

Sunday 2/16

Jeffrey moving hay for Samurai.  He's learned how many flakes each animal or group of animals get, and it provides great real world counting practice! 

Monday 2/17

The kids are bound and determined to make me a better builder with Legos.  It was picked for family playtime yet again.  This time I got smart.  I used my cell phone to find directions online.  Much easier for me! I made the house and the boat.  Jayme made the little creature out front. 

Tuesday 2/18

Reclaiming water Grouse Creek Farm style!  The rain was just pouring down that day.  Careful placing of a couple of five gallon buckets quickly captured all the water I needed for afternoon chore time.

Wednesday 2/19

Food pictures.  I enjoy looking at these online, but have discovered I don't enjoy taking them.  Hence the reason that my food posts don't contain the gorgeous pics that so many other blogs feature.  Oh well! I still enjoy eating the food.  And that counts for a whole lot more!

Thursday 2/20

Oops! I forgot to make yogurt on Wednesday.  Didn't have enough for everyone for Thursday breakfast.  Since the chickens think it's spring and are finally laying well again, I surprised the kids with berry vanilla egg pudding for breakfast.  They didn't complain about missing the yogurt!

Friday 2/21

We tried making homemade gummies for the first time ever!  It was great fun.  And WAY easier than I thought it'd be with our cool silicone baking trays.  The kids loved them.  I'll post the process one of these days!

Saturday 2/22

Ah...the ever dwindling firewood supply.  The extreme cold weeks we experienced this year led to hotter fires or more wood used. We've kept it going continually--I think we've only had to build four fires since December--otherwise it's been burning. We think we have enough to finish out the season.  But just in case...

It's a good thing Bryan is going out to deck some wood today.  When the snow melts and it's warmer out, the kids and I will join him.  Until then, I'm very thankful to have a husband who takes care of it!

And another week is all wrapped up! 

Eating Books

 Since I'm learning how important catchy titles are for my posts, I thought I'd try this one out for size.  It's a battle we fight daily in our house.  Owen wants to eat books.

Pica stinks.  It's really taken over parts of our lives, and none of the many doctors Owen sees have any brilliant solutions. We're just stuck fighting the battle.  And too often, the Pica wins.  

Owen devours books.  Literally.  If someone leaves a book down, he rips it and begins eating.  He can get half a page in his mouth in seconds.  It's swallowed just as quickly.

We've tried several types of discipline, to no avail.  Owen just seems to be unable to control this urge.  It's the weirdest thing I've ever seen. 

Board books used to be safe.  They were too thick for him to rip.  But now he's almost eight and super strong.  Board books are no longer Owen proof. 

We're praying for this situation, and for now the answer seems to be to keep books away from Owen. And Owen away from books. Which I hate. But I hate it even more when we forget.  And a favorite book gets destroyed in seconds. 

Even our daily kid's devotion book isn't safe...I think it made it a week past Christmas when we got it.

No matter how hard we try to watch Owen, he continually proves that he is quick.  And smart.  If I hold him on my lap while reading a story, he cuddles for a second, and then quick as a wink flashes an arm out to grab a page.  Books don't stand a chance against our little he man. 

Do you know how hard it is to create a literacy environment when you can't leave a basket of books down for the kids to explore?  When you can't even read a story to the family without having to ensure that one member is either in the other room, being held by someone not reading, or strapped down in a booster seat or his wheelchair?  Talk about taking the spontaneity out of reading.  

I think of all the problems that Angelman Syndrome has introduced to our family, this is the one I struggle with the most.  I have a reading endorsement.  I have a masters in elementary reading and literacy.  And I can't leave a basket of books down for my kids to look at.  I can't stop what I'm doing and randomly read a book without ensuring that Owen is ready. 

We have an entire upstairs hallway full of great books.  A wonderful selection of books with a matching tape or CD. Books that I'd love for the kids to have unlimited access to.  But for now, they mostly stay upstairs.  Since Owen doesn't have access to the upstairs unless he is right with me, the kids can read books up there.  

But it's not the same.  We don't really go upstairs much during the day, except for chores and quiet time.  We live downstairs.  And books and downstairs can't go together now.

I've dabbled in creating talking books using PowerPoint.  Scanning in pages of books, adding audio of me reading them, and even adding the BoardMaker symbols for some words.  But it's not the same.  Interacting with a computer is not the same as interacting with a book.  Even if it's a book on the computer.   And they are definitely time consuming to create.

No...for now, it is definitely a struggle.  A war between Owen and books.  A challenge for me to teach Jeff and Ellie to read while having to be so careful about reading material.  And I don't have the answer.  Yet.


I have faith that the Lord will provide a solution someday.  Maybe the Pica will be treatable in the future.  Maybe Owen will outgrow his love for the taste of books.  Maybe I'll be able to add enough books to the iPad to go with the books I read so Owen will be able to keep his hands busy with that.

I'm not sure what the solution will be.  I just know that the Lord will provide help.  Even if its just helping me deal with my internal struggles. Helping me to get over the hate I feel for Pica.  Helping me to not be so attached to books. 

Until then, we'll just keep fighting.  Just keep the books away from Owen.  And provide literacy in other ways.
 

Fast Five Ingredient Dinners: Crockpot Edition! Creamy Chicken Taco Casserole

While waiting on the bake element to arrive for our oven, the crockpot has been a huge help!  Last night's South of the Border dinner was a hit.  I was planning on making chicken tacos of some kind.  I knew I wanted them to be creamy.  And cheesy.  So I threw some ingredients together and put them in the crockpot in the morning.

It took about fifteen minutes to get everything in place, and that included time to grate the cheese. 

I left the crock in the fridge until about 1:30, and then placed the crock in the pot and turned it on.  I let it cook on high until it was time to eat about four hours later.  Next time I'll do low--it was a little overcooked.  But it sure was tasty!  And only used five ingredients.

My total hands on time was about sixteen minutes.  It takes a minute to turn on the crock after all! 

Ready to mix up some Creamy Chicken Taco Casserole?

You'll need:

2 cups of cooked chicken (I used leftovers from a chicken I cooked in the crockpot earlier in the week)
12 flour tortillas
2 cups sour cream
Taco seasoning to taste (my kids don't like much spice, so we used about 2 tsp..)
1 1/2  cups grated cheddar cheese

Begin ripping your tortillas in half.  I used three halves for each layer, and made a four layer casserole.

Mix your sour cream and taco seasoning together in a small bowl.  

Line the bottom of your crock with tortillas halves.  Sprinkle about 1/2 cup of cooked chicken on top.

Smear with about 1/2 cup of taco sour cream.

Sprinkle about 1/4 cup of cheese over the top.

Layer it up!

Repeat three more times.  Except add extra cheese on the top.  Yum!

Bake on low for 4 hours.  Or high for 2.  But don't do high for 4.  Trust me!

Cook up some peas (Ellie's favorite veggie!) to go on the side if you'd like. 

I love quick dinners!   And my family liked this one.


This post is linked up to Raising Arrows!

Utilizing Swagbucks: What Works For Me

I've been noticing the word Swagbucks around lately.  Until a few months ago, I had no idea what it meant.  Bloggers kept talking about buying things with Swagbucks.  It sounded complicated, and I don't have time for complicated.

So I ignored Swagbucks.  Until I came across this review one day, and realized that it wasn't really complicated. Or at least it didn't have to be!

I still thought it was probably a scam, but decided to give it a try.  I cautiously signed up, expecting lots of spam to follow. But it didn't. And I started using their search engine a few times a day.  I answered their daily polls.  I took part in a survey or two. And I slowly started earning Swagbucks.

Earning things for something you do anyway (searching?) That is pretty neat!  After a month or two, I earned enough Swagbucks (450) to redeem for a $5 Amazon gift card. This was my goal.  Earn something and see if it really worked.

I was impressed! A few days later I received email notification that my purchase was complete and was able to access the gift card code.   I used this the next time I bought something at Amazon, and it worked perfectly.  How exciting!

I've now earned three gift cards, and will continue using this website.  There are features I don't use (like the games and the TV part) because of our limited internet.  I'd waste too many precious bytes on those activities.  However, if you have unlimited internet like most of the country, it sounds like you can quickly earn even more Swagbucks that way.

My final bit of good news with this website?  I earned enough points for a $5 gift card in a single day.  By using the links from the Swagbucks website to shop.  I needed to buy somethings online.  I used Walgreens and Walmart.  By going through the Swagbucks link (instead of just going directly to the sites), I paid the same amount for the items I was going to buy anyways.  But, I was rewarded 2 points per dollar at Walgreens and 4 points per dollar at Walmart.  It added up to 481 points, and enough for $5 at Amazon!

I had problems with the toolbar, so I don't have it installed. Our anti-virus program kept calling it spyware, so I didn't feel comfortable installing it.  If you do install it, you get a point everyday you use it. Many bloggers out there are using it, and I may look into it again in the future when I have some more time to research it.

 I don't fret about doing the poll everyday or anything. I'm definitely a very casual Swagbucks user.  But, I've earned $15 in Amazon money for doing activities I do anyways.  That's awesome!  If you haven't signed up yet, check it out. If you use my referral link, that'd be awesome!  Then I get to earn Swagbucks along with you. 

It does take some time for the rewards to get posted to your account.  My online shopping points won't actually be credited officially to my account for 30 days or so (depending on the vendor).  But they are pending so I can see them there. I'm looking forward to saving $5 off my next Amazon order! The polls and surveys and video watching seem to post right away.

Have you used Swagbucks before?  Any good tips for utilizing it?