Bluegrass

We took our friends the Walschs up to Blue Grass tonight. This was their very first time and although I tried to take a picture to capture the moment JW wouldn't comply and then my camera battery died. Bluegrass is something our family loves to do come fall and spring. For those unfamiliar with this activity this is not a Bluegrass Festival or concert really. The mayor whom Nate and I know from college runs and organizes this saturday night event that takes place in the smallest little town 15 miles of us. The local sheriff roasts the hot dogs, and the old ladies and sometimes us young ins bring some side dishes to go along with the dogs. You just throw your money in a jar and help yourself. They take donations for the food and drinks. Then you sit around in lawn chairs by the bonfire and listen to some good ole boys play and pick in a little opry house the size of an SUV. I can't say exactly what makes it so fun, but it feels like wholesome family fun, and the kids just run around and play games while adults chat. I treated J and M to some of my Bluegrass aprreciation sounds like the yiiippp yeeep yiheee ahhh. And of course the cacacacak caaaaawl.

Nothing New

Nothing new to report on the homefront although my mother comes home tomorrow from a missons trip to Belarus. She has never been outside the country and was very excited about her trip.

I am still dieting but have surrendered to the depravation and am no longer angry, just grieving my precious food. Grocery shopping is like withdrawl from crack, or so I imagine.

I've been spending way to much time in blog world and must break away. (not like Kelly Clarkson)

Oh, Oh maybe big news we sold the old house, no contract yet but it is a verbal go. To the original owners, I knew it was for them and I am happy even though we are taking our lowest price.

Fad Diet

I am on a fad diet that my friend AF did called the Mayo Clinic Diet. You have to eat the foods they tell you to for 2 weeks and you will lose 20 pounds. I only want to lose 15, but if I am so fortunate to lose all 20 I will not complain. I think she told me that she lost 16 pounds and have kept it off for 2 months. I also have an ulterior motive for dieting, for at least 6 yrs I have had a candida overgrowth which I think is largely responsible for my overall feeling of puny health. I pretty much kept a y infection when I was pregnant with Luey, and have some sort of flair up nearly every month. The interesting thing is that I have always felt called to have a more fasted lifestyle. I am convinced that the key to spiritual breakthrough is in fasting, but I have such an idol with food that I haven't been incredibly successful with my attempts to live a fasted lifestyle on a regular basis. I have been incredibly angry and irritable these last 2 days and I love it. I honestly like seeing how controlled I am by my circumstances and surroundings. I am still eating like a king compared to most of the world but my spoiled flesh is crying out for more. I am eating mostly eggs, a lot of eggs, lettuce, cucumber, tomatos, olives, black coffee or tea, chicken, pork chops, and steak. I had steak for dinner tonight so I felt happier, except I had to bypass the bread, broccoli with cheese sauce, and mashed potatos. I get to eat 3 times a day but I get no snacks and I am having no sugar and no carbs. I don't like denying myself the little treats throughout the day, and I certainly resent not having cream and sugar in my hot tea. However the Lord is always so gracious with me that I can honestly say that a part of me loves doing this becasue I know what my "character issues" are and I am able to see myself in a very clear light. I am not saying this arrogantly like I have it all figured out, I am merely stating how much of my flesh rises to the surface during times of fasting. I don't even consider this a spiritual fast just a diet, but it is turning into something more already after only 2 days. For some people food doesn't make them happy, and for others it is no biggy to deny themselves for months at a time. That is just not the case with me. I am really hoping that some chains will fall off of me during this 2 week diet so that I can continue in a denied state for the next 2 months in order to rid my body of candida and not be a slave to food. When I consider how difficult this is for me I am ashamed of myself for being such a wimp, but I know that there is a reason for everything and God is faithful and good to complete the work that he started. Anytime that something ugly in you is brought into the light I think that we ought to truly rejoice instead of feeling condemned. I mean God already knows how gross we are and he still loves us w/o measure so why can't a little light on the darkness of our lives be a happy time of house cleaning.

Fort Mountain

This was definitely not one of our better camping trips, although with a good attitude we were able to pull through with a decent time. For starters it was up in the air whether or not we were even going. Then we couldn't get a site so we ended up bunking with Nanny and Papa who graciously put up with Nates flopping, my going to the bathroom in the middle of the night, and one feverish thirsty child. Nate and I arrived thursday afternoon after a beautiful ride up in the mtns w/o children because they had come up the day before. Luke broke out with a fever that evening and still has got it. Thankfully he slept alot and isn't a wimpy sick child. He maintained a good attitude and still managed to have a pretty good time, even though he spent all of friday in bed. Since he was still burning up saturday afternoon Nate and I decided to come back that night instead of Sunday, just so that we could get a decent nights sleep and monitor him better. The big boys stayed on with Celeste and Leonard. It was however a beautiful place, and it was great seeing the Kissacks again. I miss all of the chatting that Tonya and I used to do. The greatest sorrow of the trip happened when Papa took some of the kids to go pick up some of the more adventurous hikers in our group and they saw a bear on the side of the road. It has been my lifelong goal since I moved to Ga seventeen yrs ago to see a bear in the wild. I was sitting with sick Luke when Evan came back excitedly exclaiming over the bear. I was sick with envy, yes I was envious of my child because it didn't mean as much to him as it would of me. I know I am a huge sinner. Oh well, I know that God will appoint me Master Guardian of the animals when I get to heaven.

I had Nate take a couple of pics of me right when we got there........

because after a few days this is what I look like.

Nate tries to tan his pastey white pigs.

Landon tries to tan his scalp.

Evan and Micah bury themselves.

Fun Around the campfire

Nate and Evan having a little chat.

Papas hammock is an all time favorite place to play, chill, and sleep. The kids spend tons of their time in it.

Leaf On

Leaf Off

The boys watch their Dad doing some stunt riding.

Nate pops a big wheelie.

Evan pops a mini wheelie.

Papa and Nate playing holey board. I was actually a natural at this game but there is no proof in film of that claim.

A tired Austin just back from a bike ride.

The sicky arrives back home. We piled the back seat of the truck with sleeping bags so that he would have a comfy ride.

They are gooone!

I dropped off the boys this afternoon at Nanny and Papa's house. They are taking them early for our camping trip this weekend. We thought Nate was going to have a meeting and we wouldn't be able to go and see the cousins, big bummer, but the meeting was cancelled so we all get to go. Yea! If you've never been camping as a family it takes alot of work and time to get everything cooked and cleaned and packed up, so that is why we are going a day late because the meeting was cancelled kinda last minute and there wasn't enough time for us to get ready. I'm off to cook some muffins, and hamburger meat for spaghetti. See you in the mtns.

Boys

With so many heated and interesting debates going on in other peoples blogs I feel guilty to be so shallow, but I did not start my blog to debate and stir the waters very often. I am sure that once in a while I will post about something meaningful, but only if it relates to me or is something I am dealing with personally, after all this is all about ME. (may I draw your attention to the title) I do love a good debate, catfight, whatever once in a while but if I feel the need to explore those instincts I will do so on your blog not mine.

Nathan spent the day putting up shelves and making tables for the garage. The boys wandered in and out helping or distracting him now and then. They also played their computer games and watched cartoons since it is saturday. After lunch I decided that I needed some lonely time, so I headed off to Clarkesville to do some antiquing. I found nothing that I had to have but I enjoyed the beautiful weather, and the wandering that I did. On the way home I was to stop at the store to pick up some food for an outdoor campfire dinner. (Nate had also made a fire pit) I called to let them know that I would be home soon with the grub, only to find out that they had already eaten. "Hmmm" I said, "I thought we were cooking over the fire" "Well" Nate said. "The boys wanted me to go to the creek with them and look for crawdads, so I did and that's what we had for dinner along with cereal." "HMMM" I said. "So the boys ate CRAWDADS for dinner." "Luke and Evan actually ate them.'" Nate said, " Luke devoured them, and Evan only ate one, and Austin had the rest." "OK" I said, "Do you still want me to get hotdogs and marshmallows?" I came home to find a little fire going in the fire pit, and the boys doing stunts in the driveway, so we opened up the marshmallows and had them for dessert, while the boys and their father discussed how they would get squirrel for tomorrow night. Boys! I thought about the camera, nahh there will be plenty more of these nights I think.

The Pain

Tomorrow my friend MW will be at my house bright and early to torture me for my own good. She called on Monday at 7:45 from my driveway to go walking with her. She brought her big guns with her (5lb weights) to really whip me in shape. I could only hold the weights in my limp hands as we trudged up and down my neighborhood. I had a really good time, because she walks fast and we don't stop talking so the 45 minutes went by pretty quickly, even though I had a bleeding blister on my heel and I was walking in my PJ bottoms with no drawers underneath. Oh the pain I have suffered since then can only be described as nine month waddle pain, sciatic nerve pain, knocked on your hiney while riding a horse pain. I didn't know there could be pain on the top of your foot, or on the side of your b cheeks. I realized that if I was hurting this much I must have some muscles that I haven't used in so long that they are starting to atrophy. We are going to humble ourselves this way 2 times a week together, and I am going to try and go it alone one other time during the week even though my hair fros and I walk like I have a diaper on by the end.

Bean Porridge

Bean porridge hot
Bean porridge cold
Bean porridge in the pot nine days old

Some like it hot
Some like it cold
Some like it in the pot nine days old

Last night it was a little windy and overcast, and I smelled fall, so that means out comes the stock pot for some good ole comfort food like soup. I looked around for stuff to make a soup but all I found were bags of dried beans, so I made bean soup that reminds me of my grandparents. Growing up they lived right across the street from me, so I had ample opportunities to visit every day after school and all through the summers. I was telling the boys about all different kinds of food I had eaten at my grandparents house, because they had been listening to The Story of the World for history and were hearing about lizard stew and other interesting foods the early nomads had eaten. I told them about all the seemingly gross foods that I had tried at my grandparents house, and my own. I've had fried rabbit and squirrel, I've had black bird pot pie, sardines and peanut butter together in one sandwich. Mulberry jam, rhubarb pie, livers and onions, and dandelion salad. But one of my favorite comfort meals is large butter beans and ham with a side of cottage cheese and fresh tomato slices. So when I found all those bags of dried beans I knew what we were having much to the dismay of the boys. I really want them to associate these kinds of food as wonderful and homey, something that mom used to do for them when cooler weather was approaching. I also realize that they are not grateful for their food, and get easliy grossed out, so I am determined to change their palettes this winter. I have made the butter beans and ham before and they ate it w/o to much complaint but this looks yuckier, but oh so good.

Here is the recipe for my bean porridge for the brave cooks out there.
1 bag of dried black beans
1 bag of dried kidney beans
1 bag of dried lentils
soak the beans overnight or due the quick soak method, but overnight is better.

You can just use the large dried butter beans

Add 1 sweet onion
3 stalks of chopped celery
3 gloves of garlic
salt and pepper to taste
then place one of those ham steaks in the pot uncooked and let it simmer with everything until it is cooked, then remove it and cut into pieces to add back into the stock. You could also use leftover ham, but I find it better to cook the ham in with the beans, more flavor.

My pot has been simmering on the stove since lunch and smells good, we are having it for dinner tonight along with some bread since I started to late last night to have it for dinner. I only hope it rains tonight to put me in the mood for soup.

Where would I go?

The previous owners of this house must have had very interesting lives because I receive all sorts of intriguing catalogs and magazines. The latest came friday, it is some kind of travel and leisure magazine. I have been scouring the pages looking at all the fabulous places that I would like to visit, which has led me to think about some ideal trips that I would like to take. Thinking of vacations and trips is probably one of my favorite pastimes. It is what I think about often when I am doing mind numbing jobs like folding the laundry. So for now I've made 2 categories that I want to discuss, they are as follows.

1. A spousal trip only:
Austria would be my destination of choice. The sound of music is one of my all time favorite movies, and world war 2 holds lots of interest to me also. This would not be a European trip that you dash around from place to place and hardly ever get to catch your breath. I would spend a few days in Salzburg, that is where filming for the SOM took place, we would stay in the city and tour all the old sites and gardens from the movie, then I would want to head to vienna for a few days there, listening to open air concerts and taking in some culture, from there I would like to go to a bed and breakfast in the countryside and spend some time a small village in the mountains, taking in the scenery and the MOUNTAINS. The last part of my trip would be taking a jaunt over to the Mauthausen concentration camp, now the only time that I would leave Austria would be to pop over to Poland to visit Auschwitz. I could never leave Europe without visiting some of these camps and I would be fairly close to them. I know this sounds a little morbid, but I have a true appreciation for this type of history. It saddens greatly, but it also humbles me and forces me to not be complacent about stuff.

Trip #2 A Family Trip
My idea of a perfect family trip would be to rent an RV for an entire summer and just hit the road. My kids are at a great age for this type of travel, maybe it would be more ideal in a year or two but we are close enough. I would start by heading north to new england then take a northerly direction to head across the U.S. towards Oregon, stopping at yellowstone, and any other place we so desired. I want to travel south along the california coastal hwy and I heard the trip is better from N to S, we would then swing east and hit the grand canyon and then head south towards some of the gulf states, and then back home. An RV would be a perfect way to travel with the kids, staying at parks along the way, they could play games in the RV and watch videos as to not get overly cranky. Lots of good family time, and we would be learning all kinds of neat things that would make for an excellent history class. I also wouldn't mind breaking it up for the next 3 0r 4 yrs and taking 2 to 3 weeks at a time to hit the different regions.

Items of little intereset

We had to be at the dentist office yesterday morning by 8:30 for the boys checkups. No cavaties, YEA!! Luke flipped off his bicycle on thursday while attempting an endo (a frontward wheelie) and smacked his 2 front buck teeth. They kinda stuck out from his thumb sucking that goes on incessantly, but no longer. They were nicely pushed back into place after the wreck. His teeth may die but they are baby teeth anyway.

Shortly after arriving home I told Austin to clean out his hamster cage. Cody Brown was starting to stink, and somehow he dropped the bottom part of the cage off the back deck and it shattered to pieces. Well Austin fell to pieces because he had used his birthday money to buy the neccessities for Cody, and now he was going to have to use his money to replace the cage. I felt so sorry for him, it was a hard lesson to learn and I wanted to just buy him the cage myself, but he had been careless and looking for a shortcut while cleaning the cage so I figured it was a learning experience for him. (yuck) We headed straight for the pet store to get another cage because Cody only had his little ball to run around in. The new cages were 31.97, but on his b-day she had sold it to him for 26.00, we told her what happened and asked if we could just order a bottom part since that was the only piece that got destroyed, but no such luck. Austin had resolved to just suck it up and do it, when she offered to sell it to him for $20. We were both so grateful, he thanked her for discounting it and I thanked her and told her that I was making him use his own money to pay for it to teach him a lesson and that she had made it easier for both of us.

For 2 days the cows on the farm behind us (we can't see them) have been mooing and bellowing like crazy. It is driving Nate and the boys crazy, me, I kinda like it. Nate said this morning that he was going to have to ride over there and see who was toturing the cows, because he can't figure out why they keep on and on mooing. It really is loud, we had to turn on the noise maker pretty loud to drown out the sound.

We are off to the old house to finish up some work over there. Blek! No serious interest in it yet. We are thinking of renting it to the first people that liked it, the ones that had originally owned it. They could rent to own for 6 to 12 months to get their finances in order, and then purchase it. If they decide they can't do it then we will put it back up for sale in the spring. We have a nice chunk of equity in that house and I would have rather had the money right now to put on the current house, but this may work out best for all involved. I really wanted them to have the house.

Galletas de boda

That is what the big boys and I made while Luke was golfing with his dad. That means the wedding cakes in espanol. They are actually those little wedding cookies, but wedding cookies is something different in spanish, I forgot now what it is.

I wanted to say that blogging can be deceptive to people on the outside looking in. My family is just like many others out there. You would never know by looking at these photos that I dreaded when the boys asked me to make those cookies after watching their spanish lesson. You wouldn't know that I cringed at the thought of the giant mess that they would make with the powdered sugar, regular sugar, mixer and food coloring. You wouldn't know that one was incredibly impatient with the other during the process, and that one disobeyed me. A friend recently said that my life was more interesting than hers, and she didn't think she would have much to blog about. Seriously this has been a struggle for me to put down things in a positive light. I tend to like to do the "whoa is me" thing. I also don't always appreciate all the character stretching that goes on in my life as a homeschool mom. You wouldn't know that I don't like homeschooling very much at all, there was just no other good option for us at the time. Being an English , art, history, math, science, etc teacher is an incredible struggle for me, I do it, but it feels like a heavy burden to carry, not more than I am able, but definitely not light. Unless you really know me you might not know that I struggle with anxiety, and depression at times. I am learning to be thankful and it is really starting to pay off. If my life sounds exciting that is only because I have a certain gift, some people call it exaggerating, others may call it dramatic, and some people might just call me a liar. I have a way of making something mundane sound extraordinary. If you look closely, and listen attentively you too will have loads to write about. You may also be able to find the humor in it like I have been able to do. Every family is unique, and every child is a plethora of funny sayings and doings. Now if something dreadful happens, Nate says "look on the bright side, I'm sure you'll find a way to make a great blog story about this." You know what, he is absolutely right, if I know I'm going to write about it, it makes me feel better. I started blogging because I am horrible about writing things in memory books, and I wanted a journal of some sort. I find it a great way to process my days, find the humor in life, and record the happenings of our family. You to have just as much to say as I do, and you never know who you might encourage along the way. I'm happy if you enjoy keeping up with my family, and I hope that I will always be someone that is real, and transparent. Most of all I long to be a joyful woman.

He was to much of a big boy to smile for his dear old mother so I had to resort to babytalk to get him to smile for this one.

Evan enjoying one of the wedding cakes. He only liked the first bite.

the finished product

A Good Family

The boys are all playing a game of Risk with their dad, that is one game I never seemed to give a rip about. I'll just leave that one up to the men. Today held something unusual for me. A friend who was getting a divorce asked me to go to court with her. I have never been inside a courtroom before, and I was a little nervous, actually I couldn't eat breakfast. I was worried that things would get dramactic, and I had no idea what to expect. What I didn't expect to happen was the tremendous sadness that I felt at seeing other people there for the same reason. I saw a mother ask for her teenage sons to be removed from the room so that they wouldn't hear their dad accuse her of doing drugs, being promiscuious, and abandoning them. Several times tears came to my eyes as I thought of where all these people had come from, and what was now happening to them. These people once loved each other, were raising a family together, and the enemy of the family got in there and destroyed what God had wrought. My friends proceeding was nothing at all compared to the previous mentioned, but it was still so sad to see the demise of a family. These situations are becoming the norm, and a good family is becoming rarer. I was overwhelmed by the amount of divorces that were probably proceeding all over the country today, not just my small town, and I thought about how grieved God must be to see the destruction of something that he had ordained. It is so so important to guard your heart in the area of your spouse, if you are not careful the same thing could happen to you. But by the grace of God, there go I.

Happy 13th

Today is our 13th wedding anniversary, woohoo! We hung out at the house today, walking the property with my parents, who had not yet been on the grounds. We also put into place the bridges that Nate built for the trails. The woods are becoming so nice, he cut big trails, cleared underbrush, and now has made 3 wooden foot bridges to connect them all. We had no big plans for our anniversary, the kids spent the night with Nanny and Papa last friday, and this weekend you can see what we did by just looking below. I felt no need to go out on a date, since we get random acts of dating now and then, more freguently then lots of my peers. 13 years of marriage these days is quite an accomplishment, considering we met when he was 18 and married when he was 22. I'm a year older. Statistically, christian or not, the odds were against us. We've fought the good fight (literally) and have made it to a most wonderful place in our lives. Things are so good and right, if you just keep praying, stick it out, and give thanks God will take care of the rest. We are officially experts now, and I feel like being a marriage counselor, or at least having a radio call in show. I feel so blessed to be married to Nate, and raising our children together. Happy Anniversary to us.

You have never really lived

unless you have been to a motorcycle race. Road Atlanta hosts one of the big races every year, and this year was no exception with the superbike showdown. The 2 top riders were neck and neck coming into the race this week. Saurday we took our friend Tim and his son Asher to races, and Sunday we took Nate's friend Scott. We got fantastic free tickets from a business man that Nate has on his board of directors for CTS. The tickets got us to the paddock area, and pit where the riders have all their bikes set up. I was only suppossed to go down on Sat and then have a free day Sunday, 12 hours with no kids or anyone else, but after the races on Sat I just couldn't resist the last one on Sun, because the number one rider crashed on Sat and ended up in 2nd place, so I wanted to see if he could take the win against the track favorite. (an older guy that I like) I seriously could be a groupie, it is so dadgum exciting I can hardly stand it. I love motorcycles like some women love chocolate. Watching someone that knows what they are doing is as beautiful as watching an excellent horse and his rider. Except so much better and louder. This is so not Nascar, I honestly don't know why this isn't as popular. You really don't want to see people wreck, you want to see a good battle going on, which is so exciting to see, because they weave in and out and switch places at nearly every turn. Also the grace and finese that it takes to ride like these guys is unbelievable, I ought to know, I'm married to a former racer. Long before we were married, I was Nate's pit crew, while he raced this circuit as a privateer. That means we were poor and had to pay for everything ourselves w/o a sponsor. He had one good season of racing where he took 3rd in a race before the expense got to much to bear. That is where I got my love of the bike and racing, watching all those races and seeing how talented you really have to be to haul yourself down a track at speeds of 190mph, brake hard as you come into a corner, shift your weight and throw your bike down as your knee slides along the asphalt. Wow!!! Heres to all the men in leather out there and the women that love them.

Saturday

The crew waits for the main event.

The winner of the venue Mat Mladin, apparently he always rips it up at Road Atlanta. He was my favorite to win, because he is one of the older guys. (35)

This guy bit it right in front of us, even though they go down at 100mph or more, most of the time they just slide till they stop, shake it off and keep going. We saw 3 wrecks that happened right before our eyes, (which was a record for me), but they all continued the race, except for one guy, whose bike caught on fire.

The Kawaski boys duke it out

gatorade mustache alert

Look at that little shark tooth

Sunday

The number one rider laps a guy.

Team Yamaha signs autographs, these guys were just the nicest group of guys, even though they had been sitting there signing autographs for a while, they talked to us, laughed and were generally so pleasant, that even though I had some favorites coming into the race I changed my mind and rooted for the guy that is closet, and then the 3rd one up. They would all have made their mommas proud.

Evan meets Eric Bolstrom one of the top riders,he placed 3rd in the his race sunday

The boys meet Larry a Ducati champion racer. Do you see that bowl of candy? When Nate went by the table to find Luke, Larry already knew Luke by name because of all the times he had been by and had his grubby hands in that bowl getting some candy. Larry kept encouraging him, notice his hand down by the table.

Scott and the boys goofing off before the big race

The end of our fabulous weekend