Easter 2011

We celebrated Easter at home this year, with just our family! Usually we go to my sister's and have a big hunt and lunch, but this year they had other things going on, so we just stayed home. We had a really good time and got to lay around and watch movies all after noon! lol!

Easter morning, I made a cheese spread bunny (pictured above and below). It was very yummy!

And the girls got to hunt Easter eggs of course! I had some candy for the eggs, but had not gotten to a store to get some fun crackers to fill the eggs, so I made notes for them saying they could pick out some fun things at the store! =)
Thankfully they are very easy to please when it comes to gifts, and they loved it all!
I look forward to next Easter! I wonder if there will even be Easter stuff for sell next year? These are interesting and kind-of scary times we live in....

~Hannah

My Amaryllis- Times two!

I love amaryllis! I remember, as a teenager, I got one of the amaryllis growing sets for my birthday! And a couple of years ago, I was given another one!
You have to remember though, I do not have a green thumb! Most stuff dies on me, so this poor plant has seen some ruff days over the past few years!
Winter of 2010, I had to separate the bulbs, since they were getting to big in the pot! So I made two pots with two bulbs in each pot. So far they are doing good, but will need to separate them again this year, as they keep growing!

This year, both started to bloom in April! And they were just beautiful! I was so excited to have two blooming at the same time! I had one more bloom later, but it was smaller and only had two flowers on it.

I took some pictures of them as they bloomed and wanted them here on my blog! Hope you enjoy them too!

~Hannah

Our new van!

A couple of months ago (wow, time flies!), we got a "new" van!
I feel like a Real homeschool family now! lol!
It is a '98, but in pretty good shape and we have really been enjoying it!
Believe it or not, this is actually my first car! So I have been pretty excited about it! Plus it is much easier to drive then the big truck. =)


~Hannah

My new "purse"!

For my birthday, my extra super husband bought me a new "purse"!!

Well it is not really a purse! It is a gear bag, like a small duffel bag, but I thought it would make a perfect purse for me! And so far, it has!





I found it online at Cabela's (one of our favorite online stores=))! It cost around $16.00. It has 6 zippered pockets and is supposed to be sturdy and waterproof! Guess we'll find out!

I think it will make a great emergency handbag, diaper bag, overnight bag, etc. I like how much it holds and hides!

I hear that they do not have this bag in camo anymore at Cabela's but they have black and green.

My Birthday Chessecake Recipe!

I am finally getting around to posting the chessecake recipe I used to make my birthday cake! It was absilutly wonderful, or is it sinful? Anyways! I Loved it and ended up eating almost every bite of it by myself! =) (Thank you little brother, Arthur, for helping me eat some of it!) =)
My husband just does not eat many sweets and girls had plenty of Christmas goodies!

So, here is the recipe:

Taste Of Home's Chocolate Cookie Cheesecake !

12 ServingsPrep: 30 min.
Bake: 50 min. + chilling

Ingredients
1-1/2 cups cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookie crumbs (about 16 cookies)
3 tablespoons butter, melted
4 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1-1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips, melted and cooled
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 eggs, lightly beaten
20 chocolate cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookies, coarsely chopped
Directions
In a small bowl, combine cookie crumbs and butter. Press onto the bottom of greased 9-in. springform pan. Refrigerate while preparing filling.
In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in chocolate and vanilla. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Fold in half of chopped cookies. Pour over crust. Sprinkle with remaining cookies. Place pan on a baking sheet.
Bake at 325° for 50-60 minutes or until center is almost set and top appears dull. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. Refrigerate overnight. Yield: 12 servings

Here is a picture of mine! Please ignore the candles! =)

I do not own a springfoam pan, so I used a round cake pan. I baked it in my woodcook stove! Yay!

It was fun (and yummy) to make, and pretty easy!

Okay, I give in! I will post a picture of me, since it was my birthday!

I look forward to having an excuse to make this cheesecake again! And I need to try out some more cheesecake recipes. Any suggestions?! =) Or excuses?! =)

Homeschool Update: Making school books!

Our 5 year old has not ceased to amaze me! I often think she must not be mine, because she is so smart! But since I had her at home, I am pretty sure she is mine (unless they swapped her while I was asleep?)! Well, anyways, I think it is safe to say she gets her brains from her Daddy! =)

Her new idea and pursuit today was making a workbook!
She ask me to staple some paper for her, then she colored and wrote the title on the front, "Word's and writing"! She took her Language Art school book, and started copying EVERY word from it into her book!

She also drew the pictures!!! So far she has 4 pages done! She read it to me as she wrote it and said that she is making it for her children!
I told husband that she will have K-12 written in a couple of years if she kept it up! Lol!

I wish ya'll could see the books she writes and pictures she draws and colors!

Homeschool is just so exciting! I look forward to everything she comes up with and makes in the future! =) And everything that the 3 year old comes up with too! It is just so much fun!

Hey, I am watching and learning! =)

~Hannah

"Stocking Up Challenge" Checking in!

Hey everyone!

How did your stocking up shopping go last week? I hope great!

Are you still saving up money for more stocking up?

I canned some sausage and chicken last week, since we found some meat on sale! It makes me feel so much better to see my jars getting filled with food to feed my family! =)

We finally made it to Wal-Mart the other day too! Yippee! I do not like spending money, so I dread the check-out and have to really keep to my list and what we need.
I wanted to stock up on coffee and found the Wal-mart brand coffee (Great Value) was only $6 for a big can! With the prices of coffee going up, I highly recommend everyone stocking up on some if you drink coffee!

Wal-Mart had all their cleaning stuff out, I guess for spring cleaning!
So I stocked up on some cleaning supplies too!
The bleach was on sell, and so was rubbing alcohol and peroxide.

We use a lot of paper towels, and I want to cut back on that, so I went over and found some wash cloths, hand towels, etc!

After I stomached the check out in Wal-Mart, I finally got to go get me some new jeans at Tractor Supply! Yippee! I think between them and my skirts, I am pretty well set on working in the garden this year! =) And plan to save back a pair or two for next winter.

You have to plan and think ahead!

I love shopping at Save-A-Lot! You can stock up on sooo much and come out around budget! They had the family pack ground beef for $1.99. Not the best deal, but I went ahead and got some. I hope to make some tacos sometime! YUM! And freeze the rest.

I hope this post will inspire you to get out and stock up if you haven't been already!

Remember to buy winter clothes for your family for next winter, when the winter clothes go on sell this spring!!!

Stocking Up Challenge Step One Update

Hey ladies!

Sorry I have not posted more this week! Been busy here!
Is everyone ready to start stocking up?
Have you been saving up your money over the past week?
I hope so!

Would love to hear how it has been going for you and if you are ready for some more steps and encouragement?

~Hannah

My little "cave-children" cracking nuts!

Over the autumn months (last year), we took a lot of time to help the girls learn about different nuts that grow wild around here. They had a really great time gathering nuts and cracking them and eating them!
They were so fun and cute to watch! Like a couple of squirrels gathering nuts and like children from a long time ago, trying to crack the nuts with rocks!!
I took pictures of that of course!
Here are some of the pictures of them trying to crack hickory nuts with rocks!!


The pictures (above and one below), of Princess A. trying to crack a nut with a big rock are just precious, I think!
Princess S. could actually hit hers hard enough to crack a lot of them! She loved it and would spend a lot of time working hard at it!

I have a lot more pictures of our nut gathering, etc. that I may post later!

~ the nutty mommy, Hannah!

Princess A.'s Birthday!

In Oct., we celebrated Princess A.'s 3 rd Birthday! I cannot believe that my baby is three! Wow! Time really flies.....*sigh*!

I made her a chocolate cake (pictured above) and put a little doll on it and made some flowers and put candy on the flowers! I was aiming for a cake with a Dora doll playing outdoors, but I couldn't find a Dora set that fit, so I just put this together, and she loved it!

I did all the birthday shopping at the dollar store and was impressed with the variety I found. I also had to get some groceries for the party and a few things we needed. Altogether (Dollar store and groceries) I think I spent around $130. I think I did pretty good considering everything cost so much these days.

I think her favorite toy this year was a little doll that Princess S. picked out! I was delighted that she found it! I mean it is not everyday you find a doll at the dollar store that sings "Jesus loves me"!!!

Now she sings all the words to the first verse and chorus and it is SO sweet to hear!

Another toy that she loved is her first kite! I just happen to see a few kites in the store and one was Dora! Knew she would love it!

I love this picture of the girls watching the new kite and Princess A. getting to fly her kite for the first time!

Yes! That is Dora flying in the tree tops!

I am really looking forward to the girls birthdays this year! Maybe this will be the year that I buy and plan ahead! =)

~Hannah

My New Year Resolutions and Plans

I love new years and new months! It seems like a great time to start fresh, start something new, make plans, and dream new dreams!


I am pretty worried about the future of our country and our children's futures, but I am still pretty excited and hopeful for what the future holds! We may be facing some really bad, dangerous and down-right ugly times, but my faith will not let me give up, and I believe that God always takes care of His children, His own, even if it is not what we think is best or good and we may have to hurt and walk thru valleys at times.


So with the beginning of the new year, I have been pretty excited and making some plans, setting some goals and dreaming dreams! Sure I know God is the one who is in control and I am happy to let Him have control of my life, and family's lives! I love the Bible verse that says "man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps" (Proverbs 16:9)! I guess I find comfort in knowing that God is in control!

Another thing is, (and it is a Big thing!), I am a mother! I hope, and plan, and dream and set goals, because I am a mother! It is just that simple to me. A mother never gives up.

Here are some of my goals for at least the next few months:


1. Read stories to the children everyday.

2. Take time for personal reading everyday.

3. Have a devotional/quiet time to spend with the Lord everyday. (I really need to work on this!)

4. Work out on the Bowflex at least 3 days a week.

5. Give husband a back rub at least three days a week!




Here are some of my goals for this year:


1. Help oldest graduate 1st grade in homeschool. And get started on 2nd grade!

2. Set up a lesson plan for the youngest for pre-K and help her get thru pre-K this year!

3. Help husband finish the add-on to the house (adding some bedrooms on).

4. Paint the walls in the bathroom, washroom and above the kitchen counters.

5. Grow a big garden! And save a lot of seeds, Lord willing!

6. Can a Bunch of vegetables, meat, etc! And I would love to get more pint jars and some wide mouth jars.

7. Make herbal salve, and grind/mix up more of my herb formulas.

8. Keep a journal, or at least notes of what we do everyday!

9. Go camping and start a natural journal/scrapbook with the kids!

10. Find some good deals and make more clothes for the family for next year.

11. Fix up a place for some milk goats and get at least two milk goats!

12. And last, because I dread it and I am putting it off, get my driver's license. UGH!


Some of my dreams for the year?

1. IF the country some how straightens out to where people can buy and sell things and I can find some good sources for material (yeah, I know, too many if's), I would Love to start an Etsy shop, or some sort of online store!

2. You know I do Not use birth control and leave my family size up to God. For some reason He has seen fit that we have not had a baby for 3 years now. It may be that we are going to face tuff times in the near future. I do not know. This is an area that I am so torn in! I want a lot of babies and children! But I also know that if times are hard, it will be Extra hard if I am pregnant or have a small baby. So I just continue to pray that God's will be done!

3. An amazing dream, that really is a far out there dream for me! lol! Would be that I stick to reading books thru this year and actually finish some books! lol! =)

4. That the girls "Nonnie" and "Papaw" will get their house finished this year and get moved in! I really look forward to having them live next door! Especially now that "Nonnie" has been having tons of back troubles and we could help her more if she were closer!

5. I pray this will be the year that my parents will try to make things right and we can start working out a relationship with them. I want to see my younger siblings and my parents again. =(



That is all I have for today! But it is still the first of Jan! I am sure I will add to my list!
Now I need to get to work and play! =)
~Hannah

Happy New Year! And So Much to Blog!

Hey friends!

Hope ya'll are having a very happy and blessed New Year so far!

I am really looking forward to what the New Year has in store! We had a very good year, last year and Praise the Lord for that! He has been so good to us!

I have had so much to blog about over the past few months, but I was really busy working on getting things for Christmas! I did pretty good and husband was impressed, so that made it worth while! =)

I hope to post more the next few months and maybe I will hang in there thru the year, Lord willing! I will not let my computer time interfere with home life or homeschool though, so if I am gone a while, it is because I am busy with family life, or my computer has died on me!

I am going to post some of my new years goals, and maybe a list of my blog post plans! Would love to hear what ya'll would like to see on my blog over the next year though! So please let me know! Thanks and God bless!

~Hannah

Pictures that Make me Smile!

I love pictures! They hold so many happy memories and things that make me laugh!

Here are some of my favorites that I have taken over this year (2010) and why they are so funny and special to me!

First,
Our adorable girls! Here they are wearing some new skirts that mommy made them and they were running around and being goofy! I ask them to stop for a picture and as soon as I took it, the oldest princess breaks out in a goofy dance! Lol! The youngest always smiles so big that she closes her eyes! Lol!



Next, my niece!
There are so many reasons to smile here!
She was born with a cleft lip and palette. Her cleft lip was actually a double cleft. She has had 3 surgeries since she was born and every time she has done really good and now, you can hardly tell she had any cleft at all!
In this picture she was showing off and kept closing her eyes every time I took a picture of her! She is so funny!



The next two pictures are not smiling faces, but they really make me smile and laugh! Our girls were playing with a toy in the kitchen and they threw it up on one of our refrigerators. So they started looking under the two refrigerators! Lol!

Too funny!

I look forward to our Christmas pictures and Lord willing, a lot of great pictures to make us smile next year!

I am participating in the Invisalign Teen Bright Smiles Holiday Photo Contest with Dumb Mom.

I 'm Back! So Sorry for the absence!

Hey followers, friends and fellow bloggers!

I want to aploigize for falling off of the face of the blog world! I felt terrible that I made so many commitments and then my computer got a terrible virus and I could not do anything!!!!! ACK! So that is why I was not on my blog thru the whole month of Aug!
Now that I am back on the computer, I have had a hard to getting back on here and posting, etc! Ugh! I guess I realized how much time I was on the computer and it has been good for my family for me to be off of it!

But I do have a lot I need and would like to post! And I hope my computer holds up for me! =)

So here I am! Back on the blog! And looking forward to getting in gear for more giveaways and reviews! ;)

God bless!
~Hannah

Old Sewing Patterns! How Exciting!!!

For the July 4th weekend, my brother was able to make a trip up from TX. to visit us!!! It was SO Great to see him! I really miss him a lot!

On his way up to visit, he stopped by our grandparents place and they sent some stuff up here with him for us, my sister, and parents. I was expecting most of it to be old canning jars, so was very surprised to see old games, dishes, etc, mixed in the boxes!

But the most exciting one, was when I opened one box and found it filled with these...........

Sewing patterns!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How neat! All are women's and girls patterns and a lot of the little girls patterns are size 6 which is perfect! most of the women's patterns are around size 10 so I think I could make them work for me! I am going to share the patterns with family with they would like them too! =)

If you can see the pictures well, you can tell that most of them are pretty old too!

But they are soooo cute!

I was glad to see the girl night gowns patterns, since I would love to make the girls flannel nightgowns!

I would guess they are between 15 and 50 year old patterns here! My grandma wrote on one, that she had made it for my aunt when she was little! Several of the women dress patterns, I remember my great grandma wearing the dresses when I was little!

I hope I can get some fabric and material now to make some things this winter! =)

Snow Days! And Frosty the Snowman Troubles!

We had a great snow last week! It lasted for 3 days and was very pretty and a lot of fun! I guessed we had 8 in. of snow, and they said there was 9 in. in Jackson, TN. so guess I was close! I think it was the most snow I have ever seen, unless I saw some when I was little and just do not remember it!
The above picture is a view from our kitchen window on Fri. (29th) while it was snowing!
We did not get out and play in it on the first day much. But on Sat., the girls and I went out to sled in the front yard for a while! It was pretty fun, but I do not remember it being that much work! Lol! I also do not remember sweating that much! =) Princess S. had a great time, but Princess A. kept landing flat on her back, so she did not enjoy it much, but still was upset when stopped playing!
I did not take any pictures of us out sledding and thankfully King Ed does not use the camcorder much, since he got a big kick out of me sledding down the hill!
We did go out and build snowmen on Sunday afternoon! Sarah was happy about that, till....well, read on and you will see!

Princess S. said we had to make 10 snowmen! Mommy got to make them all (don't laugh, I have never claimed to be a good snowman builder!), with Princess S. helping and finding rocks for the faces and sticks for arms!

Here is her first "frosty the Snow man"! It was fun and then after we put the hat on she got upset, because he was mot moving! Uh-oh! Poor little girl! She was sooo upset, she cried! It made me sad! So, we tried on a different hat!

Still no movement! Well, maybe it was because mommy was helping? Any tips?

Maybe do not read or watch Frosty the snowman? Lol!

Well, I hope she does not get upset about it again. I am glad she has a great imagination, but it is hard to explain stuff sometimes! =) I guess I will continue to learn as I go. *Sigh*!

Hope you all had a good time playing in the snow with your children, and learning lessons!

God bless!

~Hannah