Since I haven't listed any of these in a while, I've been racking them up:
1) When we moved into our house over a year ago, we decided that the living room windows needed some kind of window treatment. There were faux wood blinds, but they needed something else. Plus, there were fancy curtain rods still hanging up from the previous owners. So, a few months later, we found these valances that matched the color scheme perfectly, so we bought them and brought them home. Well, you know how things like that are always creased when they come out of the package, but you just want to hang them up right away to see how they look? Yes, you know what I'm going to say. There they stayed, creases and all, for the next 10 or 11 months. Finally, a few weeks ago, I took them down, washed them and ironed them, and rehung them. Hooray, they look even nicer than they did!
2) I cleaned out my spice/herb cabinets (I have 2 small shelves by the stove and more shelves by the mixing area) and made a list of what was almost gone or used up. Before I went to the spice/herb sale at the grocery store!
3) I bought 36 pounds of apples at the grocery store on Tuesday for $12 (making them 33 cents a pound!). So far I have peeled and sliced half of them for applesauce. I have discovered that it takes 3 pounds of apples to make 1 quart of applesauce. My current total is 5 quarts in the freezer, a bunch eaten, and 3 quarts simmering on the stove as I type. 2 more batches to go! Simmering applesauce sure makes the house smell good!
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Showing posts with label small successes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label small successes. Show all posts
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Small Successes - 37
1) Last Saturday morning was haircut time from Dan down to Joseph, which makes 5 haircuts in one morning, done by me!
2) Remember all those lovely tomatoes we picked? Here is what we've been doing with them, well besides eating them fresh.
Tomato sauce cooking down on the stove:
Tomato sauce ladled into quart freezer containers:
2) Remember all those lovely tomatoes we picked? Here is what we've been doing with them, well besides eating them fresh.
Tomato sauce cooking down on the stove:
Tomato sauce ladled into quart freezer containers:
Hot salsa (well, I thought it was hot, Dan thought it was more medium-hot). I canned these one afternoon and it went pretty well. It was the second canning this season. The first was when Dan and I together did some pickled jalapenos (not that I'll be eating those!).
Then I put a bunch of Roma and Delicious tomatoes in the freezer. Here are some of them:
Then I put a bunch of Roma and Delicious tomatoes in the freezer. Here are some of them:
3) All the maternity clothes have been hauled out and placed into the closet. Oh, you didn't know I was expecting? You can read about it here!
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Small Successes - 34
1) Yesterday afternoon while the 3 younger ones were napping, Catherine and I went out to the garden to pick the tomatoes. After receiving 5 inches of rain the day before, the garden was very muddy. So we wore some plastic boots and tackled the job. In some places I was sinking down a few inches.
I could not believe how many tomatoes there were! Here is a picture of the haul. Aren't they beautiful? The smaller buckets are 2 gallon size and the big one is probably a 5 gallon bucket. Those little cherry tomatoes are so sweet it's like eating candy to pop a few in your mouth. Yum! I foresee some tomatoes going into the freezer soon.
2) Last week, we started our homeschool! I wrote about our first day here. In that post I talked about how Dan set up a painting table in our garage, which the kids just love. Well, one day last week, we had left the garage doors open and when we were done with school, the kids went out to paint and this is what they found. That crazy Kansas wind blew everything off the table, including the dropcloth which was hanging to the floor. But no one complained and we all worked together to set it back up.
3) We did a craft! I'm not a naturally crafty person, so this was an accomplishment. Of course it helped that our curriculum had the patterns and directions, so I didn't have to think it up myself. But I did do a lot of tracing and cutting! I knew I'd need one for each kid, and the little ones can't cut that well yet.
We have our shamrock representing the Trinity, the sun representing creation for God the Father, the cross for God the Son, and the dove for God the Holy Spirit. I felt crafty using different colors of construction paper. :)
I could not believe how many tomatoes there were! Here is a picture of the haul. Aren't they beautiful? The smaller buckets are 2 gallon size and the big one is probably a 5 gallon bucket. Those little cherry tomatoes are so sweet it's like eating candy to pop a few in your mouth. Yum! I foresee some tomatoes going into the freezer soon.
2) Last week, we started our homeschool! I wrote about our first day here. In that post I talked about how Dan set up a painting table in our garage, which the kids just love. Well, one day last week, we had left the garage doors open and when we were done with school, the kids went out to paint and this is what they found. That crazy Kansas wind blew everything off the table, including the dropcloth which was hanging to the floor. But no one complained and we all worked together to set it back up.
3) We did a craft! I'm not a naturally crafty person, so this was an accomplishment. Of course it helped that our curriculum had the patterns and directions, so I didn't have to think it up myself. But I did do a lot of tracing and cutting! I knew I'd need one for each kid, and the little ones can't cut that well yet.
We have our shamrock representing the Trinity, the sun representing creation for God the Father, the cross for God the Son, and the dove for God the Holy Spirit. I felt crafty using different colors of construction paper. :)
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Small Successes - 30
1) I went from this:
To this:
To this:
Nine bags of green peppers now in the freezer! In case you are wondering, I first froze them on a tray, then transferred them to the bags, so they wouldn't freeze in a big clump. And I'm not sure why some of the peppers turned purple, they taste the same as the others.
2) I tried a new recipe - Fried Cucumbers! We have an abundance of cukes and you can only eat so many of them raw. I'd make pickles, but they are too big for that.
Here's what I did:
Slice 2 cucumbers and lay them on a towel to absorb extra moisture. I peeled mine but I don't think you'd have to. Heat approx. 1/2 cup vegetable oil in frying pan to medium-high. Mix one egg with a little milk in a shallow dish and put a cup of flour mixed with salt in another dish. Dip each cucumber slice in turn first in the egg, then in the flour and place in the hot oil. Fry on each side for a couple minutes and then let cool on paper towels. They were pretty good! Definitely something different to do with cucumbers. Next time I might try some seasoned salt in with the flour or maybe a batter instead.
3) One thing new to us when we moved out to the country was our big propane tank out in the yard on the side of the house. We don't have access to natural gas, so we use propane for our heater, for the water heater, and for the stove. As you can imagine, we use a lot in the winter, but not much in the summer. Over the past year, whenever the 500 gallon tank got low, I called and a few days later the big propane truck came out and filled it up. When August rolls around, you have the opportunity to sign a contract for so many gallons at a lower, fixed rate. If you prepay. I knew the deadline was approaching, so I found our receipts from this past year (which took a little while, as my filing system still isn't in shape from our move a year ago - maybe that can be on next week's list!), from which I could calculate how many gallons we used in a year. Then this morning I sat down with the contract and realized I needed to get it in the mail today, so I took care of it, after a phone call to Dan to decide for sure how many gallons we wanted for the next year. Cross that off my list of things to do!
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Small Successes - 27
1) I have taken the kids to the zoo three times in the past few weeks. We hadn't been there since sometime last summer, well really the last time was when we still lived at the old house, so it's been about a year. Each time we went with a different set of friends and we had a blast every time! Have I blogged about it yet? Nope. Been too busy.
2) I saw a snake close to the sidewalk in the front of the house and my heart didn't even start racing. Granted, it was only a garter snake, but still, I'm not exactly a fan of seeing snakes in the yard!
3) I made my first batch of salsa for this year. All the peppers and tomatoes were from the garden. The onions would have been too, but I forgot to put them in! Oops. That's okay though, it was still good. We ate some with chips, and we put some on our fajitas, which contained strips of sauteed squash and zucchini (also from the garden), along with the meat and cheese. Yum! Soon, I need to do a post about all the great produce we've been getting from the garden.
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2) I saw a snake close to the sidewalk in the front of the house and my heart didn't even start racing. Granted, it was only a garter snake, but still, I'm not exactly a fan of seeing snakes in the yard!
3) I made my first batch of salsa for this year. All the peppers and tomatoes were from the garden. The onions would have been too, but I forgot to put them in! Oops. That's okay though, it was still good. We ate some with chips, and we put some on our fajitas, which contained strips of sauteed squash and zucchini (also from the garden), along with the meat and cheese. Yum! Soon, I need to do a post about all the great produce we've been getting from the garden.
Go to Faith and Family Live to read more Small Successes!
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Small Successes - 23
1) I survived a road trip to St. Louis. It took us a little over 7 hours to get there and almost 8 hours to get back. We didn't get much sleep while we were there, but we had a great time visiting Dan's sister. No one got lost or hurt, and we only had one puking incident in the car.
2) I french braided Catherine's hair for the first time. I didn't do too bad, at least in this picture you can't see all the messed-up parts. :) The worst part was getting out all of the tangles beforehand.
3) I read hours and hours to the kids for the library summer reading program. We took our reading logs to the library this morning (tomorrow is the last day possible to turn them in, so just in time!) and they all got some prizes. Which were toys: squirt guns, sidewalk chalk, little plastic ships that are supposed to float, a bugcatcher kit. Cool stuff.
2) I french braided Catherine's hair for the first time. I didn't do too bad, at least in this picture you can't see all the messed-up parts. :) The worst part was getting out all of the tangles beforehand.
3) I read hours and hours to the kids for the library summer reading program. We took our reading logs to the library this morning (tomorrow is the last day possible to turn them in, so just in time!) and they all got some prizes. Which were toys: squirt guns, sidewalk chalk, little plastic ships that are supposed to float, a bugcatcher kit. Cool stuff.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Small Successes - 19
1) I grabbed a tick out of Catherine's hair with my bare fingers.
2) I took all the kids to the Chinese store to get rice noodles. As soon as we got in the store I gave each one a package of the noodles to carry and they proceeded to follow me around the store like 4 little ducks following Mama Duck. It worked great! No messing around and touching everything. No fighting or pulling hair. When we got to the register, the lady said, "Your kids are well behaved!" Oh, Yeah!!!
3) I saw an ad in the paper about a refrigerator recall and noticed it was on the brand that we have. There was a list of first letters of model numbers and I checked ours and it matched. So then I got online and entered all the data and sure enough, ours was in the recall. The recall was for a part that could malfunction and overheat, and possibly start a fire. Yikes! As of today, the fridge repairman has been here and replaced the part, and we are good to go! (Hmm, I guess that's why we need to register these items when we buy them. Oops.)
Go read more Small Successes at Faith and Family Live!
2) I took all the kids to the Chinese store to get rice noodles. As soon as we got in the store I gave each one a package of the noodles to carry and they proceeded to follow me around the store like 4 little ducks following Mama Duck. It worked great! No messing around and touching everything. No fighting or pulling hair. When we got to the register, the lady said, "Your kids are well behaved!" Oh, Yeah!!!
3) I saw an ad in the paper about a refrigerator recall and noticed it was on the brand that we have. There was a list of first letters of model numbers and I checked ours and it matched. So then I got online and entered all the data and sure enough, ours was in the recall. The recall was for a part that could malfunction and overheat, and possibly start a fire. Yikes! As of today, the fridge repairman has been here and replaced the part, and we are good to go! (Hmm, I guess that's why we need to register these items when we buy them. Oops.)
Go read more Small Successes at Faith and Family Live!
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Small Successes - 17
1) I bravely (or foolishly) took all the kids to the dentist by myself so Dominic and Catherine could get their teeth cleaned and examined. Not only that but we went at 8:00 in the morning, after an early morning severe thunderstorm/electricity out/kids scared/tornado scare. Read about that here! Oh, and by the way, I was rewarded by all the kids behaving perfectly at the dentist. Even 3 yr old Dominic, who had never been to the dentist before, went back by himself with the dental hygienist and never fussed or cried or got scared one bit. Wow!
2) I got the little vacuum attachment out and vacuumed in the all the edges in the carpet, you know where it sits against the walls and the furniture. Okay, so I only got that done in the master bedroom, but it is clean!
3) For the last, well, probably since we've been married and had a joint email account, our inbox routinely has about 200-400 messages in it. Needless to say, many an email has gotten lost in all of that. Every once in a while, I'd go through and clean out a hundred or so, but I could never get it down very far. Well, the other day, Dan went through it and got it down to about 100 messages. So being inspired, I finished the work and for the first time I could see all the messages in one screen! This one was definitely a joint success. Now if I can only keep the inbox cleaned out!
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2) I got the little vacuum attachment out and vacuumed in the all the edges in the carpet, you know where it sits against the walls and the furniture. Okay, so I only got that done in the master bedroom, but it is clean!
3) For the last, well, probably since we've been married and had a joint email account, our inbox routinely has about 200-400 messages in it. Needless to say, many an email has gotten lost in all of that. Every once in a while, I'd go through and clean out a hundred or so, but I could never get it down very far. Well, the other day, Dan went through it and got it down to about 100 messages. So being inspired, I finished the work and for the first time I could see all the messages in one screen! This one was definitely a joint success. Now if I can only keep the inbox cleaned out!
Go to Faith and Family Live to read more Small Successes!
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Small Successes - 15
1) I finally got everything arranged so I could go get my hair cut. Meaning appointment made at a real salon, and childcare arranged for at the same time! And the big success in this is that I cut off 12 inches of hair and sent it to Locks of Love. If you want to see the before and after shots, go here.
2) After the first big storm on Sunday, I let the kids go out barefoot to splash in the new stream in our backyard. And I went out barefoot too! To see pics and video, go here. And I dealt with all the soggy, muddy clothes on Monday with not a complaint.
3) I figured out how to light the pilot light on the gas water heater. Well, I called Dan first to let him know in case anything blew up. And I checked to make sure we had propane coming into the house first (checked the oven). And I smelled everything carefully to make sure there were no gas leaks before I tried to light it. When you are used to having your husband do those things, it is a big deal! After all, using a butane lighter to light your gas-run water heater could be risky. What was my motivation? I didn't want to take a cold shower. :)
Go to Faith and Family Live to read more Small Successes!
2) After the first big storm on Sunday, I let the kids go out barefoot to splash in the new stream in our backyard. And I went out barefoot too! To see pics and video, go here. And I dealt with all the soggy, muddy clothes on Monday with not a complaint.
3) I figured out how to light the pilot light on the gas water heater. Well, I called Dan first to let him know in case anything blew up. And I checked to make sure we had propane coming into the house first (checked the oven). And I smelled everything carefully to make sure there were no gas leaks before I tried to light it. When you are used to having your husband do those things, it is a big deal! After all, using a butane lighter to light your gas-run water heater could be risky. What was my motivation? I didn't want to take a cold shower. :)
Go to Faith and Family Live to read more Small Successes!
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Small Successes - 14
1) I finally drove the 40 minutes to get to the monthly Catholic Homeschool preschool playgroup. And I was well rewarded. I met some very nice women and there were lots of kids for mine to play with. At a new playground, nonetheless, at least to them. It was especially nice to go to something where you meet new people and you don't have to answer questions about your "large" family. In fact, it was refreshing to hear not one comment of Are they all yours? and You've sure got your hands full. We will definitely be going back again.
2) Dan and I finally made it out on a date! Which we've been going to do since our anniversary back in February. On Sunday late afternoon/early evening we dropped the kids off at Dan's brother's house, which left them in charge of 9 children. Woo-hoo! Thank you!
We went to the Bonefish Grill, which was excellent. Definitely somewhere we would never take the kids. And what was the occasion for our date? My birthday, which is today! Which brings me to:
3) I helped the kids make me a birthday cake. When they wake up from their naps, we are going to frost it and I will let them decorate it with jelly beans.
Go to Faith and Family Live for more Small Successes!
2) Dan and I finally made it out on a date! Which we've been going to do since our anniversary back in February. On Sunday late afternoon/early evening we dropped the kids off at Dan's brother's house, which left them in charge of 9 children. Woo-hoo! Thank you!
We went to the Bonefish Grill, which was excellent. Definitely somewhere we would never take the kids. And what was the occasion for our date? My birthday, which is today! Which brings me to:
3) I helped the kids make me a birthday cake. When they wake up from their naps, we are going to frost it and I will let them decorate it with jelly beans.
Go to Faith and Family Live for more Small Successes!
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Small Successes - 12
1. I cut hair one morning. Lots of hair. All four of the kids! And no one cried.
2. I took the kids to the library for storytime yesterday. And the playground. And we even had a picnic at the playground!
3. I finally made the Overnight Coffee Cake I've been wanting to try. (Only because Dan's mom and brother were here. They always get up early, so they were able to get it into the oven in enough time before breakfast. So I only get half the credit!)
Go to Faith and Family Live to read more small successes.
2. I took the kids to the library for storytime yesterday. And the playground. And we even had a picnic at the playground!
3. I finally made the Overnight Coffee Cake I've been wanting to try. (Only because Dan's mom and brother were here. They always get up early, so they were able to get it into the oven in enough time before breakfast. So I only get half the credit!)
Go to Faith and Family Live to read more small successes.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Small Successes - 10
1. I took the time to cut out heart and flower shapes for iron on patches for several of the girls' pants with holes in the knees. Then when Catherine scribbled all over hers with markers, to "decorate" them, I didn't get mad.
2. I haven't forgotten about not eating meat on Fridays in Lent. Yet. I guess I shouldn't speak too soon!
3. I got all of the mittens and warm hats put away. But, I think that may have backfired because now we are forecast to get 6-10 inches of snow over the next few days. Which is weird because that would probably be more snow than we have gotten all winter. I thought I had chased all the snow away when I bought a sled last month. (Talk about getting looks when you buy a sled when it is warm outside.) Maybe now the kids will get to use it.
To read more small successes, go to Faith and Family Live!
2. I haven't forgotten about not eating meat on Fridays in Lent. Yet. I guess I shouldn't speak too soon!
3. I got all of the mittens and warm hats put away. But, I think that may have backfired because now we are forecast to get 6-10 inches of snow over the next few days. Which is weird because that would probably be more snow than we have gotten all winter. I thought I had chased all the snow away when I bought a sled last month. (Talk about getting looks when you buy a sled when it is warm outside.) Maybe now the kids will get to use it.
To read more small successes, go to Faith and Family Live!
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Small Successes - 6
1) I rounded up my surplus of over-the-counter medications and vitamins that I've been getting for free or nearly free through deals at Walgreens, along with a glucose meter that I picked up for free with a coupon. I took a sack full to the Guadalupe Clinic, a medical clinic for people who don't have insurance, which is run by the Wichita Diocese.
2) I got the kids dressed (I should say, re-dressed), fed them their dinner, got them into the mini-van, and made it on time to meet Dan for the 5:30pm Ash Wednesday Mass.
3) I sorted through the medication cabinet. (Now I just need to tackle the pantry!)
Now go read some more Small Successes at Faith and Family Live!
2) I got the kids dressed (I should say, re-dressed), fed them their dinner, got them into the mini-van, and made it on time to meet Dan for the 5:30pm Ash Wednesday Mass.
3) I sorted through the medication cabinet. (Now I just need to tackle the pantry!)
Now go read some more Small Successes at Faith and Family Live!
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Small Successes - 4
1) I took all 4 kids to the car place and waited for THREE HOURS while they fixed the mini-van and didn't go crazy or yell at anyone.
2) I flagged down our mail carrier and bought stamps from her and she took our valentine cards. So they should get there in time for St. Valentine's Day!
3) I finally got out the next size clothes for Joseph. His section of the boys' closet was getting a bit bare as I little by little removed items when he grew out of them. So yeah, he won't be wearing clothes that are obviously too small for him. At least not for a while. :)
Go to Faith and Family Live to read some more Small Successes!
2) I flagged down our mail carrier and bought stamps from her and she took our valentine cards. So they should get there in time for St. Valentine's Day!
3) I finally got out the next size clothes for Joseph. His section of the boys' closet was getting a bit bare as I little by little removed items when he grew out of them. So yeah, he won't be wearing clothes that are obviously too small for him. At least not for a while. :)
Go to Faith and Family Live to read some more Small Successes!
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