Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Just Some Miscellaneous Stuff

First of all, I managed to spell "miscellaneous" right the first time.  Considering how often it is abbreviated and that I've had a rum and coke, that's pretty nice!  (I think I will leave the rest of my misspellings and typos in this just so I don't get too cocky, and you ca nsee how much i de[end on spellchecck, it's rather sad.  Wow even just in that last sentence!)

last week on my yahho home page there was an article about the greatest inventions ever.  There was one glaring omission.  The self-cleaning oven.  If you have ever had to clean an oven the old-fashioned way, you will understand why.  Now, while the smell will run you out of the house, it is well worth it!


So clean! And no woek!!

So how many of you have children who seem to end up with more food on their clothes than in their mouths?  Okay, those who are under three years-old don't count.  it seams no matter how hard we try to get Elijah to take smaller bites, lean over the plate, poke with the fork instead of scooping, he gets someting on him every meal.  Well, tonight I tried a new tactic.  To set teh stage, he had some fresh strawberries and scrambled eggs for dinner, he even cooked his own eggs.  jeff and i weren't hungry, so we left him to himself (first mistake, I know) at the kitchen bar.  A few miutes later he came to the office with his hand over his chest like he had been shot.  Then we say the strawberry red all over his white, t-shirt.  This was purposely done so that he looked wounded.  I had to turn away and laugh because it was rather creative of him, then we had to get onto him for it.  That;s when I decided it was time for him to learn how to remove stains from his own laundry.  We filled up teh sink, got some detergent and he got to scrubbing.  At first it was neat because teh stains turned purple when we put the detergent on them, but then we (he) had to sscrub.  A little less fun.  That is his new chore.  EWe'll see how it goes.




We also clipped teh chicken's wings this morning.  We usually do thattwice a year.  It is just usually much warmer.  We do this to keep them out of teh garden once we close all the gates.  They will fly over the fence if we don't and scratch up every plant in the garden.  This doesn't hurt them.  It would be like clipping your fingernails.It was cold and early.  How cold?  Well, i put on the Carhardt and teh ear warmers.  How early?  I still hadn't had a shower.  You may want to avert your eyes.

On a mission

Clueless
She's fine, other than she can't fly now.  Not that chickens do much of that anyway.

Wow, looking back at this post, I really do make a lot of typos.  And there were quite a few that i corrected out of ahbit as i went along.  And i apparently don't hold teh shift key down long enough when I type "I".  As you can see.  I won't subject you to that again!

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Making Pizza

Since we are trying to rid ourselves of some of our leavening products, we have been baking a little more than usual.  Today it was cheddar biscuits with our chicken and rice soup (we should be well past soup weather but we're not).  Yesterday was pizza.  Elijah helped me out some so here are some pics.

Some of the toppings/mini pepperoni

Measuring, slicing, putting together
Viola'

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Spring is in the Air!

If you are unsure of that, just try to get into your allergist!  Anyway, one of the first sure signs in Oklahoma are the red buds budding out.  You can tell in our area why they are the state tree. They are everywhere.  Soon their little heart-shaped leaves will be budding out!


The neighbor's red bud

You can also tell from the sound of little league baseball being played everywhere.  This is the first spring Elijah has played in the spring, it is usually the summer league he plays in.  His first game was this week.  He has never played machine pitch so the fact that he didn't get a hit is no big deal.  He has a great swing and with some practice he'll be knocking the cover off of the ball.  He made a great stop in the outfield and one as shortstop, even getting the runner out on second!


A swing and a miss, but what a swing!

Today he went to archery.  He missed the class last fall, but I made sure to get him signed up this spring.  He is loving all the activity!

Archery at the MAC

Monday, March 21, 2011

The Joy of Gardening

Whether it is a beautiful flower garden solely for the purpose of visual pleasure or a vegetable garden meant to provide your family with food, gardening can be immensely rewarding.  This weekend we got the soil for our veggie garden tilled.  We have some amending to do after it is tested, more than likely, but really the hard part of the preparation is finished.  Not that it necessarily physically difficult, it is more of the getting around to that seems to be the obstacle. 

Over the next several days we will test, add to, re-till, cover, and finally plant.  I may try some new varieties of the yearly staples, but for the most part I will not venture to far from what I know will work.  Throughout the spring and summer there will be many hours of hard work put in a relatively small space.  Hopefully that will result in a great deal of reward.  That reward, no mater how meager or great will be frozen, canned, and of course eaten fresh.  We will enjoy the fruits of our labors to the fullest!  I can't wait for that first vine ripe tomato or bowl of fried squash!  That is truly joy!

I think this quote I received really sums it up quite nicely.
“ For me gardening is a journey not a destination. With any luck I will be finishing this place forever”

That is going in the title of my gardening blog!

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

That Time of Year!

Spring has almost sprung.  Around here it is evident in the trees that are flowering, the daffodils that are making their bright debuts, the allergies that won't go away....  Well, there is another way that I know spring is upon us.  The question posed by many of my friends, "Have you started your deleavening?".  Say what?

Deleavening is done by all of those in my church each spring.  Why?  We are commanded to.  Just who commands this and what is it?  Does it have any meaning today?  Here are just a few tidbits of info you might find interesting.

First a very simple definition of deleavening.  All products with leavening or that are leavening are removed from your properties.  This is your home, car, place of business, your office etc.  Now there are a few exceptions, toothpaste, cleaning products. pet food are a few of them.  These things are not consumed as food, so they are fine to keep.

Now. why do we do this?  In several passages you can see where leaving is likened to sin.  Sin is something we are expected by God to get out of our lives.  By physically removing leaven from our home, it helps us to visualize a spiritual concept though a physical action. 

Finally a few passages for you to consider. (all emphasis is mine)

14 And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.

15 Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.
16 And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you.
17 And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever.
18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even.
19 Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land.
20 Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread.
Ex 12:14-20 (KJV)

These days we don't wait and do it until the last minute.  Our home are more cluttered, we have more hectic lives, and we just like to make sure we do a thorough job.  That is why we are already talking about it and we still have four+ weeks until it actually starts.

This is obviously an Old Testament passage.  Why do we do it today?  Well, obviously it has been commanded taht we do it.  Not by Moses, but by God.  Something we are to do forever.  While the following passage does not mention the actual deleavening of the home, it does show us why we must get the spiritual leaven out of our lives.

6 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?

7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
1 Cor 5:6-8 (KJV)

I'm not going to argue laws done away with or nailed to the cross.  I'm not trying to say that because I do this and you may not, that I am a better person than you.  I do feel (hope) it makes me better than I was.  I just hope I gave you a little something to think about. 

To answer the question posed by my friends, no I haven't started yet.  April 1 is my target date to start.  By then Elijah will be finished with his 2nd grade curriculum, the garden should be mostly planted, and I can focus on that one thing.  After all, if it represents something so important, shouldn't it get a full dose of attention?  To all my friends who have started, I hope it is going well.  To those who haven't, it is still four weeks, just take it a day at a time.