Curly pics

I took a few pics yesterday of my waves. I haven't started using the Rockin' Ringlets yet because it hasn't come in the mail, but I am using the Confident Coils. It is really bringing my waves out. It is a sample packet, and it is almost gone, so I am looking forward to getting the bottles in the mail. For some reason, when my hair is all forward, it looks so much shorter!! It is actually about 3 inches from tailbone, but it looks ways shorter than that with it all pulled forward. Sorry the first pic is a little blurry..

I have been dehydrating herbs a lot, and have quite a bit stored now. I am dehydrating chocolate mint, spearmint and stevia from the garden. Boy does it smell good! I loooooove my Excalibur dehydrator!

Here are some pics of my stuff I already canned.  I just love how it all looks on the shelf :).

Here is my super crammed freezer. I'm not sure if I can put much more in here. Maybe a few packages here and there.

We just bought 1 1/2 bushels of pears. They are ripening pretty quick, so I will probably be making pearsauce on Monday. Pears and apples are a lot of work. It is going to be interesting trying to do that and homeschool too. It is going to be some long days next week!

So much to do.....

We are just all tired out! lol :).

I haven't had much time to blog lately. I finally finished all the paperwork for the adoption, and we are sending it this week!! Yay!! Between that, and canning, it has been a really busy time. I canned 20 pints of salsa, 28 quarts of pickles, 25 quarts of peaches, and 7 quarts of tomato sauce so far, along with drying herbs. See why I am not blogging? lol! The garden has been so good this year. I am so thankful. My tomatoes have been late, but I have been getting some from Jeff's parents. Mine are loaded on the vines, but are just now turning. I am only going to do sauce and chunks. I am done with salsa. I still have applesauce, pearsauce and grape juice to do, so fall is going to be busy!

We start homeschooling tomorrow. I had planned on starting it in August, but I wanted a little bit more vacation time. This time around, we are NOT going to homeschool year round! That did not work well at all. The breaks during the year were great, but once summer hit, it was so hard to get it done! We didn't get our 180 days in until the end of July, but we did finish. This time I am hoping to go Labor Day through Memorial Day, with very few breaks in between. That way we get a long summer.

On a hair related note, I am trying some new products to try and bring out my curls. They are from Jessicurl. Since I am trying to save as much money as I can for the adoption, I sold a bunch of stuff on eBay to get the money for the hair products :). I ordered this stuff called Rockin Ringlets, and Confident Coils. I had a sample of the Confident Coils, and was so happy with the results! My waves really came out, and stayed very nice without frizz. If I worked on it, I could get some nice curls too. I was fighting the wavies before, but decided again to try and embrace them. My hair is just not ever going to be straight unless I straighten it with a flat iron, which takes way too much time and kills the hair. So, I guess I'm a wavy girl!

Garden pics and news, news, news!!

I am finally getting around to putting pictures on here of my garden! It is going quite crazy, and there are lots of pictures, so for those of you who are bored to tears with gardens, please bear with me :). The first pic is of my yellow squash and zucchini. They yellow squash is starting to take over my beets. You can see some broccoli in there, along with some cabbage.













My bell peppers are doing so well. They are so sweet! I picked about 25 of them the other day. My freezer is getting full of them. Love that!



My beans are about done. Sad! I wish they would have kept on going. I planted 5 rows, and they did great, but didn't last as long as I would have liked. The next pictures are of my beans, and then of the whole garden.

My ground cherries are going to town. I have 6 plants, and they are loaded. They are really sweet, and I love that they fall onto the ground when they are ready. I just need them to fall all at once!

My cucumbers are growing and growing. Doing the vertical gardening has worked well for them. I have made several batches of dill pickles so far.

Here are my trees....oh wait, those are tomato plants!! They are HUGE! Our fence in the back is 6 feet tall, and they are taller than the fence! They are loaded down with green tomatoes. I am going to be really busy when they start turning red!!

Here are some pics of our produce. We are getting the most ginormous cucumbers, and even when they are this huge, they are still crisp! They are making some great pickles too. I am definitely going to grow this variety again next year.

Our peppers have been huge too. I haven't let them turn colors. I read that once you let them turn, the plant stops producing. I have been picking them green. Look at the size of these two!

Besides gardening, we have been a tad busy. Want to hear our news????? Our news is that we are in the process of adopting!!!! We are in the beginning stages, and are just finishing up our paperwork. After that, we will start our homestudy. Then we will be in the waiting stage. We are going through a different agency than the one we used with Evie. We want to adopt an infant domestically, just like we did before. It is an exciting time!! Evie is sooooooo excited! She has the baby names book out about every day, and she talks about the adoption all day long. The waiting is not going to be super easy for her :). We have lots of work to do :)!!

Summer

It has been really hot here for the past few weeks. My garden is loving the heat, except for my broccoli. I have been picking green beans every few days, and it has been slowing down a little. So far I have frozen them instead of canned them. This picture was taken after a really good day of picking.

I really need to take some more pictures of the garden. I am getting a lot of peppers, zucchini, yellow squash and cucumbers. I am hoping to make dill pickles tomorrow. My herbs are coming on, and I have been dehydrating them. My favorite right now is chocolate mint :). My tomatoes are loaded down, but are still green. I looooooove summer gardening!

My mother-in-law and I went last week and picked blueberries on the second hottest day of the year. Ugh! We were dripping wet after 2 hours. We bought the rest. We picked around 15 pounds each, and bought another 50. They were organic again this year, and they are really yummy. I froze all but 5 pounds. My freezer is getting really full!

The 4H Fair rolled around again, and it hasn't been as horribly hot for it this week, which is nice. We went over the weekend, and had a fun day of seeing the animals and riding some of the ride. This year's strange fair food had to be deep fried Kool-Aid. Seriously? You could top that off with deep fried butter (another high health fair food treat). Wow, just typing the words "deep fried butter" makes me feel like I gained a few pounds. Obviously we didn't try either one of those things. Jeff and I tried deep fried candy bars one year, because a friend told us they were great. We couldn't finish them. I think it was a years worth of sugar and fat all rolled into one artery clogging fried candy bar.

Evie decided to have a little humor with Daisy. I didn't know how funny this picture was until after I looked at it on my computer. I could not stop laughing. She wore that thing for about 20 minutes without taking it off, but she had that same look on her face the entire time!

I wanted to thank you all for your comments and prayers regarding the miscarriage. My body has healed well, and I feel better. I am still dealing with some fatigue, but it is getting better every day. The sadness is still there, but it is lessening as time goes on. Thank you all for caring!

Hard week

It has been a week unlike any I have experienced in 11 years. I kinda wish I could just skip this whole week and just go a few weeks ahead, but life doesn't work out that way does it. On July 3rd, I found out I was carrying a tiny life in me. I hadn't been pregnant in 11 years. Wow, that almost doesn't seem possible. After losing 6 babies, I didn't want to be pregnant again. A few months ago, Jeff and I decided that we should be open to the possibility of what God would want for us in the way of having more children. I got pregnant after trying only 2 months, which was a complete shock to me. It was a shock enough that I actually had Jeff go out and keep buying tests! I think I took 5 all together. I don't think I ever really got excited because I was so guarded. I wish I could write and say I'm feeling sick from morning sickness, and getting cravings, but that won't ever be. Two days ago, I lost the life I was carrying. My baby went to be with my others, and with Jesus.

This miscarriage was by far the most painful physically. After it was all over, I felt like someone had beat me up.

I think the days after are the hardest, not so much physically, but emotionally. I hate grief. I am too familiar with it. When you lose a child, it is hard to even explain the feelings. After I lost 6, I felt like I didn't look at death like anyone else I knew except Jeff. I can't even explain that in words. I tend to look at eternity a lot more than most people. I guess that happens to people to have had a lot of loss. I think about my kids, now 7 of them, 8 including Evie. I won't get to see 7 of my kids ever on this earth, but I will get to spend all of eternity with them, and with Evie, because we know Christ as our Savior. It is my hope. It is what gets me through this. I can't imagine the hopelessness for those who don't believe that way. Jeff's grandmother accepted Christ at the age of 93, 1 month before she died. She died a few weeks ago. Her husband, who is not a believer in Jesus, stood over her grave in complete hopelessness and said, "I guess this is all there is to this life." Wow. I can't imagine. He believes that he will never see her again. He believes that she died, and that is it. If I believed that way right now, I think I would want to go jump off the tallest building. My hope, the hope that comes only from Jesus, is what keeps me going through grief. The hope that those I have lost like my kids, my grandparents, a very close friend (who was like a mother to me), relatives and family friends will be with me in eternity because we accepted Christ as our Savior. This life, this short, short life, is like a vapor compared to eternity. I heard it put this way: Picture a golf ball as your life, representing about 80 or so years. Now put the golf ball in a football stadium and fill the rest of the stadium to overflowing with golf balls, each ball representing 80 years of eternity. That still won't compare to how long eternity will be! If we know Jesus as our Savior, He promised us eternal life in heaven with Him! But to have that, we have to accept Him. We can't just believe in God. The Bible says that even Satan believes in God. It is about a personal relationship with Christ. It is about allowing Him to be in control of your life. It is about making Him your Lord and your Savior. I'm so thankful for the hope that I will see my children one day, in a place where there will be no sadness, pain, sorrow or death. I am so thankful for that amazing gift of hope that Christ gave us.

The healing power of home remedies

I have always loved home remedies. I have learned they are very effective, and have kept me out of the doctor's office many times. I'm not one who likes to frequent the doctor much. Maybe because I have had such bad experiences. In my experiences, most have not been able to help me. They either don't know how to treat me, or they just push some drug to treat the symptom. I'm not saying I'm anti-doctor, but I have had learned that with most things I have had to figure things out on my own. These are just a few of the many reasons why I seek out home remedies often.

I am so thankful for what God has created in natural to help us. There are so many remedies that are simple, inexpensive and helpful! Here are some of the home remedies we use....

Garlic oil for earaches--The stuff is amazing. Every time Evie has started getting an ear infection, we put this stuff in her ears. Within a few hours the pain stops. We keep doing it for a few days, 2-3 times a day. I bought the stuff from the health food store, but I have since learned that you can make your own. I'm going to try this.

Ear candling--You get these at a health food store. I was a complete skeptic on this at first. Evie was really plugged up in her ears from bad sinus problems, I was willing to try anything. I did the ear candling every day for 3 days. We got out some nasty junk, and Evie felt great. It worked wonders!

Vicks treatment--This isn't super natural, but works amazing. Whenever I have had a cold settle in my chest, I will do this and it will leave my chest area. It also works great for sinus pressure and clogged up noses. I put a glob of Vicks in a bowl, then pour boiling water over the glob. I stir it quickly, then make a tent with a towel over the bowl and my head. I breathe in the vapors, which can be really strong (close your eyes). Breathe alternately through your nose and mouth deeply. When I have had bad congestion in my chest, I do this 3-4 times a day. I was on my way to having bronchitis several times, and this home remedy really did the trick. Do it before things get really bad though. You don't want to wait until you already have bronchitis, or it probably won't work.

Emprizone--this isn't exactly a home remedy, but works wonders. It is a natural product from a company called Mannatech (you can google it). It is a gel, and it works wonders on poison ivy. Before we found this, every year my hubby would get poison ivy. From the time we first met, he got it every year. Every year it would get so bad that he would have to get a steroid shot and be on steroids for 2 weeks. We tried every natural remedy imaginable, but nothing worked. When I found this product, it was amazing. He put it on several times a day, and the poison ivy dried up. The tube is expensive. It is about $50.00 with shipping, but lasts a very long time. Plus, if we went the medical route, with our $20.00 co-pay, then having to pay for the steroid pills, it ends up being almost $50.00 anyways.

Chamomile tea--a strong cup works very well for stomach aches. It also works for anxiety, but from what I understand, you aren't supposed to use it daily because it can cause allergies.

Apple Cider Vinegar--For dandruff, this stuff works! And it is cheap! I used to have such trouble with an itchy scalp. Now, once a week, I pour about 1/2 cup of cider vinegar into a cup with 4 cups water. Then I pour it over my hair in the shower after I have gotten it wet. I will leave it on for about 5 minutes (this helps get rid of buildup too), then I will shampoo as normal.

Homemade Pedialyte--Whenever Evie got sick with the stomach flu, I was always concerned about dehydration. I would always go out and buy that yucky stuff from the store that costs a lot and was loaded with sugar and food coloring. I have since learned you can make it on your own for very cheap, and you can use raw honey in place of sugar. I have used this on my pets as well when they have gotten dehydrated (I use sugar though for them, as I'm not sure if honey is okay for pets). I remember doing this with both Dolly and Daisy, and pulled them through after they got sick.

Okay, today a new home remedy was tried. I woke up this morning with pink eye. Oh fun. I have had it before, so I know all the symptoms. Awhile back, I had gotten pink eye, and gotten on the drops from the doctor. It got so bad that I had to go back and get super strong steroid drops that felt like needles were being stuck in your eye every time you used the drops. I had to do that 3x a day. I have never been so miserable. Today I decided to try the honey trick. You put 1-2 drops of honey in your eye. Make sure it is raw, unpasterized honey. You don't want the heated stuff from the store. I get my honey locally anyways, so we always have it on hand. I put a small glob on my finger (which I washed really well first) and then put it in my lower eye lid and closed my eye. Boy oh boy did it burn. Evie watched as tears streamed down my face. I was completely amazed though. In 20 minutes, the redness and pain were gone! I had read that it was instantaneous, but I didn't believe it! I thought I was going to have to miss church this morning, but my eye ended up fine! I read that if it comes back, just do the trick again. Honey is full of antibiotic properties. That is why it works. You can also apply honey to wounds.

Well, I hope you all weren't bored to tears by this blog post. I find home remedies really fascinating, and a way to save lots of money and hassle.

Wild Kingdom

Yes, I am a terrible blogger. With so much going on, I haven't sat down to blog. For living in a subdivision, we have had a spring filled with animals! It has been quite the adventure, and one giant science experiment for homeschooling :). First came the ducks. We had this pair, who we named George and Gracie, hanging around our yard, and swimming in our pond. Our pond is about the size of a large bathtub, so Jeff kept joking that it was their own personal hot tub. They would let us get really close to them, and they weren't afraid of us. They were so cute.














Next came the chipmunks. Though absolutely cute beyond all reason, they were monsters this year. Normally we just have one that hangs around, and lives under our pond (it burrows a hole). It never really caused damage. This year, he or she must have brought friends and relatives. I looked out my window, about 2 feet from my garden, and this is what I saw coming out of a hole....

These cute little guys ended up dining on whatever they could. Thankfully our garden is fenced, but they burrowed under. We bought a live trap, and so far we have caught 10! We take them a few miles down the road in the country, and drop them off at an abandoned house in the field. That way they can still be a family, but not have my garden and plants as a smorgasboard.

Next came birds. Evie was fascinated by this baby robin. The nest had held 6 eggs, but something got to them. We think it was the chipmunks. We read that chipmunks will eat bird eggs. If a cat had got to it, the nest would have been on the ground. Evie spent her days video taping and taking pictures of this baby bird, who she named Birdie. She got to watch Birdie go from this....

To this....

Sadly, Birdie fell out of the nest about 3 days ago. We put her back, but she jumped out. Her parents came for 3 days and fed her on the ground. Today, Evie was watching her try to fly, and she fell as she was trying and broke her neck :(. Evie came running in the house screaming, and has been pretty sad today. It is hard to try and explain why things like that happen.

One of the coolest things we have been able to see is an Oriole nest. It is in our Sycamore tree, way up, and Evie noticed it first. She kept hearing this loud cheeping sound, and she looked up and saw the nest. Both the male and female come to feed them, and I have been video taping it because I had never seen an Oriole nest before. Here is the daddy feeding them..

He is such a bright beautiful orange. I wish I had a better camera to take pictures of them. If you click on the pictures, you can see it more closely.

This has been a hard year for strawberries this year. I planted 50 plants, and only 20 of them made it. On Monday, we bought 5 flats of strawberries from an Amish farmer, and I put 28 packages in the freezer. I kept a flat for eating, and for making jam. I made jam yesterday.

Tuesday, we got our chickens for the year. We always get them from an Amish farmer, and they are always so good. We bought 20 chickens, and came home and cut them up. We do this with Jeff's parents, who also got 20 chickens. It was a long day, but it is so great to have a freezer full of chicken!

I have lots of garden pictures, and more updates, but I need to end this now so I can go weed the garden!