ehm prays too

i was getting ready for a night shift and mema was getting the kids to bed i over heard the prayers...
ehm said in her prayers "thank you Jesus, for taking my corner time"

i explained to her that Jesus had to die to save us from the punishment our sins bring on us. that punishment is a very long time out, in the corner by yourself.

i am glad that she gets it.

dreamin like crazy

lately i have been having all sorts of weird and crazy dreams. the most recent being difficult to remember. i did wake up and wonder where i was and if my kids were alright. i was home of course and the kids were fine.

i was working at the hotel and there was a guest kitchen in the great room (this is just in my dream) a couple who had a baby with them were trying to make dinner for themselves. the husband came to the desk to complain about the stove burning the pancakes, and then he demanded i make some for him. i had a backup person at the desk and so i went to make the pancakes. the guy had the stove turned all the way up on high and then wondered why the flapjacks were turining out black! grrr.

i made several pancakes with this handy pancake dispenser that you put 2 TBS of pancake mix and 1/4 water then shake it. voila! insta mix. after making and cleaning up the pancake mess from the couple, it was time for me to leave as my shift was past over. the boss asked me to stay and get the guest kitchen cleaned up as he had just been told we were going to have an inspection that next day. i stayed and cleaned up spaghetti noodles and cheese, there was some sort of bow tie pasta dish too.  and the stove had all sorts of weird things cooked onto it.

all of a sudden, my mom was there helping me. we did tons and tons of dishes. the industrial size dishwasher and the home size one were both running. and we hand washed the rest. some of the pink and orange flower shaped plates broke in the sink, but what do you expect when buying "fine china" from the dollar store?

next came the guest laundry facilities, which looked like a full scale laundry mat. there were clothes all over and soap granules spread over everything.

we got most of that cleaned up and then a man tried to sneak in the back door with his dogs. (in real life, i work at a pet free facility) I confronted the man, and he said his are the allergy free kind of dog. I told him they were still sheading and many people are allergic to hair and not just to dog. i shoo-ed him out again and he went in a different door. then i started getting defensive and the man was yelling at me. i took his things out of his room and put them on the curb and charged his room an additional $250.

i walked around the hotel with my mom and got her into her can so she could go home. there was a pretty used clothing store across the parking lot and they had sequined prom dresses in the window. part of the parking lot was being re-paved. for some reason. i remember walking through gravel and the scrunchy sound it makes. the closest place mom could find to park was at the city park. we finally got to her car and walked her dog (she always travels with her dog) the stairs we had to go down to get to the car were rickity and i was scared mom might fall, so i held her arm and we both went down the hillside instead of using the steps.

by now i had worked over 24 hours straight at the hotel and i was trying to go home, but the inspector showed up and i had to stay and work the desk. i was checking in people and checking out people and trying to get laundry done all at the same time. when it finally came time for me to clock out some 32ish hours later, my hand had swolen too much for the time clock to work. i tried over and over again to sign out, but i couldn't. the boss told me to go home and he would write me out on paper the next day.

crazy, right? hopefully i sleep better tonight.

a little boy’s prayers

i was getting the kids ready for bed; books, songs, kisses, drinks, bathroom, kisses, hugs, and then my favorite part: prayers.

Yah is 8 (“and a half” she will tell you) she is perfectly capable of saying prayers on her own, but still likes when mommy listens and prays with her.

Ehm is three now and her prayers are more of a synopsis of the day, very cute and she proves her memory is good even though she tells me she doesn’t recall me telling her not to (insert naughty action here).

Jam is two and he prays for everything he sees. this was the case last night and his prayer went like this; “Dear Jejus, thank for today. thank for my fire truck. thank for my car. thank for tractor. thank for my truck. thank for my bed.  thank for window.” at this part her got stuck in a vehicle loop where he was thanking God for every kind of rig he could think of. after a bit, “I love you, Jejus. Aman”
 
i have all i need and am thankful for it. Jam’s sweet prayers help me to be thankful for everything, even french fries and catsup. today i am going to be aware of all the gifts God has so freely given me and i am going to pray like a little child and let His blessings be forefront in my mind.

who needs a groundhog?

it is early march, normally a very fickle month weather wise. sunny for a few moments then snowing and blowing and hailing and sleet and suddenly sunny again. after several blowing sleety days, we had a mostly sunny and calm day. this of course required us to go outside and explore.

while in the field, we discovered an open gopher hole. the dogs were very excited and wanted to find what had made the hole. Jam thought it was fun to see the dogs digging. when he saw it was an open hole, he got right in there and tried to help. he put his arm clear up to the shoulder in to the hole, trying to catch the varmint that had made it. the dogs thought it was great he was helping them.

 

Jam could not reach anything in the depths of the hole, so he sat back and said “you dig sum more.” oh what fun! to dig and fling mud and not get scolded.

after a bit, Jam wanted to see what they were after. so naturally he put his face in the hole. they all had mud and dirt all over their faces and in their hair, but isn’t that part of the fun?

the joys of being a boy with a couple of dogs

Latest grocery list

just a short trip this time
milk (rice)
cheese
tortillas
dog food
chew bones
new fish
shampoo
bananas
noodles
alfredo sauce
bread
onion
sesame oil
cereal

the burned pan

i have been working too much at the college for the last few weeks. getting ready for load in and tech week takes all my time. daddy-o has been super wonderful by filling in with dinners and baths and bedtime stories. the other night, he made breakfast for dinner. the kids love it! pancakes, eggs, orange juice, and cereal all the good stuff. of course i was working and didn’t get even one pancake saved for me, it was a drive thru bag for me. :(

the next morning, daddy-o was at work and the kids and i were doing some chores around the house. i emptied the dishwasher and found a frying pan with a blackened pancake mark still in it. the rest of the dishes were clean so they got put away, the still dirty pan was put to soak and i went off to the college yet again… fast forward to the next day dishwasher scene repeats! gaahhh why didn’t he scrub this out? i set it to soak and then got out the scrubber. wow, the mark on the pan was super burned on, my arm got tired of scrubbing and i had to rest! finally i got out some salt and that got most of the singe marks off.

this got me to thinking; now daddy-o did not burn the pan on purpose, but sometimes we think the bad things we do aren’t on purpose either, but they are. and those sins leave ugly stains and dirty marks on our hearts. when we try to just throw them in the dishwasher of life and keep on going. the marks are still there in all their ugliness we try to work around them, but just like trying to cook in that burned pan, it makes the job more difficult. we got to take the time to get the marks cleaned off. sometimes the marks are easy to clean. most often they are cooked on and take lots of scrubbing. to get the marks off completely though, we have to get help. that help comes from the One who made us. God the Father in all His glory, sent His only Son to this sin stained earth, where He paid the price for our sins. By accepting God’s free gift, our hearts are washed clean. we then can do the work God created us to do for Him.

dressing with pokeys

ehm and jam were playing dress up this afternoon. ehm got out the Cinderella outfit and then got my heels and clomped danced around the house. jam thought it looked like fun and he got out a beautiful tutu and clomped flitted through the kitchen. every dancer must of course have a nice rest after such a strenuous work out…so out came the footie pajamas. ehm helped jam put  his on (over his clothes, which made them rather tight). she held out one arm and then the next. then came time for the feet, well first she convinced him to sit down and said “give me you feet, not that feet the other feet” after the first one got stuffed down into the leg opening, she said “now the next feet, and shake it all about. do the pokey pokey and do the pokey pokey….” then she got stuck in an infinite pokey loop. like a bad cd.  i think it is interesting that now we do the pokey pokey instead of the hokey pokey and all while getting ready for a play time “nap” that lasted all of 20 seconds before they got up and were playing something else. at least they are playing nicely and not hitting or biting like yesterday.

 

of course it has been a few minutes, and they are playing with the marbles and the screaming and squealing ensues… se la vie.

The Harrison Family

Personalize a picture collage

thanks for reading...

the birthday cake to make

Well, i think this is the cake i am going to make for our little man's 2nd birthday. it will not be red.



i will post pics of the party and my jam's cake.
if you want the instructions; they are at parenting . com  you can click on the link here: dump truck cake

thought for the moment

most things can be fixed by improvising,

if not, there is always room for new ideas.

starting over isn't the end of the world.


i have been crafting and crocheting and dabbling in felts for the past little while. while making a new pattern for a little monster i had the above realization and decided life is good

thanks for reading...

shower tales

why is it that the dads get all the privacy? i hardly even get to shower alone. when i start the shower, it is like starting up the automatic kid wash. i wash all three while trying to spill some suds on myself too. i dream about long showers by myself.

thanks for reading...

Summer?

hello, summer. goodbye, summer.
that is about how fast it came and went. we had fun and worked a lot and went on vacation and played in the pool. but summer was too fast, it always is. i will add pictures soon and you can enjoy it as i reminisce

thanks for reading...

Jesus, Pirates, and the Oregon Trail

we went to the oregon trail museum in baker city this last weekend. my family, the nieces, and in-laws. if you have never been, you should put it on your bucket list. it is way fun and very informative. there are actual horses, buffalo, oxen, sheep that have been stuffed (is taxadermied the right term?) they are set up to look like they are traveling on the oregon trail. there are foot paths you can walk on when the weather is nice and see ruts from the wagons. it is very neat to be in the place where these brave americans ventured out to find a better life.

while we were enjoying the life size wagon train, we talked about how the people had to walk 10-20 miles each day and once the children out grew their shoes, they went barefoot. this is our last field trip of the school year. and we are now enjoying the summer before third grade (gah! third grade? oh time, please slow down, just a bit)

near the end of the display, there is a man driving his sheep. he has a nice staff and about six sheep. of course his hair is long, because there were no barber shops along the oregon trail. Ehm sees the shepherd and yells out “LOOK! I FOUND JESUS! I SEE JESUS, HI, JESUS!” now i am trying not to laugh, because her faith is so perfectly childlike. but Jesus on the oregon trail? then i took a closer look, it does look like the classic pictures of the Savior that are so often portrayed. Ehm was so happy that she got to see “her Jesus.”

then comes the part of the museum where we start our oregon trail adventure starting at independence, missouri. there is a wonderful display of a ship in a box and Baba thinks it is a pirate ship. she has an unnatural fascination with all things pirate and has for over a year now.

right now in the exhibit room there is a life size wagon and foam blocks that are labeled (beans, rice, fine clothes, work clothes, china, grandmother’s clock, chair, bed roll, bedding, linens, gun making supplies, bullets, whiskey, medicine, cast-iron stove, cook ware, bacon, hard tack, dried fruit, trinkets, toys…there are many others to, i can’t recall any more at the moment.) the idea is to pack your wagon making sure not to exceed the weight limit and to make sure you are taking the necessary things and not wasting room on things you would like, but are not necessary. this is a fun way to learn about how difficult traveling would have been. also makes me grateful for all the things i have and feel that i can not live without.

there is a place to put on a puppet show with animal puppets, and a giant magnet word board (this was my favorite), also a dress up corner and a play camera to see what clothes and hats from that time were like.


the kids loved this part a lot. and who doesn’t like dress up?

all in all it was a very educational and super fun time had by all. and now i have shared it with you so now you know the oregon trail started out with pirates  on a ship and ended with Jesus and his sheep.







 click on the photo to read more true stories

bucket head

this is the container for our home made baby wipes. i was getting ready to make some more and Ehm decided to run off with the box. then she came back into the kitchen with the bucket on her ead. it was funny to watch her parading around so proud of herself. whe tried to get Jam to put it on too, but he would have nothing to do with it. Ehm put it back on and played like that for about 15 min. what a goofy, spontaneous, and fun thing to do!

thanks for reading...

homeschooling

so i just read jasmin's blog about her mom. talk about beautiful. i hope that i can be that kind of fun mom for my kids. you can read her story here:

http://www.jasminestarblog.com/index.cfm?postID=827&making-up-the-rules


i think we are going to do school out in the yard on monday,
and watch the birds and plant seeds

for the garden...sounds fun and relaxing, and educational.

i sometimes forget it is about the fun of learning

 i loved school as a child. that is part of why i choose to homeschool, i like* (read LOVE) school. i have a huge collection of stickers and chalk and papers

and pencils

and sharpeners. and i have "mommy's" crayons (i can have my own set that still has its papers on and are free from teeth marks.) i even have text books on all sorts of subjects that a school was tossing out.

i love the look my kids get on their darling little faces when they understand something. also the look of concentration when Yah is trying to perfect her cursive (she looks like Daddy-o.) the delight in creating something and the joy of completing a project.

we are going to do more "fun" learning things. and i pray my children like* (read LOVE) school and learning as much as i do.

thanks for reading...

HOMESCHOOLERS: the fear of zombie hordes everywhere

farting game "doorknob" and big don

http://bridgettetaylor.blogspot.com/2009/11/safteydoorknob-game-lmao.html

It's called the safety/doorknob game. If somebody in the room farts that person has to yell "safety" before someone else in the room can yell "doorknob." If doorknob is yelled out first then you get to hit the person that farted.





i used to play this with my stepdad. he had terrible gas. one day when i came home from school, he let a huge fart and i yelled doorknob and he pulled one out of his pocket. i was so surprised. thanks for helping me remember this silly time.

thanks for reading...

another new project

like i need a new project, right? oh, well. i have already started...oh you want to know what it is? well my oldest daughter needs a little encouragement to read more. not that she can't read, quite the opposite, she reads very well. but she needs a little push to read more. so i came up with the idea to have her write book reviews. what better place to share them but here with you all...
our goal is two small books or part of a larger book each day.

Rudolph to the Rescue by Robert L May
 
Yah's OPINION: "I like this book because it is a new story and i have never heard it before."
SUMMARY "Rudolph found some animals that were different and helped them find the circus. Everyone loved the new circus. Rudolph helped Santa deliver presents to the kids at the circus."
Ehm had her OPINION too: "Reindeer and Big Papa in a red car." (we call my grandpa Big Papa, and this last christmas season Ehm called every santa she saw "Big Papa")
 
My OPINION: i enjoyed the illustrations in this book. rudolph is very helpful and caring, i liked that too. of course i like the happy ending as well. lesson is to care for others and be helpful.
Dancing in the Wings by Debbie Allen
  
Yah's OPINION: "I like it, I LOVE it! Because the girl is tall like me. This is a really good book."
SUMMARY "A girl with big feet and long legs, all she had to do was walk into a room to be noticed. Sassy got to dance with a tall boy, but the mean girls didn't get to go to the dance school."
Ehm's OPINION: "Cinderella is dancing up there."
my OPINION: i got this book because Yah likes to dance and the pictures are so wonderful. the girl is very tall and teased for being different. we got this when Yah's allergies were very bad and kids at school were teasing her because of it. this book shows that being tall or different is not a bad thing, but to use your differences to help you succeed.
have you read any good books lately, or do you have a book that you would like us to review? let me know!
thanks for reading...

i know what you are doing...

this is what evey mother dreads to hear...

"i know what you are doing when you and daddy lock your bedroom door."

"oh, you do? tell me what you think" i tried to remain calm and not hyperventelate because my seven year old daughter has a cute smug expression on her face. meanwhile my mind is racing...what did we do last night? i didn't think we were that loud. good greif her room is clear across the house. yes, daddy-o is my man...mmmm.  oh right "tell me, honey."

"you and dad smook each others faces for a long time. i am glad you lock the door because i think it is gross."

(smook is her made up work for smooch, it has meant "kiss" for the last four years or so.)

"well one day when you get married, you will like to smook with your husband. just be glad that mommy and daddy love each other. it is a good thing for us to smook. " big sigh of releif. oh man, i did not want to get into that subject today...whew.

i do wonder how much she knows, but for now, i think her knowledge is just right. and for now, this is just another pretty dress...



yes, i had to look twice too.  think it is an interesting display.

link up your own true story and join in all the laughter and embarassment with us. thanks for reading...

time keeps on slippin....

stinkin cow! i didn't think this much time has gone by already. thanksgiving, christmas, new years. happy times they were. i will post something about them later.

as for now i am starting project 365 again. i know what you're thinking. "how long will she do it for this time?" right? well, i don't know. as long as i feel like it. i can not post every day as you know. but i will try to post every few days or weeks. this is more a daily journal than a photographic exposition.

i have been takin pictures and will get them ready to post for later this week. horray!

thanks for reading...

thanksgiving pie recepies

we are gluten and dairy and egg free over here. yep we are hit hard by the allergy stick, but we manage. actually i think we are doing great. it has been a learning experience for me and trying recepies has not always been fun, or tasty. but i am getting the hang of things. i would like to share with you our favorite pumpkin pie recepies. after all what is thanksgiving without pumpkin pie?

PUMPKIN PIE (chips book)
1 prepared, unbaked pie shell
1 pkg (12 oz) tofu, silken, firm
1 can pumpkin
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice

1. preheat oven to 350 F.
2. place all ingredients in blender. blend until very smooth.
3. pour mixture into unbaked pie shell.
4. bake 1 hour or until filling appears set.
5. chill pie. serve and enjoy.

PUMPKIN PIE ( more choices book)
2 uncooked pie shells
1 can (29 oz) pumpkin
4 TBS cornstarch
3/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsps cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cloves
1/2 cup Soyagen (soymilk powder) OR non-dairy creamer powder
2 1/2 cups water
1cup all purpose flour (we use gluten free blend)


1. preheat oven 425 F.
2. in small bowl, wisk cornstarch and 3/4c cool water until disolved.
3. empty pumpkin into large bowl. add cornstarch mixture and mix well. add sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. mix well
4. mix together milk powder of you choosing and 2 1/2 cups water until disolved. add to pumpkin mixture. mix well. add flour and mix.
5. pour pumpkin mixture into two 9" pie shells.

*if baking both pies at once, place one on bottom rack of oven and one on top rack. place aluminum foil over each pie loosely. halfway through baking time, exchange pies position in the oven.

*if baking only one pie, place it on lower rack of oven and place foil over top rack to prevent the crust and pie top from over browning.

BAKE for 15 min at 425 F, then lower temperature to 350 F for the remaining 65 min. then remove foil and lightly brown crust for 10 min.


well there you have it! let me know if you try my healthier versions of the thanksgiving classic pumpkin pie.
hope your turkey day is enjoyable and memorable!
thanks for reading...