Sunday, March 15, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
I LOVE BEING MORMON
I've just got to say, I love being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! Wow! When you've got a church that says, "Hey, the caloused hollywood portrayals of our most sacred ceremonies and covenants will not negatively affect the church. Don't sweat it. If you want to dump AOL and HBO, fine, but as a church we do not call for boycotts."
Wow! I love belonging to the church that Jesus Christ organized. At the newsroom page of the Church's official website (see link below), they even list examples of very negative, smearing publicity of the past! They do so to show that those who publish lies about us are only exposing themselves. You HAVE to read this! (Well, if you're Mormon, anyway.)
http://www.newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/the-publicity-dilemma
Wow! I love belonging to the church that Jesus Christ organized. At the newsroom page of the Church's official website (see link below), they even list examples of very negative, smearing publicity of the past! They do so to show that those who publish lies about us are only exposing themselves. You HAVE to read this! (Well, if you're Mormon, anyway.)
http://www.newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/the-publicity-dilemma
The Correct Answer is......
CHAINSAW!
Probably the water barrel after that, since that will almost certainly be a completely free project. And, then a gun.
The motorcycle will just have to wait years. I'm not sure how many. Maybe when Gas goes back up....
Probably the water barrel after that, since that will almost certainly be a completely free project. And, then a gun.
The motorcycle will just have to wait years. I'm not sure how many. Maybe when Gas goes back up....
Monday, March 2, 2009
How the Heck is Royal's Back Doing?
It's been far too long since I posted (I know this must be the single reason our readership has precipitously dropped), and thought it time to once again grace our family blog with my awesomeness . . and attractiveness - which there is no charge for.
My back is doing good. According the to surgeon, I haven't re-herniated my previously herniated disc. Otherwise, I'm supposed to start exercising and stretching my leg. And I don't think THAT will happen unless I get a Wii Fit and start competitive yoga against my little brothers, a la, "I got 125 points in the crouching lotus pose - HA! Beat that sucka!" and so forth.
Otherwise, my life is good, I still love my job, our house is actually a little too big for us (which is GRRREAT!), and I'm nearly ready to start creating visual effects again for fun. Now that's nothing to, um, sneeze at?
I shall leave you with a parting gift of the crazy projects I've worked on since moving to Missouri:
Assembled a WAY too expensive custom-built model of a transforming robot (see picture above).
Made a USB-powered bendy LED light for my coworker.
Created the "Unicron Brings Chaos!" trophy for any coworker that makes my day.
Bought some expensive Visual Effects software (Shake) with which I plan to rule the world!
Installed an under-sink water filter for Elizabeth.
Cowardly left a Book of Mormon with my ex-hospital roommate.
and
Raked the leaves this week (by far the CRAZIEST thing)!
Food, Not Lawns, by HC Flores
Okay, this book stood out so strongly, it gets its own post!
It's that time of year when gardeners the climate over are getting the itch. If You garden, then you know what I mean.
Your basement, like mine, is full of those plastic 6-pack thingies from last-year's plants, brimming with new planting soil and 5 year old seeds from your freezer that you hope will still sprout under flourescent lights. Tomatoes, basil, parsley, oregano, cilantro, bell peppers, and flowers that Sienna and Grace picked out, all dreams about to sprout into living color.
The one thing impending Spring always brings about other than seed-planting is gardening books. How to garden more easily, cheaply, quickly, with less space and water! Every book has more great ideas. (Well, almost every book...)
Anyway, I really found a doosy this year. This book is soooooo loaded that I am at a loss for accurate words.
First, the good: Food, Not Lawns' First chapter is like "How to build a community super-garden for FREE. Period." WHOA! You've got my attention, baby!
Chapter three is like "How to reuse the water you're already paying for, or that is draining off your roof, to create a paradise garden with pond in your yard." WHOA! COOL! More stuff that saves money.
Now, I was so awe inspired by the water chapter that I had to stop for a few days. That's all I've got so far. I would absolutely love my yard to be one giant manicured, sculpted garden, with pond, and rivers flowing throughout it all to prevent the need for all other manual watering. I love this book.
Now, the necessary evil: I must give some disclaimers about the book. First of all, the authors stated purpose is not only to help you get food where you now have lawn. It is also to convert you and the world to the gospel of "Humans are the cancer destroying the earth. We must stop them and save her!" Unfortunately, I'm not even slightly exaggerating here. Bummer. Her goal in helping you garden for free, is NOT EVER to save money. It is to save the earth's "already polluted, depleted, and nonrenewable resources, including water." Yes, she called water nonrenewable. She is teaching you how to "tap into the waste stream" of society, so you don't strip anything else out of bare, haggard mother earth. We already owe her big, you know.
But, hey, if you can overlook that part, This book is loaded with outside-of-the-box cool gardening ideas. Most of them save money and waste. I dig it!
It's that time of year when gardeners the climate over are getting the itch. If You garden, then you know what I mean.
Your basement, like mine, is full of those plastic 6-pack thingies from last-year's plants, brimming with new planting soil and 5 year old seeds from your freezer that you hope will still sprout under flourescent lights. Tomatoes, basil, parsley, oregano, cilantro, bell peppers, and flowers that Sienna and Grace picked out, all dreams about to sprout into living color.
The one thing impending Spring always brings about other than seed-planting is gardening books. How to garden more easily, cheaply, quickly, with less space and water! Every book has more great ideas. (Well, almost every book...)
Anyway, I really found a doosy this year. This book is soooooo loaded that I am at a loss for accurate words.
First, the good: Food, Not Lawns' First chapter is like "How to build a community super-garden for FREE. Period." WHOA! You've got my attention, baby!
Chapter three is like "How to reuse the water you're already paying for, or that is draining off your roof, to create a paradise garden with pond in your yard." WHOA! COOL! More stuff that saves money.
Now, I was so awe inspired by the water chapter that I had to stop for a few days. That's all I've got so far. I would absolutely love my yard to be one giant manicured, sculpted garden, with pond, and rivers flowing throughout it all to prevent the need for all other manual watering. I love this book.
Now, the necessary evil: I must give some disclaimers about the book. First of all, the authors stated purpose is not only to help you get food where you now have lawn. It is also to convert you and the world to the gospel of "Humans are the cancer destroying the earth. We must stop them and save her!" Unfortunately, I'm not even slightly exaggerating here. Bummer. Her goal in helping you garden for free, is NOT EVER to save money. It is to save the earth's "already polluted, depleted, and nonrenewable resources, including water." Yes, she called water nonrenewable. She is teaching you how to "tap into the waste stream" of society, so you don't strip anything else out of bare, haggard mother earth. We already owe her big, you know.
But, hey, if you can overlook that part, This book is loaded with outside-of-the-box cool gardening ideas. Most of them save money and waste. I dig it!
Friday, February 27, 2009
Sienna's Big Muscles
Getting in and out of the Van with 2 or 3 kids is usually a 3-or-more step process. So, this morning after taking Grace to school, I was taking the kids inside. First Jim, then go back out to shut the door after Sienna.
When I got out there, The van door (a heavy, sliding one) was already shut.
To Sienna, I asked, "Did you shut the door?"
"Yeah."
"HOW?"
In an 'of course' tone, "With my big muscles!"
When I got out there, The van door (a heavy, sliding one) was already shut.
To Sienna, I asked, "Did you shut the door?"
"Yeah."
"HOW?"
In an 'of course' tone, "With my big muscles!"
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Carnation and Mrs. Flowers
Grace and Sienna love to dress up their favorite stuffed animals.
Grace decided to help Sienna name all her animals. Then, as they were all named after flowers, she made their last name Flowers! But, Sienna's bear has no first name. So, Grace brilliantly chose her name to be Mrs. Flowers! She is big enough to wear Sienna's regular clothes, as seen here. (Including panties, much to Mommy's surprise!!)
Sienna has Rosie (cow), Daisy (puppy), Baby Shrek (a girl, and no they've never seen the movie!)
, and Mrs. Flowers (Teddy bear in picture).
Grace has one favorite: her pink pet kitten, Carnation.
Public School
We have finally succeeded in registering Grace in school here.
Some good points include that her reading skills have jumped a LOT. (She had the skills, but had a very hard time finding the motivation to practice at home.) Also, she has been invited to participate in 3 fundraisers within 3 weeks. (I'm very opposed to my 6 year old raising funds for the public school. NOT going to happen, much to her dismay.) And, um, I'm sure there is another good point I can think of... Oh, yeah, all the bad behaviour she is imitating from other children has given us more opportunity to talk about how special families are and how sometimes we see bad behavior from others that we choose not to re-enact.
I was so excited while practicing reading with her yesterday. She was able to read 90% of the words with no input from me! WOW! That was awesome. (We're talking Dick and Jane level.) By the way, I have not seen any early readers as wonderful and simple to read as Dick and Jane. They also display traditional family values. (Every story occurs within a family that includes 2 parents living in the same house. Also, the children play together.)
Some good points include that her reading skills have jumped a LOT. (She had the skills, but had a very hard time finding the motivation to practice at home.) Also, she has been invited to participate in 3 fundraisers within 3 weeks. (I'm very opposed to my 6 year old raising funds for the public school. NOT going to happen, much to her dismay.) And, um, I'm sure there is another good point I can think of... Oh, yeah, all the bad behaviour she is imitating from other children has given us more opportunity to talk about how special families are and how sometimes we see bad behavior from others that we choose not to re-enact.
I was so excited while practicing reading with her yesterday. She was able to read 90% of the words with no input from me! WOW! That was awesome. (We're talking Dick and Jane level.) By the way, I have not seen any early readers as wonderful and simple to read as Dick and Jane. They also display traditional family values. (Every story occurs within a family that includes 2 parents living in the same house. Also, the children play together.)
I Could Have Danced All Night
Friends, I have shocking news: Royal has agreed to take a ballroom dance class with me! (Royal has a phobia of dancing so extreme that it almost turned me against him from the earliest moments of our courtship, but that is another story.)
As my Valentines gift to myself from Royal, we are taking a beginner's class offered through the community. We dance 1 hour each week for 10 weeks. This is something I have wanted to do for years.
Our first class was Tuesday. Wow! It was SOOOOOO fun! And Royal even said he enjoyed it since among the 3 couples there, he was by far the best dancer of all. He is soooo handsome and charming while doing the Rumba! Ahhhh. I just can't see life getting better than this! I think next week I will wear some black heels and a skirt...
As my Valentines gift to myself from Royal, we are taking a beginner's class offered through the community. We dance 1 hour each week for 10 weeks. This is something I have wanted to do for years.
Our first class was Tuesday. Wow! It was SOOOOOO fun! And Royal even said he enjoyed it since among the 3 couples there, he was by far the best dancer of all. He is soooo handsome and charming while doing the Rumba! Ahhhh. I just can't see life getting better than this! I think next week I will wear some black heels and a skirt...
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Indexed Pioneer Burying Grounds, Monroe CO. NY
Check this out, you Kingsley descendants or Kingsley associates!
http://mcnygenealogy.com/cem/oldpitt.htm
http://mcnygenealogy.com/cem/oldpitt.htm
Friday, February 6, 2009
Tightwad Friday: Baby Nose Drops
Jim has had three colds in December and January. We have used a lot of "Little Noses" saline drops. When the bottle ran out the first time, I found the recipe below handy. I just refilled the third time today.
"Saline nose drops are used to clean your baby’s nose, especially when he has a cold or
congestion (stuffy nose). Homemade saline (salt water) nose drops are recommended
because other kinds of over–the–counter nose drops may contain drugs that are harmful to
your baby.
"Making nose drops:
"Saline (salt water) nose drops can be made as follows. You will need to buy a dropper at
the pharmacy [I just reuse my Little Noses bottle, although I do have a clean dropper]:
• Add 1/2 teaspoon of table salt to 8 ounces of warm tap water. (I boil cold tap water. I try to never drink water from the water heater.)
• Salt will dissolve in the warm water.
• Allow to cool before using. (Ya think?)
"How to use nose drops
Place 3–4 drops in one side of your baby’s nose while the head is tilted slightly back.
Suction with the bulb syringe. Repeat on the other side. Baby may cough, sneeze and/or
swallow part of the solution. This is normal.
Saline nose drops can be used whenever needed. If your baby has a cold or nasal
congestion that makes feeding difficult, use the nose drops before feedings.
Homemade saline nose drops should be made daily. (Not mine.)d
Store the saline in a clean bottle and use a clean dropper (washed in hot soapy water,
rinsed well with hot water).
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Crusty Overnight European Bread
The girls and I tried this SUPER CHEAP bread. Each of the girls made a loaf. And, I thought it was good, but Royal loved it and that is really saying something! (Royal doesn't usually appreciate homemade bread, or any bread at all. He is more of a fresh food or meat guy.) Thank you Sister H! Hillbillyhousewife has a similar bread, but hers tastes more like sourdough. This one isn't really sour.
No-Knead Bread
3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast (not a misprint)
1¼ teaspoons salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.
1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees. (We left ours on a floor register overnight to stay warm)
2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.
3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.
Yield: One 1½-pound loaf. YUMMY!
No-Knead Bread
3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast (not a misprint)
1¼ teaspoons salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.
1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees. (We left ours on a floor register overnight to stay warm)
2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.
3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.
Yield: One 1½-pound loaf. YUMMY!
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Reflections on Sowing
I love how short the summer season is. I can comprehend a summer. I can comprehend the life cycle of a tomato. Summer is the most productive season for providing food, and yet it has a definite end. I can comprehend how a tomato seedling grows from a visible seed into a fruit-bearing bush. It doesn't take my entire life. It doesn't even take an entire year, just one summer (if you plant the seed EARLY in spring.).
I cannot comprehend the sowing of God that I'm doing. I don't know what is a seed and what is a rock. I don't know when I am making a difference and when I am just passing time. I don't know when the seed is growing and when it has been taken off by the birds and destroyed.
But, I hope that one day I can see a spiritual tomato. One day, I hope to know about that invisible seed that brought most visible and real fruit. One day, I'm going to have fresh spiritual produce!
For now, I just keep trying to follow the Lord, hoping he is sneaking back there dropping seeds behind me.
I cannot comprehend the sowing of God that I'm doing. I don't know what is a seed and what is a rock. I don't know when I am making a difference and when I am just passing time. I don't know when the seed is growing and when it has been taken off by the birds and destroyed.
But, I hope that one day I can see a spiritual tomato. One day, I hope to know about that invisible seed that brought most visible and real fruit. One day, I'm going to have fresh spiritual produce!
For now, I just keep trying to follow the Lord, hoping he is sneaking back there dropping seeds behind me.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
SNOW DAY!
In the above photo, we are attempting snowballs. It was fun, but the snow was so dry that they ended up being powder explosions. Grace was the best sport of all.Below: Snow Angel!
Daddy had the brilliant idea to use our body surfing board. It worked wonderfully sledding on the dry powder!
In this photo (above) Sienna is in my lap; you can see her green elbow. Grace pulled us downhill, and we ran under her! So she ended up on top! It was very fun. No hurts.
Daddy had the brilliant idea to use our body surfing board. It worked wonderfully sledding on the dry powder!
In this photo (above) Sienna is in my lap; you can see her green elbow. Grace pulled us downhill, and we ran under her! So she ended up on top! It was very fun. No hurts.
Finally! We reap the fun of moving somewhere colder!!!
Notice Grace's cute new hair cut! by Mom.
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