Random Updates

101 Answers to the Summertime, "Mom, I'm Bored" Blues

My sweet friend the Church Mouse reviewed my summertime activity book on her blog- check out what she said!

Sherry at Semicolonblog has a review and  a give-away: http://www.semicolonblog.com/?p=17964

The 4 Moms, 35+ Kids parenting e-book has received positive reviews everywhere, really, and it's very gratifying to hear how much it's helping other moms. It's not too late to get your e-book copy or your Kindle version of 4 Moms of 35+ Kids Answer Your Parenting Questions .=)


I really enjoyed these fifty uses for everyday things- like using the Twister mat for a tablecloth; using rubberbands on coat hangers to keep clothes from slipping, Using an old mitten for sunglass protectors, using a colander over a bowl to hold ice at a party....


Simple Chinese Homestyle Cooking (Chinese Homestyle Recipes): Free4Kindle- today. Probably won't be free tomorrow.

My weekly Frugal Hacks post- changing your attitude, the one dollar car, grocery shopping, and good sources for coupons for healthy products and more.

Company coming for dinner tonight- making this and this.

Just over a week left before Jenny comes home.  The day after she gets home, Pip and I are off to North Carolina for a few days- an educational conference we planned a while ago.

The Striderling downed 4 ounces of milk on his own without prompting a couple mornings ago, and he loves yogurt drinks and can slurp them without choking, so that's cool.

Here's another free Kindle book, and it will probably stay free: Walks and Words of Jesus A Paragraph Harmony of the Four Evangelists. The editor combined the four gospel accounts, put them in chronological order, removed the verse references, and added chapter divisions, making a life of Jesus that reads, as much as possible, in narrative form. I've only read the first four chapters, but I am impressed so far. I think we'll be reading this for school Bible reading when we finish our current read (Give Attention to Reading, a study with some excellent open ended questions).


And, lastly, as you know, the HM lost his job a few months ago and quickly found another one as a teacher's aide. We managed, thanks to some kind donations, freezers full of meat from our own cows, careful budgeting, and of course, the Grace of God, to make it thus far without touching the emergency fund, even though his new job paid something like 35% of his previous job. However, in the summer months, it pays 0%. We do have things lined up for July.  We do have that emergency fund. Obviously, I've stepped up on the Kindle publishing, and we have some blog advertising money and the AF pension coming in.  I am confident, however, most of all in the Lord's grace, and while we do not sit on our hands, we do trust the Lord and look expectantly to what he will do.

One very cool result of all this- in the past, our youngest two, born and raised during the most prosperous portion of their parents' lives,  have been a bit casual with their spending requests.  But lately, they have turned tables and told me, "We don't need to buy that, it can wait. We can do without dessert (something they were loathe to do before)..."  That has been fun to watch.  The FYG, who hated cooking last year, this year has come up with some very creative variations on cooking ground beef using what we have in our hands instead of asking for extra trips to the store for pasta, sauces, and special ingredients.  Last night we had an amazing stir fry which included a turnip here, a couple of radishes, and other odds and ends from the freezer, AND she is excited about her discovery of a wild onion patch in the woods:

Okay, I guess that wasn't the last thing- I have blossoms on my tomatoes and peppers, and several other green things are growing better than I expected in our various containers- old wash tubs, five gallon buckets, and an old horse trough.

And the boy explains he can always shoot a squirrel or two if we need extra meet for the stew pot (actually, he can't, did you know there's a season for squirrels?).=)