Tip Tuesday: Dealing With Germ Season

It's that time of year again...everyone's sniffling and sneezing, we're passing around the hand sanitizer in the van with more enthusiasm than usual, and I actually remember to pass out vitamins on most days. Honestly, though, we are rarely ever sick. Our pediatrician didn't even know who we were when we all went in for check ups!  I guess that's unusual for a family of NINE.  I know lots of people want to chalk that up to our kids not being at public school, and that DEFINITELY helps, but here's something else that has made a real difference...

Weekend In Pics

Fancy nails... girl's sleepover

New Bling and a Giveaway!

I'm so excited about this new jewelry creation!  I just had to let you guys know about it.

 First of all, I really think the idea was a download from God.  How do I know?  Well, I was praying about a new business idea for several weeks... just wanted to help out our family budget a little  (and eventually help other moms help their own family budgets by being involved in jewelry making).

 I've had an Etsy shop for a while now, but never really tried to promote it or anything.  I love to make jewelry, but hate promoting it.  But now I'm realizing that I've got to do both in order to keep doing the part I love-- jewelry making.  I just felt like I needed something unique and worth sharing.

 That's where these new designs come in...

Tip Tuesday: Turning Flare Into Skinny

Do you have any perfectly good, great-fitting jeans packed away in the back of your closet... hiding there just because they're a little too flare-ey?  We do.  Lots of them!

Never fear!  With only a few simple steps and just a little bit of sewing know how, you'll be back up to fashion par in no time!

 All you really need for this easy project is a pen, pins, thread, scissors and your old faithful sewing machine.

And just so you know how really easy this was...This post took me longer than the sewing job!

The Best Homemade Brownie Mix Ever

Don't ya just love my table setting?  

Once you make these I'm pretty sure you will agree that these are the best.
Trust me.
We're brownie conniseurs.

We used to buy brownie mix by the case and mix 'em up every time we had company stop in...and also every time we felt like having some brownies.  Which was often.  But I haven't bought a mix in quite a while.

A Garden's End... Tomato Wars!

My glorious gardening experience has come to an end... at least for this year.

Lots of workers bringing in the harvest before the first frost.

This is what homeschoolers do on lunch break.  : )

Tip Tuesday: Inspect What You Expect

I recently read an interesting book called Large Family Logistics.  It was written by a mom of nine.  I figured that since I only raised eight, I could learn a thing or two.  ; )

Well, the book was really annoying...for the most part.

This lady is terribly organized and boring and not at all like me.  Except for maybe the boring part.  Maybe it was just her writing style.  I'm not sure.  But she also cleans her bathroom every single day.

Every.  Single.  DAY.

Yes.  I know.  What a freak, right?

Just kidding.  Sortof.

But one thing I did learn from the book is this:

Half Way There... Raising "Meaters"

Just in case you were curious...here's an update on our very high-speed chicken raising operation.

We call these chickens "meaters" to help us distinguish them from the "layers" when we're assigning chores.  I guess they could be called "fryers" or "roasters" or "crock-potters"... but that gets a little confusing.  What they should be called is "eaters," since that's all they really ever do!

Be advised, you may never eat chicken again after seeing this.  But these guys are actually pretty happy chickens, believe it or not.

So, here's our epic temporary pen... Noah and I built it out of an old dog kennel.  We've got 48 birds in there.  Heat lamps and an old dog house keeps them nice and cozy at night.  Thankfully, we don't have any neighbors, because this thing is a real eye sore.  This is the third year that we've raised our own meat chickens... and having them outside is definitely much cleaner and more humane.

They're always freaking out over the feeder.  You'd think we were starving them!

My Twilight Zone

Do you remember that old show?

 Me and my big sister used to stay up late and watch it on weekends when we were really little.  I'm not sure if we were even allowed... but it sure freaked me out!  I'd be freaked out for quite a while afterwards, too.

And I've been just a tad freaked out lately, too.  Do you want to know why?  Well, I'll tell ya.  It's because I'm not totally sure that I'm not currently living in the Twilight Zone.

Do you ever hear that weird theme song playing in your head when people act so totally bizarre that you just have to stop and wonder?  I do.

So, here's a few of the latest strange happenings....

Back Home on the Range

Just got back home from an epic trip to South Carolina...  I drove the "church van" full to the brim with kids and food and clothes and jewelry and props on a seven-hour trip through the mountains to a big festival at our old stomping ground.  Three years ago we actually lived there and I decided to get a booth at Harvest Fest, just to see if I could sell any of my creations.  Well, that year was an amazing surprise and I sold a TON!  This year was a lot different...