What we did last weekend

We needed to work. We didn't really feel like working. So we wore hats.

On Saturday morning, I awoke to a hubby who had mapped out our upcoming days. We've been so busy, we've barely had a moment to talk. Our children love to tell us stories & show us things, which is delightful. But it also makes it very difficult to have a conversation, much less plan. So the hubby had the brilliant idea to make sure the kids each had something to do. Then, he taped off the area with a reminder not to disturb us.

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes it is just a simple sign that works. Our oldest thought we were quite silly and had to take pictures. What he didn't know is that he read my mind. I had wanted pictures taken and he took care of that without being asked.

Does this happen at your house? The ranch dressing fell out of the fridge onto the floor. The youngest rushed to put cones around the scene of the accident.

Last weekend was really quite ordinary. Yet, when we added some hats and construction cones, it spiced things up a bit. It was almost like underscoring our lives with music as if we were in a movie. Almost. I did say almost.

What's up with your weekend -- either last weekend or this one? What will be underscoring your weekend? Spills and plans? Hats and cones?

Here's hoping you have a good one.

Feeling number-ish today

I'm feeling a bit number-ish today. Perhaps sometime soon, I'll expound and reflect on the milestones that these numbers of time represent. In the meantime, you can click on the phrases that are different colors and they will lead you to a related post of mine. Years, days, moments -- they go by quickly, don't they?

24 years in Minnesota
1 year in Michigan
20 years in Tennessee
19 years married
13 1/2 years as mom
11 years in this house
8 years of homeschooling completed

25 days with 8 kids
25 days with 5 kids
9 days with 9 kids

Do you suppose that this is what is meant by " Teach us to number our days aright that we may gain a heart of wisdom" means? Psalm 90:12

How about you? How are you feeling today?

Quick & Easy Recipe to Fill the Masses

Today, I wanted to share a yummy but easy recipe: the World's Easiest Homemade Mac-n-Cheese. I especially like  to make this when lots of children are here.  Kids run around. Moms 'talk'. I mix-it-up and throw it in the oven. While it bakes, I feed the begging, very hungry children apples, carrots, or something green. 

To clarify: I was born in Minnesota, the land of 10,000 lakes, where mac-n-cheese was served from a box. I love this recipe but I don't have great grandma's treasured family recipe that I'm comparing it to. Don't worry,  my feelings won't be hurt if you just can't even try the recipe.   

But, I will say this: This is one of the easiest recipes I have, more moms have asked me for this recipe than any other (perhaps its because it's what I serve when they are over?)...and...even my child that doesn't like macaroni & cheese loves this recipe! 

I must give credit where it is due, I originally got the recipe at  Gayle's blog: the Grocery Cart Challenge. A great place to be inspired to live well-within your means. Check it out. But for those of you who do not feel like linking over, here it is as well

Homemade Mac-n-Cheese from the Grocery Cart Challenge
16 o.z. water
16 o.z. cottage cheese
16 o.z. shredded cheese (either cheddar or a mix)
16 o.z. noodles ( I use penne, original recipe called for elbow)

Mix all four ingredients into a greased 13x9 pan, pasta is uncooked. Bake @ 300 degrees for 30 minutes. Stir and bake for an additional 10-20 minutes. It's important to stir at the 30 minute mark and watch it after that to keep the casserole creamy.

Note: Each item being the same quantity makes it easy to remember. Yet, it is a versatile little recipe and can handle substitutions. My default has become 24 o.z. of cottage cheese container (because it comes that way at my Aldi grocery store)  and the shredded cheese is 12 o.z. The recipe turns out just as yummy this way, too. I have added bits of pepperoni but the kids like it best just as mac-n-cheese. Have fun with it! If I am cooking for more than 6-7, I will make two pans. It helps.

Happy Baking & Eating.

What's cooking for your weekend? Do you have a favorite, easy recipe?

Love, Kathleen

How can I cook the chicken, when there is a world that needs saving?

There are orphans that need adopting.

And I need to thaw the chicken.

A woman fell out of her wheelchair & broke many bones. And I'm only trying to recover from a twisted knee.

There are starving children in Peru, Guatemala, and Africa. Maybe even in my backyard. 

And I'm thinking, "Thaw the chicken, so I can cook the chicken."

There is a terribly talented woman who had seven consecutive number one hits. She was only four years older than me. Didn't want to end up like another terribly talented one. But she did. So sad, the lack of peace that talent brings.

But there are thousands upon thousands who don't have the full Bible in their native tongue.

Yet,  I need to call the Emergency Room about the bill for my twisted knee. And I'm also wondering how I'm going to get rid stuff so there is simply a place for the 50 people we invited  over to our house for a  party.

And... I need to thaw the chicken.

Meanwhile, there are orphans waiting for their forever families, superstars who seemingly didn't die in peace, quiet neighbors who struggle to get by every day with basic needs, and people who need to hear about Jesus for the first time.

And all I can think is, "I need to cook the chicken. Call about the ER bill. And organize the stuff around here."

So I escape to my computer because I don't really want to cook the chicken, or call about the bill, or organize the stuff. I'm reminded about the orphans, the cruise ships, the publishing deals, the stars that have divorced or died or received 6 Grammys, and the people who need the Bible in their native tongue.

And here I am escaping from my simple responsibility of cooking the chicken. Reading blogs. Instead of cooking.

Oh, eventually I'll cook the chicken. And deliver the casserole. Hopefully on time.

There is this compelling urge that there needs to be more than cooking chicken, delivering casseroles, and rehabbing my knee. It pales in comparison with adopting orphans, and all the other service that it seems others are doing.

And yet, here I am. At the computer again. Thinking about the chicken...instead of doing what I know is right...

How will I ever be able to save the world, if I can't even cook the chicken?

****

Linking with Jen @ Finding Heaven and her Soli Deo Gloria Sisterhood community that she has created. Click on over for some encouragement in the context of belonging.

100 Things: Part II or Whereby the self-indulgent post goes on and on...

Here it is ... the last 58 items in my 100 Things About Me series-- though I doubt anyone has been on pins and needles waiting for the second part.  In order to end this self-indulgent series quickly, this post is long (just like Part I ...only longer...).  And it is in here where my hidden love -- hopefully family and Jesus are obvious loves -- but there is also tucked away a clue or two about a calling I need to pursue. This will make sense if you read THIS post (just 2 posts back). But if you haven't read it yet, you may need to make that another day because you already need a coffee or tea to make this here post some happy reading!

100 Things About Me: Part II

My father-in-law & mother-in-law, the #1 influence on our decision to homeschool.

43) My mother-in-law is the largest single influencing factor of why I started homeschooling. In addition to home-schooling my husband's brother, who is 13 years younger than him, through high school graduation, she offered to watch the children so we could attend...

With Carole Joy Seid & a favorite book (friend, Carole, me) The second most influencing factor on our decision to homeschool.

44)... a Carole Joy Seid seminar,  which is the second most influencing factor of why I homeschool. After listening to Carole, I thought even I could do this and more importantly, I resonated with the lifestyle she presented as a great learning environment, also.

My crazy, fun, support-filled Teacher's Lounge friends. (I'm seated on the couch, 2nd from the left.)

45) The on-going inspiration for homeschooling is the group of homeschooling mom's called the Teacher's Lounge that meet once-a-month.
46) The family dynamics of homeschooling is a main reason we keep on homeschooling.


47) I changed my major so many times in college my parents needed an index card in their pocket or purse so they could tell their friends what exactly I was studying at that moment.
48) I am still characterized by changing my mind; there are just so many good ideas out there!

49) During my junior year of high school, I decided I wanted to be an elementary ed major.
From that time until my junior year in college, I was an education major. In one conversation with a guidance counselor, I was no longer an education major. I still vividly remember that spring day.

50) It turns out that teacher is truly part of my calling -- I love to teach my four children at home, tutor at the public school, or teach a Bible study. My high school intuition was right; it just took me a long time to find my way.

51) One of the best things I did in college was to become a Resident Assistant.
52) Another best thing I did in the college was to be a part of an on-campus Christian group.
53) Most of my friendships in college were cultivated in the wee hours of the morning, talking.
54) I took a college film class and slept through the reason for Rosebud in the pivotal, classic movie Citizen Kane.

Hubby & I are slated to race each other in a final heat in the bi-annual Jaeger Christmas Derby Races. I obviously don't know how to make an I'm gonna getcha face! Ha! December 2011

55) One of the many jobs I've had was selling Creative Memories scrapbooks & supplies. I still love their products and mission.
56) I was scrapbooking before it became trendy or acid-free.
57) I love paper and pens.
58) I love to write letters as much as I love receiving a hand-written letter in my mail-box.
59) I love to stay in-touch with friend and wish that I could stay "best" friends with everyone.

60) I have written since I learned how to write in the first grade. I have kept a journal since the fifth grade.
61) Being a pack-rat by nature, I have all the journals that I've ever written and the stories I wrote in the first grade.
62) I have dreamed of becoming a novelist since I was a young girl.

63) I love to play volleyball.
64) Watching the sunset over water soothes my soul.

One of the 10,000 lakes in Minnesota. Photo by me.

65) I love water. I like to swim in it and to ski on it. I like to go to the ocean, the lake, or the river.
66) I like to drink water. Or take long, hot showers.
67) My fascination with water is one of the reasons that my favorite color is blue.

68) Chocolate and garlic are my friends.

69) I love going out to eat with friends (real friends, not the chocolate and garlic).
70) I love staying up late: either talking with friends or simply by myself.
71) At a fifth-grade slumber party, I began my quest to see the sun rise by staying up all night. It never occurred to me to get up early to see the sun rise!

72) I love playing card and board games.

73) The point of drinking coffee is about the half-n-half. Just plain half-n-half. No low-fat substitute. No artificial flavorings. Just yummy, creamy half-n-half.

74) The nine months that I spent in Michigan were the hardest in my life, so far.
75) It took me years not to mention that time without tears in my eyes. And sometimes I still tear up.

76) I love candles, especially to light them and enjoy their glow.

77) I love music.

The 6 of us singing from a Seeds CD during our Christmas Eve celebration. Dec. 2009

 78) I love to sing, play guitar & piano, and compose songs. I'm not the best at these things but I love them passionately and hope that in heaven I'll finally have the voice that I've always longed for.

79) I like naps. (Especially snuggled in with my kids.)

80) We still have a phone that is attached to a wall with a cord. (No, it is not a rotary phone and yes it does work. People have asked when they see it!) I do enjoy a good phone call with a friend!
81) I know how to text.(This may shock some of my friends I've known the longest.)
82) I have only had a cell phone for a year. My husband still doesn't.
83) I have not yet joined Facebook.

Hubby & I. October 2011

84) I have known my husband longer than I have not known him (since my birthday in September of 2011). More time with him than without him. Thank you Lord!

85) From friendship to marriage took four years.
86) I tease him about how long it took but I needed the time, too.

87) I love leading Bible studies.
88) I love hearing other people's stories.
89) Sometimes you can't tell because I'm doing all the talking. I always have to work at listening to others. (But I really do enjoy hearing other people's stories!)

90) Sunshine makes me happy.
91) And yet, I am often thankful for a rainy day, too.

92) I like to cook & bake.
93) I have learned to enjoy managing a household.

Delivering the annually requested homemade blueberry birthday pie to my oldest. Sept. 2010

94) I like my things organized but my time unstructured.
95) A vacation seems like a vacation to me when we we're able to do what we want, when we want, without a thought of a clock or a to-do list.

96) I have a 'one-dollar' look. (This will need further explanation than I can give it here.)

Celebrating my birthday with a decadent chocolate cake made by my husband. 2011

97) I love to laugh.
98) I enjoy meeting new people & making friends (including on-line ones!).
99) I am not mechanically-inclined and even less so now after being married to a mechanically-inclined person for 18 years (because I let him do all of that).

100) Although a ramp-up person (for instance my blog is  two years old and I am just now getting to my 101st post, actually), I also like to dive-into cold water rather than gradually get in. (Hence another aspect of the dichotomy of my non-existent personality type.)

How about you?
Is there an interesting fact or two you would like to leave in the comments about you? Or if you like you could give a big woo-hoo that this post is done!
If you want to write 100 things or already have,
in the comments leave us a link to your blog where we can learn about you.

Welcome Company Girls -- Jump on over to Rachel Anne's to meet another group of wonderful women.

Celebrating my 100th Post

Writing 100 things in honor of a 100th post has been around a long time (for internet time at least). Long enough that it seems old. Not fresh and hip. Well...truth be told, I've never been really good at hip & trendy. Once I figured out that I had friends who liked me for me and not the Izod alligator on my shirt, I stopped working so hard on style.

And so in honor of my lack of hipness, I am commemorating my 100th post by being terribly self-indulgent with a 100 Things About Me series. (Yes, two self-indulgent posts for the price of one.)

I enjoy reading these types of posts, hopefully you do too...

{If you read my post about 380 miles and are curious about my new pursuit of an old dream, it is hidden in the second of these two posts. I'll be curious if you can detect what it is.}

100 Things About Me: Part I
(The information in the intro paragraph is just a bonus!)

My family of origin with spouses and children on my parent's 50th wedding anniversary.  I'm seated on the far left.

1) I am the youngest of 5 children.
2) I mention this a lot because I am intrigued by birth order and other such personality tests.
3) Just ask my husband who has been subjected to dozens of personality tests (even though I probably know his personality type better than he does!)
4) I once read that my combined personality type doesn't exist.

5) A horse stepped on my foot when I was about eight.
6) I didn't like horses for a long time but said I did because I thought all girls were suppose to like horses.
7) It took many years to become an out-of-the box thinker instead of doing what I thought people wanted to me to do.
8) Either way, I do like horses now but wish I knew how to ride them better.

9) My parents still live in the only home I lived in as a child.

My parents on their 50th wedding anniversary.

10) I was born and raised in Minnesota -- the land of 10, 000 lakes.
11) Though I love Minnesota, I am its fair weather friend: I cry when I leave in the summer and am thankful to leave its cold behind when I leave in the wintertime.

12) My favorite season depends upon location. In Tennessee, it is the spring. The gradual weeks long process of blooming flowers is amazing! In Minnesota, summer is my favorite. Perhaps I should have named a daughter Summer because I love it that much.

From our summer 2011 camping trip. We try to go camping at least once a year.

13) In the summertime, my parents took our family on lots of camping trips. They are my favorite childhood memories.
14) I still like to go camping. Camping can mean staying in a camper, a cabin, or a tent.

15) Another favorite summertime activity was going to camp. If I could have lived at camp all summer long, I probably would have. But then I would have missed my favorite family-times. So I'm glad I didn't.
16) I still often wish that I could be in more than one place at a time. The desire to not miss out on any fun has yet to die in me. Those last-born tendencies live on!

Volunteering in the kitchen at the kid's camp 2011 -- can't get it out of my system!

17) I am a voracious reader.
18) I rejected a book club invitation in high school from friends who were going to sit around and read and discuss books like The Brothers Karamazov. It sounded boring.
19) Since then, I have obtained The Brothers Karamazov.
20) And I have also participated in two different book clubs. Neither of which read or discussed The Brothers Karamazov. Now, I think I would have enjoyed that first book club.

My running shoes.

21) I have run one full marathon. (Yes, oh yes, I ran 26.2 miles of fun.)
22) Seven years after running a full marathon, I ran a half-marathon (just this past spring).
23) I often do things in an unusual order or way but you couldn't tell that by my hair or clothing.

My oldest brother & I doing a funny pose. Nov. 2011

24) It's my eldest brother's fault that I started running. He invited me to run with him one night. I have run off and on since that time, including two years on my high school cross country team.

25) When asked about an accomplishment that I am proud of, I still cite receiving the Most Improved Runner award on my high school cross country team. It was a huge surprise because I didn't remember that award being given out the previous year. I still have the plaque.

The kids imitating the faces they carved. Oct. 2011

26) I have four children.
27) I have had five pregnancies. (I had a miscarriage between number 3 and 4).
28) I have had two of my children at home. (On purpose.)
29) Labor and delivery of my fourth child was way harder than the marathon.

Our family photo on Easter 2010.

30) My husband and I were married for 5 years before any of his siblings got married.

31) We celebrated our fifth anniversary by canoeing down a river. I was 7 months pregnant with our first child.
32) We were infertile for 4 years. Then we had 3 kids in three years.
33) When I had three kids ages 3 and under, I often was crying by 10 o'clock in the morning wondering how I would make it to the end of the day.

34) Now I know it wasn't just being overwhelmed by little ones but also lack of blood sugar...I usually hadn't eaten breakfast yet. Thank goodness for the season of everyday eggs that taught me this.

35) I like my husband to decide what I want for breakfast.
36) I don't like him to decide any other meal of the day for me.

November 2011

37) I felt complete when I became a mother.
38) Becoming a mother has been one of the best things to happen to me because I have grown-up in responsibility and in loving others. I am a better person because I am a mother. I am thankful that God granted this desire of mine.

39) I have 80 first cousins. (Give or take a few, its hard to count that many!)
40) I know most of them, which means I know who they are and their name when I see them.
41) Most of my first cousins and their families live in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. I'm in the very small minority that moved and stayed away.
42) June 2011 marked living in Tennessee for 19 years.

Stay tuned....I'll finish the next 58 delightfully entertaining items about myself tomorrow (Click HERE to read)...waiting on pins and needles I'm sure.... in the meantime...feel free to leave a comment about the most interesting item so far...or better yet something about you...this is beginning to sound like a monologue...dive in and save me from me....

Also linking up with Jen and the SDG sisters.

The telling tales of where our pockets have been

I Spy...
...paper clips that try to hold my many scattered papers together...
...a string of fake, pink pearls to decorate the throat of a princess or a bride...
...a safety pin or two to make the capes of superheroes ..
...a police badge helps to capture pirates running through our halls

I Spy...
... something red and stretchy: an extra hand that I can always use...
...rocks from the pockets of explorers in frontier lands...
...beads, and shells, and buttons for creative inventions and gifts...

I spy
...an earplug or two: the attempt for quiet in this loud and sticky life...
...a sparkly flower to brighten our day while we wait for spring....
...a dime & a nickel: tips that a laundry lady will be grateful for indeed...

I spy
...bits and pieces of my life
Telling tales of where our pockets have been
Now tumbled out
Washed and dried
Now in a laundry jar
Forgotten, misplaced

Mixed together
Tiny tools and treasures
Taking things that
Don't belong together
Not quite in the place they're meant to be
Except that they're in
My washer, my life

The superheroes, the princesses,
The treasures of explorers
The many scattered thoughts
Mixed up, not belonging together
Except that they are here
Together

In my life


* * * *

Linking up today with Jen and the SDG women. Click HERE for more inspiration.
Linking up also with the Company Coffee girls HERE.

Merry Christmas

Thanksgiving Day 2011

Merry Christmas from my family and I.

May your days be filled with peace and joy
due to the baby boy that was
"born so that man no more may die."

-- Kathleen

For those who were wondering...

...and for those who weren't... the picture in the post prior to this was located in Wisconsin. Congratulations go to the grandma in Vancouver who guessed correctly due to the mouse and cheese! For some reason the upper Midwest loves to make tall statues of various items. And for some reason we love to taking pictures by them.

One day if scan my old photos into the computer, I would have quite a number of photos in front of different statues. Whew! Aren't you glad I haven't put all my photos on the computer?!?

O, Happy Day!

Then & Now

A quick hello to blog land. We've continued to gallivant around. But in the process I have set my screen saver to be the pictures that I have loaded onto the computer. So we all find ourselves sitting down and looking at our most recent pictures. (I started loading in the middle of 2009.)

Here is a little observation about time flying.

Last summer

This summer

The picture is shot at the same location somewhere on our travels. Does anyone know where we are? Do you have a guess at the state? Do you have a tradition of taking photos at the same place or way each year?

Have a happy day!

Home Again

Well, well, well. Last time I blogged, I hadn't blogged in three weeks. Now it has been longer than that. We have just arrived home from a 3,000 mile road trip! Whew!

My husband and I attended an Appleseed weekend while the kids visited cousins for a week in Chicago. Then, we all traveled onto Minneapolis where we celebrated a 6 year old birthday, reminisced with high school friends, hugged family, watched my nephew play baseball, rode a Ferris wheel, had a water fight, ate lots of food, enjoyed blue skies with puffy white clouds.

Then we traveled to Northern Minnesota where we camped on an island for three days, drank purple cows, took our picture with Paul Bunyan. For our next stop we drove a little further west to participate in a wedding: a matron of honor, two junior flowermaids, a singer/guitar player, a ring bearer and a reader. We all had a job. We tubed down a river, rehearsed, met some new friends and celebrated with dear friends and danced the night away.

We have managed to arrive home with less tears than expected and lots of sweat! It sure is hot out there (especially when the fan on the van stops blowing!) and we sure are glad to be home!

There were many more memories....hope to post some pictures soon and some new thoughts that are brewing.

Hope y'all are keeping cool in this heat!

With joy, Kathleen

p.s. Welcome Coffee Company sisters....if you're not one...check 'em out HERE.