Had a busy day today! First we picked, snapped, and blanched 15 bags of green beans. Meg made zucchini bread and froze 5 bags of shredded zucchini. We mowed the lawn and picked 2 huge cabbages; one 43 inches around and the other 33 inches! Made a trip to the store and the library. Topped the day off with a pot of chicken noodle soup and a visit around the campfire with my folks!
I cannot believe how long it has actually been since I've been here! Life has been busy! Our oldest girl will turn 16 in a few weeks! She's blossomed into such a lovely young lady! She's anxious to see what will happen next. We all have a pretty good idea about that!
We finished our first week of school! This is our second year using Ambleside Online for our curriculum. We are all very pleased with it! www.amblesideonline.org
I've had one more miscarriage since I updated last. I don't really expect there will be any more babies, but I am totally content about it! I am truly enjoying parenting the 4 I have and feel totally blessed!
I hope to get back in touch soon!
~Stella
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Ramblings
Monday, August 10, 2009
Finally got back into my blog.
I took a long hiatus from my blog, and then when I wanted to come back I couldn't log in. I tried and tried and then gave up for a while. That was a couple months ago. I tried today and got right in???? Figure that one out. I've got some maintenance to do, and then hopefully I'll get some updates up!
~Stella (Hubbies nickname for me!)
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Tornados
We crouched in the basement Sunday evening as tornados tore through our area. We could hear glass breaking and what sounded like someone stomping across our living room floor. When the worst of the storm was passed hubby went upstairs to see the damage, and there was none what-so-ever. Only the electricity was out. Praise the LORD.
The actual tornado passed about a mile from our house. There is a dealer of manufactured and modular homes there that lost all but one of his houses. One is fine, one has the front ripped off, and one is upside down. The other 50 or so are gone. There is just a field of rubble, but no actual houses.
We think the sounds we were hearing were from those homes slamming around.
We spent the whole day yesterday helping some friends salvage what they could from their house. Most of their windows blew in, some siding came off and all the shingles blew off. There was glass and water everywhere, but they were all safe in the basement. Their barn was flattened, and their camper was picked up from one side of their house and thrown to the other side and smashed to bits. Their LP gas tank blew off the foundation and pulled the gas lines out of the house, thank God it didn't explode.
They were in good shape compared to some others though. One house we had to pass by to get to them was completely gone. The only thing there was the basement. The house was completely gone, nobody knows where it went. Some houses lost the entire attic, or upstairs. One house had a grain bin sitting right in the middle of it.
By far the worst hit was the town of Parkersburg. The tornadoes literally flattened the entire town. Most all of these people came up from the basement to find their house was totally missing. In total 7 people died from these storms.
Please pray for all the people who are starting to clean up the mess and rebuild. Their nerves are shattered, all their possessions are gone (including photos and important papers).
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Leading Up to My Pregnancy With My Son, After Years of Miscarriages
I was recently asked for imformation about my little miracle boy after my tubal reversal and years of miscarriages. Here are some things leading up to his conception that I think are significant. Read more about my reversal here.
I know that the LORD’s timing was truly in our son’s conception and birth, however there are certain things that happened before this that I personally think were significant. Did the LORD bring those things to mind at that time on purpose. I believe so, because it fit his perfect timing. He could override those issues, but one of them was a health issue, which was important to my babies health. And one of the others was spiritual.
Several months before I conceived I was working on a Bible study using Beth Moore’s book A Woman’s Heart God’s Dwelling Place., that I found at a garage sale. At some point during this I realized that my image of my own worth was so totally wrong. Somehow I had tied my worth up in how good of a wife or mother I was and how many children I had.
Colossians 1: 16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Revelation 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
Finally I knew that my worth was because the Lord created me; for himself! My worth was in the Lord!
The second thing that happened is that I finally had victory in cutting sugar out of my diet and losing weight. I lost 20 pounds which put me at the same weight I was when I conceived that last 2 girls.
Third, I started back on Vitex (an herb that feeds the glands, and helps regulate hormones), 3 capsules a day, the month that I conceived. Of course God interceded in the area of hormones, because I bled off and on for the first 8 weeks of my pregnancy. That tells me my hormones were still off, but God kept my sweet little boy strong, and brought him through!
Monday, March 10, 2008
Apple Cider Vinegar = Bad Lemonade
Since the apple cider vinegar did such a great job on my sinus infection I thought it was my duty as a wife to convince my hubby that it would do his sinus problems some good. ;) I got him a glass ready, but he wanted me to fill all the rest of 16 ounces with water. Somehow he thought it would reduce the bad taste. Not so.
He couldn't choke it down so he asked for a fresh glass of water. Little Boy decided he would like a drink. His face was hilarious. "Acky!" Then he reached for a drink of water. "That makes me feel better!" Pointing to the class of vinegar, "That bad lemonade, that make me sick!"
Fussy little boys anyway! (x2) Praising God for the men in my life!
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Sinus Infection Remedy
I feel so much better today! Really yesterday I was ready to give up and go to the doctor. I had decided that I was going today if I had not significantly improved. Yesterday afternoon I just started to cry because I had had it. Of course getting antibiotics is not a guarantee of improvement.
My herbal book didn't give much information that I wasn't already trying, and Hubby's neti-pot didn't do anything. I tried the hot compresses and managed to get a significant amount of (sorry) neon yellow mucus out, but no relief. For a compress take a hot wet washcloth and hold just below eyes, covering both cheeks, nose and mouth.
I finally got on line and did a search on sinus infections. Here's what I found http://www.earthclinic.com/CURES/sinus_infection.html
Here is what I did: I immediately drank 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar in water. I didn't really feel any relief, but shortly afterward I tried the hot compress again and the discharge was clear! I didn't get much though. I drank this 3 times yesterday. Then Hubby got me some grapefruit seed extract, and I continued to alternate that with the echinacea and goldenseal. Throughout the day I felt little popping sensations all over my face. For supper I ate hot and spicy chicken with extra cayenne pepper added.
This morning I'm still feeling the popping sensation and lots of thick mucus is running down my throat. Not sure the stomach is a good place for it, but not sure what to do about that. There is still a little pressure in my face, but nothing actually hurts now! I need to call my dad who was certain I needed to go to the doctor.
Praise the Lord for natural cures!
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
I Want to Pull My Teeth Out!
I'm quite certain I have a severe sinus infection. I've had sinus infections before, but this is awful. Not only do my facial bones hurt, but my teeth ache something fierce. The only thing that helps is putting pressure on them. I really get the urge to just pull them out. Really the thought keeps coming up.... I must be on the verge of insanity here.
I've been taking echinacea and golden seal for several days, but it doesn't seem to be helping. Hubby wants me to do a nasal flush, but I have been resisting. I'm going to try hot and cold compresses. Prayers would be appreciated.
My dad was in the hospital for several days again. Two doctors and the radiologist said he "blew a disc", but the neurosurgeon said it was not blown. They all agree that his spine is so narrow that is pressing on the nerves around the spinal cord.
They also found that Dad has an aneurysm below his heart, and his cholestoral is high. He is not interested in any natural remedies, unless the doctor suggests it, like the fish oil for his eyes. Prayers appreciated here too.
It is snowing again today. This winter has been incredible. I don't think I've seen so much snow in my 35 years. Truly it has snowed at 2-4 times per week since late fall. The bottom layer of snow is still from Novemember. I won't say anything about global warming ;)
Well, I'm off to help with a math problem.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Super Saving Saturday!
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Doing the Happy Dance!
Whoo-hoo! Our $1000 emergency fund is finished! It took just about a month to finish with only starting with $100 in savings! We are so excited!!!
I first blogged about the emergency fund here ( http://happyinthehome.blogspot.com/2008/01/credit-cards-credit-scores-debt-free.html ) and here ( http://happyinthehome.blogspot.com/2008/01/dave-ramsey-and-emergency-fund.html )
Dave Ramsey says it's important to get this in place in a month or less. I new we could do it because our tax refund would be coming; but this is really cool..... we don't have the tax refund yet!!!! We did it (With the LORD's help of course) without the tax refund!
When our tax refund comes we will owe less than $3000 on anything except the house!
What is truly amazing though since we put these goals in place is that my hubby is HAPPY! It has taken such a weight off his shoulders! He feels so free knowing we aren't taking out any more debt and we have an emergency fund in place! This whole last week he has been so much at ease. Things that normally bothered him he just takes in stride!
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Etsy
I've been selling my handmade products on ebay for about 2 years now, and I found up last a couple of nights ago that they are marking up there prices by a huge amount. One of my best selling items is going to change in cost to list and sell from $1.06 to $1.64. I can't even make up for this in the savings I got on my fabric.
I looked into www.etsy.com and found they have a really nice site for buying and selling handmade products. They have very reasonable selling rates, and your items can remain listed for 4 months. It seems like a really busy place, though I only heard about it several months ago from another blog.
Yes, I know it's a shameless plug to ask you all to go check out etsy, since I just opened up shop there! But please do, there are so many great WAHMs there and great products!
