Everyday workout

Today I have an update to my once a month workout post...Here is one to do at least once a week.
Get all school aged kids off to the bus, your hubby off to work, then make a trip to Walmart with the toddlers!

*side note* just know that eventually we all do most of those things we always said we would NEVER do. DON'T JUDGE ME!!!

First I inform my wonderful but clueless husband that if I don't get to the store early, I will have to go once he gets home. He says, "why can't you just go now?" So, we head to Walmart in our pajamas. In a nut shell, lets just say we were there for 2 hours, 4 gallons of milk, 2 toddlers fighting with each other so you end up letting them run around. This all adds up to exhaustion!

Oh, and I would love to meet the MAN who designed the shopping cart pictured below. I mean really, how many kids can sit facing each other and not fight?!



I going to take a nap!!!!

Matcha & Dashi

OK...I have been drinking the Matcha (serious green tea) and here is my assessment. It doesn't taste nearly as bad as it looks. Not the glowing endorsement you were hoping for, I know. But, to tell the truth, I have had more energy and I know it is healthy so I will continue drinking it. It's really not that bad, I used to drink vinegar in V8 juice!

Dashi, well, lets just say...when the recipe said 2 4 inch square pieces, it means after they are soaked and have expanded. I used waaaaayyyyyyy too much seaweed. For this reason I doubled the batch, hoping it would be ok, then it took all of the bonita flakes.
Truthfully it smells like the ocean, minus the salt, and isn't that easy to drink. But because it has most of my ingredients in it I refuse to throw it out. I used it to make some healthy brown rice. Real brown rice, the kind that takes 50 minutes to cook! For lunch I put some soup on top of the rice and ate it. That was ok, even better with my glass of V8!

Long story short, since I had to order the ingredients I want to get all the use out of them.............Morgan and I decided to make a mask out of the seaweed and some oatmeal. Morgan put it on my face then her own...after about 10 minutes I turned to look at her and almost died laughing. She looked like someone had just thrown up all over her face!!! (I would know, 2 of my kids had the stomach virus last week). Look below to share the joy.....

More Halloween Crafts

Yesterday I made time to finish some old projects (because I have found a new one I want to work on). What do you think?
Here are 2 scrapbook paper pumpkins. I thought they turned out nice, they look better from a distance.














And below you will find the last of my salt dough creations. Obviously I am much more artistic in my mind than in reality. Hey, I only had about 6 colors to work with, and kiddy paint brushes...


They look better to me this morning than they did last night about 10!




Enjoy!!!

Happy Fall, Ya'll!!!!!

Funny Quote

From the sitcom Reba: "Teenagers are just adults with energy!"

Profound...

Best Laid Plans (sp?)

My week got off to a great start! Yesterday I literally kept the washer and dryer running for 13 straight hours! Think about that. I use the pre-soak setting so each load takes about an hour but still, quite an accomplishment.

It's even more impressive when you know that I also completely cleaned out my laundry room, made brownies and supper, did homework with the kids, bathed 3 of the 7 children myself and doctored 3 boo boos. If I spend just a little more time thinking about it I know there was more activity thrown in there, but who's counting, right?!

On Friday one of the 2 yr olds woke up with a stomach virus, today the 6 yr old woke up with it. I knew I woke up at 4 a.m. for a reason! Oh, before I heard her, I ordered something off the TV.

As things sit right now at 7:16 a.m., 4 of the 7 are on their way to school, babies are asleep, I hear Morgan's radio loud and clear, the sickly child is asleep and Albert got up when I asked him to help and he is now asleep on the couch. It's gonna be a long day!!!!!

New Hobby?

Look what I got in the mail this weekend!!! In the picture you will find matcha (this is a green tea made from the milk of the leaf that has been turned into a powder), and a bamboo whisk to mix it with. I haven't tried it yet but I will let you know.

Also pictured are the ingredients for Dashi. This is the soup base that you get at Japanese restaurants. In Japan they have this at every meal and it is supposed to be very good for you. Albert loves soup and since it is good for us, I thought I would try it.

They also use this soup as a base for their other soups. Hopefully I will be able to attempt my first batch of Dashi this week, I will let you know how it turns out!!

Side note...Spike the Iguana passed away Saturday night. We are all very sad, don't know if we'll get another one. It does make the case for no letting teenagers raise babies though!

Crafty Corn and Hard Decisions

I absolutely LOVE fall!!! I have always spent hours decorating the house and the front porch. I have a fedish for pumpkins, I get new ones to display every year. Well, this year this is about the extent of my decorating so far. I have been really lazy lately.

I found this craft on a blog, I made them with salt dough! Of course, I didn't let the kids help with this first go round and I think they turned out quite spectacular! I will be woking with salt dough for years to come. The kids have made some and after we get them painted I will share the pics.

Table for 12. It feels like everywhere I look I see more reaching out that needs to be done. It is hard to not let it overwhelm me. The boys at the end of the table are Morgan's friends. Teenage boys mean cooking even more, but we enjoy having them around. The number of teenagers with no parents to speak of is staggering! It is so sad and I want to bring them all home. Because of the living arangement I can feed them, give them a job (as we can afford to pay them), and I can let them hang out. They just can't stay here.


Decision time is coming. Our set of 4 have a final hearing set for December 11 and there is a good chance they will not be going home. Originally we said we were willing to adopt (which would end up putting 12 children in our home and Albert would have to quit his job). Then when parents started falling off the wagon CPS asked again. This time we said no, shouldn't they have a chance to be adopted by a family where they would be the only kids?

Now when we talk about it, we have almost changed our minds back to yes. Albert was talking to some one at work and got emotional about them leaving. I know he has a soft heart, but he doesn't usually show it to people at work. He had to walk away in the middle of the conversation.

We need lots of prayers!!!