Random Thoughts from Home

It's a quiet Sunday morning and Dad is at a meeting and Brady just got up. On Fast Sunday he sleeps as long as possible! I'm listening to the Rat Pack Christmas CD which I got from Jordan and Ginanne and now I'm listening to Natalie Cole's Christmas CD which I think I got from Dad. It is only going to get up to 64 degrees today. Fall has arrived along with the wind!

We've been canning everything that comes our way and I wanted to share an idea I found on the web to get rid of fruit flies which we have had in abundance. Take 1 cup of apple cider vinegar and put it in a small container and add a drop of dishwashing detergent. The flies are attracted by the vinegar and the soap somehow pulls them down into the container. I don't pretend to understand it but believe me it works and you have a little container of many dead flies. It's better than smacking them with your hands!

Tomorrow we're going to Grandma's to take her some more Beverly Lewis books and get more corn to freeze and she has pears which I am going to turn into pear butter. Yum! Last night we went to Mary Graessars reception. Very nice and they served dinner food which meant we started our fast with BBQ sandwiches and salads instead of fried potatoes and veggies which I was going to make. Thanks Marsha!

Jordan and Ginanne and Emmy are coming to dinner and I made a wonderful crockpot lasagna, the recipe I found on line and had in a crockpot cookbook.

8 lasagna noodles, uncooked (I love this part)

1 lb. ground beef

1 tsp Italien seasoning

28-oz jar of spaghetti sauce ( I can my own)

1/4 c water

15 -oz cottage or ricotta cheese

2 c shredded mozzarella cheese

Break noodles. Place 1/2 in bottom of greased crockpot. Brown gr. beef, drain, and stir in seasoning. Spread 1/2 over noodles. Layer 1/2 of sauce and water, 1/2 cottage cheese and 1/2 mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers. Cover and cook 5 hrs on low.

This is great to return home to after fasting! Hope you enjoy.

Love to you all.

Enjoying the Day!
Outside my window is our newly mowed lawn and a bright sunny day. It's going to be beautiful before the change to Fall arrives tomorrow.
I am thinking about the tomatoes I still need to can and the beans that are in the fridge that also need to be canned.
I am thankful for this harvest and the gardens that it came from. I am also grateful to Mom and Dale who share the bounties of their incredible garden with all their children. And I am grateful for my friend who shares the leftover veggies from school that would otherwise go in the garbage. What a waste!
From my kitchen I am contemplating having fried potatoes and leftover hotdogs for dinner. Not glamourous or gourmet but it will prevent waste.
I am creating a photo album of vacation pictures to look at often. I will put it in the basket of other photo albums which are fun to peruse through on quiet evenings when nothing is on TV which is every night. And I am finishing up a quilt for our youngest grandchild. Hope she likes pink!
I am wearing a pair of jeans which are joyfully getting too big and t-shirt from good old Girls Camp days. I also still have wheels in my hair! That's for you Nolan!!!
I am reading a book by Ray Blackston called Flabbergasted. I found it recommended by a Christian blogger that I came across. It's a great read and no offensive language or behavior. How rare!
I am hoping that we will be able to go to Mt. Spokane for Labor Day. Remember kids when we would go hike and cook lunch or dinner? Although I hate the drive I love the views!
I am hearing the sprinkler on the newly mown lawn and my dryer working hard. It's so pleasant to hear appliances work. That's a blessing.
Around the house I am going to clean Dad's and my closet. This means some serious throwing out and yes, I am going to let Dad pick out what needs to get tossed.
One of my favorite things is to talk to my children and to see my grandchildren, whether by phone, in person or skype. I love technology!
The idea for the above views came from The Simple Womans Daybook which can be found at
http://the simplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com. Check it out and enjoy!!!

I've been musing on how little the world values the role of mother and wife, especially a stay-at-home wife and mother! I have loved being a stay-at-home wife and mother and I am grateful for a daughter and 2 daughters-in-law who value their role also. And for sons and a son-in-law who support their spouses in their roles! To these wonderful mothers-in-Zion I want to share a website that is amazing, 50shousewife.blogspot.com. I think all stay-at-home moms should read this and laugh and enjoy! Love to all!

So we are still working on saving our $1000! Trouble is most of our income is already budgeted so I had to go back to Dave Ramsey's book and get inspired. He talks about the power of focus and I realize that we need to FOCUS with a capital 'F'. So here's the plan, Dad gives me $110 every two weeks for groceries. My mission and 'I do choose to accept it' is to whittle that down to $60 every two weeks with the extra going into our savings. I'll let you know how it goes!!!

Congratulations to
Brady for making
Eagle and thanks
to Dad for helping
all 4 boys make
Eagle.

Happy Happy Happy 3rd Birthday

to our wonderful Nolan Mitchell!

What a great and amazing young

boy and we send lots of love and

birthday wishes to you.

We love you so much and send

hugs and kisses!!!

Grandma and Grandpa Mitchell

What beautiful children! And what a great reunion! It did get me thinking thought as each of you are at different points in your lives, obtaining an education, saving for homes, buying a home and saving for school. I just want to share with you the great ideas on getting out of debt in the book, The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey that Jordan and Ginanne gave us. Dad and I are doing the first baby step, that is we are saving $1000 for our emergency fund. I would encourage each of you to do whatever it takes to make sure you have this fund. It just takes one car repair, one medical issue, one broken appliance to set you back. If you have this emergency fund you don't have to worry about where the money will come from. So I challenge each of you to take this baby step. It may take weeks or months. But you won't regreat it. I'll keep you updated on how we're doing!