The Lumberjack's Wife

I would like everyone to notice that I, yes, I, Taylor Maliblahblah, am blogging TWO days in a row.  This was made possible by my husband’s crazy work schedule.  Does anyone else have a husband who is never really sure when he is coming home?  Dinner was to be at six, then seven.  And then at seven, he called to tell me he still had another hour or so.

In my youth, this would have frazzled and/or annoyed me.  But I am too old to care anymore.  I have gotten very creative at holding dinner off and turning overcooked soups into casseroles. So, dinner is ready, my husband is late, and I shall blog.

I made a pie tonight.  I know, I know.  I am stupid.  But I am bound and determined to make pie crust and not have it be a traumatizing event . . . if that is even possible.  The pie is banana cream and I do not know if it was a success or a fail, but I am thinking the crust is looking pretty snazzy and we should all applaud my Suzy Homaker-ed-ness.

Since my husband is ridiculously late, I doubt I shall be getting my ginormous dry erase board.  Oh, for the disappointment that is my life.  But that reminds me of this week’s COW.

I KNOW!  Did you forget we even did a COW around here?  The COW stands for “Comment of the Week Whenever-I-think-of-it.”

This week’s COW goes to Auntie Datenutloaf, who was a TOTAL downer, if there ever was one.

Her comment to my excitement over my upcoming Dry-Erase-Homeschooling-Magic-Board?

“dry erase markers are toxic“

And I think we need to do a second COW, because we can.  Check out this little convo I found in the comments section.

(Sister Meagan is referring to Katie B’s use of über with the fancy-pants dots on the top)

Sister Meagan says:

Lola says:

My husband is currently watching a show called “American Farmer.”

?

Yet, he sleeps during The Superbowl.  And that’s all I have to say about that.

I promised myself on Sunday night that I would blog everyday this week. And here it is . . . almost Thursday.  I am such a liar.  But we have had an eventful week!

I hope you have your party pants on.

On Monday, we went to our homeschool co-op.  Which was lovely per usual.  Afterwards, we went to Target, and oh my lands, how I have missed Target.  I have not been in there in ages!  It is a truly a delight.  As we were checking out, Handsome Dude decided to become curious.

HD:  Mom.  Hey, MOM?  Why is that girl working?

And he is pointing right at our cashier.

Me:  Yes, mm-hmmm.

I decide to frantically search for a piece of gum to stick in the boy’s mouth.  Because I know not what he is going to say.  But it probably won’t be good.

HD:  WHY IS THAT GIRL WORKING?  WHY DO SOME GIRLS WORK AND SOME DON’T?  YOU DON’T WORK.  WHY IS SHE WORKING AT TARGET?

Why do you care, O Inquisitive One?  The strange thing is every single female family member he knows works, except for one of his aunts.  So, in reality, he should think it is weird that I don’t work.

Friendly Target Associate:  Well, young man, I don’t have a husband, so I have to pay for all my own bills and food and stuff.  That is why I work!

Bless her heart.  She was so cheerful.  And my boy just looked at her and walked away.  He is lovely, isn’t he?

On Tuesday, I woke up determined to figure out some way to make my homeschooling life more organized.  I told Sweet Pea we should consider making a school room out of the play room.  I hopped in the shower and when I got out, she had already started moving desks into the playroom and teaching her sister how to indent the first sentence in a paragraph.  Which is humorous, actually, because Sweet Pea REFUSES to indent the first sentence in a paragraph.  But I digress.

We made up a school room and the kids all got into helping.

Here are the boys.  They are “learning.”  And when I asked if they could smile for a picture, they refused.  They said they were too busy.

And about 10 minutes into our morning, the boys had came and conquered, leaving our nice neat school area looking like this:

And this:

Check out those ginormous firetrucks.  They were gifts from my in-laws.  Oh!  And they make lots of grand noises, too!

Grandparents.  Giving large, obnoxious toys.  Because they can.

Here is a shot of Daisy Mae during a spelling lesson:

I use All About Spelling with her.  She is spelling the word “problem.”  As in, “I have a problem with the fact that my walls are still peach.”

The girls asked me why I was taking pictures during school.  I told them to not worry about it.  Then they squealed and giggled and squealed:

“Mom!  Are you making us a yearbook?!”

Because they are delusional like that.

I am playing around with the idea of “workboxes.”  Have you heard of these, O Fellow Homeschoolers?  I got the idea from this blog post.  I am pretty sure that a new school room, a giant dry erase board, and workboxes are going to solve all of my homeschooling angst.  Do not tell me otherwise.  Let me have my moment.

And, yes.  I am going to get a dry erase board.  My husband, along with all of his muscles, will be bringing home a . . . wait for it . . . wait for it . . .

4 foot by 8 foot dry erase board AND he will be installing it on the morrow.

!

Oh, be still my heart!

These are the things that excite me now.  I told him it could be my Valentine’s Day present.  Because we are uEber romantic like that.

The ”e” in uEber is brought to you by my know-it-all little sister,  Sister Meagan.

Sister Meagan:  Acting like the big sister since she graduated from the big college in 2010.

Fun Fact Little Sister:  I graduated from college, too.

Sister Meagan is acting all needy-like lately and needing lots of attention just because she got a dog.  She named the dog “Gretta.”  And I approved.  But then she switched to Eleanor for some unknown reason.  And then I went on with my life and forgot all about the dog because, hello, I have other things to think about like DRY ERASE BOARDS.  So she sends me a text tonight that says:

My dog’s great.  Thanks.

This means Sister Meagan is hurt by my lack of enthusiasm for The Dog Formerly Known as Gretta.  Truth be told, I really want a dog.  But an easy dog.  Like one I don’t have to deal with.  And I want to name her or him Norma Jean Riley.

All my life I have wanted a pet named Norma Jean Riley.  And a ridiculously large 4×8 dry erase board.

100 (meaningless) points to anyone who knows where I got the fantastic name “Norma Jean Riley.”

And no.  You can’t steal it.

David and I started to watch the Superbowl . . . simply because society insists that we do.  Yet, neither of us care all that much.  All I could think about was how much I wanted pizza.  Would you believe that there are no pizza delivery options for Ruralville?  And I am out of mozzarella?  And what is homemade pizza without mozzarella?  I ask you?

Imagine my excitement when David fell asleep during the game.  He was twitching and everything.

Score!

I quickly changed the channel.  But then I got bored so now I am blogging.  I have completely lost my mind.  Homeschooling has taken over every thought and I have been a pretty bad blogger-type-person all around.   So, I apologize for not blogging lately, but nothing all too exciting has been happening.

Here’s a list.  Of all the non-existent things going on.  You’re welcome.

1)  David spotted an eagle today in our very own backyard.

An exciting moment, if there ever were one.

2.  I CALLED THE DENTIST and made the appointment to have my gums fixed so my teeth don’t plumb fall out.  Because I am 30 now, and these are the things that must happen.

3.  We got the “estimated” bill for the ER visit.  I shall have this day for mourning.

4.  With the help of my sister-in-law, Lisa, I made four of these soap pumps for mason jars.

Don’t pretend you aren’t jealous.  I think I am going to fill it with dish soap.  Brilliant!  And yes, I should have one of those “design/decorating/loveliness” type blogs, don’t you think?

Yes, those are all my babies in the background.

And yes, I just took a picture of a picture.  Deal with it.

Fun fact:  The girls are 15 months apart and the boys are 15 months apart and both pictures were taken when they were  about 17 months and 2 months old each.  And don’t you love it when parents talk in “months?”  Like if I say my 42 month old had a pee-pee accident, it sounds so much more acceptable than if I say my 3 1/2 year old had a pee-pee accident?  Yes?  No?

5.  I have made two batches of the crockpot yogurt.  And here are my thoughts on that:

Just buy yogurt.

That is all I can think of to update you on.  Riveting wasn’t it?  So, let’s talk about Pinterest.   If you are looking at the computer, muttering to yourself,

“What is this Pinterest I keep hearing about?”

Then leave this blog post haste by clicking on this link and go check it out.  It is fantabulous.  Here are some ideas I would like to try.

Blue tinted mason jars (link and image source)

Awesomeness.  And I could even put one of my handy dandy aforementioned soap pumps atop one of those lovely jars.

Bam!

I am pretty sure I’ll be the envy of all of Ruralville.

I really want to make this:

(source and link)

And when I say “I”, of course I mean “I hope I can coerce my husband into basically doing this entire project for me.”

I would also like to make this:

(source)

Because I certainly have five hours to make “book page rosettes.”

I am pretty sure you all expected a little weirdness from me, so yes, I am planning on making my own liquid hand soap to go in my enviable mason jar soap pumps.  Because these are the things I do now.

Alright.  I better get to fixin’ supper.

Wish it was pizza.

Happy Sunday!

It is 11:08pm.  I should not be up.  However, I just watched a riveting episode of The Waltons and now I am wide awake!

Fun Fact:  I have never seen The Waltons before.

Funner Fact:  I kinda liked it.  I am 30 now, you know?  It is to be expected.

My husband fell asleep on the couch during the aforementioned television program.  Does this surprise us?  No.  No, it does not.  So, I finished the show and came downstairs.  Next, I bemoaned the state of the kitchen.

I am pretty sure I cleaned the kitchen 8 times today.  So why does it look like a tornado hit it?  Pray tell?

Oh, yes.  That’s right. I have children.

Let us discuss the children, shall we?

1)  The dudes.  The dudes decided to “help Mommy” and went and loaded the wood box.  I was doing school with the girls (shocking, I know), and Handsome Dude came running upstairs.

“Mom!  Come here!  You have to look at the wood!  It’s wee big!”

It was big.  Wee, in fact.  I asked them to show me their muscles for a picture, and they obliged.  And yes, Little Dude has his boots on the wrong feet, thank you for noticing.

Handsome Dude:  Did we do dood?

Me:  Yes!  But next time, if it starts to hit the window, just stop.  You’ve got enough.

Handsome Dude:  MMMMMOOOOOOOMMMMM!  I have a dood idea!  It can be the JOB for TRILLDREN!

Me:  Sounds dood.

Dood=good.  Trilldren=children.

Please.  Try to keep up.

2)  I asked the boys to clean up their mess.  It is something I randomly say, because, rest assured, at any given point in the day, there is bound to be a mess caused by the dudes.

They decided to clean up the loft and, being the overachievers that they clearly are today, also decided to wash their cars.

Which was fantastic of them.  And they barely got any water all over the counters.  And I love them.

3)  We have had an incredible winter here in these parts.  Very mild and warm-ish.  So, we decided to walk to meet Handsome Dude’s bus.

I know this is so way confusing for everyone, but, yes, I do homeschool, but HD goes to preschool.  The plan is to homeschool him next year for kindergarten.  Rest assured, I will lose my mind next year and no longer have time to blog, exercise, think, or shower.  FYI.

The bus decided to come early and I could hear the “beep beep beep” of the bus backing up to where I am supposed to be waiting in my car.  I was still at least 1/4 mile away.  Which is far when you are walking with Little Dude.  So, I told the girls to wait on the side of the road with him while I RAN to meet the bus.

Do you know how long it has been since I ran?

I am sure the bus driver was impressed with me, late and not able to speak.  The teacher, who rides the bus with the kids, asked me if I saw the “giant creature.”

Me, still unable to talk:  Huh?

Teacher:  Oh!  I just saw something big, like a moose or something walk down your way!

If I was able to speak, I would have told them I was wee scared and asked them for a lift home.  I might have even picked up the three other kids I left on the side of the road with the phantom moose.  Because I am a caring parent like that.

But, alas.  I am out of shape and did have to run, for like two full minutes, without stopping, so I just had to smile and wave and hope for the best.

My other three children were obediently standing on the side of the road, visiting the cows.  As they are wont to do.  We headed back and the older three ran ahead and I was stuck with Little Dude.

Little Dude has many questions.  Bless his heart.

We talked about . . . snow and grass and where is the grass and why did I made him wear his boots if he wasn’t “a-pposed” to walk in the snow and look at the “ribbers” and he knows the “ribbers” aren’t really “ribbers” they are just snow-rain and look at the horses!  they like to play in the “ribbers” and do they drink the snow-rain, Mom because that’s wacky and why is the moon out because it is not dark time?

Then my boy looked up at the moon and shouted:  Go way!  Come back when its dark, K?

So, I finally got him inside and pretended not to notice him bringing his precious stick from the walk inside.

He can add it to the pile.

Later, Dudes.

Ok, I’m sure you have all been waiting with bated breath to hear how the cauliflower mash went.

It was not so good.

Perhaps I did it wrong?  I cannot be certain.  I mashed about 8 potatoes with a head of cauliflower.  It was kind of gummy and strange texture, but the taste was ok.  Nobody complained (an amazing feat if there ever were one), but no one ate very much.  Little Dude however ate about 4 billion of the elk meatballs.  So feel free to ask me for that recipe.  If you are so inclined.

Sweet Pea, the homeschooled basketball player, had a game this weekend.  Let us all take a moment to admire Sweet Pea and her “can-do” spirit, seeing as how she is the only child on this team who does not go to the same school.

Holla, Sweet Pea!

She is extremely aggressive and has been known to guard her opponent even while she is on offense.  Her team was down about 9 points, which is about a million in third grade terms.  However, they had a comeback and ended up winning!  Sweet Pea even made a basket!

Holla, Sweet Pea!

My parents came over for lunch.  My mother has oft been asking me to help her with The Pinterest, as confusing as it is.

Mom:  Did you see the chicken on Pinterest?  The one in the bikini?

Me:  No.  Did you pin it?

Mom:  Pinterest won’t let me pin anything.

Me:  Are you logged in?

Mom:  I think so.  But when I try to pin, it just shows me a bunch of numbers.  So I can’t do it.

Me:  Well, I’m following you on Pinterest and I never see you pinning anything, so you probably just aren’t logged in.

Mom:  I don’t want to log in.

Me:  But then you can’t pin anything.

Mom:  But I can’t pin anything.  It just shows numbers.

Me:  But you can’t pin unless you are logged in.

Mom:  But I don’t want to.

And thus, it goes on.

So, since she was over at my house, I decided to nip this Pinterest issue in the bud.  I get her all logged in and I must inform you all that she did, in fact, remember her password.

I KNOW!

Me:  Mom, you have like two pins.

Mom:  How do you know?

Me:  These are you boards.

Mom: I don’t like them.  And I never pinned that.

Me:  Ok.  Look!  You have 16 followers!

Mom:  I know!  People have been telling me they are following me!

Me:  So, let’s pin something.

My mom chooses something and goes to click on “repin.”  As the mouse is hovering over the “repin” button, the number of the pin appears.

Mom:  See!  It’s crazy!  Just a bunch of numbers!

Throwing all caution to the wind, I carelessly ignored the mysterious numbers and clicked on “repin” anyways.  And gosh darn it, it worked.

Mom:  Oh.  Ok.  So let’s  find the chicken in a bikini.

I leave to go do something exciting like dishes and whatnot, and my mom and girls decide to find this chicken.  My mother types “bikini chicken” in the search bar and, much to her surprise,  turns up oodles of scantily women in bikinis.

Sweet Pea:  I’m not sure this is appropriate for us.

So, mom keeps searching and searching for this elusive bikini chicken.  Of course, it is my fault she can’t find it because I forced her to log in.

Mom:  I don’t like your way of doing Pinterest.  I like the world wide web version.

I know.  She doesn’t make any sense.  But we just let her be.  Don’t want to crush her spirit, you know?

After about 30 minutes of searching, I open a new window and just google it.  Would you like to see this exciting chicken picture that we had to drop everything and find?  You know you do.

That’s my mom for you.

So, mother leaves and early the next morning, I get a phone call.

Mom:  I want to go back to the old way of Pinterest!

Me:  Why?

Mom:  All the pictures are smaller!  The World Wide Web version shows bigger pictures.

Me:  Mom.  Are you looking at your boards?

Me:  Because those are thumbnails.  You need to get out of that to see the bigger pictures.

Mom:  I don’t know.  I’m probably just going to log out.

Well.  She must have figured something out, because later that day I saw a pin from my mother!

True.  It was a picture of a backyard pinned to “Books Worth Reading.”

But, STILL!  Progress!

Alright.  I was supposed to be in the shower a half hour ago.  Later dudes!

PS-If you are not a Pinterest-type person this post made no sense to you.  I am sorry for wasting your time.

Baby Steps.

I am making mashed cauliflower and sticking it into decent mashed potatoes tonight.  For health reasons.  Of course.

Says the girl who can’t lose weight.  Ever.

I am debating as to whether or not I should inform the family of this farce of mine?  Probably not.

I’m also making ELK MEATBALLS.

Says the girls who won’t eat elk.

My husband is taking FOREVER and a day to get home from work.  It’s kind of inconvenient for me.  I am really quite lonely out here all by my lonesome, so I shall blog, even though I have not one thing to say.  Unless you count the whole intro on cauliflower.  As exciting as it was.

Little Dude.  He’s something else these days.  He is quite obsessive with the alphabet.  So, for kicks and grins today, we “played” ABC’s.

He’s actually blending some cvc words.  Oh, and yes, you should be impressed at my usage of “cvc” right there.

He does pretty good.  His accuracy rate is about 50%.  So he’s probably just guessing.  But let me have my moment.  It’s the only thing I have to be proud of.  Other than my previous usage of “cvc” and my soon-to-be epic cauliflower mash.

The astute reader might notice that the boy is without shirt.

Tis true.  I took it away from him.  He is constantly chewing on his clothes.  Like way really bad and ruining them.  So, he can’t have them anymore.  Yes.  Brilliant parenting on my part, no?  But what can you do?  You can’t allow your child to eat his clothing, can you?  That’s crazy talk.

Little Dude tried to take a swipe at Handsome Dude’s glasses today.  Therefore and henceforth, I gave him a bag and told him to pack up his beloved “ABC’s.”

He took it well, don’t you think?  He has some killer molars.  That reminds me.  I am supposed to call the dentist.  For like two months now.

Everyday I wake up and say to myself:

“Teller.  You must call the dentist.  This is the day!  Do not forget!  Your teeth might fall out!”

And everyday, I fail myself.  I have some sort of strange receding gum line condition and the dentist has warned me that if I do not get it fixed, I might lose teeth.  Which would be inconvenient, for sure.  But it is really inconvenient for me to make a phone call, you know?  Plus I am living in fear of the upcoming ER bill from HD’s little accident.  I might have to pick between losing my house and losing my teeth.

Well.  It is 6pm and I STILL have not gotten the “call.”  You know.  The call that let’s me know my dashing Lumberjack is on his way home?

Once I get the call, I shall have an hour before he gets here.  This is good, because it shall give me time to hide all evidence of the horrors that shall be happening to the cauliflower.

But I am sooo lonely.  I even texted Bimlissa and told her I wanted a baby . . . just to see if she would text/talk to me.

No response.

Maybe I will text her and tell her I am moving to Tennessee.

Says the girl who is in dire need of attention.

Later, dudes.

Pop Quiz Hot Shots:

What is the most terrifying happenstance known to man?

That.

That is the most terrifying happenstance known to man.  You see, dear readers, that would be the work of one Little Dude.  Little Dude was left unattended in the bathroom and did who-knows-what to the toothbrushes owned by:

A) Himself

B) Handsome Dude

C) Daisy Mae

D) David

Little Dude is gross, there’s no denying it.  You should see what he does to the toilets.  Gives me the peepee shivers.  You do NOT want him touching, licking, or sniffing your toothbrush, not do you want him scrubbing the sink with your toothbrush.  Trust me.  Luckily my toothbrush is in a secret hiding place.  Because I am smart.  And have sat on many a soiled toilet seat and no longer trust the boy with anything in the hygiene department.

I trust you all had a good weekend, no?  I got many a freezer meal prepped.  My ma-in-law asked for freezer meals for Christmas and I am lovingly preparing many of them for her, chock full of elk and everything.  Because my in-laws aren’t, you know, subject to compulsive vomiting at the thought of elk like most people.

If anything they are impressed with the thought of elk.

?

Who are these people, these peoples I married into?  I ask you?

We also went sledding this weekend.  We have no sledding hills on our lands, mind you, so we had to trespass onto our neighbor’s fields.  His name is Buzz and he seems pretty “cas” about such things.  Lest any of you are confused, “cas” is short for “casual.”

Please.  Try to keep up.

We gave Buzz several packs of frozen elk for his family to sup on.  Buzz, like my in-laws, seemed excited to receive such a blessing.  I guess it is appropriate that he is now my neighbor, no?  And yes, my boys think he is Buzz Lightyear.  So he is the coolest neighbor ever.

In order to complete the “Tresspass Sledding Adventure” we had to all fit onto one 4 wheeler and pull a sled with a rope attached to said 4 wheeler.

My dad is totally “stern-talking” to the computer right now, wondering why on earth his daughter is allowing his grandchildren to be on or around a 4 wheeler.  I am, most assuredly,  in trouble.

Well, I insisted on driving the 4 wheeler, of which my boys call “The Four Whee Ride!”, to ensure that reasonable speeds would be maintained.  David kept yelling at me to go faster, but I maintained my speed of 5 miles an hour, much to his chagrin.

Yes!  Our family of 6 went traipsing down the road on a sled pulled by a Four Whee Ride!  We are those people now.

We made it safe and sound and the sledding fun began.

The girls and Handsome Dude.

David and Little Dude.

After the sledding adventure, we rushed home to pretend clean our house and had friends over for dinner.

Yes.  We have friends.  Why do you ask?

During the dinner, Little Dude met his first “best friend.”  He would not leave “best friend’s” side and had to be reminded numerous times to:

“Stop kissing your friend and eat your dinner!”

Yes.  My boy would not stop kissing their boy.  I’m sure they’ll come back over.

Shockingly, Handsome Dude angered Little Dude and Little Dude bent the life out of Handsome Dude’s glasses.

I think I may have finally figured out the appropriate punishment for the glasses breaking.

Take away the fridge ABC’s.

Little Dude plays with these ABC’s on the fridge all the time.  So, I gave him a bag and told him to pack them up.

Oh, for the wailing and weeping and gnashing of teeth!

SCORE!

And, finally, we went to our homeschool co-op today.  During co-op, I never see my girls, the social butterflies that they clearly are.  But I always, always, have lunch with my boys.  For we are bff, you know?

Well, Handsome Dude was trying to have a little convo with me.  The gal sitting next to me and I could not stop laughing.  Because it is totally cool to laugh at your kid, didn’t you know?  But he seriously makes it difficult to carry on a conversation with.

HD:  Mom!  MOM!  I’m going to see my best friend.  I’ll be back.

He runs off for about four seconds.

HD:  Mom!  I saw Elijah, but he cannot play.  He needs to eat his lunch.  His girl said.

Lest any of you are confused, “his girl” would be Elijah’s mom.

Me:  You need to finish your lunch, too.

HD:  I AM.

Me:  Calm down.  Finish your food.

HD:  Mom!  I want to play with my brudder.

I look at Little Dude.  He has pudding all over his face.  But what else is new?

Me:  Well.  He’s eating.

HD:  No!  Not Cokey-da-bear!

Cokey-da-bear is his brother.  Duh.

HD:  My udder brudder.

Me:  Who?

HD:  My best friend.  You know?  My guy!

Me:  Elijah?

HD:  Elijah?  I not know who Elijah is?  No!  My friend!

Me:  I thought your friend was Elijah?

HD:  Who’s Elijah?

Me:  Eat your lunch.

HD:  It’s ok.  I think my friend died anyways.

?

You will all be happy to know that HD introduced me to his best friend later on.

His name was James.

Goodnight.

So.

Anyone want to come over for a BBQ?

Ha.  Yes.  That was lame, but this is what you have come to expect from me, is it not?  All the southerners are baffled because:

A)  They don’t see Barbecue

B)  They are wondering why I am showing a picture of an outdoor grill.

Do y’all recall my convo with a Tennessean in regards to BBQ?  Yes?  No?

Bimlissa, my dearheart friend, sent me this picture from her general region last week.

They had a snow day.

?

Our school district?

Had school today.

Let us examine Bimlissa’s photo again, shall we?

100 (meaningless) points to anyone who can find the snow.

I can find a smudge on Bimlissa’s lens.  This brings me great comfort in knowing that I am not the only one who has this sort of thing happen to her.

Apparently Bimlissa is sick today.  So we won’t make fun of her photography skills.  Or skillz, whichever you prefer.

So, we got our school work done today and then the kids went outside to play while I worked on some cooking.

Sweet Pea, who is clearly not as hearty as my other children, had already come inside at this point because it was too cold.

Little Dude somehow coerced Daisy Mae into pulling him all around while he took a nap.

I think he really fell asleep there.  And no.  He does not have gigantor feet.  He is wearing his big sister’s boots.

And yes.  Handsome Dude’s glasses are not on him.  This is because the lens popped out, as per the usual custom around here.

I have some links to share with you all.  Put on your party pants!

1)  I am making yogurt.  I KNOW!  Could I get any stranger?  I am starting to worry even myself.  I was chatting with a gal earlier this week who was telling me all about how she makes her own yogurt.  She kept saying horrific things like “raw milk”  and “from my own cow” and “live cultures.”  And I was thinking Yoplait was my new bff, all while pretending to have a clue about what she was speaking of.

I didn’t.

And I am NOT getting a cow.

But then!  Then I found this recipe for yogurt in the crockpot!  And I said to myself, “Teller, let’s face the facts.  You already make your own laundry soap, fabric softener, and cleaning solutions.  You “can” summer bounty.  You bake bread. You grind elk meat whilst wearing a flannel shirt.  You own Carhartt overalls.

Go ahead.  Make your own yogurt.  Who are you trying to impress anymore?”

So.  I am making my own yogurt in the crock pot.  With milk I got at the STORE and yogurt with live cultures.

Here is the link.  Go ahead.  Click on it.  Join the dark side.

2)  I am also doing a bit of freezer cooking this afternoon.  I am making clam chowder, which is interesting because I don’t eat clams.  I am also making elk taco soup.  This is even more interesting, because I don’t eat elk.  And I am making PW cinnamon rolls.

This is fantastic because I will definitely eat cinnamon rolls!  Hence my muffin top.

3)  I found a free little freebie for homeschooling.  Yes.  I homeschool, too.  I told you I was weird.

It’s printables for learning hymns and hymn copywork and all that good stuff.  We started the first one today:  All Creatures of Our God and King.

It was enjoyable.

4)  We have some friends who are trying to adopt from Africa.  They are hosting a little Starbucks coffee giveway.  You are entered if you make a $10 donation via PayPal.

If you are interested in supporting them, click here.

Happy Weekend!