Oh goodness....Zander is getting upset at the options I'm offering him. He's been asking very nicely but I still keep telling him no. He just said, "Mom.....you are giving me a little headache". :::snort::::

OK came home today from HEB and discovered that this fella had fallen out of a tree. They had the poor dog on the leash as she now has a reputation of chasing birds and CATCHING them.

Here he is - a grackle...with a face that only a mother could love....

It really is sad when they keep falling out of the tree. They cry and cry for their mamas.

I know it’s been busy when I’ve not blogged for two whole days. {G} Stacia is in bed, it’s 10:00 p.m. and Mike is still at work - this is his day off :::snort::J Josiah is at work, we watched *The Kid* and now the older boys are finishing up with some *Hogan’s Heroes*. I’ll quickly update the blog.

THURSDAY – We found ourselves at a local park at 9 a.m. THIS is a better time to go to the parks than our typical after lunch time. It has been really hot here…over 100* all week. I think it was 105* one week – at least someone said it was. The kids had the choice of going to the park or the pool on Thursday and they chose the park. I had only had 3 hours of sleep. After the park I went and bought some things that Mike needed for a staff party. Then we headed home and I took a nap. I made a double batch of granola (oh yeah Kristine – still mean to post those recipes). I threw it in the dehydrator – worked well. I do think some mesh screens would make it a bit less messy. {G}I rounded out the day by attending a Heart 2 Heart Mom’s Night Out at a local restaurant. It was a nice break to get out and get to know some new women. I’ve been meaning to attend since Feb and have never been able to break away. I noted I’d not heard from Ray, the mechanic, for 2 days and hoped that meant they were fixing the van.

The bottom part of my dehydrator was cracked during our move. It didn’t bother me to use it but now that I use it almost every day….and I was planning on buying more trays….well I got to thinking it may be time to replace it. It seemed fine for occasional use…but it can’t be safe to have the housing totally unscrewed and cracked. My friend Heather’s husband is a deputy fire chief. I have begun to think that it would be “wrong” for one of Heather’s friends to burn down her home with a defective dehydrator. I’ve begun researching a new one on the internet. The one I have “American Harvest snack master” has worked fine….but I’m using it all the time now and think maybe one with more wattage would be good. I’m not sure. If anyone’s done research I’d love to hear which brand/model you would buy if you could get ANYTHING and which one you’d buy if money were a consideration. {G}

FRIDAY - Got a nice bike ride in this a.m. If I can figure out how to get a ride in tomorrow I will make my goal of 250 miles. The problem will be that the Sr Prot has called a PAC meeting for 9 a.m. tomorrow. I can’t be to upset since my one and only is the culprit who called the meeting.

After working out and showering I drove Jamin over to Ian and Becky’s to water the lawn and flowers. Stacia goes. Zander and Nolan wanted to come. I agreed. I’ll rethink that in the future. Somehow Stacia lost her pacifier. It will be interesting to see where it turns up. The lawn took longer than expected. I read for the first 1 ½ hours….then I got bored and vacuumed (but not their bedroom – I wouldn’t invade their privacy). I read more from *Nourishing Traditions*. I had hoped our library would have a copy but they don’t. I may have to buy the book. The library did have Rodale’s book on natural cooking or some title close to that. They’re sending it to our local branch. I want to buy a good one with basic info on various oils, enzymes etc……Read about enzymes today. Had to laugh that one book said not to cook anything over 105* (a cookbook Becky had) and the other one said nothing over a dry heat of 150*. Both had some great looking recipes in them…..I’m having fun experimenting with new things.

When we returned from watering, I got a call from Ray the mechanic. Seemed the van was “as ready as we can get it”. That wasn’t a good sign. I really did NOT want to drive out to Robert Lee again…..because it sounded like the van was not fixed which means I’ll be going back out again with it as soon as it dies again. Ugh.

I made a quick trip to HEB. The produce manager there has let Adrienne and I buy a case of JAZZ apples for .80 a lb…..and they are on sale for $1.49. They are GREAT apples! Really yummy. We got a case last week or maybe it was earlier this week for $32 and I picked up another case today for $31…..but he said they were a special promotional deal and they won’t have them on a regular basis. I think apple season is waning. I got quite a hankering for artichokes today. I called Heather and asked about the chance of ordering some from the co-op. They come in bags of 4 and there are 10 bags in a case. I know I can’t use a full case but she will take a bag and Adrienne will take a couple of bags so maybe. They were only $1.30 for 4 and they are $1.99 EACH in the grocery store. Good grief I should not update a blog when I’m tired this is starting to sound like the Food Network. :::snort::::

I dehydrated some apples today. I also made a graham cracker crust that was fairly HEALTHY….organic graham crackers with no preservatives etc, maple syrup and a bit of olive oil. I’ll use coconut oil when I get some. Then I made a strawberry pie with it….I had two choices and Jamin told me to choose the easiest. LOL.

Mike and I drove out to Robert Lee. Just as we expected, they did not fix the van. They can’t figure out what is wrong with it. They are fixated on the idea that there is some radio signal or microwave signal from McDonald’s that is scrambling the computer in the van…but then why does it restart???? AND where are these towers? We don’t see any. They installed a BIGGER black data box. This will hold 8 incidents on it. The van was only stopping every week – month…..it did die twice last weekend. We’re praying it dies a LOT this weekend so that we can record it and get the van back in. We really want this resolved while it is still under warranty and before our trip to the Girls’ graduation.

Mike came home for pizza night and then went on back to work. Hopefully all the details are coming together and we’ll have a very smooth and quick PAC planning meeting in the MORNING tomorrow and it won’t stretch to the AFTERNOON. LOL

Just heard from friends this week: it’s PCS season in the military. The time when new orders come down and we begin shuffling around. Melanie and family are going to Germany and Julie and family are going to England…..and we keep requesting overseas and going to TX. LOL BUT TX really IS “a whole other country”. LOL

A few pictures from our Wednesday evening duck feeding excursion. This city has some gorgeous river walks/parks.
The kids called this one "gothic duck"

Father's Day Contest

We entered Mike in a Father's Day Contest. He was chosen as a daily winner. Today at 3 p.m. PST they will put all the daily winners in a hat and draw a winner. It would be so cool if they picked Mike....but if not, he still was chosen as a daily winner. LOL

Click here for details...and scroll down to see our NAME as a Tuesday daily winner. If he wins it a trip for two to Southern CA...working on the pit crew at a NASCAR race, Knotsberry farm tickets, hotel, air fare, rental car......I can dream. LOL

Here's the picture that we sent them:

DAY IN REVIEW

Jamin and I went over to a friend’s house to water their lawn bright and early. They are out of town for a couple of weeks. Adrienne had said that when her son fed their dogs she read Becky’s books….see where this is going???? I spent 1 ½ hours today reading one of Becky’s books. I may have to order it – I may not. If any of you have *Nourishing Traditions* by Sally Fallon – do let me know what you think. It’s available for only $15 at amazon.com. I read all the entries on the thyroid in the book. I wanted to learn WHY I need iodine and what are the good sources for getting it. {G} I discovered that I should use sea salt daily (we only use sea salt) and that PINEAPPLE is a good source of organic iodide…..well….blow me over….I’m already eating that every day too for the bwhatever that helps with arthritis. She said that raw spinach and broccoli inhibit the absorption of iodine and I also eat that most days too! Maybe they’ll balance out? I discovered that fish-head broth is excellent for those of us with hypothyroidism…..ARGH. I had my fill of anything to do with fish heads growing up….but I suppose…maybe…after all it’s not balut. :::snort::: I’m not sure what I think of this author. I’ve heard she researches a LOT…but then I’ve also heard that she thinks we should eat raw meat – that isn’t happening here! BTW this book was on the couch – I honestly didn’t search through drawers and cupboards…ewww….I would never betray a friend’s trust like that…only books that are clearly visible on living room or kitchen furniture.

I dropped Jamin off; picked Arielle up and headed for Target and Albertsons. We needed to get her shoes and such….and I picked up some produce that we were out of – that’s a first in months. LOL

I made Hungarian Swiss Steak (so is it still Swiss steak?), salad, toast, fruit and mashed potatoes for dinner. Josiah has been eating dinners with us this week. I KNEW it would only be a matter of time until he was sick of Chick-fil-A and willing to eat organic. :::snort::: As our family grew, our table shrunk and we had no room for people and food at the table. So we opted to serve meals buffet style for the past several years. I put all the food on the kitchen counter and the kids file past, grab silverware and a cup and that’s that…..well….I decided that they needed to learn table etiquette. LOL AND in this house we do have both our tables pushed together in our dining room – so there is room for the food AND the people around our table again. I met with some resistance from my son who doesn’t like change at all. Poor thing. I still think it will be good. It IS more work. {G} We have to pull the tables apart when the girls are home so may have to go back to buffet for that time period in August.

Mike got home at a “decent” hour tonight. After dinner we headed down to the river to feed ducks. That is always a fun outing. Josiah is working but everyone else was there. I’ll have to upload pictures in the a.m.

OH – Zander keeps waking me up at 4:30 a.m. He needs to use the bathroom BUT he is sure there are spiders in the bathroom. I bought a fly swatter today and told him that he is now the “exalted swatter of all bugs”. Wow. He hooked up a belt and stuck the swatter in there and happily spent the afternoon as a man with a mission.

Another Morning - Another Quail Egg

Our "Beautiful Car" - the loaner - the wimpy gas sucker! But it is sportier than a 15 pass van!

CRUNCHES –

Kelly, Jen – remember laughing about my goal to work up to *one crunch*? I can do 10 now. The first 4 are pretty, like the book….the last 6 are De’Etta style…but I’m doing it….I think my new goal will be 20. Stay tuned!