Anna finished two more quilts this week. This quilt is for her bed. It is a little wider than a twin size. It looks distorted because of the way we washed and hung it. That will all go away once she uses it.

She also made this adorable baby quilt. The fabrics are so nice, I wish they would show up on the picture.
Today, Allen and I were driving through amish country and we came upon this bull. He looked huge. Right next to the fence were two horses pulling a buggy. The bull looked huge compared to the horses. Last week I bought this rusty, old cast iron pan on eBay for $4.70 and $9.89 shipping. I'd been trying to buy one of these for awhile, so I was thrilled. I have a feeling the sight of rust scared everyone away. Not me!

It took me all of 5 minutes to sand away the rust with my tough scrubby sponge, then wash with soapy water. After that, I put it in a warm oven for about 10 minutes. I only used about a teaspoon of oil to season the whole pan. Doesn't it look wonderful?! So today I used Paula Dean's Soft Ball Pretzels recipe to make a batch of soft pretzel rods. I followed the recipe exactly, using white flour. They were delicious. The cast iron gives the pretzels a slight crust while making the inside very chewy. Perfect! The pretzels disappeared quickly.
While I was at class with Allen, Lizzie and Ruthie made a second batch of soft pretzels using only whole wheat flour. Another winner...and much healthier. Anna then helped the girls make dinner so that we could sit down to eat when I came home. Thanks so much, girls. Everything was wonderfully delicious.

Today Mike took Maggie to Walter Reed Army Medical Center for yet another appointment. The doctors are ready to totally change course and try new things in their efforts to help Maggie. We are so thankful. What an answer to prayer.

Tonight Maggie told me that she was feeling very peaceful. She said there is nothing like a trip to the hospital to make you realize how much you have. Especially at a hospital like Walter Reed where the full effects of the war are evident. I'm thankful that the Lord has allowed Maggie this peace.

Well, we're all scrambling to pack. We leave for Bethany Beach, Delaware, first thing in the morning. I can hardly wait to hear the waves crashing on the beach.

Enjoy your weekend. Many blessings ~ Kathie

So you're wondering how Maggie's Bootcamp for Ducks is going? What do you think? At least he's not on her car!
Someone asked us what muscovies look like when they fly. This is the best picture we could get. I enjoy seeing these big ducks flying past our windows. More than once they've underestimated their takeoff and bumped into the gutter, just short of the roof.
For you local folks, the Super Walmart has white peaches and white nectarines on sale for $.99/lb!! I bought 12 lbs yesterday and today more than half are gone. But they sure are delicious!Maggie is going a little stir crazy these days with not being able to use her hands and arms. Arms....did I say arms?!
Darling Maggie tied two ping pong paddles to her arms so she could play ping pong with Anna. She was really good at it too! Actually, she started out with the paddle between her teeth, but she didn't want to hurt her jaw. So if you're wondering why there are teeth marks on our paddles...now you know. We learned that Golden Grahams cereal no longer contains milk. Hurray! So we did our part and bought a huge box. That was our dinner for tonight. They were as good as we remembered. As a rule, our family doesn't eat cereal that has more than 6g of sugars, but we decided to break our rule to celebrate. We are very thank for FAAN and the work that they do to inform manufacturers as well as folks about food allergies. I know how much easier our lives have gotten with so many choices of nondairy foods.

Hurricane Ike is heading straight for Texas. I will be glad when this hurricane season is over! Our little church down in Corpus Christi is in a very low area, so we are praying for their safety. Today, Dad's friend, Randy, installed all the hurricane shutters on Dad's home on North Padre Island. The shutters to cover the door aren't long enough. Yikes! Dad told Randy to go ahead and nail up some boards or whatever he could find to cover the doorway. Now it's up to our prayers. Ike is expected to land Saturday morning.

Many blessings ~ Kathie

We got lots of schoolwork done today. Yippee! I found some new Geography worksheets today that we all enjoyed. If you enjoy this website, be sure to write to the owner and thank her. (The worksheets are all free.)

Late this afternoon I took Allen to his Tang Soo Do class and forgot to leave any instructions about dinner. So it was a real throw-together affair! I made some Sourdough Cornmeal bread that I baked in my cast iron pan. I think this recipe would be good if you can eat eggs. I tried my usual substitution of adding more sourdough starter, but I'd like to try another recipe. As usual...my family loved them!Lizzie and Maggie expermented with a soft ice cream recipe and wow, it was a winner! They even made a caramel sauce to go over it. The ice cream recipe was cashew-based. Definitely a keeper recipe. I will post this recipe on Maggie's Test Kitchen Blog tomorrow.
Maggie wasn't pleased to see one of our ducks on her car. She declared she was going to start Boot Camp for Ducks tomorrow. Watch out!

As the cool weather settles in, our thoughts are turning to campfires. We found this campfire setup online for anywhere from $29-59. Allen wants to make his own. I think it's pretty nifty, especially the way it folds up. But our family just gathers a bunch of junk wood (lots of that on our 23 acres!) and throws it into the middle of our field. Then we drag out our pool furniture, or turn some thick logs on end. The best campfires are when we invite a bunch of friends over!

We keep trying to figure out how, in the Roy Roger's movies, the cowboy sits around a blazing fire with his guitar...and it never goes out of tune from the heat!

Mike brought home some flowers today which really brightened the kitchen.

Song of Solomon 5:13 "His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet FLOWERS: his lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh." Yes, our great God is the author of romance!

Many blessings ~ Kathie

Doesn't Ollie look happy? Maggie and Lizzie experimented with raspberries and gelatin, and, well, it was headed to the compost pile. But we remembered how much Ollie likes raspberries, so he took care of it!
Doesn't this look like a restful nap to you? This duck obviously doesn't have low blood pressure!
Tonight we heard some squawking and found the bigger ducks picking on little Jake, so Lizzie "laid some love on him" (to quote the folks at church).

Ollie got in on all the loving too. Living with pets is so much fun.
Today I went to a little out-of-the-way country store and came home with these two jars of jam. One is Kiwi Jam, the other is Rhubarb Jam. I only liked the Kiwi, but my family likes both of them. I've never seen these flavors before.
Our family eats a lot of Good Seasonings salad dressing, the kind that comes with the left bottle, above. This year I've driven myself crazy with this bottle because it leaks all the time...especially in the refrigerator. The oil is really intelligent. It always waits until I wash the bottle and put it in the refrigerator. It waits a few minutes, then seeps down the bottle, onto the shelf. So today in Walmart I found this cute little 1-pint rubbermaid pitcher with a tight-fitting lid. Very tight! It's definitely a keeper. (I know it's not as pretty as the glass bottle, but there's also nothing pretty about a batty woman with an oily refrigerator!)

Mike and Sarah are preparing for their first day back to homeschool co-op tomorrow. Mike is teaching Physics and Algebra, and Sarah is teaching Writing classes (divided by ages). Maggie will be helping another woman with cooking class.

Many blessings ~ Kathie

We are having a relaxing Sunday afternoon. This is Mike teaching our youngest children the facts about fractions. (Actually, it's a brushup for the older 3.) If you are looking for good Math drill sheets, go to http://www.math-drills.com/. I have been using these worksheets for a few years now and have been very pleased. The best part is that they are FREE!For those of you who enjoy free computer games that benefit your brain, I've added a new game to the list. My first game is called Free Rice. My second game is called the Sheep Game.

The third game is called Flash Fabrica. Let me explain about this game. This game is written in Japanese, but the rules are simple. Click on Start. In 3 seconds, you will see numbers that pop up. You need to remember the numbers. When the numbers disappear, you need to click on the empty circles in the order of least to greatest. At the end of 10 of these little games, a number will appear that represents the chronological age that your brain represents.

This game is truly a great exercise for your brain. The first 100 times I played, I always got the first 5 games correct, but missed the sixth. My "brain age" was 26. Now I can get my brain age down to 20. I even got it to 18 once!

When I say that these are my games...I had nothing to do with designing them. They are just my favorites that were given to me by my friends. (Obviously, they felt the need to send them to me!)

Have a restful Sunday. Hanna is a long-forgotten storm...now we are eyeing Hurricane Ike. Keeps us on our knees!

Many blessings ~ Kathie

We are in the midst of Hanna this morning...so no Outlaw Days. The ducks are enjoying all the rain.

Here they are swimming in the puddles at the base of our oak tree.

Last night we had Greek Gyros. They were delicious...and very easy to make. I was able to find whole wheat pita bread with flax seeds. Very delicious. Now that Walmart sells ground lamb for cheap, I was able to follow the recipe exactly...except for the white sauce, I substituted nondairy sourcream for the yogurt. It was a real hit with many requests to have gyros more often.

If you live nearby and would like to try a gyro, go to Niko's Pizza, located in St. Mary's Square. They have the best greek food, but their Gyros are the best!

We are going to spend the day indoors. We have a lot of music to practice, as well as sewing to get done.

Enjoy your weekend. Many blessings ~ Kathie

All eyes on Hanna

My Dad has been so concerned about his waterfront home in Virginia, that he forgot he should be concerned for his home on the coast in Hilton Head, South Carolina! Yesterday he got a phonecall from his Homeowner's Association in HH to let him know they are prepared for the storm. He caught Dad by surprise! (I'm glad we can't afford a bunch of waterfront homes ~ too nerve wracking!)

As of this morning, TS Hanna is maintaining 73 mph winds...just 2 mph shy of hurricane status. Since this storm is expected to come up the coast, my children and I will be tying down the trampoline and bringing everything indoors.

Our family is keeping a close eye on Hanna because we were planning to go to the Outlaw Days over on the Eastern Shore on Saturday. But Saturday looks like it's gonna be a washout!

It's hard to find western-themed family events here in Maryland, so this is a real treat! I tried to get a picture of the covered wagon but it just wouldn't copy. (I wonder if there are any eastern-themed events on the west coast?!)
Lizzie is excited because there will be Pasofino horses there. For some reason, Lizzie likes this breed best which are known for their natural gait. There will be all kinds of horse racing and showing, as well as cowboy shooting events. There will also be shows. My favorite will be the re-enactment of the shooting at the famous OK Corral. That should be fun!
Hopefully this won't turn into a mudhole for Sunday's events!
This is a picture of the Tuckahoe Actors Guild. They have wonderful names like Eliza Jane, Six Gun Sue, Alotta Trouble, and Buffalo Chip. You gotta love 'em!

I'm thankful today is Friday. This has been a good but long back-to-school week. One good thing about the impending storm...we certainly need the rain. Our ground is very dry.

Many blessings ~ Kathie