AFBC Chior tour schedule

Joy and Madison will be at these locations for choir tour.

Oct. 17th Leave Baxter Springs for Guymon (stay at Guymon this night)
Oct. 18th Morning concert at Guymon
PM concert at Liberal
Oct. 19th Concert at Follett
Oct. 20th Concert at Spearman
Oct. 21st Concert at Hereford
Oct. 22nd Concert at Hardesty
Oct. 23rd Concert at Pampa
Oct. 24th stay overnight at Balko
Oct. 25th Morning concert at Balko
Evening concert at Laverne
Oct. 26th Concert at Midway
Oct. 27th Concert at Kingman

Menu 9-28 thru 10-4

I decided this week to just list menu ideas. Last week I kept changing what I was having when, so this week I can just pick from the list.

Menus:
Biscuits & gravy
Chicken & noodles
X Sloppy Joe's extended with black beans
fried rice
Broccoli & cheese soup
Ham, beans & cornbread
salmon patties
creamed dried beef on toast
creamed hard boiled eggs on toast
mystery meatballs with sauce (recipe at page bottom)
X bean and cheese burritos
omelets

Sides:
fried cabbage & onions with carrots
Vegetables
mashed potatoes
slaw
potato pancakes


Mystery burgers or meatballs
2 egg whites
1 c. cottage cheese
1 c. oatmeal
1 pkg. onion soup mix
Mix ingredients together and form burgers or meatballs. Fry in a small amount of oil.
Be sure to save the yolks for custard or other egg dishes.

Happy 95th birthday Bess

Today is Bess's birthday. She is 95. Bess is a sweet lady in our church. Beautiful inside and out. She loves to quilt and she loves people. Bess has made our family feel welcome from day one. We love you Bess, Happy Birthday.

From an email I recieved

An older rancher went to the doctor to have a cut sewn up and they got on the subject of Obama. The doctor asked the rancher what he thought of the president.
The rancher replied that Obama was just a post turtle.
The doctor was puzzled having never heard the term post turtle before asked the rancher to explain.
Well when you're driving down a country road and you see a turtle perfectly balanced on a post, that's a post turtle.
The rancher could see that the doctor was still puzzled so he continued.
You know he didn't get up there by himself, he doesn't belong up there, he doesn't know what to do while he's up there,and you just wonder what kind of idiot put him up there to begin with.

Always a hitch in the plans

Every time we do a project it always ends up with more to it. We are having trouble finding thresholds for the doorways. Also quarter round for around the edges.
We decided to finish the bathroom trim and we were doing fine and then all of a sudden the corners wouldn't fit. I decided to go back to it tomorrow.

We may end up going to Amarillo to find the quarter round we need.
It will all look great when we get done its just getting to that point.

Bill and Christina are making a trip to Alvin this weekend so we get to keep the kids. The house will be noisy that's for sure.

The only time I have made soap this week is on Monday so of course I am several days behind on that. Right now that is a good source of income for groceries so I don't want to slip up on that.

New kitchen floor

Jeff is putting pergo type flooring down on the kitchen floor. Bill is taking time to help him a bit this morning. He has so much stuff to do, we really appreciate him helping us.
I had to have something that looked nice. We had painted the floors and it works in all the rooms except the kitchen. I like it everywhere else. I just cant keep it clean looking in the kitchen so we had to do something.
Its really looking good. Next Jeff will finish the trim in the bathroom, and it will look great.
I am waiting for the floor to get done so I can make more soap, dehydrate more veggies and clean the kitchen.
When ever you make something nicer it always makes a mess.

Menu's

Tuesday Noon: sandwiches
PM: steak on the grill, mashed potatoes & veggie
PUT BLACK BEANS ON TO SOAK

Wednesday:
Noon: tuna chowder
PM: Jeff is still working on the floor so dont know what we'll have. Maybe a sandwich.

Thursday:
Noon: black bean soup
PM: pork chops, Boston baked beans ?, potato salad
PUT WHITE BEANS ON TO SOAK FOR WHITE CHILI

Friday:
Noon: black bean burritos
PM: white chicken chili

Saturday:
Noon: leftovers
PM: wheat tortilla wraps with chicken and slaw
COOK RIBS IN CROCK POT ALL NIGHT FOR NOON SUNDAY

Sunday:
Noon: ribs, beans, slaw
PM: leftovers

Autumn

Happy Autumn

J'Tayah gets her cast off

If I understood correctly she will be in this brace for a year. She will be able to walk, sit and such with this one though. She was not allowed to do that with the cast. It looks like it can be taken off to bathe her so that will be a blessing.

Wedding

Justin and Kaleena's wedding was beautiful and special. They are now on their honeymoon in Mexico. Justin plans to spend his time laying on the beach. Sounds like fun.

Everything was beautiful. The decorations. The people. The couple. The pastor did a fine job. Justin is going to be a great son in law. The first thing he did when he saw Kaleena in her dress was say wow, then he took her hand and asked God to be with them through the day and ever after.

One thing they did that I thought was special was to light the unity candle and then spend the time there in prayer together. It is clear to me that Justin is going to be the spiritual leader in that home and I am so thankful.

I will be putting up pictures then I get them back. Continue to lift this young couple up in prayer as they begin their life together.

ewwwwww yuck

Ok this is gross. We check into our nice motel and we all go swimming. After that Mollie took a shower then I did. When I got out I used the used towel on the back of the door because there were not enough towels for everyone. Then I walk out and Mollie has a towel on her head. I said, Did you use two towels and she said no that towel was on the back of the door already. I used a towel the last motel renter did. Yuck. Jeff is going to talk to the motel folks. yucky

Knock an old lady in the head and walk away

I wrote about common courtesy the other day.
Here is another example. My mom was at a restaurant the other day. She went to use the ladies room. When she had her hand on the rest room door, a large man exited the men's room, slamming the door open so hard it knocked my mom in the back of her head. It hit her so hard that it nearly knocked her out. She stood there holding onto the door knob because she was dizzy. The man just walked on by and half way across the restaurant he yelled over his shoulder, I hope you aren't hurt. He never turned around. Mom stood there for a while until she could walk. She forgot she needed to use the restroom. She became disoriented.
She has since suffered headaches and been to the chiropractor three times so far.
Nice fella.

My stick blender died

I was on my second batch of soap this morning when both of my stick blenders died. I had to finish off with the hand mixer. They don't work as well. Now I need to be on the lookout for some more stick blenders. I like to have at least two on hand. As much soap as I make they are a must.
I made goat milk, oatmeal, sage and citrus soap and also goat milk, oatmeal and cucumber soap.
I wont get to make anymore this week because we will be leaving to go to the wedding.

Common Curtesy

Is common courtesy a thing of the past? What is common courtesy? Polite behavior. Excellence of manners. Considerate act or expression.

Have you noticed that politicians, actors, people at restaurants, malls and well everywhere are not courteous?

It dawned on me when I read the headlines about Kane West grabbing the microphone from Taylor Swift when she won an award. Sarena Williams (John Mc Enroe esk) type out burst and the senators outburst at the president that we do not as an American people practice common courtesy.

Why is that? Is it because we have spent so much time teaching our children that its all about them that they think its true? What they want, what they think, its all about me. I don't have to respect others, its all about me. I don't have to be courteous, its all about me. I don't have to be polite, its all about me.

I substituted at the high school a couple of years ago and I remember visiting with a young man who said he didn't have to respect elders unless they earned his respect. I was floored. I grew up learning to respect and be courteous to elders even if I had never met them. There was never even a thought that they had to EARN our respect. They got respect just because they were older.

I know I have taught my children the values my parents taught me. They are respectful and courteous to others. Thank you Jesus.

Saturday

The last I have heard about the babies is that they are doing pretty good considering how tiny they are. Keep praying.

The farmers market in Guymon had more vendors and less customers this week.

I found out that Spearman, Tx. has a Country Flea Market once a month on the 2nd Saturday at the Mall between Lowe's & Alco. I happened to get there when a prime front space was open and was able to book that space for next month. If I like that space and such I can pay for the following month and keep that space or change to another one.
We drove to Spearman to check it out and the man said it was kinda slow but there were lots of people there so I am convinced. I hope to sell a lot of soap for folks to give for gifts.

I can sell anything I want to so I may sell some handcrafts as well as soap. So far the soap has sure helped pay for groceries and a few other things during this jobless time for Mr. Olson.

The girls are here

The girls are here and they are all ok. 2# 2 oz and 2#12 oz . Chelsi is doing good, they will have to stay in the hospital for a while. Keep praying. Can you believe a little baby can be so small? Pray pray pray

The babies are coming

Harley and June are on their way. Chelsi went into surgery a little while ago. Please pray for the girls as they are still pretty small. They might be about 3 # each.

Smokers room ceiling

It's getting closer

Not too much longer.

Ok another fail

I don't know why I love to experiment. I tried making soap and using a drain pipe for a mold. It didn't work because the pipe was metal, I didn't even think of that. If it had been plastic think it might have worked. When I went to pour the second batch in, the first pipe looked like molten lava. It bubbled up and scared us plum to death. We had to quick pour it into a wooden mold. Then we had to get the soap out of the pipe. What an adventure. Mollie said the floor was hot. Whoops.
I made carrot cake soap and tea tree/lavender soap.
Edited to add: I also made a batch of pomegranate, oatmeal, and beet soap.

Workin on it

I finished Hannah's skirt and her top. All that is left is Mollies top. Whoo Hoo. I made meatballs for lunch for mexican meatball soup. I am also getting ready to make a batch of soap. I have a class tomorrow. Then another one on Saturday.
Mr. Olson got busy and made 6 molds to sell.

Someone is coming this afternoon to look at our house so we have been trying to tidy up.

I also need to can the apple juice. Hope I can get it all done.

Only 10 days left

I cant believe there are only 10 days left until Kaleena's wedding. I must work on the dresses every day. I finished Mollie's skirt yesterday. Hannah's needs hemmed. Then just a little bit left to do on the tops.

Joy

Joy has been having tests a lot lately. She is the youngest in the school, yet she is doing quite well. I never doubted she would. She called today and she had gotten a 100 on her latest test. She is doing so very well. I think some of the teachers were waiting to see if she could keep up with the older students and so far she is pretty much ahead of them. LOL Keep up. That's funny. She is leading the pack. Go Joy. I knew you could do it. I am so proud of you.
It makes me happy that she is doing so well. It has really been good for her and they keep her so busy she doesn't have much time to be home sick.

Our Pastor's last Sunday with us

This Sunday will be our going away lunch for our pastor and his family. We will miss them so much. They have been great friends to us and wonderful spiritual leaders. Its been so nice to have someone you see almost every day who can answer most of your questions, we had great discussions. We had a blast. We love you Bill and Christina, Courtney, Kaitlyn and of course Sammy.

Tea Party

Mr. Olson and I attended the tea party in Guymon. I wish I had had the girls come along. It would have sparked some good discussion. I noticed several folks I know there.
I think the tea party idea is a good one and should be held more often.
I came away with a renewed sense of American loyalty. I love our country and many others do too.
When I was a kid we knew all the songs for each branch of the military. We knew what freedom was and what it cost. I think our school children need to learn history, salute the flag, and what it means to be an American.
God Bless America
My kids didn't know what a tea party was. I explained that it stands for taxed enough already. How many American citizens want the government to go back to the people and smaller government not bigger.
I am going to order copies of the declaration of independence for us to all study. If anyone has suggesions please leave a comment.

Tea Party and family reunion

The family reunion was nice.
I got to see one of my cousins who is my age that I hadn't seen in 26 years. The last time we saw each other was on Labor day 1983 at a family reunion at my grandmothers. His wife had gotten a phone call at the reunion that her sister had drowned at a lake. Of course the mood of the reunion turned sad. I didn't think I would ever see him again because last December he suffered a massive heart attack and wasn't expected to last the night. He did and got some better so they sent him home and told him to make peace and take care of business because he could go anytime. This was his fifth heart attack.
I remember my uncle, his dad died when we were young, I think grade school, from a heart attack. Uncle Lawrence had seven heart attacks the last year he lived. My cousins older brothers are both dead already.
I was just really glad to see him.


Next subject.

Today we are going to our first Tea Party. I have heard about them so it will be educational to go to one.

Family reunion

Tomorrow is our family reunion. Its on my mom's side of the family. Luckily the drive is only about 2 3/4 hours from here.
We will miss church. Bummer.

Apple juice

Today I juiced about a bushel of apples. I think it will end up making about 9-10 quarts of juice. I put up 5 quarts the other day. There is nothing like fresh apple juice. After you juice it and strain it as best you can, you put it in the fridge for one to two days. Then carefully pour the juice out trying to not get foam. Heat this to boiling while you warm your jars and lids. When everything is hot I put the juice in the jars, put the lids and rings on and steam can them for 10 min. I love my steam canner. It only uses a couple of quarts of water as opposed to the old huge water bath canners. So much easier on your back plus you can can faster. It doesn't take as long to boil the water.

I found a dress Yippie

After much shopping and agonizing over being so fat I finally found a dress my size, on sale 1/2 off and it fit, was the right color and I liked it. I was about to give up. Hannah found some shoes but Mollie did not. We both have shoes that we can use if all else fails. I am just glad to have found a dress that looks good, doesn't weigh a ton and should be cool enough.

I am the photographer for the wedding so I will work and sweat. I wish I could figure out how to change mid way through so I wouldn't stink up my dress.

I am nearly done with Hannah's dress, just have to put the snaps and hem and a bit of hand sewing.
I need to put the zipper in both the top and skirt on Mollies, hem the skirt, some hand sewing and the snaps.
Then I need to make two shawls with beading. Then I'm done. I have one and a half weeks until we are leaving so pray for me to get these done.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow (Friday) we are headed to Amarillo to find shoes for the girls for the wedding. I realized I don't have a dress. I hope that I can find one that looks nice but is not too expensive. I would wear one I already have but nothing is the right color or fits.
I thought I had found shoes at walmart but the sizes were marked wrong.
A fellow called to look at the house, I hope to arrange an appointment early next week.

What lawmakers do when new laws are read

This is why no one read the stimulus packages and most lawmakers don't know what is in a package presented on the floor.

JOY

JOY has a new meaning for me. I saw this on the Duggers website.

J-esus first
O-thers next
Y-ou last

Congradulations JIM BOB AND MICHELLE DUGGER on their 19th baby due in March 2010

Are we a socialist nation yet?

An email I recieved.

My great niece J'Tiahya

Many of you know about my great niece J'Tihya and her hip problems. She is doing very well. I recieved some pictures of her to share with all of you.

This is after her second surgery. They said 6 weeks for the cast but she is doing so well they cut it down to 3 weeks.

Pray for the babies

Chelsie is in the hospital in Amarillo, please pray that the twin girls are ok, its kinda early to deliver, she isn't due until November. She is having contractions.

Also please pray for baby Samuel. Katrina and Josh's baby boy who was born 3 months early. He contracted a stomach virus last week and grew seriously ill.

God please bless these babies and their mommies and daddies.

LDS cannery oklahoma city

When I went with Mr. Olson for his job interview in Oklahoma city I had a chance to visit the LDS cannery there. I was nervous having never been to one and didn't know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised to be greeted by friendly and welcoming people. They helped me and I was able to purchase almost everything on my list and not even have to help can. They invited me to come back with friends to learn to can there. I was so excited to add to my food storage. One thing I bought was potatoes pearls and they are great. Mollie wants me to get more right away.