6 Quirky Things About Myself

I have been tagged by Julie, on her blog. Now I have to write up 6 Quirky Things about myself. I bet I could come up with a whole lot more than that since I'm a quirky person, but here's the ones that come to mind right now.

1. I lost my last baby tooth when I was 15 yrs. old. I could have pulled it at 14, but I refrained so I could lose it at "15". Yes, I was quite late in the "teeth" department. My top wisdom teeth came in when I was 26 and pregnant. My bottom wisdom teeth came in when I was 28 and pregnant. My oldest son has followed suit in being late getting his teeth. His first tooth came when he was 15 months old. He didn't finish getting his 2 yr. molars until almost 3 1/2 yrs. old.

2. I have never knowingly eaten a bite of meat in my whole life. This means none of the following: fish, chicken, or even seafood. Two times I almost ate meat on accident: Taco Bell gave me a beef burrito when I had ordered a bean burrito; I took some crab meat dip once which I thought was pimento cheese spread. It felt funny in my mouth so I quickly spit it out before swallowing.

3. I turned my baby in utero by myself at home one morning at 34 wks. along. She had been in a breech position for at least 3 weeks, and I was desperately wanting to proceed with our plans for a home birth. Now I'll state the obvious: I wasn't really alone during all that. God's angels were holding my hands the whole time. B went on to be born at home in our bathtub right on schedule: her due date of July 4th.

4. I like potent flavors. By that, I mean, if I am eating lemon cookies, they better taste like lemon. Chocolate mint better have a minty zing to it. When I am eating flavored chips, you guessed it! The more flavor powder on a chip the better. So.....when eating the chips, I save the most flavorful-looking chips for the end. That's also why I like that cinnamon tea so much, because it's so "cinnamonny"!! (See prior post.)

5. I have never been pulled over by a cop for any reason while I was driving. Knock on wood. That's not to say I didn't deserve to be a few times, but it hasn't happened yet.

6. I have insanely early memories of my life. Little tidbits that I remember date back to around the time I was 1 1/2 yrs. old. I am not kidding. It's weird, no it's quirky, I know!

There! I'm all done. And if you have a blog, and you are reading this, you better figure out 6 quirky things about yourself too! (You know who you are.....) Post here in the comments that you've been tagged as well.

My Little Baker

All 3 kids have been in the kitchen with me more lately, which I keep reminding myself is a good thing. It is admittedly so much easier to make stuff quicker by myself, but I do understand that they really should learn sometime. No time like the present! Yes, no time like the present. No time like the present. I'm still telling myself that over and over again. In fact, I welcome one in the kitchen with me at a time. I think it is just 3 at a time that it's harder for me to deal with. But if one sees another one helping, they all want to help at the same time. I so badly want even my boys to learn how to cook, but it's very trying on my nerves at times. I am not the most patient person in the world. I try, but sometimes come up a little short. Praying for more patience is quite routine for me.

Well, it was just B in the kitchen with me this last time since the boys were outside working with their dad. It was serene enough I was able to snap a couple pictures. She's so into cooking and baking. It just warms my heart. She even looks like she knows what she's doing! By the way, we made a new recipe. Gluten free pumpkin spice blondies. They tasted pretty good, and the family ate up the whole double-batch! Even dad had a couple pieces, which is saying something because he's the only one in the family that doesn't eat gluten-free.

I am in Love!

I just had to share this flavor of herbal tea with you all. It's first ingredient is red rooibos (Roy-boss) from South Africa. It's packed with anti-oxidants and is completely caffeine free! The best part of this particular rooibos flavor is that it's absolutely, undeniably delicious! If you like cinnamon, this is the tea for you. The package says it's sweet, and it is. But no sweeteners have been added. Try it. You might just be hooked!

How to Remove a Tree

I guess that's a pretty dumb title for this blog post. You don't want to know how to remove a tree stump, do you? Really I want to talk about how much fun this tree removal was. The whole family got involved, yes, even me!! I promise, I did more than just snap pictures of it! Anyway....

I love how my husband is not afraid of hard physical labor. He actually craves it, I think. I just wish I could keep up with him a little better than I do. He is also one to expect the boys (in particular, since they are older than B) to help out with whatever family project presents itself at any given time. Most recently, it was removal of this Florida "cherry" tree since it was right in the way of our future blueberry field. (C is from PA, and he said this cherry tree is NOT really cherry.) It had to come down, and down it came! The stump was not as easy, and he had to dig it out with the back hoe attachment on the tractor. H helped him move the tractor around, while hubby did the back hoe digging. It took quite a while to remove. Even after the stump was out, it still required lots of manual digging by shovel to get the roots out. The boys spent a couple hours digging by hand with their shovels. B and I helped remove the roots to the brush pile, and then B got busy with a shovel as well! It was so cute to see her getting in there with her brothers. It's good to see her growing up as well, and she does not want to be out done (most times, anyway.)

Our Nature Study Continues

We love nature. We rely on it a lot for a good portion of our science studies. We have been attending a local nature preserve for nature classes about once a month for the last 4 years, or more! My hubby used to inquire quite frequently why we traipsed all the way over there for the classes "all the time" and I would try and explain why they were so great. But since he could never come with us, he never understood how valuable they were. Fast forward a little bit, and my hubby is finally figuring out that that's why the kids know so much about all the different animals, snakes, bugs, trees, insects, etc. living in Florida. They are no expert, by any means, but they've learned quite a lot. Here are a couple pictures of our most recent class. They are looking at a little alligator, about 1 yr. old. The preserve just got 2 gators recently (on loan from Gatorland), and it was just in time for our alligator class. I wish the pictures were better than they are.

Blogging Quirks

Sometimes, this blogging program drives me nuts. I keep trying to create a break in between 2 paragraphs on the Strawberry Picking post. It appears right, and when I save it, it takes the break away!! It's driving me nuts, and rather than spend the next hour on it, I am just going to let it roll right off my back. That's the plan anyway. I know my typing teacher would never approve, but I can't seem to figure it out, try as I might!

Strawberry Picking

The other day, the homeschool group decided to go strawberry picking. I figured we would meet everybody there, but there was just one problem. Not knowing where the place was, I mapquested and got the address to the Farm. Mapquest gave me the address and directions to the strawberry farm's owners' house. By the time I got new directions from their neighbor on how to get there, we were nearly an hour late. The rest of the group was leaving when I went in to pay for our strawberries. Oh, well!

We were quite impressed with these strawberries. They were delicious! I spent a little time chatting with a gentleman that works there at the farm, picking his brain about their whole set-up. I guess I am starting to think like a farmer! Drip lines, freeze protection, variety of plants and harvest seasons. It's kind of fun. Anyway, they pick there from Dec. to around the end of April. (This info will interest my family living out west. You local folks already know the picking season, I'm sure.) We have had Florida strawberries before, from farther down south, and they taste like cardboard. These berries are SO sweet. Well worth the $1.90/lb. we paid for them. Not to mention the "grazing fee" being included in that. We'll definitely have to go again soon.

The kids had fun picking and EATING strawberries while I, the Mom, picked berries to cart home with us. Then they had fun on the playground, which featured a truly adventurous "zip-line". The picture of C under H is how they would bring each other and the handle (for the zip line) back to the starting position. It struck me as funny!

Chug-Chug, Choo-Choo!

In true family co-operation, the kids have gotten back into their wooden train track set. H got this table and train set around the time C was born, and the 2 boys used to play with it for hours. It was put away for a while, and we almost got rid of it when we moved in our new house. I am so glad we didn't! It sits in B's room, but that's okay. She's playing too. The kids had some Christmas money, and they purchased a few new engines and some new much-needed track. They are having the grandest time together with it. I love how they are all playing together, even given the almost 6 year age span between them.

Busy Birthday

I already went to bed tonight, and couldn't sleep! I kept thinking about everything we did today! It was a really great day, and I thought I would write about it really quick. Maybe it will clear my mind so I can sleep.

First of all, the boys wanted their hair cut, so I cut it. I don't do anything fancy, so don't think too highly of me. Not to be left out, B had to have a haircut too, so I trimmed the back for her.

After haircuts, we made a huge pitcher of fresh-picked, fresh-squeezed homemade lemonade at C's request. It is delicious. It was quite a tedious chore to clean up after 3 kids squeezed enough lemons for that huge pitcher full! But the kitchen got nearly an entire mop job of the floors, and complete wipe-down of all the counters.

We started our school work late because of all the haircuts, and lemonade making, but got reading our read-aloud, and got very absorbed in it. I am so glad to see the kids listening to me read more. They are quite used to listening to tons of audio books and audio dramas in the car, but have never remained as quiet for me when I try to read. Most of the trouble is probably my fault because I can become quite distracted by the sounds of legos shuffling in the lego bin, innumerable trips to the restroom, and them needing to go to another room to find something "real quick" as if it's an emergency. It's also neat to see how adjusted B is to listening to our read-alouds. She's just now 4 1/2, but her listening abilities are so much more than what they boys' were at the same age. Certainly it's two-fold, with her massive exposure to audio stories, and I am sure partly due to her gender.

We finished some other pressing school work, and then headed to the kitchen to make lunch. All 3 kids helped me make lunch today. We then played an educational game, and made a gluten-free chocolate zucchini cake together. This was not a simple box-mix kind of cake either, but a full "from scratch" cake because of the required gluten-free diet C is on. (Gone are the days of quick and easy baking for me, I am afraid. I kind of miss the simplicity of mixes.) I had all 3 of the kids helping in the kitchen at once. Some of you know how big a feat this can be. I did feel like the manager of a 3 ring circus for a time, but the cake was actually a success.

I am on a mission of sorts. Our kids are quite used to helping out around the house, especially with all the family projects and jobs we seem to keep busy with. I am often very amazed at how hard they work, and how valuable their help is when hubby needs a few extra hands. But I fight with my tendency to prefer to do things myself inside the house like laundry, major house cleaning, etc. because I am particular about how I want things to be done. It has come to my attention that I am working too much, and they are playing when I am working! This is no way to teach my kids how to run a house, I know. It's not like they never help inside, but they could surely be doing more of what needs done around here. So, today marks the beginning of changes to come. Today they helped me with 2 loads of laundry, dishes, sweeping floors, etc. I believe I will see real progress if I can keep up my determination to teach them and include them more. B even told me that I could go put my feet up and watch TV if I wanted to, but I didn't. I don't have any bon-bons in the house. Actually, I've never tasted a bon-bon. Are they good?

After a little more school, it was time to make supper! We had a nice dinner of portabello mushroom gluten-free pasta, brussel sprouts (of which the kids each ate several brussel sprouts without complaint, even though it is not their favorite vege!), and yellow zucchini. We cracked open a special bottle of sparkling pear cider that we purchased from a local orchard/vendor in GA when we were there on our vacation. Chocolate zucchini cake followed. Yum!

C blew out his candles after we sang to him, and hubby took the boys out scouting for rabbits. They had better keep away from the blueberry bushes, or else!! B and I read a few books together. We watched some political debate/commentary, and Michigan polls results, then it was off to bed for the kids.

Phew!! It doesn't sound like much when it's down on paper, but it was a busy, full day. The best part of all? It was so much fun hanging out with my kids! During supper making, we put some music on and everybody was dancing around a bit having a grand time. You should have seen C teaching his sister how to dance! Like he even knows how to ballroom dance (not!!), but it was so sweet! It wasn't his usual funky "jiggy" dance, but full spins of the little lady. Anyway, it was fun. I love that our kids are each other's best friends. If I could only get them to act that way 24/7. Hey, no body's perfect, right?

Eight Years Ago Today

Eight years ago today, my husband and I were blessed with a second son. C is quite a unique child. He has so much spark and energy, and a tremendous drive for life. How can a little person make us laugh so much, and drive us crazy at other times? I don't know, but he certainly does! The reality is, we would miss him dearly if he weren't part of our lives! I am very grateful that God saw fit to bring him into our family and our lives. I love my sweet, crazy, challenging, smart, adorable, lovable, huggable, single-dimpled boy. Happy birthday, C!!

In this picture, C is standing with 2 of his cousins who also share his birthday! Yes, on C's first birthday, R was born. Two years later, A was born also. Our daughter B is the little one in this picture with them. These painted face pictures were taken at A 's birthday party. C is "Santa Claus" , R is a "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle", and B and A are bunny rabbits. Can't you tell?

Hard Freeze Update

Well, I have to say, I am in awe of my hubby's ability to see a need or a problem, and figure out some easier or better way to deal with it.

We have several other neighbors growing blueberries for commercial picking as well. This includes our friends J & L who have been doing it for almost 4 years now. The rest are newbies like we are. Well, all our neighbors were frantically trying to pull all their baby blueberry bushes into sheds, horse trailers (with heaters), and garages to avoid the freeze. They were finding that it took 2 people about 2 hours to move just 1000 plants. All 4 of us growers have 4000 plants to move. Our one neighbor started moving pots at 10 a.m. and it took him until 9:30 p.m. I think he said to get all 4000 plants indoors. Our problem was that we didn't have anywhere to put 4000 plants. We have our house garage, but it was certainly not big enough to fit them all in there. On top of that, I was home by myself with a vomiting little girl. I didn't want to move them all by myself, knowing how long it would take, when she was indoors and getting sick every so often.

Well, hubby said not to worry, and he'd figure out what to do. He came home about 5:00 p.m. and started tenting the rows of blueberry plant pots. He fixed it up with larger PVC stakes, with smaller diameter PVC poles bent over in an arch, and fitted into the holes of the stakes. He then ran plastic sheeting down the whole line. We secured the plastic down with wooden beams to anchor it, and turned the micro jet sprayers on under the plastic. The water coming out of the ground is at least 65 degrees, so quite warm compared to the freezing air and driving winds we experienced last night. It worked quite well! It took us until about 8:30 p.m. to complete this job, and another couple hours to keep checking on it to make sure the wind would not whip the plastic up over a period of time.

Now I am going to tell you more than you wanted to know about this whole freeze-protection business when it comes to the blueberries in particular. Normally, blueberries should be in their dormancy stage during the late fall and winter. This happens because of the slow decline in the temperatures over a period of time. The trouble with our baby bushes is that because they are so small, you want them to remain growing throughout our "mild" winter so they get big enough to plant them in the ground in late spring or early summer. This is accomplished by continuing to fertilize them throughout the cold season. This keeps them growing throughout the winter, and they do not go dormant. If they are not dormant, they are more susceptible to cold temperatures.

We're not concerned about losing fruit at this point, as we won't have a harvest this first spring. In fact, for the past several weeks, we have been plucking off the blossoms every other day, to protect the plants from killing themselves by fruiting. They only have so much energy, and when they're this small, they can either put energy into blossoming and fruiting, or growth. If they try to do both, they most likely struggle and die.

Another factor contributing to our trouble last night, was the severity of the cold anticipated, combined with the wind. Normally, if you expect a frost or mild freeze (higher temps for shorter periods of time) you just turn on the overhead sprinklers and water the plants all night. The plants can even freeze over with ice covering them completely, and the 32 degree ice is warmer than the colder air, and protects them from freezer burn. But with the wind blowing, there was no way the water would cover them sufficiently, and they would be vulnerable. We were expecting 23 degree temps last night, and it was just too cold to chance. Here's a neat website for checking Florida weather in your area. They have several "stations" and you can pick the one closest to you for current up to date info. http://fawn.ifas.ufl.edu/

On a side note, somebody asked about our more experienced blueberry grower neighbor and what she does for a freeze. She turns on the water like explained above. But she has not had to deal with temps this cold before, and was taking her babies indoors as well. She took in about half of them and ran out of room. She was relying on her sprinklers to protect the rest (as much as possible because of the wind situation, but what else could she do?). The only trouble is, she turned the water on down by her house, which is quite a distance from the blueberry patch. She was so utterly exhausted from moving plants all day in the cold, and it was so dark and late by then, she never checked to see if the water turned on. It didn't, but she didn't know this until she got up at 3 a.m. to check, and found it not on. Oh, no!!! She turned it on at that point, but it was probably too late. We had seen 32 degree temps last night at 9 p.m. I think it was. She's crossing her fingers and hoping for the best. She'll be able to tell in a couple more days if she sustained damage or not, and chalking it up to a lesson learned the hard way.

I am proud of my husband though, as he is always thinking, experimenting, and fixing something to work no matter what is handed to him. He really rolls with the punches, so to speak. Our blueberry friend L even called him "innovative". That's a real compliment coming from the experienced one in our little "Blueberry Hill" community.

I should have pictures of us all out there last night working in the dark on the "tunnels" as L calls them. It was pretty funny! As I told you before, I am not very graceful (clumsy!). I went sprawling to the ground several times, having tripped on water pipes, and the forklift forks which I could not see in the dark. On top of that, we were hurrying pretty fast because it was so cold out. I guess strawberry growers freeze protect this way with tunnels, but C didn't know it. I'll get a picture this morning when it's light outside. I would have gotten one today, to attach here, but I was gone to work all day and couldn't take a picture in the day light.

Our Little Girl Learned a Poem!

A friend's blog reminded me that B learned a poem recently, and I couldn't blog about it because my computer wasn't working at the time. If you see her, she would probably love to recite this for you. And then I would have to translate it for you. Consider this your translation in advance:

The Caterpillar
By Christina Rosetti

Brown and furry,
Caterpillar in a hurry.
Take your walk,
to the shady leaf, or stalk.

May no toad spy you,
May little birds pass by you.
Spin and die,
to live again,
a butterfly.

I am proud to say that at 4 yrs. old, she learned this poem just because she heard it a few times, directed, of course, toward her brothers to learn. The boys were rolling their eyes at hearing me read it a few times in repetition, when she just started saying it and said it word for word!! I got a little video of her saying it. I will have to dig it out and post it to this blog later. (Camera is in the car. So if you read this before it's attached, check back later.)

Minor Crisis Mode

We are expecting near-record low temperatures tonight. This cannot be good for crop plants. We are nervous about our little baby blueberry bushes. We are praying we make the right decision about what to do with them to keep them warm, and even then, they might be damaged because it's supposed to be SO cold tonight. We put quite an investment into them already, and don't want to see them frozen beyond repair.

During all this, B woke up this morning vomiting. She's been vomiting on and off all day so far. I have no idea where she picked up this virus. We haven't been away from our house in many days. Maybe she picked something up from our New Year's Eve Party. (Will post about the party later.) So, this leaves me with little time to try and read all the articles about what to do with the blueberries. I have discovered a few really good weather websites, though! It's fun to type in our zip code and get local info we can use. I'm also praying my internet will remain active. It was acting up again this morning. I wish I were more computer literate than I am. Chuck is working today, so he's relying on me to research and figure out what we need to do. Oh, the pressure!!

The boys are out in the cold today (it's like 42 degrees outside, and windy!) helping our neighbors B & B pull some of their baby blueberry bushes indoors for cold protection. We have our garage, but it's not enough room for all of them. If we pull some plants indoors, which are in pots, we will still have to pick and choose which ones to try and save. The rest of them will have to take their chances with water irrigation.

So, though I would rather catch up reading all my friends' blogs, I don't have time right now. If I haven't gotten to yours yet, I haven't forgotten you. I will catch up when I can! Stay warm, everybody!

I'm Back!

Well, I haven't been blogging in quite a while. I have been having some pretty aggrevating computer problems which prevented me from visiting any websites. When I lost my email capabilities 2 days ago, it caused me to look further into the reason for my troubles. So I am back on, for the time-being, anyway. I hope to catch up a bit both on my blog, and reading the blogs of my blogging friends.

Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!! This year should be a great one.

We have been so busy the past month. We did finally finish the boys' bedroom. It is such a relief to have that (mostly) done. Now B has her room back, we have our school room organized and in full-swing, and our dining room is free from school book clutter. It's truly exciting. And we even had our first house guest. He stayed in the school room, which doubles as the guest room when the hide-a-bed in the couch is pulled out.

We have been working on our blueberry patch a lot. They were struggling for a few different reasons, but I think they are on the mend now. Hopefully we have learned some things, and they will prosper from now on. There is a lot of new growth on them now, and that's encouraging.

I will try and catch up on our past month with a few individual blog entries. Hopefully, my plans won't go awry with more computer troubles.