Fall is Here

These are some pictures I took on my walk this morning.  I startled several birds, but I was just happy not to have startled any bears.

 

I have nicknamed this mountain "Sleeping Chief".   I have no idea what it's real name is.

Beautiful sky and mountains as I walked along the bike path.



 

Bethany took this picture with my phone on the way home yesterday.

Beth and I left for Anchorage after school on Tuesday (6 hour drive).  When we got there, I took her out to dinner.  Applebee's- her choice.  She wanted a good meal before getting her braces on the next day.  We crashed at a friend's house for the night, and the next morning I was able to get my car back!

 

Back on July 21st, my vehicle was hit (in the church parking lot).  It has taken this long to work out the logistics of getting it fixed.  Being 6 hours away from the repair shop and the rental company makes things interesting.  The rental I had (felt like forever) wasn't big enough for our whole family if we had anything with us besides ourselves.  All in all, it worked out fine.  My car is fixed, and the other guy's insurance paid for everything.  So happy to be back in my own rig!

 

Bethany got her braces on.  She said it would have felt better to have a hammer taken to her face.  She is surviving on ibuprofen and yogurt right now.

 

We did a quick Costco run, returned some jeans at the mall, and Beth even got a quick haircut.  Then we hit the road for home, so that she could get to bed at a decent hour for school.

 

The drive home was so beautiful that I was wishing we weren't in a hurry to get home.  I kept wanting to stop and take pictures of everything.

 

Happy Fall!



The News From Our House

Daddy is still gone moose hunting. We miss him!

Today is 9/11, not just at our house, but everywhere.  Three of my children were born after that dreadful day, so before they left for school we had a quick history lesson. Never forget!

Rachel, my second-born, started homeschool today. This is something she really wants, (we homeschooled in the past) so I told her we could do it this year and reevaluate from there. All of her curriculum isn't here yet, so today she worked on math, started her photography class (she is very excited about it), and we read a chapter in Proverbs together. I also took her out to lunch. :)  Here she is- she did not want me to take her picture, but I'm her mom and I want o remember this day.

And possibly the best news around here today (if you asked my kids), is that I'm making homemade chicken and noodles.

In the Kitchen Cont.

Well, there are still some peaches and nectarines to attend to, but I did get two batches of peach jam made.

Bethany made enchiladas for supper. I made this http://tideandthyme.com/homemade-enchilada-sauce/

sauce for her to use. Yummy! And easy. We also had sliced nectarines with supper. See what I did there? ;)

Of course now comes the not so fun part "in the kitchen" - dishes. But it is Rachel's turn.

Currently, school lunches are being made. One of the cats is sipping tuna juice. Herbs (basil, rosemary, and dill) are 

growing in my windowsill. Peach jam is "sitting at room temperature for 24 hours". Oh, and dishes. There are still 

dishes. Oh Rachel....where art thou?

In the Kitchen

Yesterday in the kitchen was bread day.  Bread day actually starts the evening before around here.  After milling whole grains (a mix of prairie gold wheat, kamut, and spelt) into beautiful flour, I soak the flour overnight before making bread the next day. You can read more about why I soak my flour here: http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2008/04/whole-grains-grinding-soaking.html .

The recipe I use (http://theelliotthomestead.com/2011/07/soaked-whole-wheat-bread/) makes three large loaves or four smaller loaves.  I made three yesterday.

 

Here they are about to go in the oven.

 



 

Here was my first (of three) piece, hot out of the oven, slathered in butter.

 

 

So far in the kitchen today, I made homemade deodorant.  Yes, homemade deodorant.  I'm tired of using the store-bought stuff with aluminum in it, especially since the anti-perspirant aspect of it doesn't even work for me.  I have already tried homemade deodorant (thanks sis!) and it works great!  This is just my first time making my own.  I used this recipe: http://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2012/12/diy-coconut-oil-deodorant.html . I used orange, lemon, tea tree, and cinnamon essential oils in mine.

 

 

The ingredients.



 

The finished product in a plastic container.

 

 

Some people use empty store-bought deodorant containers, but I just rub mine on like lotion.

 

 

Later today in the kitchen, I need to attend to the peaches and nectarines before they go bad.  I will probably slice and freeze them.  The kids love using them in smoothies.  Some of the peaches may end up as freezer jam.  My freezer jam always turns out kind of runny, but that's the way they like it around here.  Works great on waffles and pancakes!

 

 

What is happening in your kitchen?



Baby Bump and Other Things

Here is the belly pic.  Just starting my third trimester, and getting excited!  Baby Luke is already a very active boy.

 

 

Last weekend we went caribou hunting as a family (Bethany stayed behind with a family from church because she didn't want to miss any school.)

 

The kids looked for cool rocks in the river on the way into camp.

 

The second day, Rachel's 4-wheeler lost a rear wheel.  That was the end of hunting for that day.  Ryan was able to get it loaded onto his ranger and take it out the 25 miles back to the trailer and still make it back into camp that evening, but I was less than comfortable being the only adult left in camp (BEARS!) with the kids.  Fortunately, my children are not quiet (I encouraged lots of singing and loud talking) and we did not even see any bears.

 

 

The next day while hunting, Ryan found some ptarmigan (grouse-like birds).  He actually hit one with a rock!  Jacob and Sarah were enthralled with the dead bird.  We ate it when we got back to camp that night.  Delicious!

 

The kids had fun whittling around the campfire.  We came home with a couple of boats and something that looks slightly like a totem pole.

 

When cleaning out Sarah's backpack from the trip, I found this note.

 

We did not find any caribou, but we made lots of memories.  On the trip out, I found a blueberry patch.  We were able to pick a gallon of wild, Alaskan blueberries to bring home.  So good!

 

Ryan is currently out moose hunting.  I'm praying that he is successful.  Moose meat is a staple around here, and we used our last package of moose burger last night.

 

The kids all started back to school on Aug 19th.  After homeschooling last year, Bethany is back to school.  She is a sophomore!  I'm praying for her and her teachers (well, I pray for all my kids and their teachers), that this will be a good year!

 

There is other news in the air, but I will wait until things are for sure and settled before sharing.  I'm finding out that God doesn't always answer prayer in the way I expect.  I guess I already knew that, but I'm being reminded again.

 

Love from very rainy Valdez!