Thursday, December 30, 2010

Thankful Thursday

Today I’m thankful for…

A girl’s night out with some friends from college.

Sitting around a restaurant table chatting and laughing.

Sharing the joys, pains and frustrations of life…

Helping each other carry those things.

Friendships that last through the years.

LITP, my sweet Phi Sig Sisters.

 

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Way back when….

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

A Change of Plans

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Me and Mary… about 6 years ago.

I didn’t plan on being a SAHM (stay at home mom).  I really didn’t.  From the time I entered Mrs. Kramer’s Kindergarten class, I knew what my future held.  I would be a teacher.  I would be a fun, dynamic, engaging teacher.  I would not pass out packets of dittos.  I would be like Mrs. Bennett, making learning as real and tangible as the peanut butter sandwich she used to teach us about fractions in the third grade.  I would be encouraging and demanding like Mrs. Cole, who taught me everything I ever needed to know about the joy of writing.  I would be a teacher who would win awards and be well remembered by her students.

I completed my degree in May of 2000 and accepted a position at a school in a, well let’s be honest, rough area of a large city.  Quite a stretch for this country girl.  I’d have to say it was a very eye opening experience for me, working in a school where the doors were kept magnetically locked.  I grew up in a place small enough that such things were never even thought of!  Nothing in my life had prepared me for the world I was entering. 

I was young and brave.  I jumped in feet first into this exciting teaching experience.  I loved it.  I loved my class.  Twenty sweet little fourth graders just waiting to learn.  I was thrilled to have my first classroom and poured myself into the work without reservation.  I did all I could to make a magical world for those kiddos.  As we went along, I learned their stories and came to love them even more.  I put all of me into that classroom.  I was the last to leave the building most days, carrying a bag of work home with me.  I moved up to the fifth grade with my little class and found that it had expanded to 27 students.  We had two amazing years of learning together that ended with a bittersweet goodbye and me crying in the faculty bathroom.  I still love those kids dearly and pray for them.  They have rewarded me with occasional letters and e-mails updating me on their lives.  I often wonder if they know what a blessing they are to me.

I quit teaching in the city that year.  Eric and I wanted a family and a long commute didn’t really suit a working momma.  I looked for work in our rural community.  I cried in August when the buses rolled out onto the roads and I didn’t have a classroom of my own.  I took positions substitute teaching and eventually took a job managing a pre-school.  I had high hopes that it would be a great place for me to continue to teach and for the baby we were expecting to spend the days.  A few weeks into my work there, we lost the baby. 

I was utterly devastated.  Losing our little one made me reevaluate a lot of things.  When we found out Mary was on the way, I was a different kind of momma.  I was overprotective, nervous, joyous, amazed and completely devoted.  I started really considering staying home with my little one. 

The preschool where I worked helped push my decision over the edge.  Let’s just say that it wasn’t the way I hoped my little one would spend her first years.  I couldn’t imagine sending her somewhere and missing her important little “firsts.”  Would someone else be the first to see her smile? 

I jumped into being a SAHM with both feet, much as I did teaching my first class.  Only, it was very different.  I hated being a SAHM.  I wouldn’t have chosen otherwise, but I really did hate it.  I was a teacher.  How could I give that up to be a housewife?!  I was the first of my friends to do so, and I had nobody to talk to during the days.  I was very lonely.  I remember one day when I pulled the refrigerator out and scrubbed every nook and cranny for about two hours while listening to talk radio.  It wasn’t much fun, but I didn’t know what else to do.

The babies kept coming and my life became increasingly busy.  I quit washing behind the refrigerator.  Don’t look back there, ‘cause you won’t like what you see!  Eventually, I found a few friends who stayed at home with their littles.  I also found some great blogs that helped me to see my life in new ways. 

Looking back, I can see that becoming a SAHM who loves being a SAHM was something that just took time.  I had prepared for my career for years.  I had training.  Being a mom meant on the job training because there is no other way to learn.  In the first few years of my life as a mom, I thought I knew a lot.  The longer I’ve been in this business, the more I learn and the more I know I need to learn. 

I’m not the mom I thought I would be.  Staying at home isn’t at all what I thought it would be.  Somehow, I have settled into this life and I have even found my own special little groove that I fill quite well.  What once felt a bit like a cage has become wings to me.  I have freedom to experience the joy of raising my kiddos and seeing their firsts.  As I discovered the joys of motherhood, I also discovered an amazing and rewarding way of life.

It has been a long and sometimes difficult journey to find my way as a mom.  I suppose it’s that way for lots of moms… and dads.  I’m so glad I stuck it out.  That young, brave teacher has been replaced by a slightly older and wiser mom.  She’s no less brave and ambitious.  She’s very dedicated.  She is teaching and making a difference in lives, just not in the way she had planned.  Sometimes a change of plans is a very good thing. 

Sunday, December 26, 2010

The Grinch Who Took Back Christmas

I do all right with all the hustle and bustle…  That is, until the day after Christmas.  Today, Eric teased me about being the “Grinch Who Took Back Christmas.”  I must admit that while I was standing in a sea of wrapping paper and packaging, the thought did cross my mind.

I’m not such a scrooge, really…  It’s just that…  Well, you mommas understand don’t you?  Most of the time, having four kiddos isn’t that much harder than having one or two.  We’ve adjusted our lives so much that one or two more didn’t make too much difference.  That rule doesn’t apply to the day after Christmas.  You have to figure that if each child got just 5 toys and you multiply that by 4, then you have 20 gifts to un-package and put away.  And let’s be honest…  My kids did not just get 5 toys each.  Try 10 or more….  You understand now, don’t you?  I don’t begrudge them the toys and the joy.  It’s just very overwhelming for a very tired momma.

So in an effort to lighten my mood and motivate me to actually make it a little way through the mess, here are some highlights from our Christmas.

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The excitement was hard to take.  At 3:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. and 6:46 a.m…..  Until we finally let them get out of bed at 7:00 a.m. 

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And one of my favorite moments…

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(I think she liked it!)

I feel so much better now!  It was a very Merry Christmas, indeed. 

Monday, December 20, 2010

End of the Year Review

I’m pretty busy these days being an elf.  I’m betting most other folks are pretty busy as Christmas nears, too. 

So even though I have a half dozen blog posts working in my head, they’ll have to wait for me to have time to share them.

For now, I thought I’d do what lots of others will be doing as the year winds down and share a few favorite things from the past year.  Kind of an award show, best of the blog thing.  Humor me.  ;)

Today, I’m going to share links to some of my favorite blog posts in the “thoughts” category.  I love sharing my thoughts on various subjects.  In the process of writing about whatever topic is on my mind, I find myself digging deeper into the subject and gaining a better understanding.  Then, some of you lovely readers take time to leave a comment.  Those comments help me to dig even deeper.  All this digging helps me to better understand the world we live in, live a better and more intentional life, and look at others with more compassion and understanding.  It’s a good thing.

So here we go….  Hope you’ll enjoy these links to my favorite thoughts from the past year.  Just click on the title to be linked to the blog post. 

And, hey…  Thanks for stopping by from time to time.  If it wasn’t for you all, I probably wouldn’t take time to write all this stuff.  I’m having so much fun.  It means so much to me to get to share a little bit of my life with all of you.  Thanks so much for letting me.

Fatima

 

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Counting the Cost

 

Neighbors

 

Sweet Hymns on a Dusty Gravel Road

 

Nostalgia

 

Neo-Hippy

 

Battle Scars

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Midnight Stress Fest

It’s the middle of the night, and I’m still awake.  I am not a sufferer of insomnia, nor am I a night owl.  I did not just come in from a celebration.  Fact is, I’m doing what I had promised myself I wouldn’t do this year.  I’m stressing over Christmas. 

My plan was to celebrate Christmas.  You know, the birth of Jesus.  I had really hoped to keep the gift giving simple this year.  So, why can’t I do that?!

I’ve been working steadily on Christmas gifts since September.  The gifts we chose are thoughtful, needful, good things.  They are simple gifts made or purchased with the hope that they will bring joy or usefulness to the one who receives them.  They are not over the top or particularly extravagant. 

As Christmas draws nearer, I’m so filled with anxiety over these gifts.  Will the gifts be appreciated?  Will they be loved?  Will the person who receives them know of the love that went into each stitch, paint stroke, or pixel?  Will the recipients of the handmade gifts feel cheated because they didn’t get a “real” gift? 

I know Christmas isn’t just about the gifts I give, but the gift God gave to all of us.  What kind of love must it take to give the gift God gave!?! 

Jesus was an amazing and perfect gift.  A gift of truth, life, joy and love. 

Yet many people rejected him.  Many people still do.

He wasn’t the gift the people expected.  He wasn’t particularly flashy.

Still, the gift was given out of love.  Though many didn’t see it, the gift was perfect.  The gift God gave was very extravagant. 

I sure do hope that my friends and family see the love that went into the gifts I’m giving this year.  More than that, I hope they see the love that went into the perfect Christmas gift.  That’s the gift that matters.

I can go to sleep now.  Finally. 

Thanks for helping me clear this all up.  :)

Fatima

Friday, December 17, 2010

Cheap Photo Frame Make-Over

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It’s not a very exciting frame, but at $3.00 apiece, they were affordable.  I just wasn’t happy with the prospect of hanging these washed-out looking oak-ish frames on my walls.

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This deep red paint made me nervous.  But with only $3.00 invested in the frame, I went for it.  I used a sponge to apply the paint and worked it into the wood like lotion.  It was a very thin coat and not too perfect.

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Yes, I know that adding the black looks frightening.  Just trust me on this one.  Add just a few streaks of black here and there.  I used some old denim material salvaged from some old jeans.  Makes clean-up super easy!

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Another, larger piece of denim worked well to add a thin coat of red right over the top of the black streaks. 

It took about ten minutes per frame, start to finish.

And yes, that’s a coffee lid that I’m using as a paint tray.  It works.

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I like the seasoned look this process gave the frames.

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I love the way these frames look on the wall!

 

Fatima

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Something You Already Know

I know you already know this.  I’ve known it for a while, too.  Yet in the hustle and bustle and stress, I forget.  When I need it most,  I forget.  It’s a handy trick all mommas know but don’t always use like we should.

I don’t know what to call it.  It’s kind of a backwards and upside down time-out.  Perhaps it’s a time-in.  I don’t know, but it sure does work.  When my kiddos are ~out of control~driving me crazy~ troublesome~ pain in the necks, I have a choice.  I can lose my voice yelling and go crazy trying to get them to behave like they have a bit of sense.  Or, I can stop.  Stop the list of to-do.  Stop making dinner.  Stop trying to round everyone up to go somewhere.  Stop feeling like a crazy woman. 

I can sit down on the floor with a fun book and invite them into my arms and lap and heart.  I can hold their little hands and play Ring-around-the-Rosie.  I can invite them to look at the clouds with me.  Doesn’t matter what we do, as long as we do it together.  Magically, the frustration melts away.  The kids start to smile again. 

Time-in.  I like the sound of that. 

Fatima

Thankful Thursday

Today, I'm thankful for...

My husband who works so hard to provide for us, going out into the ice and snow to commute.

A nice big wood pile out back that keeps my house warm and toasty.

The excitement of preparing Christmas gifts for friends and family.

Getting to stay in my pajamas all day long (not everyday, but sometimes it's terribly nice).

Watching the excitement of the kids as our advent calendars are getting closer and closer to Christmas.

 

Hoping your day is wonderful and warm with love and joy. 

Thanks for stopping by,

Fatima

Monday, December 13, 2010

Wisdom from the Young

My little girl is growing up.  Seven isn’t that big a number, but then again it is.  She’s still a little girl, but she’s getting glimpses into the adult world she will (all too soon) inhabit.  I love watching her grow and learn.  And yet…  My heart can’t help but worry.  Am I teaching her all she will need to know?  Am I giving her all she will need to be strong?  Am I teaching her to live with dignity, joy, perseverance, compassion and a whole list of other qualities.  Am I praying enough for the young man who will grow up to be her husband?

The answer is probably, no.  I guess it’s impossible to do enough.  It’s impossible to prepare them for every possibility.  It’s impossible to protect them from every harm that could come their way.  But am I doing enough?  Will she look back years from now and find answers to her problems from the lessons I’m struggling to teach her today?

We had a long, sweet talk last night.  One of those talks I hope I’ll remember forever.  She’s so precious and smart.  Sometimes, she hits on some great wisdom that is simple but important.  Last night, she reminded me that when she was first born, she couldn’t count to one.  When she was one, she couldn’t count to ten.  She reminded me that she had learned a bit at a time.  We talked about how much there is to learn.  We talked about her future and the days when she’ll consider herself grown up.  We talked a little bit about her future husband.  She said she’d have to date him for a while to see if he was the right guy.  I asked her what dating was.  She told me that that was something she didn’t really know about, but that was okay because she didn’t have to know it all right now. 

I’m so glad she doesn’t have to know it all right now.  I’m glad that we can walk down this road together and learn a little bit at a time.  I’m so glad we can talk and share.  Maybe I don’t have to know it all right now, either.  Maybe it’s okay for me to learn as I go too.  It’s amazing what love can do.  It’s amazing.

mary and sarah, pink

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Be Kind to Crying Mommas

Yesterday was a rough day.  Truthfully, and without going into too much detail, it’s been a really difficult couple of weeks.  I’m not one for sharing the bad stuff of life, crying and moaning about what can only be endured.  My life is incredibly wonderful.  I celebrate the wonderful things and the little battles in a pretty public way here and on facebook.  Some stuff is only for my BFF.  This is a disclaimer, for your benefit and so that you can understand what I’m about to write.  See, you’re my guest here.  And if you were a guest at my house, I figure you wouldn’t want to see the soap scum ring around my bathtub so I close the shower curtain.  (Yes, I should scrub my tub but my kids want to eat and wear clean clothes and sometimes the tub gets the short end of my stick instead of a scrub brush.)  It’s kind of that way here on the blog, too.  But just in case you ever think it looks too perfect, remember that the shower curtain is closed for your benefit.  I have bad stuff to deal with, too.  My life isn’t any more perfect than anybody else’s life.  And that goes the same with any of the other blogs you may read.  Just ‘cause you can’t see our messes, don’t think that they aren’t there.

Anyway…  Back to what I came here to write.  Yesterday was a rough day.  We got up and out the door by 9:30 yesterday to go to the pediatrician for flu shots all around and to get my baby’s stitches out.  He’d fallen in his room and hit the corner of the wall, requiring four stitches in his perfectly beautiful head.  It broke my heart.  Taking four kids on this great adventure was not horrible, but also not very easy or pleasant.  We followed it up with some Christmas shopping (while we were in town) and a trip to the grocery to stock up on milk. 

Seemed we were deserving of a bit of a treat after all that.  So we stopped at my favorite kid friendly restaurant for kid’s meals and a visit to their indoor playground.  It had been such a nice visit.  My darlings were well behaved, ate their food and happily went off to play.  I gathered up baby boy and followed along.  They were so glad to get to slide and play.  It’s been so cold here that our play-set at home has been unused for weeks. 

Baby boy was having a blast.  You gotta understand, he’s 22 months old and 33 lbs of muscle and skill and determination.  He was being so good.  He walked (and I use that term very loosely because he never, never walks slowly) across that lovely soft surfaced floor (put there for safety), and then he fell for no apparent reason and hit his head on the gently curved edge of the bottom step to the play-set.  I knew with one look that we were headed back to the ER.  And then, I broke down into tears. 

I’d like to think I’d be a mom with more strength and dignity than that, but no…  I melted down like a snow-cone in July.  I came apart.  I bawled.  I held my bare hand to my babies gaping wound (in a different spot from the original from last week, by the way), trying to stop the bleeding.  Thankfully, another kind momma rescued me.  I love her.  I don’t know who she was, but she ran up front for paper towels and ice.  She offered me her help.  I don’t know if I thanked her.  I was pretty hysterical, to be honest.  I knew it wasn’t a mortal wound or even a big deal, but the pressures of the past few weeks had built up and once they got loose I couldn’t stop it.  I just bawled.  Like a baby. 

Now, here’s where it goes really bad.  I’m holding paper towels to my screaming baby’s head, trying to figure out how I’m going to get my kids’ shoes back on them and move them safely to the van and then somehow drive the bunch of us to the hospital. 

Praise God (and I mean that genuinely) for best friends.  Amy called me at the right time and happened to be blocks away from the restaurant.  We both live twenty-five minutes from this restaurant, so this was truly a blessing.  She headed our way.

My handsome husband decided to pick that moment to call me from work before a scheduled conference call.  I scared him to death.  He thought our baby was horribly wounded.  I make no apologies for this.  He called me.  ;)  I didn’t answer many questions.  I think I may have hung up on the poor man.  He made it to the hospital in record time.

So here I was, bloody toddler, fidgety nap-needing three year old, a scared five year old and a very sad seven year old.  I asked for help from the management.  No one came, except an old man who offered me a grungy old band-aid from his wallet.  Truly.  Do they not have a first aid kit?!  Somehow, I managed to get the kids in a line behind me while I carried a screaming, bleeding toddler toward the door.  The other mom who had offered help had gone to gather up her purse, but in my crazy crying I decided I just couldn’t wait any longer.  So we made a scene, trailing blood and paper towels through the restaurant.  Several managers were standing at the front counter.  I told them that my little one had fallen and we were on our way to get stitches.  I mentioned that we may or may not have left a mess.  I had done my best not to, but…  The all stood there and watched me struggle to get my kids out not one, but two big heavy doors. 

I was now beginning to get angry, and so were other customers.  One nice gentleman helped me carry the kids to the car.  He helped me hold Sam so I could see how bad the wound was.  He all but cried with me.  I wish I knew his name.  I would send him a Christmas card, every year.  He then proceeded into the restaurant to rip the managers to shreds.  A manager hurried outside to check on us.  He asked me to wait.  I did wait, thinking that perhaps he was going to offer to help me drive to the hospital.  I so needed that kind of help.  No, he had gone in the restaurant to get a stuffed cow to console my little one.  Seriously.  He held me up from getting to the hospital so he could give us a stuffed cow.  A stuffed cow!

We made it to the hospital, my friend had caught up to us as we pulled out of the restaurant parking lot and followed us there.  She took my older three kiddos and toured the hospital, bought them drinks and generally earned her title of BFF.  They had Sam into the ER in no time flat.  The same nurses who took care of Sam the first time were working last night, too.  True story.  They remembered my little guy and took such good care of him.  The wound was too close to his eye to use any topical pain killers before they gave him the injection.  It was pretty horrible.  I helped hold him down and tried to sing to him while they worked.  He ended up with five stitches.  He needed six, but sometimes that last cosmetic stitch just isn’t worth it. 

All this to say, when you see a momma crying her eyes out just be nice to her.  Even if you think she’s a hysterical nutcase, be kind to her.  You don’t know what she’s dealing with beyond the little glimpse you’re getting.  You don’t know why she’s crying like crazy.  Have compassion.  Get outside your own little world.  For goodness sake, at least hold the door open for her!

 

Thanks for sharing in my little battles and my life in general.  Thanks for lending a shoulder today!  I love you all!

Fatima

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Thankful Thursday

Today, I’m thankful that…

My kids forgive me for being grumpy.

Grumpiness can be cured by taking a little nap.

Naps help when you’re still exhausted a week after a trip to the Emergency Room.

The nurses in the Emergency Room did a great job with Sam’s stitches.

Sam’s healing nicely and will get to have the stitches removed tomorrow.  

Having stitches didn’t slow Sam down… Or keep him from climbing on things…  I think I’m thankful for that one!

 

Count your many blessings and bless the rest of us by sharing in the comments.  We love hearing what makes other folks thankful.

 

Thanks for visiting today!

Fatima

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Go. Go. Go. Crash.

I guess I’ve always been this way.  Really, I don’t remember.  There has always been so much to do.  Jobs to get done, things to learn, places to go and people to see.  Back in college, I lived by the saying “I can sleep when I die.”  I wanted to do so many things.  I wanted to soak up life.  Grab it,really, and squeeze every bit if good out of it. 

My lovely MIL says that I go, go, go until I crash.  She’s right, by the way.  I hit the ground running in the morning and often don’t sit down except to type out the blog post I wrote in my head while I worked throughout the day.  When I finally find my bed, my eyes close as soon as my head hits the pillow.  Literally.  Sometimes, I fall asleep mid-sentence. 

I can’t really tell you why I do this.  Perhaps it’s a pattern of behavior learned in my childhood.  Part of it is my crazy curiosity and desire to learn all kinds of skills, be it crocheting, finishing drywall, gardening, sewing, or any of the many other things I love to try.  Some of my busy life comes from trying to keep up with 4 littles. 

Regardless of the cause, I’ve never seen it as a problem until recently.  It was just life.  Life is busy and I didn’t want to miss anything.  So, I go.  And go.  And go.  Until there is nothing left. 

And when kids get sick, things go wrong or cars break down, I’m sunk.  I have no reserves.  I’ve extended myself to the max.  I have too much to do in too little time.  I’m living life very much on the edge.  Suddenly, I find that I don’t really like that. 

Am I getting old?  Don’t answer that. 

I don’t want to live this way.

I want to slow it down.  I want to simplify what I can.  I want to create a home where we work together and play together and even rest together.  I want to spend more evenings out on the porch swing.  Well, not right now in the freezing weather…  I want to visit some of the older folks in the family.  I want to listen to their stories.  I want my kids to hear the stories of our family, the stories of those who are gone.  I want to go on picnics.  Well, not right now… You know.  You get the idea, though, don’t you?

Old habits are hard to break, or so they say.  I’m finding it difficult to slow down life.  Simplifying isn’t so simple.  Just what do you say no to?  The laundry?  Oh how I wish I could say no to the laundry!  

We are slowly slowing down.  The momentum is so hard to stop.  The load we carry is heavy. 

Some things in our lives just need to be jettisoned.  The bulky, hard to carry stuff that adds little worth needs to be thrown overboard so our ship doesn’t sink. 

Momma needs some time to slow down.  To rest.  To be still.  To enjoy long conversations with her honey.  To take walks through the woods.  To put together puzzles with her littles.  To drink coffee with her friends.  To paint her toenails. 

Ahem…

What have you been brave enough to throw overboard? 

 

Thanks for stopping by.

Fatima

Monday, December 6, 2010

Easy Christmas Centerpiece

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So easy!

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Cookie cutters, ornaments, holly and some pretty candles make a sweet and super simple centerpiece for your Christmas table.

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I love decorating in new ways with things I already have.  Such fun!

Saturday, December 4, 2010

An Eggs-periment

Our chickens are providing some beautiful eggs!  We collect between 2 to 5 eggs per day, which isn’t a bad number considering they are newly laying and the days are nearly as short as they get right now (this matters in egg production).  I’m really enjoying the chickens and loving the eggs.  I can’t wait until my 12 hens are all laying reliably and frequently next spring.

So, today my chickens bring you an experiment.  Well, actually this former fifth grade teacher brings you an experiment.  You can take the teacher out of the school, but…

Here, we have two pretty eggs.

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The egg on the left, from the store……..The egg on the right, from my hens.

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Rather a striking difference, wouldn’t you say?

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A little stir, a little salt.

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And into the frying pay they go.  Vivid, isn’t it?!

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Which egg do you want with your sausage?

The difference in taste is just as vivid.  I used to beg my kids to eat their eggs.  Now that we are eating our own home-grown eggs, the kids ask for more eggs.  Amazing.

The following statistics came from the Mother Earth News website.

Pastured or free-range eggs have

• 1/3 less cholesterol
• 1/4 less saturated fat
• 2/3 more vitamin A
• 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
• 3 times more vitamin E
• 7 times more beta carotene

Amazing, isn’t it!

Not everyone can keep chickens, but I do think they are worth their feed.  If you have a few acres, I highly recommend keeping chickens.  They need a place to sleep at night, safe from predators.  They need a place to lay their eggs.  They will forage wherever you let them.  You will need a good corn broom if you plan to let them have complete freedom on your place, as they will leave messes on your sidewalk and/or porch.  Let ‘em out in the morning, give ‘em a bit of feed.  Collect some eggs as needed.  Close the door to the hen house at night.  Enjoy breakfast like never before.  Oh, and they eat bugs.  Definite bonus, by the way.

If you don’t have room for chickens or the inclination to mess with them, try some free range eggs at least once.  Drive out through the country and don’t be afraid to stop at that house with the “Eggs for Sale” sign at the edge of the road.  I bet you’ll meet some nice folks.  Visit the local food co-op, too.  They probably have eggs on the shelves just waiting for you to take them home and fry them up.  They’ll cost more, but they are also worth more.

Which leads me to my little ramble…  If eggs can be this good, what else are we missing out on for the sake of mass produced cheap stuff? 

hens

Oh, and I like butter. 

And I want to try some raw-milk. 

I think that’s all for now.

Thanks for dropping by! 

Fatima

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Thankful Thursday

On this cold day, I’m thankful for…

Hot coffee.

Warm snuggles with my liitles in the rocking chair.

Gloves and scarves.

My falling apart old slippers.

A roaring fire in the wood stove.

 

How about you?  What are your blessings today?