Don't throw it out yet

Don't throw your VCR out yet! If you, like me, are one of the few people out there that doesn't believe in paying for TV that you can get for free with an antenna, keep reading. Now that all television stations have switched to digital TV, are you stuck at home, waiting for your show? Are you bummed that you can't record shows, and watch them later? Be bummed no more! You can use that old VCR after all.

All you have to do, it have a converter box for the VCR. See, all that does, is convert the digital signal into analog signal. Voila, your VCR can now understand the incoming signal. Go to the FCC website to get a detailed instruction on how to hook it all up. I am excited that I'll still be able to watch one show, while recording another.

Unfortunately I don't have the converter box yet, so tonight when we have guests over, I will have to miss the Bachelorette. I'll have to watch it later, on the internet, while sitting on my very uncomfortable desk chair.

Out sick

I've been out sick this week. I came down with something NASTY. Tuesday night I was fine, and went to a Relief Society dutch oven cooking class, and the next morning it all started. At first I though it was food poisoning, but when it lasted 3 days, I'm wasn't so sure anymore. Anyways... the good news: I lost like 6 lbs. I know most of that was water weight, and will come back, but hey, even if only 1 lb stays off, that's great with me!

Now that I'm feeling a little better (still a little weak from all the lost fluids), I was finally able to go back outside. I hadn't checked on my chickens, garden, or pool for 3 full days, which is entirely too long. Joe had already collected the 3 days worth of eggs last night, none of which I dare to put in my fridge. With the temperature around the 90s, I just can't stand the idea of eating 3 day old eggs... yuck!

Yesterday the CPS lady came over for a home visit. The first thing she asked me, as soon as I introduced myself, was to see the backyard. I guess she had seen on google earth, that there was a pond next to the house. She wanted to check out the fence. We only have an electric fence between the house and the pond, which she highly disapproves of. She told me in no uncertain terms that she won't license us, until the play yard is fenced from the lake with a 4', no climbing fence. We don't have to fence the whole property, but enough to make a play "pen" for the kids. We're still debating on that one.

The switch to digital TV yesterday, did NOT make me happy! We have a digital tv, and antenna, but we still don't get ABC digitally. I have just been watching it through analog up till now, but now I've got nothing! I tried to research it online, to find out the cause, but can't figure it out. At first I thought it was because they send out a different type of digital signal (VHF), but then I found out that another station does the same thing, and I do get that one. What will I do without the Bachelorette, and Lost, and Dancing with the Stars? Plus, before the switch, I would watch one show, while recording another on my VHS recorder. "Who needs Tivo?" I would say. Well, now, anyone who wants to record does, apparently..... What if I need to work in the garden, or play with the kids in the pool? Should I just miss my show? Or ditch the kids/garden? Yeah, some shows are online, but my computer desk is still not as comfortable as my couch!

Update- I just rescanned my TV, with the hopes of getting ABC, hope against hope. The Force is with me! It loves me! I have ABC now!!!!!!!!!! I am so happy! On a slight down note, I did loose CBS during the same scan, but I'm not as sad about that, and think I can probably get it back with another scan. - as long as I don't loose ABC again...

Hang it up

We finally had some people over to come swimming! Joe's cousin Katy and family came on Friday afternoon. The pool was perfect. A little chilly when you first get in, but comfortable after that. I did get sick of the sunshine after a while, and am really considering buying some kind of freestanding umbrella. Oh yeah, and some lounge chairs.We finished off the day with some grilled hotdogs, and fresh beans and zucchini from the garden. I did discover a few squash bugs on my plants.. and freaked out. Br Parten in the ward told me to go out there and rub the eggs off the plant, and manually kill all the bugs. Good thing I only have 7 squash plants!!!

After the kids retired/zonked out, we pulled out a good game of Settlers of Catan. It had to be cut short, because of disagreements about the rules, so that was a bummer. Also, I had been planning to go hot tubbing with the adults, but no one was in the mood for that..... so maybe next time.

Saturday the hubbies made wonderful fruit pancakes. Blueberries, strawberries, and chocolate chips... oh wait... those aren't fruit. Or are they? We headed back out to the pool, and the cool 9am breeze felt great.

After that, I suggested hanging the new front door that's been done for the past 3 months. With the extra manpower, it was a much easier job. It was so fun to see it go up. We're still having some issues with the door frame being crooked, but thanks to Earl, that might get fixed tomorrow. Yeah for a nice door. Of course having a nice looking door, points out the super ugly trim, and half-ripped off weather striping. I guess we need to fix that too.....

Ugly old door

Out with the Old

In with the New

Still a work in progress

School year

Another school year is over. The last week was fun, with parties and field day, and awards ceremonies. I signed up to help with field day, and might never do that again! I was in a classroom, helping with a game called "pass the pickle". It's kind of like "hot potato", with an annoying song that played millions of time over the hours. Luckily there was another lady in there with me, so we switched off and on, and went around with our kids the rest of the time.

Thursday was the awards ceremony. To me those are silly. It's not like any specific kids are especially rewarded for their hard work, because all the kids get an award. What's a good citizenship award anyways??

Winter with Mrs LokeySterling with Ms Watson

Duh!

Another thing I will never buy from the store again: Bread crumbs. Duh! Why did it take me 10 years to figure out that it take some old stale bread and 5 minutes to make them? I just happened to have half a loaf of bread in my fridge that I wasn't too excited about eating. That batch had too much flour added, and the bread was honestly more like a brick than bread. So now the bread is all gone, and I have free breadcrumbs (that probably taste better too)

Farm Update

I thought I would do another quick update on the farm, because there has been some changes. Yesterday as I was waiting for Joe to get out of his church meeting, Aubrey Brooks walked in with 2 adorable little kittens. I am a sucker for those cute things! At first I kind of jokingly told them I wanted to take Ariel (the kitty) home. Then, after holding her, I was determined. After all, it has been at least 8 months since our last kittens got adopted! Aubrey told me I could keep it, so we took it home. Yeah! the other cats had some adjusting to do, and neither were very nice at first. They'll get used to each other though, no problem.

So for an animal update:

UpCows: 5
goats: 8
dog: 1
cats: 4
chickens: about 22 - it has been a while since I counted them
ducks: 3
geese: 2
pig: 1

I am loving my garden these days! The weeds aren't growing as fast, the plants are thriving from the heat, and there are even some veggies growing. I now also have a pepper growing! And my watermelon plant has flowers on it. That watermelon grows fast though! It's crazy. I had to move the black plastic over a few feet, so I can guide the shoots that direction. Oh yeah,.... a few days ago, I installed a trellis for the cucumber. See it in the picture? It's already starting to tightly wrap those little fingers around the trellis. The grass that's within the fence, next to the garden was really out of hand (3 feet tall), and with grasshoppers coming into season, I figured I better get rid of it. So I got the push mower out, and got to work. It didn't seem that hot when I first went outside, but man that changed quickly.
Totally non-farm related: I finally decided to take the steps necessary to switch from Pathways to CPS. I am really excited to see if this will actually get us a foster placement! Next week is our first home visit, so now I have to figure out what exactly she will be looking for. Is she just here to meet with us, or will she inspect the house for safety regulations. If that's the case, I better take my prescription drugs off the counter, and put them behind 2 locks!

Summer Plans

The last week of school just started. What a great school year it's been. Winter has completed first grade with flying colors. He reading skills have just kept growing, and she had gotten a lot better at math too. Sterling is finishing up kindergarten. He learned all his letters, learned to read, learned to count, and do easy math. At first I was a little worried, because he went into kindergarten without knowing any of his letters. He hadn't really attended preschool (except one that was super lame), so he was starting from behind. He caught up with the rest of the class, and even sprinted ahead of some of them. What a smart boy he is!

We are looking forward to more time at home to swim, play with the animals, and of course chores. For my sanity, I have also started to fill up our summer with fun with friends. We have a camping trip planned, Winter is going to horse camp, some cousins are coming over for a sleepover, etc. I plan to do weekly outings, so we won't get cabin fever. The kids WILL learn how to swim, and my planned one-on-one lessons will be great! (can you tell I'm trying to pump myself up)

Now if only we could plan like a 3 week long vacation, like the Dutch do. When I was a kid, each year we would go to a foreign country for at least 2 weeks, more like 3. Some of my favorite places were Switzerland (of course), and Italy. We would stay at a campsite, along with hundreds of other Dutch people. We would usually go to a different campground each week, so we could see various places. Man, what I would give for some good ol' European summer vacations!