Home for the Holidays

All start off by saying Lola was such a wonderful blessing to have this weekend. Everyone at Church wanted to take her home. She never once cried, only wimpered a few times. I also think I got Lola converted to Cloth diapers, now to work on her mother. Yep, Lola wore cloth when she came to my home.

Next, Praise God we have found a church we feel comfortable in. Jeremy has taken a liking to the men at the church and they seem to feel the same about him. The kiddos love the new church. They are excieted about bible verse memorization and the Sunday and Wednesday night plug in programs. The kids are in a program like pioneer girls only for girls and boys. They plug through the bible memorizing and understanding verses. What caught my eye in the discription of the class was that they tell biographies not Stories from the bible. I love that thought. Train our children from a young age that the bible did happen its not full of stories.
Our big delema in the Decker household is Rollie's chess. Rollie was invited to start a reading group Tuesday and Thursday mornings. We accepted the invite but later found out that Chess club this year will be held Tues morning instead of Tuesday after school. I feel torn on what to do. Rollie loves chess but needs help in Reading. We don't have him in any extra activities this year where last year he was in Chess, swimming, and hockey. It bothers me we don't have the funds and chess is something he can do for free. On the otherside it should be a no brainer for any nonparent on what to do in this situation. Yes, I should put him in the reading program and strengthen his skills but he just loves Chess so much. Will pray on it and see what happens.
My last concern, Tree or no tree for Thanksgiving. Yes, I have actually been debating this for a few weeks. We have never had guest before on a holiday. We live about 2 hours away from most of our family so not many visitors. Well this year we are having Thanksgiving and I would love to share my Christmas spirit with them also knowing They won't get a chance to make it up here again. What do you think? Will it be to corny to eat the turkey next to the 12 ft light tree?

The other pics of some amazing Almond shortbread cookies I made tonight and some awesome soap Im finishing up.

A few things

Please pray for this little guy Noah. He has been in my prayers since last January. Little Noah is the same age as Garet.

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/ourquiverfull/
Next on the list, Cute baby Lola. We get the pleasure of having Jeremy's cute little second cousing stay with us. She only a few months old so please pray we remember how to take care of this cutie. Her mamma forgot her diaps and so Jeremy said thats ok Amy will put her in cloth. All let you know how the night goes. Babies tend to feel dryer in Cloth diapers because of the new wicking fleece so hopefully she'll sleep like a lamb. The diaps by the way are sooo cute on her. I took a pic to send to her mamma.
Ok she is very hungry so all update tommorow.

Motrin Ad

If you go to Motrins site you will see they are trying to remove all ads even the ones in magazines. They did write a quick appology. I will not use this brand. I do not wear my baby to look more like a parent. Hey I don't even wear my 2 1/2 year old anymore. In fact he won't even hold my hand anymore. Hmmmmm this ad still makes me mad.

Baby Wearing Parents brace yourself

Motrin Released this ad on there internet site. Since then the news has taken off with this ad and mammas are made everywhere. Aparently Motrin will be releasing an appology. Here is the ad http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOlp-hknOmo Please write this company and tell them how great it is to wear your baby. There are health benefits for the baby which goes beyond not crying. As far as wearing there baby, what sling are they using. I love my Moby! I have such a bad back but once I tried the Moby I had no problems. I think a parent just needs to try different carriers and find what works for them. Several stores Like Peapods in St. Paul allow you to try on different carriers. Anyways please write this company and express your thoughts on the ad.

Jenkins the Cat and Caits terrific Job!

Well to start off Cait did a fabulous job at Sections. Here relay team placed 5th in the Section. Cait kept her same times in Backstroke and IM. She placed 13th in the 4A sections. This is a huge group and we are so proud. Cait is in 10th grade and is setting her goals high for sections next year.
The other big news is the new little kitty we received. My sisters neighbors found this cutie under there stairs and were unable to keep it. My sister called me and asked if I could take him. So on a 24 hour trail we realized he is perfect for our family. Garet who kisses NO one says I love you kitty and fills him with kisses. We named him Jenkins. Jenkins has terrible gas so please pray this problem fixes itself with proper food.
Lastly, please pray my little bro gets the job he interviewed for today. It would be close to our home, so we could see his family more often.

Edit in Caits Time

Sorry I have to make an annoucement. Caits 100 Free time on the 400 relay was 1:02 I wrote 1 11 If I don't make this change she will give me serious static. If you just reading the rest of her times are down two blogs.

TURKEY MAKING

Now every parent hits a time in there child's life when they get to decorate the Turkey. I have seen this task as young as 1st grade and as old as 2nd grade. Luckily it came early here in the big city. This is the 3rd time around doing this project and luckily I have 5 kids so I will get another 2 shots to make it perfect. Needless to say the 1st or 2nd grader gets a very small part in this project and mom gets the rest. This is not the child's decision but as the mother who knows best this is my decision. All the kids know this is really moms turkey. I posted a pic of the wonderful Turkey this year. I will also be hanging the turkeys I did from previous 1st grades up. Connie and Jo my aunts still put up my leather turkey I originally made in 2nd grade with my grandma. If you look at this Turkey (the original from the early 80's) you can see my grandma took over the project. Yes, she new better like I do now. This turkey my grandmother and I made has blessed the Anderson/Celander home for 23 years. WOW! Some day my children will drag out there Turkeys show there children and remind them Grandma's and Mother's know best. The turkey project is really for them.

If you look closly I did allow them to color the head and wings of the turkey. Oh yeah and the feet.
I discovered Facebook and was able to chat with some old High school friends. How Fun! So my husband walks down to the computer while Im searching youtube for Aerosmith's Pink. He then asks me if Im have a mid life crisis. WHAT! Pink was College not high school. I would need to search Metallica or Beck to get back to those days. Anyways if your a facebooker look me up.

RESULTS JUST IN....

Caitlynn will be going to day two for the swimming section.
She will be swimming
Backstroke with time of 1:09
IM with a time of 2:34
400 free relay her time 1:02:11 PLEASE NOTE I HAD THE WRONG TIME EARLIER ENTERED

YEAH TO CAITY! All post Saturdays results. Please remember sections are at Stillwater and Stillwater has won state for the last few years. These are the best swimmers out there so it is difficult to score. Cait has done awesome up against the best in State.

Could the OLD LADY have struck again

ALERT! ALERT! It seems something has struck my Honeycrisp tree. It was standing beautifully and this year it actually produced a few apples.
Yesterday to my alarm I looked out my window to see the tree was down. My first thought was those pesky three deer that live in my backyard, but they couldn't have just knocked over a tree. Plus the trunk didn't look like it had been pushed over. My next thought, The Duck stealing Grandma. If you look in my past posts you will see her and her evil doings. If you have seen this woman or have any information on the Apple tree slaying, please contact your closest Police department.

Last Post

SO for supper we tried out the Pumpkin french toast. Honestly, even though its under 5.00 its kinda bland. If you do make it use whipped topping instead of syrup.

On another note, I have decided not to shave my legs until I get back to my preGaret weight. Hopefully this will be before summer or my girls will just die of embarassement. I am currently at 127.2 lbs, I need to get down to 112lbs. I really need to do this for my own self esteem and for my health before it gets out of control. Wish me luck and if you know any good secrets on healthy food that taste good let me know. We are really good eaters so Im not worried about that part. It's more of getting my lazies into the gym in the morning and staying there for 1-2 hours. As many of you know this last summer I ran a marathon. Last year I ran two Half marathons. By the end of June I was running 15miles at 9-9:15 a mile. So since then I have gotten the lazies and I feel I am starting all over. UGH! Even while preparing to run 26.2 miles I still didn't lose any weight so I know I have a tough road ahead of me but once its off I know I can maintain. Wish me luck please and if you pray Please pray for me

One last thing, Facebook. I joined today and it was amazing, I had no idea how many people were on facebook. I really don't feel like starting over on my life history or the books and movies I like so all pass on that part of it but I do enjoy reading messages on my fake Wall. No graffitti is on this wall I found out. The only bad part is everyone can read what you write. I wrote my SIL a silly message after realizing everyone could read it. I had to delete immediatly and now I feel awful that someone might have read it. Maybe all just stick with the blogging and regular email and phone calls.

Please pray for Cait tommorow Thursday. She will be going to sections for swimming. If you know anything about sections this is a huge HUGE deal. She works every year at qualifying and this year she is in 3 events.

Madison is going to a scrapbooking camp with her grandma Peggy for the weekend, please pray they have a safe wonderful time.

Until next time, Good Night

French Toast Bake

What you said you loved the pumpkin pie and want more recipes using the Pumpkin.
Well if your a thrifty coupon cutter you would have ran into this weeks ad for French Toast Bake. Along with this was a 1.00 off coupon for the sausage it requires. So in the recipe it asks for 30 oz pumpkin pie filling. Hello you just bagged a few 2 Cup porportions of Pumpkin pie. So measure out 30 oz. Use your 1.00 off coupon, if you live near me you can run to the bakery outlet and get your texas toast loaf for 1.00 (also one located in St. Cloud across from Sammy's Pizza) and your working towards a supper under 5.00. Here is the recipe
1 Pkg Johnsonville Brown Sugar and Honey Breakfast links
12 eggs (1.79)
1 Can (30oz.) Pumpkin Pie Filling FREE
1 Can (12oz) Evaporated Milk
1 Tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
15 slices of bread cubed (I used 10slices of Texas toast)
Confectioners Sugar
Maple Syrup

Cook Sausage cut into 1/4" slices
whish the eggs, pumpkin filling, milk, cinnamon and vanilla
in large bowl combine pumpkin mixture, sausage, bread
transfer to a GREASED 13x9 baking dish

bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 35-40 mins or until knife inserted comes out clean
Dust with Confectioners sugar serve with syrup

How to make Tallow

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PERFECT PUMPKIN PIE

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Slide shows

I am trying to get the Perfect Pumpkin Pie How to's, Laundry Soap How to's, Diaper Making, Lye Soap making and other how to's in the Slide show area. Please use these. If you have questions just email or call me. I love sharing my money saving earth friendly tips.

Halloween Time