Baked Broccoli That Kids Will Eat!!

I have found a couple recipes for this but none suited us all. So I altered it so that my kids actually eat this. Not only eat it, but ask for it.

Cut up fresh broccoli and drizzle a little oil of your choice. Just a little! Lets not defeat the purpose here of eating a healthy snack. Bake it at 375 for twenty five minutes or until it begins to brown lightly around the edges. I then remove it and sprinkle shredded Parmesan a cheese, bacon bits and a bit of garlic salt. My kids eat this stuff by the baking sheets!! And I do too.


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Spring Formal

Spring Formal. His last 8th grade event, basically. Isn't he absolutely beautiful?!






















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Such A Sad Day For Our Kinda Music

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Not for the faint of heart!

Today, the simple task of cleaning Granny's bathroom sparked a few thoughts.
When I was a kid I spent a lot of time there. Mommy cared for both her parents at home, till they passed away. What times they were hospitalized I always stayed with Granny because Mommy and Daddy never left their bedside. Mommy stayed a day shift usually and Daddy worked all day and then came and relieved her for his night shift.

When the subject has rose about Granny being able to safely live on her own at 90 years old, there was no doubt that I would see that happen for as long as I could see her medically and emotionally. I was brought up that way.

Right now I go several times a day to administer medications and see that she doesn't need anything. Mostly, she just needs company. So today I decided to clean a little. Bathrooms are my weakness and I started there first with Comet, Bleach and Windex.

It's odd to think back as a child to all the times Granny bathed me in that tub. Grandpaw was a master craftsman and had made me a wooden boat to have in the tub there to play with. I always wanted to take it home but they never allowed it. "If you take it home then you won't have it here to bath with," he argue with me. I still have it. Put away now, for safe keeping.

Today as I was scrubbing the tub that clearly had not been used in a good amount of time, I could hear running water and their voices. "Kathy, don't use up all the hot water. Grandpaw needs a shower too". But he's not there today. And Granny isn't able anymore. Reality hit and erases the voices as I cleaned the shower chair that now straddled the tub.

A extension seat is on their camode seat now. It makes it easier for Granny to get up and down without falling in the bathroom. It's not used much. The potty that sits by her bedside sees the most traffic. ;) Her house is adorned with everything I could possibly think of to make her life easier. Rolling walkers and canes are here and there.

When on earth did this happen? When did so much time pass?

Watching her suffer sparks rage for me. Granny is what I would consider a good Christian. I've mentioned this many times. She lives and has lived ever second of every single day for her God. She has always done his work and been his mouth piece. I've never known a better woman. Why does a God she has served for over 90 years allow her to have to endure such pain and sickness? Why doesn't he bless her with good days and a stronger body here during her last days instead of letting her suffer? Hasn't she proved her love? Hasn't she done enough? Yet, there are those that seem to never suffer. Never experience the loss of loved ones. Never walk close to a god like she has, and seemed blessed beyond measure with a wonderful life and a peaceful death. This makes me irate.

I'm sure this will not set easy with most but frankly I don't care. These are my thoughts which I'm entitled to express freely. I'm sure most will be tempted to email me with uplifting words about how we don't question His ways. Let me save you the trouble. Don't.

The last few years I have watched my Momma fade into a haze, my Daddy wither away with heart problems, triple bypass and currently Cancer and radiation. All I consider strong Christians.

Wouldn't it be lovely to see these people rewarded on earth for the lives they have lived? Wouldn't that cause for others to believe and have a increase of faith? Don't get me wrong. Life eternal in Heaven will be their our reward but it would be lovely to see their efforts pay off here! Now! Because watching good people hurt, cry, and be in physical misery just doesn't seem fair to me.

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Antique Photos

When the people you love are sick, sadly, you appreciate them more. You imagine what life would be like without them and you remember how things use to be years ago. I do anyway. The last several months have been hard. The hardest of my entire life. I have always been Daddy's girl. I have the photos to prove it. He would have a fit if he knew he was on the Internet shirtless. Don't tell him!




And if you have ever wondered why on earth I wanted a herd of babies.......well......I've been raising babies my whole life. Pretty sure I was nursing this one...... I'm sure some nights when I'm rocking sick babies I still have that exact same expression.




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Photo Dump

Evyn's first Tee Ball game!



Daddy needed helping hands.




Chit! It's been a long day.


Zacs first over handed baseball game.


Peys chicken. That's what Evyn says anyway.


The fit Evyn throws ever time his daddy leaves!!!!!


Posting photos and blogging is so much simpler with this ap. thank you Stacy!!

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Things that make my head spin.....

Mixing the Play-Doh together. Oh. My. Gawd. OCD is such a jackarse.
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Mini Photo Dump

I finished a weighted blanket since it was a nasty rainy day.

I took a photo of my Cherry tree before the wind today blows the blooms off.

Zackarys first fish he drug in himself.

Peytons was shocked that his Momma could disk and needed proof so he could show his farmer friends.

And a photo of 3/4 of the herd fishing over the weekend.
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You Are Gonna Wanna See This!!!!!!! Very Dusturbing.

  I have been hanging on to this for several weeks now. Disgusted by it and unsure what exactly I was going to do with it. After much thought I decided to make the names unrecognizable and blog it.
  Not calling the parents of these two children was my final decision as well as not contacting the proper school officials. After all, I suppose this goes on A LOT and I should just be thankful it didn't belong to my child.
   I am sure there are questions about how this fell into my hands and I won't lie, I picked it up out of a parking lot while waiting for a child to finish up with a after school event. I am nosey and I unfolded it and read it. Momma's and Daddy's..........this is the bullsh#t we are up against. I'd love to hear your feedback.

Pinterest Success

Chalk board wall was a hit. And I finished the board from Grannys childhood home I mentioned as well.
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Puppy Love, and Heartbreak

All good things come to a end. And unfortunately, this weekend it was another heartbreak for us. We had all become so attached to our new Boxer pup. We had finally picked a name that stuck a couple weeks ago, Penny. She was doing so well crate training and house breaking. She went everywhere I went and loved to ride in the van with us. By far the most brilliant breed/dog I have ever had the joy of loving. Saturday poor Pey hoped in the van to back it up for Danny and had no idea she was behind the van. I rushed her to the vet who was meeting us at Glasgow but she died in my arms on the way.
So once again we had to tell the kids and bury another friend of theirs. Still, today, I find myself looking for her it saying her name to come sit with me on the coach. Bless her sweet little soul. She was sure special. She knows we loved her and she was part of our family. I kept telling her until she stopped breathing.
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More Pinterest Projects

Over the weekend I went to my Grandmothers childhood home. Its falling down now but I dug around for something I could have to remember it by. When I was little Grandpa and Granny took me there. It was still standing at that time but barely. We walked around on the dirt floor and Granny showed me where everything sat when she was little. She would close her eyes as if she were trying to pull memories out of her mind that were buried. She would point, with her eyes shut. She showed me where the rocking chair was that she would rock her baby brothers and sisters in. She showed me where they would gather and pray. She showed where she would lay at night in her bed with ear aches and her daddy would come hold hot rags on her ear. And she showed me where she found God.
I wanted a couple things from this cabin that has fallen but I wasn't sure exactly what. I decided on a board, which I'm going to make a sign out of. And underneath the fallen mess I found a window frame. Jackpot. I can't say for sure but from the location I'd like to think its from her bedroom window upstairs. I decided to hang it. I didn't touch it. I won't paint it. I wanted it just as I found it. Just as it was when she looked out it as a child. The glass, I'm sure, was broken out many hears ago. But its still perfect.

We also used lumber off Daddys barn and framed the kids a wall and painted it with chalk board paint. The kids live it and I love how its made from the barn I spent many, many, many hours in as a kid. I have a few more projects I want to complete with Daddys barn lumber. All in good time.
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Bipolar Is A Jackass Disorder

For the last several months I have stayed away from posting about my days/nights with Eli. Partly because he is older and I don't want to "out" his business without his permission and partly because it's been rather peaceful for the most part. But, it has not been peaceful for me so much as it has been him. It's peaceful for him because I do not discipline him. I do not make him do anything he does not want to. I let him stay up all night. I don't make him brush his teeth. I don't make him do homework. I don't make him respect his siblings or take a bath and change clothes. It's as if I have given up. I was tired of fighting. So, I gave up trying to teach him any better.

This morning (the first day of Spring Break) the fighting began. It's always a fight over a device. iPad, iPod, Xbox, ect. Eli has a iPod addiction. He is a screen addict. He has to have it in his hands at all times. He sleeps with it in his hands. Literally. He lays it on the back of the camode when he showers, poops and pees. He holds it when he gets dressed in the morning. He hides it when he goes to school and picks it right up when he gets home. He eats with it. He can't breath without it. And as long as I don't take it away for any reason he won't scream at me, throw things or break stuff.

I have been dreading Spring Break. I had already decided he was not going to keep a device in his face constantly and he was going to interact with the rest of us some. Mistake.  I took the iPod away and he completely lost it. I almost gave it back. I am a firm believer that we as parents need to pick our battles. Was this such a big deal? Then I decided that this was a battle I was going to fight with him.  No one else in the house gets to do what they want 24/7. Everyone else has limits. But Eli, he has none because I don't want to throw gas on the fire. This is not fair to anyone else in the house who has chores, expectations and limits. It's not fair to me to be scared of his outburst and it's not fair to him because I am not preparing him for the real world. I stood my ground and did not back down when he busted my lip during a raging fit. I did not back down when Evyn threw everything he could get his hands on because he thought I was hurting Eli when I slapped his smart mouth that wouldn't stop thing morning. It's all Evyn knows. He has saw Eli throw such terribly fits that he thinks it's normal. This is another reason I have avoided being a parent to Eli for some time.

After we both calmed down (it always turns in a screaming match between Eli and me) the "poor pitiful me" stuff started. "I hate it here. No one likes me. Everyone hates me. I hate my brothers. I hate this house. You don't love me. If you had just left me alone none of this would have happen. This is all your fault. I wasn't bothering you."

I ignored him. For the most part.

He then decided he was moving to Mom's and taking his iPod and Xbox with him. Negative. My reply......"you can go to Momma's but you will not be taking the iPod or the Xbox." 

We went round and round over this for a couple hours before he filled a Walmart bag with Nerf bullets, playing cards, marbles, a pencil trimmer and a pair of under ware and started walking to Mom's. Don't spaze. Mom's is within walking distance for a ten year old.

Since, it has been peaceful for the rest of us. No fighting, fussing or bleeding. I have had to spank Evyn a couple times for throwing what I call a "Eli fit". But unlike Eli, he learns from his mistakes and excepts consequences and kisses my arse afterwards. He knows what he done was wrong and he's sorry. Eli on the other hand is never wrong. Never excepts consequences and is never sorry for hurting anyone. He never tries to fix his mistakes (because he thinks it's always someone elses fault) and he will continue to make those mistakes over and over. It's a vicious cycle. It's like no matter how hard I try, I can't teach him. I can't make him see the big picture. Ever. And I need to learn to except that he may never learn cause and effect or consequences. Bipolar is a Jackass disorder.