I stumbled across this website a couple months ago, and have been referring back to it frequently.  Because of www.hillbillyhousewife.com, I bake bread from scratch once or twice a week.  The HH website is what prompted me to introduce powdered milk into our home (I do powdered milk with evaporated milk mixed in for flavor and it's used for baking and for eating with cereal...regular milk is only for drinking at our house).  I've made casseroles and from-scratch cinnamon rolls bas...

I spent Sunday cleaning the garage.  It is my secret shame.  Adrian opened the garage door up so I wouldn't overheat, and I was so embarrassed as neighbors drove by, haha.  Several slowed down like maybe they thought it was a yard sale or maybe they just wanted reassurance that THEIR garage isn't really that bad?  It got to the point I was ready to tell the next person to slow down and gawk to either move along and pull over, get out, and help me. I worked my ass off for a...

It has been crazy hot/humid here.  Or maybe I'm a wuss and just not used to it yet.  It just seems so uncomfortable.  Our electricty bill jumped from 120 or so to nearly 300.  I signed up for average billing which will help.  The electric co rep I talked to said I picked a good time, since August is usually the biggest bill of the year.  I really don't think we waste electricity but me and the kids are home all day most days, so I guess that doesn't help. Adrian ...

I took a "vacation" back to Hawaii in my dreams last night. There was no plane ride.  I was just there.  Adrian was there, too.  Unfortunately, he had meetings or other work-related tasks all day, everyday.  We were there on a Monday through a Friday, but the time passed like it was a single day.  It would suddenly be dark and night-time without there having been any time to explore or reminisce.  The entire time I was sad and frustrated at having such beauty ...

Schezuan Shrimp.  a)  It's RED.  The picture does not do justice to the redness of this dish.   It tastes like RED. c)  It's full of water chestnuts. (I usually like them, but there's tooooo many, and they're RED) d)  The shrimp are really, really RED. I am so disappointed in my food choice.  I can't even eat it because looking at it makes me sick.  It is one of the grossest dishes I have ever encountered. It could be some residua...

I'm now 18 weeks pregnant...2 weeks away from the halfway point.  Time seems to be passing very quickly.  It's exciting to think that we will soon have a new baby in the house. I have been taking a picture of my side profile every 2 weeks to see the changes.  I did the same thing with my pregnancy with Isabella, and afterwards it was really neat to look back at the pictures. The baby is in a stage of rapid growth, so I expect to "pop" soon and look very obviously pregnan...

I know home-schooling is more common in big families.  I don't know if it's like a big family philosophy type thing or if it's because of the cost of sending kids to school (even free public school costs $$), but it does seem more common with "big" families.  I think 4 kids counts as a big family?  Dunno.  All I know is, I will NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER homeschool.  School starts in less than 2 weeks here and it cannot come soon enough. It's too hot mos...

Forgive me children, for I have sinned. Tonight has been somewhat frustrating.  Adrian has been home for 10 months now and I'm getting soft.  He has to work all night tonight, and I think it has us all feeling strange.  Isabella keeps saying "Da" and "Mail" because she knows he should be home and they go get the mail together, LOL.  Orian didn't notice anything was up until it got dark then he started wondering, haha. As I was washing dishes, I asked the boys to pick ...

Naming another human being is a pretty heavy task.  You want a name that reflects who you think this person is, who you hope they become, and what you are comfortable yelling up a flight of stairs. Should the name  be traditional or unique?  What ethnicity origin should the name come from?  Is meaning important?  How should it flow?  Should the number of syllables be more or less than the last name?  How should you spell it?  Will a common spelling fail...

Oh wow.  I had an entire article written out and then accidentally deleted it.  That sucks. Instead of trying to write it all out again, I'm going to go with bullets, LOL. School starts in less than 3 weeks. Xavier will be in Gifted and Talented (TAG) this year, and I think he will enjoy how hands-on and self-directed it is. He bought Spore Creature Creator with his allowance, and he is hooked.  Orian likes whatever Xavier likes, much to Xavier's frustration. Isab...

Last night, after picking up groceries, we decided to stop by Taco Bell.  As we pulled into the parking lot, we were approached by a large woman walking slowly, but animatedly, toward us.  She was clearly braless with quite a bountiful set of boobs.  Her t-shirt was about 7 inches too short for her girth and as she waddled, her breasts pulled her shirt up and then let it back down.  Up and down, up and down.  Almost mesmerizing.  Almost as nice as her skin tight jea...

It all started with an episode of How Clean is Your House.  The mean, fat old lady in too much make up cleaned a toilet with LEMONADE!!  It worked.  The toilet got cleaned and sanitized, and a kid can get into the pantry and drink as much lemonade as s/he wants and NOT DIE!  I have become interested in natural cleaning...cleaning using a lot of normal, non-toxic household products and essential oils.  It's less expensive, works great, and is so much safer for a...

This slideshow, if I can get it to post, is kind of Isabella-centric.  She is obsessed with having pictures taken of herself and FORCES me to take pics of her so she can say "CHEEEEEESSEEE!!"  

We are having a lazy day.  We're out of milk, so the boys got to have fruit snacks and chips for breakfast, which is apparently a very pleasing way to start the day. Isabella is still nursing, so no problem there.  Daddy's bringing milk home later, but work is complicated today so it's going to be water and juice for a few more hours. The living room seems to get trashed every single day.  It just doesn't stay picked up and clean.  There are always crumbs to be vacuumed...

  I tried and tried last night to post a slideshow, but for some reason I can no longer figure out how to do that.  Instead, here are some stationary pics.    There are a lot...sorry!     Making Martians! She LOVES Gwen Stefani!  Enraptured, haha! The boys playing at Pa & Gran-Gran's house: Adrian with his parents at his sister's wedding. Grandpa and Izzy: One day of our trip to the panhandle, Adri...