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Tag Archive for Family Stuff

What Does a 3 Year Old Plus 2 Keys Equal?

Posted by html404 on November 29, 2011
in Family Stuff, Parenting, Safety

You know you are a blogger when you grab your flip cam in a serious situation……

Never a dull moment in my house. So what does a 3 year old plus 2 keys equal? A burnt electrical outlet (I called it a light socket in the video below! Brain freeze!) and one melted key tip. Yep he put two keys into an electrical outlet in the boys room and one of them melted to the little screw that holds the outlet frame into the wall. Amazing. I was told that I could take the keys out with rubber handled pliers……don’t try it! Sparks still flew even though I didn’t get shocked! I had to shut down the electric in the house to take them out to prevent anymore sparks. I am just grateful we are all still here and the house is still standing! Could have been a lot worse to say the least.

I have to shake my head at the trouble children can find. My daughter and son were even in the same room hanging pictures on the wall while he did this!?

July-Nov Videos 2011 053

I didn’t have to scold him, his siblings pretty much did that because they freaked out and to tease him (yes!), I was a little surprised that Noah did it as it is Junior (our 15 month old baby) whose been the most fascinated with electrical outlets. In the video Noah looks like he’s about to cry but I think the whole experience scared him. Life is rough sometimes, even for little ones.

And no this was not staged and yes I was calm….I don’t know why I remained calm. Ya win some and ya lose some….ya know what I mean? Today I won in this instance.

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Mantis Tiller

Posted by html404 on November 29, 2011
in Family Stuff, Farm Stuff, Gardening

Still haven’t got our garlic planted. We started, but my husband was using a shovel to over turn the soil, which is currently a grassy field. I told him it would take forever to get it done that way….should have let him go at it because my idea of getting our Mantis tiller fixed and working has delayed us even more. I bought the tiller with the knowledge that it had a leak in the gas line but my husband was unable to seal the leak with silicone gel. I think we are beyond his small engine repair knowledge and will have to take it to be serviced. Guess hand tilling will have to do before we get another freeze.

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Christmas Movies – Movie Review Monday

Posted by html404 on November 28, 2011
in Family Stuff, Holidays, Movie Review Monday, Movie Reviews

This really isn’t a review per se, more like a generic post about Christmas movies.

We started watching some Christmas movies over the Thanksgiving weekend. Some old and some new. Miracle on 34th Street starring Maureen O’Hara was one of the ones we watched on Thanksgiving. It was one of my Dad’s favorites when my sisters and I were growing up. I still remember him calling to us as he always did when he wanted us to watch something with him (like 6pm Disney World on Sunday nights). Even though we do not celebrate Santa Claus, I love this movie’s story line and the warm memories it brings back.

One of the Christmas movies my husband grew up watching was A Christmas Story with “Ralphie”. This is a movie that my husband and children like, but I could live without. I detest the language in it and think it’s crude, but they all sat there laughing through it. My oldest could not understand how I could not watch it. I was in the room but ended up working on some project rather than paying attention to the movie.

We also watched The Nativity Story about the birth of Jesus on Sunday. It is one of our favorites now too.

Of course the classics like It’s a Wonderful Life, Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and Charlie Brown’s Christmas are usually on our must-see list.

We also watched a couple of “ABC Family Night” Christmas movies. Well, my daughters and I watched them and I am glad it was my older children because they contained a lot of adult content that I would not consider family-friendly. Even my oldest said that she thought Walmart was doing a better job with family movie night…yay Walmart and P&G!

So do you have your Christmas movie favorites? Feel free to warn us against the duds too so we can avoid them!

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Fatal Attraction?

Posted by html404 on November 25, 2011
in Animals, Family Stuff, Farm Stuff

Talk about living in critterville….my daughter went outside this morning only to discover another dead mouse had joined the first dead mouse in the stainless steel bowl. Fatal attraction? Ha! 😉 Is it the itty bitty amount of food that is the attraction, the stainless steel bowl or a dead mouse spouse? My daughter just said that was awful but I am a little giddy this morning after my super hero candies! Seriously. We were given some candy this week and when my husband brought it home I started, “I wish you’d tell your mother not to send that stuff home.” Only to find out it was gifted by another. Ooops. Should have thrown it out but we have been eating it. Or should I say I have been eating it. The children had a treasure hunt yesterday with some of it.

Anyhoo….candy has nothing to do with the fatal attraction of the dead mice, only to do with my sugar high!

So what do you think is attracting the mice to the bowl?

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Unwanted Critters

Posted by html404 on November 24, 2011
in Family Stuff, Farm Stuff

Happy Thanksgiving! (Still working on those two posts….)

Living in the country has presented a variety of critters around our place. Back in the summer we were all sitting around the dining room table and got a whiff of skunk through our patio doors. Yep, let’s just say that was unpleasant to say the least. From that time on our boys swore (not literally) that a skunk lived in one of the pine trees on our rented property! In reality we have no evidence of a skunk living on our property.

Then we have had some mice visit us. The first made its appearance in the garage, which was quickly vacated by a mouse trap. More recently one was found in our basement. We think the basement mouse was just a visitor because there was no evidence of him being there long…if you know what I mean? (I mean there was no mouse poop/droppings.)

This past week the boys informed me that there was a dead mouse in one of my stainless steel bowls they had used to take out veggie scraps to the compost pile but left the bowl outside….to catch a mouse. Uggh. Just what I need to lose a bowl over. Really. That bowl won’t be found in my kitchen again!

Road Kill Critters

Our road is really, really busy for being a country road and cars go really, really fast. So one weekend morning we woke up and one of the children had gone out to play (yes, they go out all times of the day and night now since there are no neighbors to bother!) and came running back in to say there was a possum dead out front (where the road runs by). Sure enough there was a dead possum almost off the road. Of course, everyone, but me and baby, had to go take a look at the road kill.

I can only imagine what that possum or skunk would have done if we had chickens!

Possum photo to come, but I have to change computers to upload it!

Unwanted Human Critters

The title “Unwanted Human Critters” is more in tongue in cheek than it is to sound mean. Living just 20 minutes from our old town puts us in a whole new culture. Seriously. In our townhouse community, as close as the houses are/were, we could go days without talking to anyone. That is townhouse/suburban culture. Here in the country we have had strangers knock on our door to see if we were selling our chicken equipment. Yes, all because it was in plain view.

Just this week we had a man stop and ask my husband if we wanted to buy his ten chickens because he was moving and needed to sell them. If it had not been fall and we had had our fencing, we might have considered it.

We did not know these people at all.

Then there is the fact that one of our sons decided to roll under our neighbors fence to say hi to their dog making him and unwanted human critter! Yes. Our neighbors on the same side of the road as us are probably an acre or two away and our boys after the conventional soybean farmer had harvested have played out in the acres behind our property (acres we are hoping to rent in the future). Our neighbor came a-knocking to let us know of our son’s escapade. Then they inform us their dog is a guard dog and has a history of biting the UPS man or anyone that comes on the property. Thankfully the dog was in its kennel at the time, but the neighbors have a surveillance camera since they have been robbed before and caught our son in action! We are grateful for the understanding of our kind neighbors, but our son(s) both got a talking to about respecting other people’s property.

Never a dull moment in the country! 😉 We are lovin’ it, in spite of unwanted critters!

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Overruled: Government Invasion of Parental Rights

Posted by html404 on November 17, 2011
in Family Stuff, Parenting, Politics

This is a must see for ALL parents! Go beyond the first case as each case presented is a different topic.

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Planting Garlic

Posted by html404 on November 16, 2011
in Family Stuff, Farm Stuff, Health & Garden Tuesday, Health and Garden Tuesday

Farming has its elements of convenience and inconvenience. I love the convenience we have now with living right on the property that we will be farming. It is convenient to grow our own food. The inconvenience comes with weather, the timing of planting and harvesting. For the purpose of this belated Health & Garden Tuesday, I will be covering the inconvenience of planting garlic.

The inconvenience comes in the form of waiting for the first frost and getting the garlic in the ground at the right time. How do I know what the right time is? My timing in most things is not the greatest. In the case of garlic, which is usually planted in the fall for a spring harvest, it is a mixed bag. My timing for ordering our garlic was actually very good. I had fun picking out a few varieties of garlic and making my purchase, but we are just getting to tilling, planting and mulching our 7 or 8 lbs of garlic. I fear if my timing is off it will ruin the quality and quantity of garlic we harvest next year. My inexperience makes me second guess myself no matter how many times I read over the planting recommendations. I am hoping we can complete this little project this week….but at the rate we finish things….hmmm….but it has to get done soon.

Nevertheless, I am excited! I am still a little shell shocked that we are actually farming our “own” land. It still doesn’t seem real. It has been three and a half months since we moved here and the farming aspect is not being lived out in full capacity. After all, we moved at the end of the growing season here in Illinois. At least the growing season for outside. There are many farmers who have high tunnels which allows them to extend their growing season….but that is a whole other topic!

Here’s to hoping the weather stays in the 50’s so we can get our garlic into the ground!

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Playmates & Brothers

Posted by html404 on November 16, 2011
in Family Stuff, Farm Stuff, Wordless Wednesday

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Lose Your Bad Habits or Lose a Limb!

Posted by html404 on November 15, 2011
in Family Stuff, Food and Treats, Health, Health & Garden Tuesday, Health and Nutrition

If you were at a cross road in your health and knew you could lose a limb due to poor circulation probably acerbated by your diabetes, would you lose your bad eating habits? I know I would no matter how much of a struggle it would be! We have a family member who recently faced this very thing. Due to stints and skilled doctors though this person kept their leg, but doesn’t appear to be ready to drastically change their eating habits. This person has had several operations in the last couple of years and undoubtedly more to come if old habits do not die fast and hard.

I find it ironic that people do not want to change. This may sound awful but I understand how people can ignore the obvious problem – their eating habits. I would much rather eat healthy than give myself a shot of insulin. I would much rather have both my legs and eat spinach than ignore fruits and veggies only to chance losing my leg. Losing a limb is life changing. More life changing than simply eating more fruits and veggies. It is a known fact that Type 2 diabetes can be reversed/controlled through diet, exercise, and with the help of alternatives. I have heard of people even stopping their insulin shots! Yet people still choose their medicines, operations and ongoing symptoms over simply changing their eating habits. I don’t get it.

It would be a dreadful thing to lose a limb. Any limb. It is a scary thought. Our family tries hard to eat healthy but I admit we struggle at times too. It concerns me for our future health. I would love to eat healthier to be honest, but like most families our budget will only allow for so much. That is the very reason we desire to grow our own food and raise our own meat birds, laying hens etc. Besides the fact that farming also provides a natural means of exercising. Just working on the farm is exercise. No need to schedule a special time for yet another activity away from home because it naturally occurs….now that is my kind of exercise!

Today’s Health and Garden Tuesday post is to simply challenge all of us (myself included!) that the choices we make today determine what our future will be like. So eat lots of fruits and veggies and cut back on those sweets (my downfall)!

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Get a Melissa & Doug 25% Off Coupon When You Take the North “Poll”

Posted by Brande on November 14, 2011
in Baby Products, Books, Coupons, Education, Family Stuff, Fun Stuff, Gift Ideas, Holidays, Kids Toys, SALES, Saving Money, Shopping

Melissa & Doug want you to tell them which of their educational toys you think is the best! Just click on the image below to place your vote in the North “Poll!” You’ll Get a Melissa & Doug 25% Off Coupon** to use at MelissaAndDoug.com just for voting!