Chicken Pasta Salad

Chicken pasta salad is AWESOME and oh so easy! All you need is...

Pasta-cooked and cooled-we have used spirals, shells, and the colorful noodles but my kids like the bow ties the best
chicken-cooked, cut up, and cooled
dressing-we use honey mustard(Ken's is really good) but you can try it with any dressing your family likes
what ever you like and have on hand-how easy is that!?! We like you add cut broccoli, chopped tomatoes or cherry tomatoes, small cubes of cheddar, onion, cauliflower(monty doesn't like that but will eat it in this salad and sometimes not realize it:))


Dump everything in a big bowl, mix and serve cold. This is awesome for a quick meal and great as left overs for lunch. It is perfect for "no time for cooking and still get in a nap before we have to leave again" Sunday afternoons!! It is also great with some warm bread sticks or crescent rolls with butter and garlic salt spread on the inside before they are cooked.

Ok, so the close up picture doesn't look all that appetizing but trust me, this stuff is AWESOME!

Tagged on facebook

So I have a facebook page as well and have not figured it all out yet. I don't really get it?!? Blogging is so much more fun and a lot easier to figure out. Anyway, Brother Jayson-from my church-tagged me on facebook with 25 random things about yourself. It took me a while to learn how to even find the tag other than the email update I got and then took even longer trying to find how to answer back. Jayson(who is not as young as he thinks he is) would blame this all on my age but the truth is facebook is kinda confusing. I set up this blog and started posting within minutes so why should facebook be any harder. Well I finally answered the tag and decided to post my response here as well. I don't go on facebook often and I know a few of the people that actually read here are not on facebook. I am not tagging anyone here but feel free to answer it anyway. If you do just leave me a comment so I can check it out.

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.


1.I came to facebook to try to spy on people not knowing the person has to let you be their "friend". a very disappointing discovery!!
2.I love blogging! It is way cooler than facebook:) as a mater of fact, I will probably post this on my blog at created4homeschooling.blogspot.com
3.I am totally in favor of shameless self promotion!
4.I love 80's Steve Martin movies!-man with 2 brains-all of me-the jerk(my ALL TIME FAVORITE!) I'M PICKING OUT A THERMOS FOR YOU! NOT AN ORDINARY THERMOS WILL DO!
5.I met my husband at Taco Bell.
6.I can't carry a tune but I love to sing and will make anything into a song at home. My kids think I'm nuts-especially when I dance along to my crazy made up songs.
7.I can make any word a verb when I talk to my kids-"I will COOKIE you in just a minute!"
8.I love to watch survivor and am pretty sure I could totally win!!
9.I have crocheted 7 ponchos and a blanket.
10.I can NEVER skip ahead and read the last chapter or page of a book to see what happens. Even if I am bored with the book-I have to read EVERY WORD! (that is not my only OCD tendency)
11.I lived 15 minutes from my best friend in the world-Amy- for 10 years but did not meet her until we both went to the same college.
12.I played the clarinet from 6th grade-freshman year in college(I probably couldnt make a sound on it now!?)
13.I love to go canoeing down the Illinois River
14.I was born in Oklahoma-lived in Texas from 3rd grade until graduation-then moved back to Oklahoma but I have always considered myself a TEXAN.
15.If I could travel ANYWHERE I would pick an Australian Safari
16.In high school, I was pretty positive that I was gonna marry Kirk Cameron when I grew up.
17.I truly believe that my daughters are "SUPER MODEL" gorgeous-but they are gonna be good Christian submissive wives so their modeling career is out of the question. Too bad for the world!!
18.When I found out my first child was a boy I was in total shock because I truly had never considered the possibility of having a son-I just knew I would have girls.
19.My mom, Danny, and Monty's mom plotted to break us up when we were dating because none of them wanted either of us to be in an interracial relationship.
20.I have an entire notebook FULL of Cards and Love letters from Monty,there are even a couple of poems in there.
21.We got married on the 3rd anniversary of the day that he asked me to be his girlfriend.
22.I love elephants and have a small collection of elephant figurines.
23.I have ridden an elephant and a camel.
24.My favorite Bible verse is 1 Corinthians 7:4 and I love to quote it to Monty(especially the last 1/2) ;p
25.I could totally keep talking about myself. I am one of my biggest fans but the rules say 25 things so I will stop.

#25 is the reason I have a blog;)

Kalysa's Birthday Pictures

We just had a small party at home on Saturday the 24th-A few cousins and "adopted" cousins, a few aunts, a few uncles, a grandma and a papaw, mom, dad, a brother and a sister. What else do ya need? The weather turned cold so the kids just played for a while then we had cake and ice cream.

The cake. Ok, so the lighting wasn't too good here but it is flower shaped with yellow icing, red sprinkles and purple and blue tinkerbell candies. I usually always make my kids birthday cakes myself(I think they have each had 1 store bought cake apiece). I love baking-even though I use a box mix although I do make my own buttercream icing-and anytime I look at the store bought cakes I can not imagine paying $15-$20 for a cake when the mix costs $1!?! I have bought the kits(toy decorations the stores but on top) from the bakery before for about $5 to add to my own cake. I just love decorating them! I don't have any special skills in that area(I have done more creative cakes than this one) but I would LOVE to take a real cake decorating class! Anyway, I have fun and I think the cakes are more special that way.

Singing Happy Birthday! She got a little embarrassed when everyone was singing to her so she covered her ears and giggled through the song then blew out the candles.

PRESENTS!! I have mentioned that Kalysa goes through life singing a song that only she could hear-so I got her a microphone. Maybe now we will be able to sing along. This thing is supposed to work with any FM radio so she will be able to hear herself through the radio. Only problem is mama bought it a few weeks early and forgot to pick up batteries so we haven't got to try it out yet but that has not stopped her from carrying it around and singing like a rock star.

All her goodies! Keslee went through the toy box the day before Kalysa's party and decided to wrap and give her the doodle bear(although Kalysa has one as well) and Kenyon gave her his very first 8 year old Thomas the Tank Engine. She loves Thomas! It was so sweet to see them want to give their sister something special. They never asked me to take them to the store or asked for money to buy her something. They know if it is really from them it must be bought with their money(which they had none) or be something of theirs. They don't like me putting their name on a gift they had nothing to do with.

BUT WAIT! What is daddy bringing in from the garage!?!

This is all she wanted! When I asked her a few days before her birthday what she wanted she said...

Kalysa-"I want a 2 wheel bike!"

me-"what if mama can't get you a bike right now?"-it was already in the trusty attic!!

Kalysa-"What if I can't have a bike?!?(sounding completely shocked at the possibility. It never ever even crossed her mind that she may not get one. she has been saying that was all she wanted for her birthday for about 6 months. She did not even ask for one for Christmas because she just knew she was gettin one for her birthday.) umm umm. I don't know what else I would want."

MY BABY IS 6!! :(

Kalysa Glori

Well it was 6 years ago, January 24th 2003, I was home and had been trying to clean house all day. I was 26 weeks pregnant with my 3rd baby. All day long I just did not feel right. I kept trying to clean to take my mind off of things but it was not working. I just did not think the baby was moving around as much as normal. Things just felt weird. I had bladder infections and vaginal infections and yeast infections and kidney infections all through out the pregnancy-that is the only time I have ever had them-so I thought that had to be the reason I didn't feel right. Every hour or so I would go and lay down kinda on my side kinda on my stomach just to make this tiny baby mad so that she would move around in protest to my position and in turn reassure her mama that she was doing ok. I had not had any pains but I knew something was not exactly as it should be. Then around 8pm I started having contractions and the feeling that something was not right left me. NOW I KNEW FOR SURE! I did not know what to think! I had gotten pregnant when my baby-this babies BIG sister-was only 3 months old. I was not ready to have another baby! It would rob Keslee of her own babyhood. Monty and I had taken steps to prevent getting pregnant again. We had decided that our family was complete with one daddy one mama one son and one daughter. I was not happy and excited the day I found out I was pregnant but I had changed my mind. I loved my baby and knew Keslee would be a great big sister at 1 year old, but now, 26 weeks into it, I thought I was about to be punished for seeing the blessing that God was giving us as a burden instead. I called mom and she came right over to take me to the hospital. The ride takes about 30 minutes and by the time we arrived the pains had gotten pretty bad. The hospital I was planning on delivering at was not equipped to deal with a 14 week premature baby but they did do a stress test and a few other things. The baby looked good-her heart rate was strong-she was strong-she was moving all around even though I could not always tell it. I had another bladder infection. That must be what was causing the pain. I needed antibiotics, lots of water and some rest. On our way home we stopped to get the medicine filled and I did not think I was gonna make it! The pains were getting worse. We stopped and got a hamburger because I had not eaten all day(I just had not felt like eating at all) and a jug of water. Before we got home I had to have mom pull over so that I could throw up the hamburger. It never dawned on me that is a sign of active labor!?! I finally got home, Kenyon was staying the night with John(my brother) and Keslee was already asleep so I settled in to get the prescribed rest. About midnight, after tossing and turning and not sleeping but not having as much pain, I went to the bathroom and that is when I saw small spots of blood. I called mom and she rushed back over. Monty was still at work but I called him and gave him an update and let him know we were heading back to the hospital. He was gonna meet us there this time. This time the nurses checked me and I was dilated to about a 3. They hooked up an IV with the proper medicine to stop pre-term labor and sent me by ambulance to Mercy hospital with a full NICU unit. The pains had stopped for a while but by the time I got to the other hospital(around 3am), they were back. I was taken directly to a room and I don't know how many nurses started to work. I had shots to stop the labor, shots of steroids for the baby in case they could not stop it, the foot of the bed was raised so gravity would be on our side and not against us and the on call doctor was called in. around 6am I was dilated to an 8 and the doctor told me we could either keep doing what we were doing and she would probably be born within the hour or we could go ahead with a c-section that was safer on a pre-mature babies tiny soft skull. We opted for the c-section and around 7:20 am on January 25th 2003, our 2 pound 4 ounce 13 inch long baby girl made the tiniest squeaking cry that sounded like a newborn kitten. The NICU team started working on her right away and I was taken back to my room to pray and call everyone I knew and wait. By noon God had let me know everything was gonna be alright, even though the doctors had not told me anything. I was at peace and knew that God was taking care of everything and I was ready to see my baby. Of course c-sections moms never make it all the way down to the NICU the first day or two after surgery but I had made the nurse that was with me all morning promise to take me before her shift ended. She did not believe it would happen but I kept hounding her and around 3 pm I climbed into a wheelchair and went down the long hall to see my baby. She was stabilized and on a ventilator and the tiniest little thing I had ever seen. Pictures can not do justice to how tiny she really was. I talked to her and held her little hand and sat with her for a while until the nurse made me go back to my room. That evening I made that long trip down the hall again for the second time within 12 hours of having major surgery but there was nothing that could have kept me from her. My baby girl-born just 9 months and 2 weeks after my first baby girl. Today my girls are the best of friends and are now both 6 years old(the same age for 2 1/2 months) and that 2 pound baby is riding her new 2 wheel bike(with training wheels) all through my house because it is icy and too cold to go outside and telling me she had now practiced for 2 days and is sure she is ready to take the training wheels off and ride like Keslee does. She never was one for waiting!!!

Don't Be Afraid!!

I got an email from a dear friend that reads my blog (we will just call her Mrs. Ken Doll) about my homemade chicken and noodle recipe. She said...

Hey Charlynne, I made your grandma's noodles last night. They were a
breeze and yum yum. I altered the recipe a bit, I cut it in half and
used whole wheat flour, egg whites, skim milk and a large chic breast.
It made about three hefty servings at about 300 cals and we had some
steamed carrots to put on top. I'm sure the other way is tastier but
this way was a healthy treat that we all enjoyed. Thanks for the
recipe and convincing me it is easy. I've been meaning to attempt
noodles for quite awhile now but just never got up the nerve to try.

It was so good to hear that someone had tried it and liked it. I posted her email to say 2 things...

1.Don't be afraid to try it! homemade noodles are not as hard as they appear. I also LOVE the fact that she modified it to fit her smaller family and substituted ingredients in order to make it a healthier meal. That is one thing I have learned from my grandma. Recipes are a Guide! Make them your own, add what you like, take out or substitute for things you don't like. My grandma can never tell you exact measurements of the ingredients she uses. You just eye it and add more or less of whatever your family likes. It doesn't even have to be the same each time you use the same recipe. The experimenting is the most fun and what will later make your husband say "My mom never did cook like this!" and you kids say "No one could ever cook like MY MOM!"

2.Don't be afraid to leave me comments! This particular friend sends me emails often about things she has read or liked on my blog but has never left a comment on the blog. I have another friend that calls me and has said she is nervous to leave a comment because it is like being published-it is there for everyone to see. I understand. I was nervous the first time I ever left a comment on another blog but I did not know that women. She lives 1/2 way across the country and seems so brilliant and is inspiring to read and is obviously a great wife-mom-homeschooler-Christian-etc. I AM JUST ME GUYS! There is no need for you to be nervous about leaving me a comment! I love them! I need them! It makes my day when someone comments on my blog! You can always use a pet name to protect you identity. That is why I changed my friends name to Mrs. Ken Doll in this post-protecting her identity;) . If we are friends there must be a little pet nickname you could give yourself to let me know who you are and if we do not know each other than it really doesn't matter what name you use!!! Now I am not in anyway upset that Mrs Ken Doll has not commented but instead sends me a personal email. I love getting emails from her and I am glad she gets whatever she gets out of reading my thoughts. I just wanted to issue any reader a challenge....

1.If you have never left a comment, please leave me a comment to tell my why you don't. Even if it is because my writing sucks and my life is too boring to comment on, I can take it. I am just curious about what all reasons people have for never saying anything.

2.If you have left comments before, leave me a comment about the 1st time you ever commented on anyone's blog and what made you do it. If you had been reading blogs for a while before you ever commented, what made you not do it?

READY?! SET!!! LEAVE A COMMENT!!!!

Have You Tried This One!?!? It is SOO COOL!

Have you tried this one?! Take a regular bar of Ivory soap and microwave it for 2 minutes. You can search "microwave ivory soap" to get the explanation of exactly what is happening to the soap and why. There is no chemical reaction that takes place so the soap can still be used unless you are like me and my kids and just keep playing with the layers because they feel really cool and after you play with it for a while it turns completely into a powder. When I first found out about this experiment, we just happened to have ivory soap in the bathroom but we had to have some left for baths so we only used 1/2 a bar. You just gotta try this one just because it is so cool to watch.

Please Keep Kalysa in you Prayers

If you know my family at all, then you know that Kalysa is our little miracle baby. She was born 14 weeks early and was in the NICU for 10 weeks. While she was there, the doctors try to prepare the parents for just about anything.
She could be blind
or deaf
or both!
She may have serious mental delays
She could be severely handicapped
There is no way to know if she will ever be able to do anything blah blah blah

Well our Kalysa has perfect vision and hearing. She is smart as a whip-and I'm not just saying that either! She is as close to being a genius child if there ever was one-and there have been at least 2 others that I know about:) ANYWAY, the only long term effect that we have had is with her legs. Apparently premature babies often have stiffness in the muscles. We did stretches and exercises with her ever since she was a few months old. She had an occupational therapist come to the house twice a month from the time she came home from the hospital until she was 3. Kalysa's left leg (calf muscle) has always given her trouble and she walks on her toes. We have had splints and they helped to stretch the muscle and then she would go through a growth spurt and that muscle would tighten right back up. The next step was botox injections and casts. The botox was injected directly into the muscles. After just a few days the muscle was paralyzed and relaxed and she can not walk on her toes even when she tries. Then she would get a cast put on the foot to pull the foot up and in turn stretch the calf muscle. After a week, the cast was removed, the foot pushed up more stretching the muscle more and a new cast put on. That is done 3-4 times and then more splints to help maintain the stretching. Kalysa has had that procedure done 3 different times. Each time it would work for about 4-6 months and then gradually the muscle would tighten back up.
She went to see her specialist a week ago so that we could discuss the next step. The next step is surgery! The doctor says that the best surgeon that he knows is from the Shriner's Hospital in Shreveport La. He comes to OKC twice a year to see patients. Her doctor is going to do his best to get her an appointment with the Shriner when he comes to town in April. If she is accepted as a patient, they usually do not do surgery until the kids are between 7-9 years old. Since she would still have at least another year, she is going to have the botox and casting one more time to see if we can make any more progress on the left leg(the 1st 2 botox sessions were on both legs but the right leg has gotten better.)
Please keep Kalysa in your prayers. She will have her botox shots this Friday(tomorrow!!) and then start the casts about a week after that. They are very painful shots but we have chosen not to put her to sleep. They only last a couple of minutes and she has always been a trooper! She usually doesn't even cry but she does let the doctor know "YOU HURT MY LEG!" The casting part she loves! I suspect that they feel good because she is not on her toes and the pressure is off the muscle. She calls them her boots, loves to pick the colors and can even tell the therapists exactly how to but them on.
Also, please pray that the Shriner doctor will be able to take her as a new patient. He is supposed to be THE BEST. This type of surgery is all he does so he is an expert. Also, if she can go to the Shriner hospital, there will be no charge to us. We will have to take a trip to Shreveport but they will help us with a place to stay for any days she has to be in the hospital. That would be a real blessing! Thanks for praying for us and our Kalysa!!

Kenyon Made the Bread!

Last night when I was cooking dinner, chicken strips-mashed potatoes-and pea salad, Kenyon decided he wanted to make some homemade bread. I checked online real fast a quick dinner roll recipe and found one that looked pretty simple and that would not take too long so Kenyon made his first homemade bread all by himself! They turned out prety good and even with the time it took for them to rise, they were still done by the time I had the chicken strips all fried up.


Here is the recipe he used. (I found it on a recipe site but dont know which one. I just searched "quick homemade dinner roll")

1 pkg. yeast
1 c. lukewarm water
1 egg
1/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/4 c. oil
3 c. flour, sifted

Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water. Add egg, sugar, salt and oil. Add half the flour, and beat until smooth. Add rest of flour and beat again until smooth. Fill greased muffin pans half full and let rise until double. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes

Keslee-the little homemaker

My sister, Chastanie, got Keslee the cupcake maker for Christmas. Keslee had seen it in the store and fell in love with it. It was one of those presents that as soon as it was opened and Keslee realized what she got, she dropped everything and ran to Chas to give her a big thank you hug. She was so excited! It brought back easy-bake- oven memories for me so about a week after Christmas we had to try it out. It came with mix and frosting for 4 cupcakes, a little mixing bowl, and a "pan" to cook the cupcake in the microwave.

Each cupcake is mixed separately in the little bowl by just adding a little water. The mixture is then poured into a cupcake wrapper and put in the "pan" to cook.

This pan is put into the microwave for about 45 seconds. After it cools for a few minutes, the icing is mixed and put into the icing tube.

As you pull the handle down to squirt the icing, the cupcake spins around. Theoretically this is supposed to produce a little ice-cream type swirly frosting top on each cupcake making perfect beautiful cupcakes just ready for sprinkles.

We were not able to achieve that perfection!?! Our frosting kinda flopped out all in one plop and ran down the sides of the cupcakes. The kids still enjoyed the whole process. After eating a microwaved cupcake-I think I will pass the next time!

I LOVE WORDS SO I HAVE TO BE A FUNDAMENTALIST AND I THINK EVERYONE SHOULD BE!!!

Yes, I am a Fundamental Baptist and proud of it. I have noticed lately how many people often use the word fundamentalist to refer to people in a negative way. I will let you know right now that I am proud any time someone uses the word fundamental when referring to me and my family. For that matter, I love being referred to as radical as well!! I am radical and I am a fundamentalist and I believe EVERYONE should be and I will tell you why.
As spoiled, lazy Americans, we begin to take tons of things for granted. This is no secret to any of us, we know we do it We all have times when we begin to take our freedoms, our health, our cars, our jobs, our friends, our family and even our God for granted.
These things are there.
They are always there so we stop seeing them as the precious commodities that they are. We loose sight of how they enrich and enhance our lives everyday. They are so common in our everyday lives that we use them and use them and use them until we don't even remember what they are actually worth anymore and so we start to abuse them and abuse them and abuse them. We forget their true purpose, why did we have them, what were they good for, why did we need them and then they are gone. Either we have used them up or they are taken from us or we have rejected their true value so often that it is almost impossible to get them back to the status that they deserve and then we are upset and wonder why we did not cherish these things while we had them!? That is what is happening to our language. WORDS ARE AWESOME!! We have them for a reason! They MEAN something. They are WORTH something. Only someone that has forgotten the value of our language would use the word fundamental as a way to insult someone else.
Webster defines fundamental as:serving as an original or generating source: primary: serving as a basis supporting existence or determining essential structure or function: of central importance: one of the minimum constituents without which a thing or a system would not be what it is.
That is exactly why EVERYONE should be a fundamentalist! It is essential-of utmost importance-indispensable-necessary. You should be a fundamentalist in everything you do. What good is a math teacher that holds no regard for the fundamentals of math? I sure don't want that teacher trying to teach addition to my child. Who would choose a surgeon that says "well I just don't believe the fundamentals of medicine are really that important so I skipped a few classes but I bet I can still do your liver transplant just fine!" WHATEVER!!! It makes no sense not to be a fundamentalist. Whatever you do, whoever you are, whatever you believe amounts to nothing without the fundamentals!!
What we know about our Lord and his Word is the most important thing we ever strive to learn. It is only natural to turn to the fundamentals in order to find the truth that lies between the pages of the Bible. Now I am not saying that everyone should be a Fundamental Baptist-but you should seek the fundamentals in regards to your walk with the Lord and Bible study. I am not willing to say that the Fundamental Baptist churches are the ONLY churches that you can hear preaching that originates from and focuses on the fundamentals of a Christian life. I just know that MY Fundamental Baptist church does. I want to have the relationship with my saviour that he desires to have with me and it is impossible to reach that without the fundamentals! The WORD fundamental tells us that any church that is not fundamental is in turn not truly a church and therefore will not be able to truly assist me or anyone in reaching the ultimate relationship with our Lord and Savior.
Now if you want to know why I also am proud to be called radical, just ask Webster-proceeding from a foundation or root: drastic: making extreme changes in views, conditions, or habits: carrying convictions or theories to their fullest application.
Now don't fundamental and radical just seem to naturally work together!!! I wouldn't have it any other way!

Inhofe for President!?!?

Newsmax.com ran a story today about our own republican Senator Jim Inhofe. Inhofe has been very outspoken about the fact that he did not and does not support the bail outs that seem to be happening on a daily basis now. I hear Senator Inhofe on the morning radio show-Mullins in the morning KTOK 1000-periodically and I am really glad that we have him in Washington representing us. He seems to hold true to the conservative values he was elected with and listens to what the people that he represents say. I only wish there were more like him there!!! It is so good to hear someone speak out against the government running amuck. Of course we only hear about it on talk radio or conservative internet news sites-we wouldn't want the world to know there are actually a lot of people that hold true to conservative values. The media would have us believe it is just a few backwoods hicks that still feel that way and therefore there is no need to even acknowledge them. Well I am proud to be one of them and am glad we have politicians from our state not afraid to call things as they are...outrageous! Here is part of what he had to say to newsmax.(colorful emphasis was added by me!)

U.S. Sen. James Inhofe tells Newsmax that Congress’ approval of the $700 billion
Wall Street bailout is the “most
outrageous vote in American history.”
The Oklahoma Republican also
said he doesn’t believe taxpayers will see the bailout funds paid back as
promised.

“I think history will treat that vote as the most outrageous
vote in American history, where 75 percent of the House and Senate voted to give
an unelected bureaucrat an unprecedented amount of money – the largest amount in American history to be actually voted on at one time, with no strings attached,
no guidelines, no oversight.

“Now that was bad enough and then … President
Bush came out with his statement [asking for the appropriation], which really
disappointed me. I was still trying to get what we call S64 and that would have
made the members of Congress responsible for passing or not passing this
recommendation from Obama.
“Now what has happened is that President Bush has
said, I guess he called up Obama, and said: What’s your wish list?
“We’ve already introduced our resolution of disapproval … I think it will pass the
House and it could pass the Senate, although I think Harry Reid would not even
allow a vote on it just to save the embarrassment to the new president, Obama,
because all he has to do is veto the resolution of disapproval and then” the
votes are there to override the veto.
“So it’s a fait accompli,” he added.
“It is done. We’re going to have another $350 billion to add to the first $350
billion.
“And I think there are a lot of smart economists who have said that nothing really good happened with the first $350 billion.”
Martella asked: “Wasn’t [Treasury Secretary Henry] Paulson supposed
to account for the way he spent the money?”
Inhofe answered: “He was
supposed to account for it. Even worse than that, he promised how it was going
to be spent. He was going to buy damaged assets. That’s what he was going to do.
“Fifteen minutes after he got his hands on the money, he
forgot all about that and never bought any damaged assets and instead bailed out
various banks…
“A lot of Republicans are saying, well that money’s
not gone, he bought preferred stock and it’s going to be paid back with
interest.
“Well that would be awfully nice, but I don’t
think that’s going to happen.”

WHY I LOVE HOMESCHOOLING!!!!!

Keslee had and AWESOME day in school today. She has been learning to read. She has a 1st grade Bible reader with simplified Bible stories for her to read. Before the holiday, she was working on the seven days of creation. Every other day she learned about the next day. She added each new creation to a drawing and read about that day in her reader. Today we finished with the 7 days. Of course she did not have to add anything to her picture because the Lord was resting on the 7th day. We read the seventh day from the Bible and then she read the entire story from her reader-25PAGES!! Keslee often has a melt down when it comes to reading time. She does really good but is afraid she won't so when she gets to a word she has to sound out, she looses it. NOT TODAY! She did so good that she made her mama cry and then there were high fives all around. Not only that, it also clicked today for her in math! She gets it! She can count be 2s, 5s and 10s! She did 2 pages in her workbook today to prove that. It was a great day!!!

Here is Keslee's creation drawing. She got a little ambitious in the beginning and started running out of room in the end. Also her moon and most stars have fallen off now but she understood how each day added more and more to the earth.

I LOVE TO COLOR! so I joined her in the creation picture. Here is my rendition of the 7 days. Days like today are what gives me the strength to homeschool on days like yesterday(which was everything a Monday has always been accused of being!!)

Christmas Day

I finally got some Christmas pictures downloaded. This was what the living room looked like before it was invaded by the kids.


Then they awoke. They were very excited. This year they really did not know if they were getting anything. I am sure they had high hopes and faith that somehow mom and dad would pull it off, that was proven by the fact that they were up by about 7:30 am, but they know that money has been tight lately. They know daddy had been getting home early a lot and that means he will get less money from work. Before they went to bed they were talking about mom maybe getting some paper route money so I could go to the store in the middle of the night and get some presents. They really did not think that we had gotten anything before bedtime Christmas eve(I love having an attic!!). We usually at least have all the cousin's presents wrapped and under the tree but this year I had not wrapped anything before Christmas eve.

We got to see genuine thankfulness when they opened presents to find things they had really hoped for but really thought was out of the question. All Kalysa wanted was littlest pet shop, and she got that along with a baby bed, a new doll and a few other things.

Just about a week before Christmas, Kenyon had told me "If I could have just one present, I would want it to be an instrument." He did not know that I had a guitar waiting for him since about July. He loved it. He also got the book to help him learn how to play. My mom also gave all three of them a small organ so he actually got 2 instruments this year.


Keslee got a baby doll that she had wanted and a stroller and a cd player along with a "Patch the Pirate" cd but I think her favorite gift of the day came after we went to Aunt Darla's for dinner....My cousin Tony and his wife Jessica had Kiara Elizabeth Lea on Sunday before Christmas so she got to hold a 4 day old baby.

All in all it was a great Christmas day!

HOMEMADE NOODLES

My grandma has always made THE BEST homemade chicken and noodles. A few years back I told her that she was gonna have to teach me how to make them someday. That is when I learned that it is SO easy. First I boil a chicken. When it is about done I start my noodles. I use 2 eggs, about 1/3 cup of milk, salt(I like onion salt), and pepper. Whisk until frothy then add flour until you can stir into a dough ball(about 2 cups). Roll it out on a floured surface.

When it is rolled thin, cut into noodles. I have a noodle cutter that cuts about 6 at a time-I have no idea where it came from! It is one of those things that was in my drawers when I first moved out and for years I had no idea what it was for but I kept it. A pizza cutter would just fine for this step.

Some people like to let the noodles dry but I just sprinkle cut noodles with some flour and make sure there are no sticky parts. If you are like me you may think-" this doesn't look like enough noodles. I think I will just double the batch!" Don't be fooled! this makes plenty of noodles after they have expanded. If you want to double the batch, be sure you have a tall stock pot with plenty of liquid. Doubling the batch in a regular pot WILL result in burned noodles to the bottom of the pan!! It stinks and is not fun to get out!! Just trust me on that one!

After the noodles are cut, I remove the chicken for deboning and add the noodles to the chicken broth. The broth has to have a good boil or the noodles will get sticky and gooey. I add the chicken as I debone it. The noodles take about 30 minutes at a good boil for the consistency I like. Just check them periodically in case you want them softer(less time) or harder(more time).

You can always add some veggies it you like. We enjoy the plain0 chicken and noodle.

Don't be scared to make homemade noodles. They are kinda like rice krispy treats-everyone thinks you must have slaved over them but they are really very easy. I have never really messed up the noodle(even saved most when I burned them to the pan) even if they don't come out exactly the same every time. It is one of those recipes that brings memories of Grandma's cooking back and is just as good as hers.

We are still here! We survived the Holidays and are trying to get back to normal!

Well we made it through Christmas with the family. We really have had a good week. Monty had been home for 5 days at Christmas and 4 days for New years and the kids loved that. Kalysa even asked if daddy had quit his job. She just is not used to getting to spend so much time with him. It has been really great because Monty has got to see some of the issues I deal with with the kids first hand. It is gonna be a lot easier to correct some of them when Daddy understands what Mama is talking about!! Chastanie and her family and Chuck and his family all came down Christmas day. We all went to Darla's for lunch and presents. It was a lot of fun. I love to see all the cousins together! I have so many things in my head to post about but just have not found the time. Just wanted to touch base and let everyone know-WE ARE HERE! I am hoping today will be the day that the house is finally back in order after the holidays and then I will be able to get back to normal life and regular blogging. I have several pictures to post and even some recipes so stay tuned for that.