Thursday, August 9, 2012

Catching Up

Over the last week or so, I have been steadily working on my summer list.  My summer is rapidly approaching the end, so I have been working, working, working!  Here are a few highlights of what all I have been doing.


  • Running:  Finally.  I had a 20 mile week.  Actually it ended up being 24 miles, and I couldn't have been happier.  I planned another 24 mile week for this week, but since I missed my run yesterday, I am not sure if that will happen.  I'll know by Saturday.  If I can run 8 miles today on my treadmill (it's raining), then I'll be back on track.  We'll see!
  • Homemaking:  I have canned three batches of salsa, and I need to can another batch today.  Each batch produces 6-8 pints of salsa.  I can whenever I get 30 or so ripe tomatoes from our garden.  I also made strawberry fig preserves using the figs from our fig tree.  I used chia seeds as the gelling agent.  So the preserves are 100% all natural.  And organic too I guess since I used our figs and fresh organic strawberries from the grocery store.  I have been wanting to make homemade laundry detergent for some time now, and last Saturday, I did!  So far I like it.  
  • Homeschool Planning:  I have not done too much in this area.  I do have each child's books in their work bucket or work area, but the actual planning of their daily schedule and preparing their materials is on still on my list.
  • Cleaning Out and Organizing:  I have completed all that I am going to do at this time!  Even though I love cleaning out things and organizing what's left, I was weary by the time I finished my list!  Actually, I still have a few minor areas left on my list, but I will just get to those areas later.  My schoolroom, kitchen, office area, and storage/craft room are all in order!
Last week included a visit to my new niece, Millie Janalee.  We also shopped at Costco while we were in the Memphis area, and Clay had a dental appointment with my brother, our dentist.  At the beginning of the month, I shopped for what I hope is a month's worth of non-perishable groceries at Kroger.  I completed my monthly WalMart shopping, and I bought 3-4 months worth of Costco items.  I still need to buy my Sam's stuff for the month, and I should be done with shopping for August except for weekly produce and milk from Kroger.

On a very, very sad note.....our sweet dog Lucky died yesterday.  Our whole family is heartbroken.  I plan to write a post about Lucky and the wonderful dog that he was, but I can't right now.  Many, many tears have been shed here for the last few days.  Lucky came inside our house Monday night (he is normally an outside dog), and he never stood up again.  I am so glad that he came inside for the last couple of days of his life.  He was surrounded constantly (and I mean 24 hours a day) by members of our family until the end of his life.  We will be grieving for a while.

6 comments:

  1. Praying for your family right now....amazing how those little puppies weasel their way into our hearts! {{{hugs}}}

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  2. I'm so sorry for your family's loss! We lost two of our dogs this past year, so your post made me tear up because I know how much you all are grieving! :(

    I was also wondering if you could share, maybe in a post, how you make the strawberry fig preserves with the chia seeds? AND the recipe for your laundry detergent???

    Praying for your family today!!

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  3. So sorry about Lucky. I am sure your family will miss him. I love having pets but I sure wish they had longer life spans.

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  4. I am SO sorry about Lucky. Our very old, very sweet, good-natured cat Josie died last week. I can't seem to wrap my mind around that fact. I'm very sorry about Lucky. Losing a pet is not easy.

    On a different note, I was reading your archives not long ago and read a post about how you were super sick before going to Disney World and your children cleaned your house for you. So sweet! As the mother of two *young* children I would love to hear your best parenting tips. I'm always on the search for wisdom in this area. (I love Sally Clarkson books, which I saw on your sidebar.) Your children seem to be closely knitted to you and you appear to have a very close, loving relationship--and that is what I want to maintain! I would LOVE your insights on this and would bet there are other readers out there with littles who would also truly appreciate them as well.

    Thank you for your blog. I think we are kindred spirits on organizing! (I love to organize.)

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  5. Thanks so much for your sweet comment back! I look forward to your post. (No rush, I know you're busy!) This is one of the most vitally important issues to me in parenting so I appreciate the wisdom I can get from other mothers. Thanks, Roan! :)

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