This one's for all the moms...

Look what I'm doing on a happenin' Saturday night! That's right - entertaining FOUR boys under the age of 7 !! When did I become such a mom?! And hey girls, we will get our life back eventually, right? Granted, we will have fewer brain cells (kids suck them out of us), may not be as svelte and hip, but someone please tell me this won't be my Saturday night forever...

Boys roasting marshmallows and drinking hot chocolate around the firepit - temps in the 20's but the sugar is good fuel! Me? - I'll take my Irish coffee instead, maybe by IV before the night is through since we already have one bloody lip and it's only 7 p.m.

Afterwards, trying to get them to settle down by watching "The Polar Express". It's not working...see the redhead on the couch poised in the "kick position"?

And what do you think Sailor/Hubby/Farmer is doing? Why, he's outside with a friend brewing a batch of Cream Ale and having a great ol' time. Payback's a bitch...!

Sending Virtual Calories Your Way!

I have been a busy girl today!

Molasses Cookies, Macaroons dipped in dark chocolate, Chocolate-Coconut Thingies, and Pumpkin Loaf

Our Christmas Prep!

First, I apologize for the horrid photographs! I am hoping Santa brings me a new camera, but it is doubtful at this point, lol. Until Santa can get adequate funds together, I am using my iPhone camera which is notorious for substandard photos. It's good for a lot of things, pictures aren't one of them!

It has been getting into the 28-32 degree range at night (finally!) so we had sufficient Christmas spirit to decorate the house. Here's a little tour of our preparations!

There's Finnegan decorating our skinny tree, everything must be skinny to fit in this house, lol!

Teaching Finnegan the art of stringing popcorn & cranberries!

On the right is Finn's bowl of pinecones and ornaments. I must admit it is just what I would have done! Our house is what I would call "modern-cabin" (an oxymoron, I know), so traditional red & green and excess stuff everywhere really doesn't match the house, so we develop our Christmas style as we go every year!

Yes, Mama Pea, that thing with the orange flag on it is exactly what you think it is, lol! My husband is not big on Christmas decor, but he does like this particular piece of winter on the shelf. Sometimes I catch him looking at it longingly, I wonder if he is waiting for the flag to trip on that imaginary muskie swimming around the living room!

For our table we just used pinecones, we have bags and bags of them, and Loch had a good idea to fill a glass with cranberries!

Here's a view of the kitchen, we have to decorate "up high" so we don't take up too much space, so I put this up in all the doorways. My husband laughs at my garish blue tinsel and lights on the back wall over our "homebrew bar". I was going for "dive bar"... what local small town bar doesn't have garish tinsel all over at Christmas, and globs of icicles and lights draped up around mooseheads and rack mounts LOL?

Here's the back deck, I always decorate the backyard instead of the front, since that is where we tend to entertain, as long as the weather cooperates and the wind is faint enough to have a roaring fire in the firepit.

Garish kiddie decorations are okay out here!

It will be a "Traditional Military Christmas" this year, that is, Christmas Eve & Christmas Day surrounded by friends and people we share no relation to whatsoever! Every person we know hails from a different part of the country, so it's always a tradition surprise at someone's house every year! It makes it fun, and it is very low stress and usually a pot luck affair, with stragglers showing up throughout as they get off duty, etc. It is always a collection of very different personalities thrown together by circumstance, and is always a time to meet new friends as well as those we have been stationed with for a long time. Although sometimes these are loose relationships due to frequent moving and deployments, military friends are those you can call on after 20 years of being apart and you are still welcomed with open arms and offers of help if needed. We all understand what it is like to be away from your family over the holidays, so we make our own gypsy family, and the kids will still have many memories of these Holiday Gatherings.

"Happy Decorating" to all! I am a sucker for holiday decorations and would love to see yours, keep the photos coming!

Odds & Ends

So that's what winter is for! The past 2 days I have been catching up on all neglected things around the house and miscellaneous suburban homesteading busywork. I finally did all my windows, and more importantly, my white shutters on all the windows that have been collecting dust and just bugging me in general (one of those things that nobody notices except me, lol)! I posted last spring about my "freezer inventory" list - well, that hasn't been updated in a good long while, like all summer, and as a result I have a freezer full of God-knows-what plus all the frozen veggies from the past summer, so that's done too! Now I can stop wasting money buying things that I already had in the depths of my little deep freezer. I highly recommend this if you store alot of garden veggies and like us, meat that we buy by the share. It's difficult to keep track of all the cuts otherwise!

This morning so far I have been tending to my laundry room - HA! Laundry CLOSET, that is. Since it is hidden by a curtain and the only unseen landing pad in the house, it was stacked sky-high with Christmas stuff, laundry supplies, tools, you name it - it goes here. It needed to be cleaned out since this is also my seed-starting/grow lights area, and that time is coming up swiftly! After organizing that somewhat, it was time to make laundry detergent. I did a post about making liquid laundry detergent, and it works great and is fun for the kids to help make, but this time decided to try homemade powder detergent. This stuff whips up in about 2 minutes so that is a definite time saver. I just finished washing a load and it appears to work just as well as the liquid.  The recipe I used today is as follows:

Powdered Detergent:
- 2 cups grated bar soap (I use Zote, Fels Naptha, or whatever laundry/plain soap I can find cheap) - just use a cheese grater on the fine grate size
- 1 cup Borax Powder
- 1 cup Washing Soda (not baking soda! This can be hard to find in some areas, but I now go straight to an Asian or Mexican grocery store where I can always find it! Some people report WalMart always has it, but this is not true in my area)
- Optional: 1/4 cup of OxiClean (I don't use it)
- Mix all together and place in a sealed container. Use 1 tbsp per load, 2 if extra dirty - That's It!!!

Fabric Softener:
I just use plain vinegar with a few drops of essential oil added for scent. You do not need to use essential oil, believe me, your clothes will NOT smell like vinegar! I just use it 'cause it makes me feel pretty while doing my laundry LOL


I also want to add that I have reached my 1-year anniversary!!  That's 1 whole year since I have purchased store bought laundry detergent or household cleansers!!  

I have many other things planned around here this week that I won't bore you with because they all involve closets and cupboards and other unseen messes, but I am hoping to actually get out into the garden and tidy up a bit more this week also. I see out the window I have gorgeous salad fixin's just waiting to be harvested and now that incessant rainy yucky weather has slowed, maybe I can get motivated to get some mittens on and get out there!

Interesting Tidbit:  I balanced my checkbook the other day - let me add that I have been spot on to the penny since I first started doing this in high school - and .... I was $184.82 off ...IN MY FAVOR!  I have waited a few days and did it again.... still the same.  WooHoo!  Of course I won't spend it since I fear that some alien transaction will reappear at an inconvenient time, but hey, it's like an early Christmas. This good fortune will never happen again, lol!  I am also having trouble with the new post editor on the blog so if the fonts and spacing are off, I apologize.

4 MORE YEARS!

We had one other big event over Thanksgiving besides the holiday itself : Sailor/Husband/Father's reenlistment! Typically, when it is time to reenlist, the military member will do so at his/her command on a typical workday, with little to no fanfare other than a cake if someone remembers. However, if the person desires, they can do it just about anywhere they want, and can designate their own reenlisting officer, as long as that person is a commissioned officer and is willing to do so. We are lucky enough that my own brother just happens to be a former commissioned Naval Officer and is now a commissioned Air Force Officer stationed back home in Minneapolis! It is kind of rare that we are home at the same time and my brother is not off flying somewhere, so we decided to make the most of it by having him reenlist my husband while we were home on leave. We decided to have the ceremony at my dad's home post of the American Legion, figuring he would get a kick out of one of his son's reenlisting the other, and I think the old timer members of the American Legion enjoyed having some young guys around (fresh meat!) to listen to their stories!

For those military members out there, I know you can appreciate having the whole family around to witness the reenlistment, it's a big event for us! Here are some photos of the evening's festivities:

Prior to the ceremony my brother and husband enjoyed talking with the veterans hosting us and I got surprised by one of the old timers whipping out his iPhone to swap battle hymn ringtones with me!

Family members, not sure if Loch & Finn realize what's going on exactly

The first video is my brother administering "The Oath" to hubby, followed by a clip of him reading a letter from hubby's Commanding Officer back at the squadron.

After the ceremony, my husband finishing up the paperwork part... 4 more years! When this particular reenlistment is up, he will have a total of 14 years in. We plan to live the Navy life for the 20 required for retirement, so he will need to do this again down the road.

The American Legion Members that hosted us were kind enough to open their private bar down in the basement and bought us a round of drinks afterwards. Here is Finnegan with his "round of Sprite", which he thought was very cool!

It often seems that we are stuck out here on the East Coast, living a life that none of our family sees and often feel alienated from the "real world" back home, but being able to do this with our family around helped us bring a little of our lifestyle back there, even if the uniform raised a few looks in the little town, lol! Lastly, a huge "Thank-You!" to my brother who did an amazing job, even recognizing the sacrifices made by myself and my children and putting a personal touch on such an important event. I have seen many reenlistments in the past 20 years, and he spoke more professionally and eloquently than any senior officer I have seen. Thanks, my "brotha from the same mutha" - can you do it again in 4 more years?!

The Holiday is Over! Warning, a big post!

Okay, here goes!! My family back home is probably dreading this... like the family of a stand-up comedian must feel over the holidays, i.e. "oh, crap, is she going to write about this?", or "quick, hide her camera!" Nope! No blogging about dysfunctionalism, food poisoning, practical jokes or anything of the like! It was all good... this time....

The road trip is finally over! The trip up north wasn't too bad, we made it in 24 hours and managed to drive straight through. The trip back south to VA was awful, however, and took about 33 hours and all of those extra 9 hours were spent near the D.C. area in bumper to bumper holiday traffic on Sunday, yikes! I managed to get everything unpacked and put away, car vacuumed, and laundry done so now I can reflect with a bit of sanity.

We had a great week and were able to visit with family in some fashion every day we were there. The kids enjoyed every minute and were sad to see our visit come to an end. I didn't really get any decent photos of family since my flash indoors is no longer working and there is moisture in my camera still from the Nor'easter, but managed to get a few when we headed outdoors. (the poor quality of these tells me it is time to get a new camera!)

Every time I return home I am stunned by the beauty of where I grew up. I used to take it for granted, but seeing it through my husband's eyes (who did not grow up here) makes me realize it really does look like a movie set, or otherwise unreal! The town I grew up in is Red Wing, Minnesota. It is in Southeast MN on the Mississippi River. We are home to the Red Wing Shoe Factory, and those Red Wing Crocks people still oooh and ahhh over. It is a small town, but being within an hour of the Twin Cities of Mpls/Saint Paul we manage to have all the benefits of urban shopping, arts, music and education. Just thought I would share...

The view of my hometown from atop a river bluff. This is the Mississippi River: Red Wing, MN on the left, the state of Wisconsin on the right. Typical river town with alot of barge traffic and agricultural shipping going on - only nicer!

Another shot of town, river, grain elevators and bridge to WI

We have one of the last remaining boathouse communities. In the center of the picture are unique boathouses that rise and fall on timber poles with the water level or ice-in during winter. Also a great place for teenage parties, as I remember :)

Picture of limestone bluffs on a foggy day

This is Lake Pepin, the one of the widest points on the Mississippi River at over 2 miles. For all you Laura Ingalls Wilder fans - yes, this is the same Lake Pepin where the Little House in the Big Woods was!

Another shot of Lake Pepin in the afternoon from the Wisconsin side of the river.

This brings me to one of our outings on vacation. Loch has just started reading larger "chapter" books, so before our trip I got him a copy of "Little House in the Big Woods" to read since this was one of my favorite books as a child (for obvious reasons!). At halfway through the book we took the kids to see the actual Little House and birthplace of Laura Ingalls, which is only about 20 minutes away. The kids were stunned to see how "little" the house actually was! (And I admit I was stunned by how urban parents would never allow their children to read these books nowadays... really, if you haven't read them in the past 30 years, go back to them. They are full of loaded guns in the house, animal butchering, spankings, and politically incorrect lessons-learned... the good stuff!!)

Click to enlarge and read about the site.

Inside the "Little House in the Big Woods". About 150 sq feet, 3 rooms, loft, and great deep stone fireplace.

Sailor/Husband/Father with the boys outside the Little House

I felt a little guilty about taking the kids out of school for so long for our vacation but honestly I think they learned far more on vacation than they would have gotten at school that week! They got their fill and then some about history, dairy farming, even hunting - it happened to be opening weekend of deer season so they were inundated with Bambi on the tailgate of every passing truck! It turned out to be a great opportunity to explain to them the difference between hunting for food/ donating kills to food banks / population & disease control and flat out wastefulness, poaching, and general unsporting behavior.

Two months ago, my parents bought a home on the WI side of the river and live there now, so we did the Wisconsin thing and went to the local creamery and bought a ton of cheese curds made fresh that day. My son loves all things cow, so WI is a very appropriate place for Grandma to live in his eyes, he gets to enjoy local cheesecurds and see cows everytime we go ANYWHERE, lol! If you haven't had cheese curds before, go to the Ellsworth Creamery's website and order some NOW, they are heaven!

This large box of squeaky-fresh curds I bought is clearly not enough! Half were consumed on the ride home. I found out they ship, so we are golden! I intend to see how their cold packs fare by shipping some to my husband's aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf this spring. I will report back on their condition upon arrival, lol! I purchased a children's book on Wisconsin Dairying and will be sending that in to Loch's class along with a bag of cheese curds to try, although I am not sure if they will actually make it past his teacher: she's from Wisconsin, lol!

This gorgeous lady is my niece, Nora! She is 9 months now, and full of personality and smiles. She will be spoiled, since she is the only little girl in an extended family of all gross-stinky-boy cousins :). We got to see her several times during our visit, but she's like a little cheese-curd, you can never have too much 'Nora'!

On a whole 'nuther level is my husband's fascination with "up-north" outdoorsy stuff. He absolutely loves everything about back home. In past years he became obsessed with wanting to kayak and canoe the Boundary Waters (and who wouldn't?), Muskie and Walleye fishing, hiking, and now.... HUNTING????? I guess it was only a matter of time. When faced with bumper to bumper opening weekend traffic all up I-94 in WI, every truck and trailer loaded to the gills with ATV's, gun racks, deer stands, and platforms for the carcasses, he about lost his mind. And I must admit, compared to our deer here in Virginia, the deer back home are huge. He did live for awhile in Alaska when he was young, so his appetite had been whetted at an early age! We'll see how long this lasts... (And there's the whole snow-machine thing, but he hasn't even thought about that one yet...!)

Upon seeing the sign at a local bar he quickly spoke and said

"Look, honey, there's stuff for you to do, too!"

Sailor/Hubby checking out ice fishing stuff at a local sporting goods store. What's next?

He was taken aback by the wide selection of "freeze your ass off" entertainment some of us Minnesotans take part in (as in the ice fishing shacks pictured above).

I had to tell him, "Really, it only sounds like a good time...."

Wow, I'm long winded today, but I missed you all! I was reading all of your blogs while on vacation but unable to comment on my iPhone without typing unintelligible things on that keyboard! We had one other event while we were back home, but that one will be a post in itself! Hope you all are getting your act together for the holidays, can't wait to see some decorating and winter pictures!

We're off!

My last post for awhile... we are leaving in about an hour to head home to MN! The kids are so excited. I just got done packing the car and it is looks like it is going to explode. 2 parents, 2 kids, 2 dogs, luggage, hats & mittens, a big ol' roaster oven, extra car seat we are bringing to my brother, a keg and case of bottled homebrew, and a partridge in a pear tree. I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving and are able to share it with family. I know we are very thankful this year to be able to be home for the holiday, it's something we used to take for granted until the military became our life! Time to get this circus on the road...