Cousins by Love

img_3431

These two have been fast friends since they came into each other’s lives.  Alissa came to live with her mom and dad when she was a very tiny baby.  Rob and I got the privilege of spending many, many days and nights with her as she grew up.  When she was about 14-15 months old, I agreed to watch her and her 2 older sisters while their parents went to Mexico for a week.  Little did I know……

We had applied to adopt again and had  been waiting about a year for our new child/children.  We were open to a single child, or a sibling group.  Since they are supposed to choose 3 appropriate people for each child or group, we had been to “committee” a couple of times already, and someone else was chosen to be their parents, not us.  Ouch.  But, that’s how it works.  We got another chance to possibly be selected for Lovana, who happened to have a younger sister who may or may not be freed for adoption soon, and were asked if we wanted to take the risk.  Of course, we said yes, and our file was presented.  We were denied on the basis that we were not black and the children were.  Our caseworker was livid!  That was not only unfair, it is illegal.  It is a federal mandate that no child could be denied a home based on race.  Because it was so wrong, they took it back to committee and to the top of the state.  We were successful the second time.  Guess what week was chosen for transition week?  You got it!  The same week I had agreed to watch the 3 nieces.

img_3409

It was a long, exciting week.  I was extremely busy, to put it mildly, with 2 toddlers (one of whom did not know me at all), a very shy 5 year old who turned 6 the day after we got her moved in, my 2 special needs boys, my autistic niece, my other niece, and my other, older children.  (Probably 2 out of the 3 as I believe the oldest was away at college by then-  I can’t remember)  It is a blur, but there were 9 or 10.  There were lots of visits going back and forth to get the girls acquainted with our family, and had been for a week before, but this was the week to do an over nighter, then have them stay a couple of nights, then have them move in.  It was Easter week, and we were hosting, and Lovana’s birthday was on Easter that year.  We had no control over the timing.  I was not sure I was going to survive, and certainly relied on the Lord’s strength.  I have rarely felt such relief as I did that Easter Sunday morning when I had them all lined up on the back pew, dressed in their finest new Easter clothes, on time for church to start!  I bought an ice cream cake (so rare most of my kids had never had one), and the family all pitched in with the dinner.  It turned out great, even though you are never supposed to overwhelm the new child with a lot of family too soon.   Or move them when it’s right around their birthday, or some other huge anniversary.

In the end, something beautiful came out of that chaos.  Something happened I could have never foretold.   Ja’Ana and Alissa took ahold of each other’s hands and held on.  At an age where children don’t usually play together, they were inseparable.  They became best buds and have gone camping, to plays, parks, amusement parks, Disneyland, the Redwoods, the beach, and mission trips together. Through the years, they’ve hit a few growing bumps in their relationship, but through it all, have remained bonded for life.  Years ago, they dubbed themselves “the twins separated at birth” even though they were 6 months apart and really didn’t resemble each other very much:)

img_3430

Now they are forging a new path together.  No, it’s not golf with their science experiment, although they did seem to be trying that today, too.  They are embarking on a grand adventure of learning together.  The homeschool class at my house doubled this week, as we gladly welcomed Alissa to our party.  Because, when those 2 get together, it often turns into a party.  Alissa’s mom and I have some really fun stuff lined out for them this year, and I’m here to say we are off to an excellent start.  Today was very fun and educational.  Their Auntie Rosalie surprised them with gift cards to McDonald’s, which were burning a hole in their pockets.  So we went there on the way to the pond.  They gathered pond water for an upcoming experiment, and that is just the beginning.

img_3388

img_3416

May they always stay so close.

 

 

Saving Money–October 11, 2016

img_3369

There are things in the garden that I plan to pick this week.  I’m especially excited about the boc choi.   I enjoy it in stir-fry and chicken soup.  I think I’ll make both, as my sister brought some from the farm garden as well.  It has been pouring rain, but I think we have a couple of dry days now, so hopefully, I can carve out enough daylight hours to get out to the garden for a bit.

My sister also brought potatoes, onions, squash, and other produce from the garden.  It’s coming to an end with all the rain, but we sure have harvested a lot this summer.

We have been crazy busy around here.  On Saturday, Rob rounded up a couple of friends and we got the freezers moved.  I cannot tell you how nice it is to have my food all in one place!  We spent most of the day moving them, and organizing the food.  Now I know what I have to work with.

img_3372

He immediately thawed and barbecued a turkey.  We found we still had 4 of the ones he raised last year.  We were only remembering 2, so it was a nice surprise.  Now I’ve got turkey bits for casseroles and sandwiches, and broth.  Some I will use right away, and some will be frozen.  I also will take turkey on Sunday for family Sunday dinner.

We also found a lot of steak, so enjoyed a nice dinner with friends on Sunday night and feasted on steak. It was so good to see them and since Rob barbecued, it was an easy mess-free dinner.  We cooked green beans and baked potatoes and my friend brought dessert.   It took me a little bit to figure out how exactly I was going to navigate the new house with company, as it was the first time, but we figured it out, everyone had a seat to sit on, and we had a blast catching up with our friends.  And…..there’s still more steak.  Every fall, we buy beef from a farmer and we did not use as much this summer as usual because we had difficulty accessing it.  Clearly, when we did, we grabbed hamburger:)  The new beef will be coming, and so we need to use the old up.  I don’t feel sorry for us!

I’ve been packing lunches for both Patsy and Rob.  I took one with J and I when we went to my dr. appointment on Friday as well.  Not only is this frugal, but I seem to get so sick when I eat fast food anymore, that it’s just better all around for me. (You never know if a little wheat got in there, and I react so much to it) I was able to combine errands that day, since it was all the way up in Portland.

We continue to go to the YMCA and exercise.  The girls are getting into their dance classes.  I still have a little more dance wear to buy for Patsy, but will probably order it on-line.  The items I bought at Walmart on clearance for only $2-7 are working  fine and have not fallen apart yet.  (I wondered for $2-3 shirts and shorts)  Patsy has basically grown out of her swim suit, but I am having her wear those nylon shorts over it right now and will continue to scour the internet for a good price for a new one.

I am keeping busy with homeschool.  My niece, Alissa, is joining Ja’Ana in homeschool and that is going well.  Her parents will be taking on some subjects and I will do others.

Rob really likes the people he is working with at his new job.  The kids are pretty hard to handle, so he’s on a big learning curve.  Yesterday, for instance, he got punched multiple times, stomped on, and punched in the face, hard.  The little guy he was specifically hired for really struggles, and Rob is finding out that he may be moved to another school where they can help him better.  Rob would need to move, too.  He isn’t super excited as he just got started at this school, but that is how it works here.  We will see what happens.  Today is the first day where he will go to the kid’s house and ride the bus to school with him.  We are super glad he has the job, and hopefully, it will smooth out as everyone gets into routines.

Good News!

IMG_6890

Time for Rob to hang up his barbecue tools and paint brushes, at least until the weekends! He was called late yesterday and he got a job!  He started today.  It was pretty crazy, as there was no orientation, no training yet, he just plunged right in.  He was thrilled to get started, but nervous.  This is a complete change from his previous job.  Complete.  He spent quite a bit of time wondering exactly what he was supposed to be doing.

So, 80 job applications, 10 interviews and………..that’s what it took!  On Friday, after the latest interview, the vice principal called and said they had a strong interest in him, but that the HR department had a problem with him having worked in one place so long previously.  So, we just didn’t know what to expect all weekend.  Rob responded by hurrying up and finishing the canning cupboards “just in case.”  Good thing he did:)

He will be working as an assistant in a special needs classroom.  He will be working primarily with one certain child, assisting him so he get through his day.  He has 6.25 hours of work per day.  When the child is sick, he will have to go home, too.  He will not work during the summers.  So, those things mean we will have to continue to be very creative with our money.  Still, we think we can make it, when combined with the other job.

On the other hand, he will have insurance for all of us.  He will have a retirement plan for the first time, ever.  His other job had none.  At our age, any retirement piling up will certainly be better than none.   He will have the school holidays off to spend with the family.  He will have the summers off so we can volunteer at camp again if we want to or go on mission trips, or maybe both.  We can go camping and he can assist me in watching our niece and nephew while they are off for the summer as well.  If we need for him to, he can pick up another summer job of some sort.  Also, they put him into the sub pool so that if the child is sick, he can possible sub that day in a different area and not lose wages that day.  And, his foot is in the door.  Later, there are positions with longer hours and he could try for one of those if we need more hours.  The way these jobs work is that he has to re-apply each year, because the needs change.  After 3 years, I guess he can keep the job, if it exists, without re-applying each time.  OR, they can move him around as they wish if his existing job vanishes.  Complicated, but one step at a time!  Although that part is not going to be fun, once he has his foot in the door, we’ve been told it’s much, much easier to get re-hired than it was to get hired in the first place.

Like I told him, “you only have to do the first day once.”  He made it through the first day of many good days to follow.   I am very happy for him.

 

 

Saving Money–Week Ending October 2, 2016

Rob and the big girls went up to the farm and raided the garden.  They were very successful.  Besides what you see, they got some green onions, apples and boc choi.  I served salad, cut up cantaloupe, made pesto from the leaves of the basil (not the flowers or stems), and hamburgers with tomatoes and lettuce.  I made sweet and sour sauce with a pepper and threw the boc choi in and served it on rice.  Lovana made a quinoa salad with another one.

img_3355

I cooked some millet that had been sitting on the shelf.  I made a millet-crusted chicken pot pie.  I started with a recipe from a cookbook, but changed it to use what I had.  It turned out terrific!

img_3366

The electrician finished up his wiring for new plug-ins in the shop.  Rob then got to work finishing up the shelves for the canning.  We spent time yesterday and today putting the canned jars on the shelf.  He had one done last week and we have been using the jars that came to light like crazy.  Now we have even more choices.  Now, call me crazy if you will, but I KNOW I have more canned whole tomatoes, but they are MIA!  So, I expect a box or two to show up somewhere unexpected as we continue to unpack and organize.

img_3365

Patsy and Jake enjoyed making cookies from a cookie mix that came to light when I  unpacked my food boxes.  I worked extra hours this week because my niece was sick.  Now Ja’Ana has it.  Hope no one else gets it!

We joined the YMCA.  Because we are earning so little right now, we were given an extremely reduced monthly rate.  We had several motivations, but one reason we joined was so that I could get into the pool.  I have had a problem with my foot since July and have not been able to walk on the treadmill as I usually do.  This has been adversely affecting my health.  (I’m diabetic and my sugars soar without exercise) Rob spent an entire day researching options (the Y and others), talking to the Y about finances, signing up, etc.  We are extremely grateful that they gave us such a low rate and we have already worked out twice.

Another super big blessing to us is that Ja’Ana can take dance classes there, also at a greatly reduced rate with the scholarship we were given.  It means a great deal to her to take dance, and we had really though we would be unable to allow her to sign up anywhere this year, due to finances.  So, we are all really happy for her.  On Tuesday, she will take her 4th class, because they are trying to place her in the correct class.  So, she just keeps getting to go to different classes for free until they decide which is right for her.  (We don’t feel sorry for her:)

Patsy was able to join a cheerleading class at her school on Wednesdays, for a nominal fee, so she’s happy, too.

As of Friday, Rob has put in about 80 applications.  He has had about 10 interviews.  The one he had on Friday called him and said they have high interest in him, but it was up to the HR department, who “has a problem with people who worked only one place for so long before this.”  What????  Huh?????  So, we are waiting to see what happens on Monday.  If it’s more references they need, he can certainly furnish more, but he did only work one place for the last 18 years.  He will give a call tomorrow and offer more references if they want them.  So, it’s in the Lord’s hands, as it always has been.  In the meanwhile, he has another interview Tuesday, and keeps applying.  He also got invited to the orientation for substitutes, which is not until October 11.  That is probably the way he will end up getting hired, but who knows?  At least he keeps making it to interviews and I know he will get a job before long.  And, at least it’s not boring around here–always something going on to keep us busy until that day.

Saving Money–September 25, 2016

img_3330

I was able to use my crock pots several times this week.  This was the start of a beef stew.  I used the leftover roast beef from last week, along with the rest of the baby carrots in a bag.  I added onion, celery, potatoes, beef broth, thyme, salt and pepper. I put in a little garlic salt, also.   I can’t find my home-canned tomatoes yet, but thankfully, I was able to find a purchased can on the shelf.  So, I put that in, along with the leftover cooked potatoes and carrots from when I cooked the roast. It came out amazing. I was pleased because it was so tasty, and used up a lot of things out of the fridge.

I made a lot of pinto beans into meals where they will be used (or already got eaten).

We got at least 1/2 of the home-canned jars onto shelves.  We’ve already been into the pears, fruit cocktail, broth and raspberries.

There was a huge thunderstorm, including tons of rain and hail.  The drains filled on the streets on the way home from church and it was wild with the lightening, thunder and standing water.  I wasn’t surprised to see that the small lettuce, boc choi, etc. in the garden were pulverized.  I’m hoping the nice weather we are now having will give the plants  a chance of perk up a bit and that I might still get something.

img_3329

I emptied an almost empty bottle of ketchup into another one to get every drop.

I filled the compost bucket several times and poured it onto a compost pile we are starting.

img_3333

Jake and I got a lot of mileage out of a boxed cake and some old candles.  I must point out that it is NO one’s birthday.  He was just in the mood.

img_3336

I am enjoying my new job very much, because I get to spend so much time with the kids.  On Friday, I took Alissa, Ja’Ana and Michaela  for some French fries Friday after school to
celebrate their hard work in school.  Ja’Ana and I went to an appointment on Thursday, after toiling diligently for weeks, and now she has the grades, credits, etc. properly recorded for last year’s homeschool work.  Alissa and I have worked for hours on her homework after school in the last 2 weeks and she is trying so hard.  I know Michaela is doing what her teachers are asking her to do at school.  So, it was fun to celebrate with all 3 of them in the short time before Jake came home.  Sometimes I know these kids do not always get the credit for how hard they work for everything.  Although school is easier for some than others, it is very hard for all of them.  I want to keep encouraging.

 

Pinto Beans in the Slow Cooker Saturday

img_3339

I was able to get some pinto beans cooked up today.  When I unpacked my boxes, I found many, many beans of all sorts.  I buy them in bulk, usually in 25 pound bags.  We enjoy eating beans, and I was eager to get some of them into meals.  I soaked about 1/2 gallon of pinto beans over night in plenty of water.  I used my slow cookers so that they could just cook away while I visited with my good friend who was visiting today.

img_3346

I’ve got the food storage unpacked and organized now, and am eager to start using it.  I’ve missed having all these ingredients at my fingertips.  My freezers are still not here, as the plugs-ins are not finished, yet, in the shop.  There are many more containers of dry beans that are not showing up in this photo.  I have a  couple of shelves dedicated to home-canned items and the rest will be stored in the shop and brought in as needed.  Rob has 1 of the 2 shelves needed already built out there and we spent a morning unloading boxes to fill it up, making those jars accessible to me!

I made one slow cooker full of chili.  It turned out great.  I used a jar of tomatoes I unearthed, a pint of beef broth, along with celery, bell peppers from the garden, onion, beans, salt, pepper and chili powder. It turned out great and we scarfed a lot of it down at dinner.

The second one was filled with peppers and beans for refried beans.

img_3349

These beans, peppers and onions are waiting to soften a bit more, and then I will blend them with my immersion blender.  I put in several peppers from the garden.  I always use whatever I have on hand, fresh or frozen, along with some onions–red, yellow or white.  This is a mixture of Jalepenos, Holy Mole and Italian frying peppers.  They are pretty mild this year, but once I blend them, the beans have a wonderful flavor.  Obviously, some batches are quite a bit spicier than others, but I anticipate that this batch will be quite mild.  My children love homemade refried beans.  They will eat them several times a week if I let them.  I try to keep some frozen at all times.  The way I make them is a lot runnier than the ones in a can, and they have so much more flavor, in our opinion.  I don’t have much freezer space in the small one over the fridge, so I didn’t make a huge batch.  This will keep everyone happy for a few weeks, though.

The third thing I did was boil up the rest of the soaked beans in water, with salt, on the stove in a pan until they were soft.  We ate some of those in tortillas for lunch, with cheese and taco sauce.  There were 2 bags to freeze for later.  I will use them in recipes that call for beans instead of opening a can.

It was a rewarding, and yummy Saturday.  By using the slow cookers, I had a great visit with my friend, and got economical, yummy meals at the same time.

 

 

Menu Plan–Week of September 19, 2016

img_1782

We’ve had a few rainy days this past weekend, and it’s put me in the mood for chili and other comfort food.  With my life settling down into a routine, I’m also in the mood to plan menus.  When I don’t, I feel like I am flying by the seat of my pants every day, and we also tend to spend more money on groceries.   The good news is that we are cooking at home now, as compared to grabbing a bite here and there, as we did during the end of the summer as we fixed up the new house and moved in.  My crock pots are unpacked and have already been put into use and I plan to use them a lot this week.

Monday:  Leftovers (choice of roast beef, lasagna, and some meatballs from my sister) I also made football brownies–a long-time family tradition for Monday night football, which Rob enjoyed for the first time in over 10 years tonight!  We get t.v. now:)

Tuesday:  Beef stew–made from home-canned beef broth and the small amount of leftover roast, veggies.  I will put it into the crock pot early in the day. I work early in the morning for 2 hours, then 4 hours after school, so I need a crock pot meal.

Wednesday:  chicken wings, rice, green beans:  Ja’Ana has some frozen wings she had us pick up, since she likes to make sticky wings on occasion.

Thursday: Home-baked fish sticks (I have some tilapia in the freezer), tater tots, salad

Friday:  Chili

Saturday: Leftovers.  If there are not enough, I’ll pull out a mini tuna casserole I froze when I made it last week.

Sunday:  I’ll organized that with my sister closer to the day as I have a chance to see what we come up with together.

 

 

Saving Money–September 18,2016

img_3327

Today, for our family Sunday lunch, my sister asked me to make Caprice salad.  I’ve never made it before, but I get to the house first.  As I was leaving church, she said, “just slice up some tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and basil and put it on a plate.”  I love how it looks.  I couldn’t help snapping a picture.  I put some salt and pepper on top, but have a suspicion that it should have some Italian dressing or something on top.  Thankfully, she will be home soon and can instruct me!

img_3328

We are having soup and salad bar for lunch today.  I made us each a huge pot of chicken-rice soup this week.  At our house, we’ve had it 3-4 times.  I think they did the same.  Today, we are going to finish up both pots.  It is very yummy and economical.  She boiled last Sunday’s chicken to get her broth, and I used some I had previously frozen for mine. Our meals have at last slipped into the pattern I like–the pattern where I cook each day, or we eat leftovers, but where we are not living on a diet of fast food as we were for a time this past summer while we were in transition.  I still don’t have my freezers at my house, just the little one over the fridge, so Rob keeps doing “meat/frozen veggie” runs for me and we keep refilling it.  I am going to make a menu plan for the first time in a long time this week–it will help so much since I am spending several hours per day homeschooling Ja’Ana, helping Patsy with homework, and have started a new part-time job.

We started doing DD service work for my nephew.  Now that he is back to school, and my sister and brother-in-law are back into the swing of things with their jobs, they need Personal Support Workers to help care for him.  We also do a few hours for my niece, but most of the time needed is for our nephew.   This is a part-time job that involves helping him practice some skills, such as hygiene, safety in crossing parking lots, proper social interaction, and other goals.  I am doing the most hours, because Rob is still hunting for a full-time job.  (Last count, he has applied for over 50, has had 6 interviews, and still…..no job!  We’ve been told over and over that the way to get into this school system is to become a substitute, and so he has signed up for that and is waiting for the training day.  He wants to work in a special needs classroom as he has a lot of experience with children with special needs.  People are being very encouraging to him, so that’s good.)

img_3306

He is also madly working on any and all projects around our new house, such as building new canning cupboards, since he anticipates his time will become scarce once he gets a job.  We are also spending lots and lots of time with all 3 cousins–might as well get to enjoy them all, instead of only one.  Fun!  I’m happy that we will have a little money coming in.  It will stretch the savings we have a little longer, which is a good thing!  I am still adjusting to the schedule, but this week will be easier since it won’t be new anymore.  I cannot imagine how hard it would be to take on this task for a totally new family–I’m glad we all know and love each other already!

I weeded my little fall garden and we got a good, steady rain.  Those little plants look so much happier.

 

 

Saving Money and House Update–September 12, 2016

img_3308

So much left to do!!

 

img_7120

Rob built a wall in the shop to divide it.  There was a tarp there when we moved in, but he wanted a wall so our freezers and canning could be placed along it.  He had our electrician friend wire it so it could handle all of the freezers and our extra fridge.  It passed inspection on the first try!  Although we have spent plenty getting this house in order, everything he can do himself saves us a lot.  He bought some of the wood, but was able to get some for free from a scrap pile a company was discarding for some of his projects.

img_3322

We were given a few groceries.  There was some tuna in the bag.  I made tuna noodle casserole.  I used gluten-free penne pasta I had on hand, some frozen mixed veggies, gluten-free cream of chicken soup, cheese, tuna, and dried onion.  Very basic, but it was yummy! There were a few potato chips in a bag and I crushed them for the top.   I was also able to purchase a 5-lb bag of white cheddar cheese for less than $7 at Cash and Carry one day.  I put it in the casserole, froze some, and have been using it right and left.  Also, Fred Meyers has Tillamook cheese for $5 for a 2 lb loaf, an incredible price, so we got some of those.

img_3325

Patsy and cousin Jake enjoyed a game of croquet in the backyard on Sunday.  It was great that we found the set and they could play it!

img_3326

The fall garden is growing.  I love the leaf in the picture, it reminds me that even though it is very warm right now, fall is on the way!  I have high hopes that this lettuce will give me salad before frost comes, though.

 

 

House Update–Sept. 5, 2016

IMG_3295

Now that we have a huge pile of our belongings stacked in the shop, we are attempting to put it away.  We are finding that we have way too much stuff for this tiny house.  So, we are getting creative.  There was an extra space in the garage.  Rob to the rescue!

IMG_3303

IMG_3307

Most of my appliances will be stored in the garage–there’s not enough room in the kitchen–so, cookbooks and appliances will go on this new shelf.

IMG_3304

Clearly, we have much left to do, but we’ve made a great start getting a lot put away.

IMG_3292

It’s been amazing to be able to do my laundry at my own home, again!  I have welcomed a lot of old friends back into my life–my pots and pans have shown up, and the plates finally surfaced on Saturday.  This morning, the missing cord to the electric fry pan was found in a very strange box marked misc.–I was helping Rob move boxes around in the shop and thankfully took a peek–Whew!

IMG_3299

There is a partially enclosed patio.  Rob put the picnic table on the deck outside, and got an umbrella for only $15 at Winco.  We’ve already had several meals out there.

IMG_3298

It’s starting to shape up!

I may be a bit spotty with my posts and comment replies, though, as we are not connected to internet, yet.  Soon.  In the meanwhile, I will continue to catch wi-fi where I can.

And, Rob had 4 interviews in the last couple of weeks.  So, we are waiting on pins and needles to hear back from a couple of them that seemed promising–hopefully tomorrow.  If he doesn’t get one of these, he has about 15-20 more applications out right now.  So far, he’s applied for a lot of jobs–like around 40 or more.  One job had 40 applicants.  So, even though competition is fierce, I have a feeling that he will be back to work before long, and I am feeling a strong sense of urgency to get as settled as possible before that happens.  Because, let’s face it.  I’m lousy at building shelves:) He wins hands-down on that one, along with quite a few other things.

Making My Home A Haven

%d