FullOfStitches.com blog.A good laugh leaves me in stitches!

Trying to live without using credit can drive one crazy at first. Oops, I spent all my cash well before payday. So, now I’m feeling stuck. It’s my own fault -I can’t go lots of places, but I have to focus on what I can do. What’s worse, though, is that I’m not used to cooking everything. Going into the dinner hour with half a loaf of bread & 5 hungry mouths…
I pulled out the Baby and Toddler Meal Planner book (Annabel Karmel) & just flipped through it. The Lentil & Vegetable Purée caught my eye. Hmm, I have everything but the sweet potatoes in the kitchen. Then I remembered the garden. We’d found one growing in the cupboard & stuck it in the potato patch. It flowered a while ago.. Maybe it’s got something for me.

Fantastic! There’s a few good sized ones, I could have left the plant growing longer. The potato plants were starting to die off & I found some more spuds under them.

I harvested the whole bounty into my apron and surprised the children. I feel so blessed by this! All these lovely potatoes grew in my yard & I hardly had to do anything but water.

After a quick rinse, MissA peeled, I chopped & into the pot went a handful of sweet potatoes. Fabulous!

It has been a really nice day. I didn’t sleep much last night & the children let me sleep in.

I woke to the phone ringing. My friend Mrs. C- was due to pick up some homeschool manipulatives on her way to a charter school orientation. I’m so glad she called. I hopped out of bed, tossed on yesterday’s dress & ran my fingers through my hair. She was here within five minutes & actually complemented me on how nice I look in the morning!

Inside, TJ had made chocolate pancakes – literally just added a Tablespoon of cocoa powder per cup of pancake mix – that turned out pretty good.

After breakfast, we started schoolwork. I taught the girls their math lesson, but didn’t ever make it to TJ’s. Then I gave them the SWR placement test (TJ, the 6th grader, scored in the tenth grade level). While TJ finished the test (the girls were dismissed as they stopped even trying to spell), the girls made us sandwiches for lunch.
Then I tried to get Little Guy down for a nap. When he ought to have been asleep, I carefully peeked in & found him at the foot of the bed with a screwdriver.. (last week, I injured my foot in that spot on a loosened screw & it still hurts)

After lunch, the children had a swim.. So, MissC & LG are playing on the pool step & LG loses his balance & falls in. MissC’s so concerned that she grabs his leg & pulls him back, but won’t let go.. even though he’s face down in the water.. I pulled him out & thanked her & asked if she’d try for an arm next time so he could get his head up & breathe. (this was literally 5-10 seconds tops between me seeing him totter before he fell in & me pulling him out)

And then, they took the watercolor paints out back & painted. Painted paper, trees, horses, each other.

Then came the scream. I had just gone in the house for something when the Little Guy hollered something fierce. I came running out to him recovering his footing in the (filled in) pond. He had gotten behind it, as I understood, and tripped or slid down into it on accident. He was happy with a big hug, then toddled off. I sat down and painted with the older children, then whisked LG off for nursing. As I sat down, I noticed something red on the back of his knee. Hoping it was paint, I gingerly turned the boy on his tummy and saw a long scratch.

Immediately, I hollered for TJ. I handed him my debit card & sent him to the store for gauze. I cleaned up LG’s leg at the sink, then decided on a bath for the stubborn dirty spot. The bath kept both MissC & LG entertained & I was able to clean the paint off them both. TJ called, near tears that he didn’t know my PIN # & I explained the credit function over the phone. He returned with big bandaids, medical tape & a toy, no gauze. Kids. The bandaids worked out great, though.

Once LG was patched, TJ was late to guitar class. He was due to leave for class when he headed to the store. I dropped him & his bike at class & I headed to the store with the other 4.

LG finally had that nap in the car. I transferred him to the stroller & he slept through the store & continued the nap on the way home. We were able to get diapers (I decided on disposables for the next week to ensure no leakage onto the wound), bandaids galore, & fresh ointment.

We made it back after TJ. The message machine reminded me to have him pack for his weekend away. Once he had most of that together, I took the children out for Pho. It was so good! & The Incredibles was playing on the TV, so the children peacefully ate & watched the movie.

Now I’ve burned the jam I was making, had a glass of wine & blogged. It’s time for bed. I have to be up in 7ish hours to have TJ catch the bus at 9.

Our neighbor stopped by the other day with some squash. The really big one was made into patty pan size zucchini breads, recipe from Too Many Tomatoes, Squash, Beans, And Other Good Things by Landau & Myers.

Yummy lunch!

Yum! I was out of scallions/green onions, so for the children (who aren’t so used to salads regularly yet) I omitted onion. The tomatoes are from our neighbor. I subbed mozzarella, which i had in the fridge, & had the basil & mint in the garden.

Just checking: yes, the potatoes are growing! Looks like mounding hay didn’t do much for a larger crop. We’ll see when the flowers are done, I guess.

A few weeks ago, I noticed these funny palmate (pointy, really) leaves in my potato patch. What could they be? Figuring that disturbing my potatoes may bring them harm , I left the strange plant.

During swim time, MissB brought out a sweet potato that I’d apparently forgotten. The eyes have sprouted small pointy leaves. Mystery solved.

I’ve realized that I may need to get a regular menu going to make life easier. I’m not the greatest at figuring out & making nutritional, well-balanced meals.. It seems like if I could only get it set, it should almost take care of itself.. Right?

School will be starting by the end of August. So, I’d like to have a basic meal plan sketched & in place before then. I picked up a couple cookbooks Monday to help me get there. The $7 Cookbook has lots of salads & is arranged by type of food (ie, breakfast, soup, dessert) or main ingredient (beef, seafood, vegetarian). It’s a 30 min or less style, so that would probably work well during the week. A child can be assigned a salad or other dish appropriate to his or her ability while I’m making the main course.

Poor Girl Gourmet is similar, but a little more extravagant. She even mentions that Anyone can at least have fresh herbs growing. I’m thinking this will be a cookbook for the school holidays (you know, those rare days when Mom feels rested enough to Make Something).

Last year, I picked up The Healthy Body Cookbook to work through with the children. It’s set up by body part or system, with an experiment & 4-6 recipes meant to support the health of that area. With 12 chapters, it makes a nice semester course.

The other affect the termite spraying had was the loss of part of the garden. The sunniest patch was along the side of the house, right next to the infestation. They had to spray along the wall, and the poison can stay in the soil a while – packages at the store suggest not to eat foods grown in such soil for at least a year. Le sigh.

So, out came our lovely veggies that we’d worked so hard to plant & grow. I suppose there’s always next year. Thankfully, the potatoes were in the fenced garden. We’re hoping to get a harvest this next month or so.

I may get some more manure & garden soil to plant some goodies near the potatoes, but our main goal this year is to get out of debt.. And, the soil amendments just aren’t in my budget.

Saturday was so pleasant. I left early, almost everyone else was asleep, for the Women’s Mini-Conference at church. The theme was Come Away My Beloved, and it was a wonderful reminder to take the time apart to pray and be in the Word, as well as having that devotional time with the family.

When I made it home, we slowly got to lunch at the park, then decided on the rest of the day. We stopped by the garden supply store (nursery), and picked up the needed mulch and garden soil, and a few more plants.

It’s a gorgeous day in California (like usual). The birds are singing, the leaves are whispering in the breeze, the children are donning swimsuits.

I took a few minutes in the garden and found the onions are bolting- It’s been a cool, wet spring- I plucked the largest one and will use it for some chicken stew tonight.

The celery is starting to look like it has joints. That should be ready for eating come early June.

The strawberries need mulching! Fantastic juicy strawberries in the dirt (sigh). Making a list for the weekend (mulch, irrigation system, timer).

What in the world did I plant? They’re growing well.. Let’s see..

Radishes!! T.J.’s gonna love this!

We’re trying hay as mulch for the potatoes. Last year, I gave them a go in soil, but it was too heavy and they didn’t produce. I’m aiming to peek next month and see how they’re doing. I think we have early and mid season. Here’s hoping they produce!

The artichokes in the background are for Ben, they’ve got good deep soil in that pot. And, yeah, I’ve got some serious weeding to do!!

Have you seen the pretty compost container Ben made? It’s one of his first wood projects and worked out nicely here.