Managing the Home

Lady Lydia had a wonderful post on Managing the Home on Tuesday. I thought some of you might like to read it as well.

I love the idea of a written plan for the day. I get so overwhelmed at times with the amount of work to be done, a written list seems to make it more do-able. Even if I don't get it all finished, it helps me prioritize and then I am able to look back and see all I accomplished.

Off to the Dominican Republic

My friend, Gwyn, left again today. It's so bitter sweet. I'm happy for her and her family, but so sad for myself. (in that first link, you can see pictures of the house they will be living in) Gwyn is so excited to be living with all her own stuff again. They have shipped a big container with everything they haven't sold by boat down to meet them. Please pray they get it out from the dock without any problems - sometimes people have been known to hold the containers for more money and more money. They have a "friend" who is suppose to be helping them out with it.

They have embarked on their lifetime adventure. They have picked up their whole family (three children included) and moved (after a year at language school) to the Dominican Republic.

Here is where they will be. They will be working with Restoration Ranch (no connection to our old church - Restoration, even though they do support the work there) - which is going to be an orphanage to the countries neediest children.

Right now, Shay will help with the construction and Gwyn will continue to home school their children.

Here are a couple of pictures of the work in progress...

Thanksgiving

We had such a full Thanksgiving this year. The children all being in public school this year, have picked up every type of virus going around. It has been a mess!! I still haven't caught up on all the laundry yet.

We missed Thanksgiving with Artie's family but were blessed to all be well finally the day of Thanksgiving. We went and had dinner with all my granddaddy's brothers and sisters and all their children and grandchildren. It was so much fun. I love to be around my mimi and grandy all I can!! My daddy and Karen were there and all my first cousins who I hardly get to see. I wish we all lived closer and could visit more.

Mimi is getting ready to have surgery in a couple of weeks for a hernia in her chest. We are all praying for a quick recovery for her. She has been sick for quiet a while with reflux and they are hoping this is going to fix it all.

It was good to eat her dressing and gravy for lunch. We took turkey, gravy and green beans. There was so much food. I didn't hear a count of how many people were there, I'm guessing about 50? I hope this becomes a tradition. Brenda and Emily and I have cooked Thanksgiving for 2 years now at home; but, I so love being with the big family more.

At the end of the day, we all got together and Artie lead us in a prayer to God for what we were thankful for. The children make me smile so. Terry was thankful for Thanksgiving, Brenda for family and friends which prompted Terry to also be thankful for Mama and Daddy. Bobby was thankful for Squanto :-) (see, he is learning something in school) and Troy said he was thankful for second chances. There are such moments of brightness shining through the days here and there. Artie was most thankful for Mimi and Granddaddy and being able to share Thanksgiving with them - his grandparents have all passed away, so he's adopted mine as his own. He loves them so. And I was thankful that Artie is still my best friend in the whole world. The next day we celebrated being together for 26 years (we started dating when we were in junior high).


By the way, the children have all been well for a whole week now. They went back to school two days and I already have 2 home sick with a stomach ache and throwing up!!!! There are some things I'm never going to like about public school. Mrs. Coggins (the office lady) said they had so many sick now, I had been hoping while they had all been separated over the holiday they would come back to school all well. Maybe by the end of Christmas break???

Kelly's Thursday

It's a quiet morning here at the Quinn home. It has begun a hard rain outside, blowing leaves everywhere!! We have two beautiful trees in our yard. I hate to see the leaves fall. Here's a picture I took a couple of days ago.





I had been working in the kitchen this morning washing up a few dishes and wiping down the counters and had Dr. Phil on in the background. It got so disgusting, I had to turn it off. Ever now and then they have a show I like - talented kids or inspiring people. I don't know why I deal with the possibility of goodness when most of the time it's trash. I've got WLFJ - my local Christian station (you can listen online if you don't have a great one) playing now. It's always good to uplift and help me keep my eyes on Jesus. I I especially love it when they play - Third Day.

Talking about good Christian music, Brenda is going to see Toby Mac tonight in Greenville. She is so excited. I guess DC Talk was one of the best concerts I've ever seen. I'm sure Toby will be great too.



We are still recovering from a wide variety of illnesses. Bobby came home from school Monday morning sick. He seemed better all Tuesday, but the came home sick again yesterday. Today I kept him in, hopefully to conquer this totally. He's sleeping now. Very sweet, like a baby again. :-) Everyone else is hard at work or school, at least for a little while. I am fixing to go and pick up Troy and Brenda for a dentist appointment. How old do they have to get before they are thankful that you watch out for them and do the right things? They are still whining about going to the dentist and I am trying to talk Troy into getting braces. He doesn't want to mess with them and needs them very bad. I had hoped (0a couple of years ago) when the dentist first started talking about them, that when he grew up a little, he would be more responsible and ready. Unfortunately we haven't hit that place yet. The orthodontist said if waits until his adult life, they will probably have to break his jaw to set things right. Kids......



So, after the dentist and getting the kids back to school, we will be getting ready for Emily chorus performance tonight. I have to make sure and get my camera ready!! :-) I think they are suppose to be singing patriotic songs and dressing in red, white and blue.

The day after...

I am slowly making my way through the day. I didn't cut the computer or phone on until after lunch - Artie thought I had been in bed all that time. :-) Not in bed, just moving slowly.

I am just trying to keep up (or really catch up) with all the dailies. I've had a nice warm shower and washed my hair, picked up and swept the living room, got dishes washing in the dishwasher and sheets washing in the washer.

There is still a lot to do. I've got dinner to prepare for (an easy dinner tonight - it's church night for the children), clothes to wash, outfits to prepare for tomorrow, lots more picking up and sweeping and still more dishes to wash!!!

I think it's time to eat something today!! I'm starving. I think I might treat myself to a Sub Station sub for lunch. :-)

I do realize that it is a historic day in our country, I'm just trying to figure out all my thoughts on the subject. I guess the main thought I have is I just wish it had been a different African American man who had won the presidency. One who was against abortion and the for the rights of the unborn. It's hard for me to feel very excited about the boundaries broken when the new president still isn't for the rights for everyone, especially the most in danger in this country - the unborn ~~~

Our Family

After the storm and the picnic, we were able to snap a few family pictures. We might end up using one of these for our Christmas picture. :-)

Bobbie's new "friend"

Picnic Time

After a day at the beach, there was a huge storm. Everyone was scrambling through the rain to get back to their cars. Artie went to the trunk of our car and got our picnic and we sat under the pier and had a lovely meal together. It's so nice those times I am prepared. :-)

~~~ Bobbie at the beach ~~~

Bobbie, Artie's mother, was hilarious in the ocean. It was the first time she had been in the ocean in over 10 years, back before she had both knees replaced. Artie had to walk behind her and make sure the waves didn't knock her down. They both had me rolling....


At the beginning of the video you can see her falling a little, she just kept walking out further and further. It was so freeing for her to be in the water again. The sound is bad - it was so windy that day. As you can tell from Bobbie's death grip on her sun hat.

Folly Beach

The next day after the reunion we had a fun time at Folly Beach.

The Oxendines

These are my grandmother Mildred's - otherwise known as Nanny (my mama's mama) - brothers and sisters. That is Uncle Neil on the far left, Aunt Betty in the USA shirt, Aunt Lois in the flowered shirt and Uncle Sherman on the far right. I am so blessed to have such a godly heritage. These are some of the most wonderful people I've ever known.

Most of my friends knew my Aunt Violet from when she lived in Spartanburg. This is the family she belonged with, one of my nanny's sisters. :-) She was the sweetest thing!! I miss her so.

Tami, are you still reading? How many brothers and sisters were there all together? Nine or more? List out all the names for me. :-)

Oxendine Reunion

I have been wanting to post the pictures from our family vacation to Charleston, but just haven't had the time. I am trying to catch up a little. Here are some fun pictures. We had such a good time. All of the children, except Brian, went as well Artie's mom. This was my mama's family reunion. Most of the family live in Va, but came to my cousin Vicki's house for the reunion. She has a beautiful home that has been featured on HGTV in What You Get for the Money.

It was so nice for me for Artie's mother to get to meet my family. She has never met most of my mama's family. I was proud to show them off!!!

~~ That's my aunt Coella in the cute little blue hat ~~ :-)

It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown

We are planning on watching tonight !! :-)

Artie's 40th Surprise Party

Our friends - Jack and Nikki gave Artie a wonderful surprise 40th birthday party. He had a couple of questions, but I think in the end he was surprised. Guess they were all surprised when we showed up 30 minutes late. Artie had decided it was his birthday and he wasn't going to rush!! :-)

Nikki got Artie a wonderful birthday hat to wear for the evening. :-)

There was lots of food - here's Artie with his big steak. Nikki asked what kind of cake he liked best - steak!!

Lots of friends from work came. Here is one of Artie's favorite people - Timmy.

They played lots of games. Here they are throwing darts in the garage.

Artie tried to catch up with the times and play the Wii.

Nikki wore Jack out on most of the games. :-)
Jack and Artie always seem to end up like this....

(here they are at Jack's wedding)

French Dip

This is such a quick and yummy dish. I make it in the crock pot - all of 5 minutes and then let it cook all day. It's one of Troy's favorite meals.

1 beef roast - I usually use what ever is on sale - the biggest I can find - today it's a London broil

2 cups water

1/2 cup soy sauce

1 t dried rosemary

1 t dried thyme

1 t garlic powder

1 bay leaf

3 or 4 whole peppercorns

(We usually double or triple the broth mix for our family)

French rolls - split for sandwiches

After it's cooked all day, shred meat with fork and serve on French rolls (top with cheese if you like). Pour broth in individual cups for dipping. We usually serve with chips to end out the easy meal part!! :-)

Fall Days

I think since I've stopped homeschooling, it's been hard for me to blog regularly. It seems like I would have so much more time, but now I don't seem to have near as much interesting to post. I'm going to work on turning this more from homeschooling to homemaking and see how that goes.

I've just this week started up my new fall breakfast. ~ HOT CHOCOLATE ~ I love it. I went to Goodwill and bought a special new hot chocolate mug for my mornings (a great .50 splurge). :-)

Our microwave died last week, so it's added a new element of heating water on the stove (I think I would rather get a kettle than a new microwave right now, I'm enjoying my stove.) My favorite is plain ol' hot chocolate with marshmallow cream on top. When the hot chocolate is good and hot it will melt the marshmallow cream to a frothy topping. It's so yummy, I have to hide it from the children or it will all be gone in one day. I guess we will have some special afternoon snacks of hot chocolate for them. :-)

It's been a little cooler here lately - today I don't think it's suppose to get much above 50 degrees today. We had a good warm homemade vegetable soup with crackers last night. It was mostly potatoes, corn, carrots and tomatoes with a few beans scattered in. If there are too many beans, they kids will protest. I just try and stick them in where I can. :-) There was enough left over for Artie and I both to have some for lunch today.

I've lost one of my favorite recipes - Baked Ziti - over the past month or so. I've looked online and can't find the exact one we used. I know most of the basic ingredients, but not any of the measurements of the spices. I am going to try and get my recipes posted on line so somethings like this doesn't happen to me again. Tonight we are going to have French Dip - recipe to follow...

High School Musical 3

We're going to the premier tonight!!! Whoo Hoo :-) Anyone else going? This will be Emily's first big movie at the theater (she's seen some daytime summer specials like Veggie Tales - but not night time movie with just the girls). She loved the first two on TV.

My first big movie I remember seeing with my mama and some friends was Rocky. She was so worried because she had been told about them cutting his eye in the ring. If she saw what was on television now and how the TV show cameras are always diving into dead bodies!!!

(BTW - I let the children watch Rocky 1 over the summer and couldn't believe the language it in!!!) Anyway, hopefully HM will be a little more child friendly than Rocky was.

Boy Scouts

Bobby (front - missing both front teeth!!) and Stephen (back right) with Mr. Ed - one of their Scout leaders. They are enjoying scouting. This week they learned about fire safety with a tour through a smoke house.

Family Affair

As I have mentioned before, we are always looking for good family TV we can all watch together. This weekend the children loved Family Affair. Remember Buffy and Jodi? I loved my Mrs. Beasley doll when I was young!!! :-)



We watched the very first episodes where Uncle Bill gets Buffy, then Jodi, and then finally Sissy. Everyone loved it. They can't wait for the next episodes to come in the mail.

We also watched the very first episode of the Andy Griffith show. It was so cute. Opie is little and meets Aunt Bee for the first time (and doesn't really like her to begin with). Without having cable, the Andy show is kinda new to our little children, while the bigger kids enjoy seeing it again as well.

Homing

"Well, of course that was all nonsense! She wasn't going back on the principles her mother had taught her. She was going to go steadily on trying to do as nearly right as possible. And perhaps some day God would give her a break!"

Jane in Homing by Grace Livingston Hill