Today's Garden Shopping Day

I had such a fun shopping trip today for the garden and yard. I spent all our school money for the week. I bought a peach tree, 2 grape vines, 2 blueberry vines, 2 strawberry plants, a pack of garlic to plant, seed packets of peas and broccoli, a new rake, a trellis and some turf builder for the yard. I can't wait until the girls and I get out and plant everything on Monday. I have wanted to have fruit trees for years - so this is a nice start. What else would you start with in South Carolina but a peach tree. There are peach fields all over our area, but I've never known anyone to have one it their yard??? I am still hoping to get some apple trees as well. I still need to go back and get some more trellis, but they will be okay to wait for a week or two.

Skillet Noodle Pizza

This is one of our family's favorite quick and cheap recipes. We have been making it since Brian and Troy were little.

Skillet Noodle Pizza

Ours is just a little from the recipe. We have moved from a skillet - it's just not big enough for our family - to a 9x13 baking pan. We use 10 packs of noodles, 3 jars of spaghetti sauce and 2 pounds of mozzarella. We dice the pepperoni so there almost a piece in each bite. We mix the sauce with the noodles and then pour some over the top of each layer. We also do a first layer and broil it, then add the top layer and broil again. That puts two layers of the yummy browned cheese!!

It's great with a loaf of french bread.

Friday's Blogging

I haven't blogged much lately. It has been a very busy week.

I thought I would just look back over the week and share what's been going on...

Monday - Bobby had gymnastics. He's doing so good. He got to be on the rings for the first time!! Troy worked and brought home some pizza and shared a piece with me! Emily made her Rachael Ray's Chicken Cordon Blue Roll up - they were wonderful. Probably one of the best chicken dinners I've ever had!!!

Tuesday - Stephen and Bobby had wrestling. Both boys are doing good wrestling. They're favorite move is Rodeo. Troy worked. Skillet Noodle Pizza for dinner.

Wednesday - the children all went to church and Artie and I went out to eat. The little children had a baked potato bar. Brenda and Emily got the lettuce and pansies planted in one 4x4 square. Terry went to speech - he's doing great and learning so much. I am thinking about getting Brenda's speech tested. I don't know enough to say what's wrong, but there is something with her s's?

Thursday - boys back to wrestling, they only have a couple weeks left until the state finals. Troy worked again. Pizza night!!

Friday - we were suppose to go to our stamping class tonight, but Artie got a side job for this evening. It will be a nice break to be home though. Maybe we will get another family movie for the littles to watch.

Get Paid $23 (or more) To Purchase The 2008 Entertainment Book

I found the greatest deal on iMommies.

I am going to copy it straight from their site so I don't mess it up.

"If you haven’t yet purchased the 2008 Entertainment Book, and haven’t yet signed up with Ebates…NOW is the time to do both! The combination of the two will earn you a free Entertainment Book, and a free Restaurant.com gift certificate!

To make the most of all involved promotions, follow the steps below.

1.) Click HERE to sign up with Ebates. Ebates is offering another $10 bonus to all new members who sign up and make a qualifying purchase before March 31, 2008.

2.) Once you’ve signed up for an Ebates account in Step 1, search Ebates for the 2008 Entertainment Book. The current offer for the book is $10 off PLUS $6 cash back from Ebates. Be sure you go through Ebates to purchase the Entertainment Book at the now-discounted price of $15 (price may vary slightly, depending on your area), plus the standard shipping cost of $3 or less.

3.) Receive the 2008 Entertainment Book plus a free $25 Restaurant.com gift certificate.

4.) After May 15th, receive a check from Ebates for $16 ($10 sign on bonus PLUS $6 cash back from the Ebates/Entertainment Book purchase).

5.) Just to recap, you’ll spend $18 upfront (including shipping costs), and receive the following:

a.) 2008 Entertainment Book (These are PACKED with great money-saving coupons!)

b.) $25 Restaurant.com gift certificate

c.) $16 check from Ebates

If you want to earn even more cash back without making additional purchases, refer all of your friends to Ebates, and you’ll each earn $10! Refer two friends, and earn an extra $10 Target gift card! Refer two more friends, and earn another extra $10 Target gift card!"

It was easy to sign up. I ordered the Entertainment book for Spartanburg and got a $25 gift certificate for Chiefs Wings and Firewater.

I spent $17 plus change and got the entertainment book ($15), the gift certificate ($25) and will get $16 back from Ebates!!! Yeah, gotta love deals like that.

If anyone wants to sign up, please use me as a reference. artiequinn@yahoo.com I will get $5 for everyone who signs up. If you get more people to sign up, you can get $5 each time too.

Thanks,

Here's a cool site for free birthday treats. We are already signed up with sonic and zaxby's. The kids have loved it. I'll have to sign up for some more. They get a card in the mail or e-mail, so they don't all have to be used on the actual birthday.

Menu Planning Monday

Well, my plans for last week got all turned around. Artie got invited to go four-wheeling for the weekend with a buddy from work. They had such a good time.

When Artie leaves for any kind of trip - I paint. I paint and I do not cook. I spent the weekend in the little boys room, painting BLUE!!! Light walls and dark trim. Hopefully I will have some pictures when I finish, I ran out of trim paint (a gallon!!) There is so much trim in that room - five doors, two double windows and a built-in toybox!!

Each night we got a take out treat and watched a movie or played video games.

Friday - Little Caesar's

Saturday - McDonalds

Sunday - Taco Bell

The favorite movie was Lassie. The little boys had never seen it before. It was a fun evening.

So, lots of last weeks meals are held over for this week. Tonight, Emily is finally making her Rachael Ray Chicken Cordon Blue Roll Ups. She and Brenda are assembling them right now. I think we will probably have some free macaroni and cheese from Food Lion this week with it and beyond that, I don't know. Bobby has gymnastics tonight, so the girls will probably finish out the meal while I'm gone with him.

We will just eat up the rest of our planned meals and then start new for next week.

Created To Be His Help Meet

This is my car book. I try and keep a book in the car for "waiting times". I don't take it in places like the doctor office to read - I bring another book for that. This is just my car book. :-)

So, last night while I was waiting for Troy to finish up work, I read a great passage I thought I would share...

"Who and what would my husband be if he had married another woman? Have I made it possible for him to be a strong confident, aggressive man of God?

Have I allowed god to direct his life and work? Have I appreciated his calling and interests? Have I been a help meet for my man? IS HE A BETTER, STRONGER, MORE CAPABLE MAN FOR HAVING HAD ME AS HIS WIFE? IF GOD WERE CREATING THE PERFECT LADY FOR HIM, WOULD IT HAVE BEEN ME?" (Capitals mine)


Wow, what thought to think about?

It's such a good book. I highly recommend it. It's by Debi Pearl. In the last half of the book she goes through the 8 characters of a good wife - listed in Titus 2 - sober, love their husbands, love their children, discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, and obedient to their own husbands,

Beyond the Chariots

We had such a fun school day yesterday. First Brenda and I (and Troy slipped in as well) watched Chariots of Fire. I hadn't seen the movie since college and Brenda had never even heard of it??? (It won best picture in the Acadamy Awards in 1981)

For those others of you who have been in the dark like Brenda - here is the discription from Wikipedia...

The movie is based on the true story of two British athletes competing in the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris. Englishman Harold Abrahams, who is Jewish, overcomes anti-Semitism and class prejudice in order to compete against the "Flying Scotsman", Eric Liddell, in the 100 metre race.

Liddell sees running as a way of glorifying God before traveling to China to work as a missionary. He preaches a sermon on "Life as a race" afterwards.

Eric's sister Jenny worries he is too busy running to concern himself with their mission, but Eric tells her he feels inspired: "I believe that God made me for a purpose... (the mission), but He also made me fast, and when I run, I feel His pleasure."

Liddell refuses to run a heat of the 100 metres at the Olympics because his Christian convictions prevent him from running on Sunday. Liddell is allowed to compete in the 400 metre race instead. Liddell at church on Sunday is seen quoting Isaiah 40, verse 31:
'But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and be not weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.'

Last night we went to Limestone College (which is just at the end of our road) to a one man play - Beyond the Chariots. It was wonderful!!!

It was performed by Rich Swingle and picks up where the film left off, showing Eric in his greatest race, as a missionary to war-torn China.

Rich was wonderful!! So talented. Funny, intertaining, thought provoking. Eric's life continued to be amazing. Rich finished the play with a salvation prayer. Wonderful!!

There are many plans ahead - to perform the play at the upcoming Olympics in China, and documentary and even a full feature film. I can't wait to hear more of his progress with the story.

I'm sure he would appreciate your prayers as he ventures out more and more to tell of the salvation through Jesus.


Today I believe we will look more into the story and see what is fictional from the film and play, some geography lessons, and the poem by William Blake that the title is taken from.

The DRUG problem when I was growing up....

In Sunday School yesterday, we started a new parenting vidoe series. Charles read a very true e-mail he had received. I googled it and found it online. Check it out...

The other day, someone at a store in our town read that a methamphetamine lab had been found in an old farmhouse in the adjoining county and he asked me a rhetorical question, “Why didn’t we have drug problem when you and I were growing up?”

I replied I had a drug problem when I was young: I was drug to church on Sunday morning. I was drug to church for weddings and funerals. I was drug to family reunions and community socials no matter the weather.

I was drug by my ear when I was disrespectful to adults. I was also drug to the woodshed when I disobeyed my parents, told a lie, brought home a bad report card, did not speak with respect, spoke ill of the teacher or the preacher, or if I didnt put forth my best effort in everything that was asked of me.

I was drug to the kitchen sink to have my mouth washed out with soap if I uttered a profanity. I was drug out to pull weeds in mom’s garden and flower beds and cockleburs out of dad’s field. I was drug to the homes of family, friends and neighbors to help out some poor soul who had no oneto mow the yard, repair the clothesline, or chop some firewood, and if my mother had ever known that I took a single dime as a tip for this kindness, she would have drug me back to the woodshed.

Those drugs are still in my veins and they affect my behavior in everything I do, say, or think. They are stronger than cocaine, crack, or heroin; and, if today’s children had this kind of drug problem, America would be a better place.


God Bless the parents who drugged us.

Menu Plan Monday

I am lining things up for the upcoming week. We finished off most of the meals from last week, except for Emily's Chicken Cordon Blue Roll-Ups. We will try and squeeze them in this week instead. Brenda is fixing to lay the chicken out to thaw for her.

So, here's our week's plans

Saturday - we went to a Sunday school party and took a chili cheese dip and chips. It is so yummy and easy. Artie is wanting to make up another batch to eat here soon.

Sunday afternoon - we had Granny's chicken noodle soup and French bread

Monday - spaghetti (with leftover hamburger in frig)

Tuesday - potato soup (with leftover ham in frig)

Wednesday - sandwiches for the littles - Artie and I out

Emily's Chicken Cordon Blue Roll-Ups

French Dip

Skillet Noodle Pizza

Garden Seed Packet Holders

Here is a cute project from Sculpy I think we might try tomorrow. It's much to difficult to me with clay and all, but I think we might be able to come up with something similiar and cute still.

Gardening in February

Here is a great post about what to do in your garden in February. It's from Elements In Time: Creating an Edible Landscape. I can't wait to read more from this blogger.

1. We have our plans pretty much drawn up from last year. Just picking our new veggies for the year and the old favorites.

2. I'm way to impatient to order seeds. I pretty much get everything from Wal-Mart. Such a farm girl huh?

3. I would love to plant some grapes. I need to check into that more.

...8. We have a new book for school I'm wanting to order. It's the The New Organic Grower's Four Season Harvest by Eliot Coleman . Guess I will go to e-bay and check that one out.

Ready for Spring

I read one blog post today about planting lettuce and spring fever hit all at once. This is our third year gardening. I am excited to be able to blog my way through it this year and hopefully use it as a guide for myself the following years. We have added more and more veggies and herbs each year. Last year, aside from the southern drought, was a good year - except for the tomatoes.

So, Emily, Troy and I ran to Wal-Mart and picked up a few seeds.

We are going to experiment with more lettuce this year. Spinach is all we've done so far. Today we got Spinach, Salad Bowl Lettuce, Swiss Chard - Neon Lights Mix and Great Lakes Lettuce.

The Swiss Chard looks so cool - I don't think I've ever seen this before. The littles will love it!!!

We also picked up some packs of pansys to intermingle with the lettuces and some for the front flower beds. (I also couldn't help picking up some more shasta daisys. I love daisys)

When we began gardening - it was with Brenda's school. We read through the Square Foot Gardening Book and went from there. Like I said earlier, each year we are adding a little more as we learn. We all so love to get out in the dirt. I can't wait to start on our squares tomorrow - getting the soil ready.

Here are a couple of pictures from the previous years preparation. The Barefoot Gardener, Brenda, Square Foot Gardening Hopefully this year, I will be together enough to get some picturess after the goodies grow!!! :-)

7 Interesting Things About Me

Mrs. Wilt at the Sparrow's Nest had this cute meme. These might not count as interesting - but here goes.

1. When I was growing up, I wanted to be a librarian. I liked to use the stamps. (Remember when the librarian actually stamped your book? My best friend, Allison, had some "real" date stamps from her daddy's work that I loved to play with.)

2. The summer I spent in New York City - I worked at the Bowery Mission. They homeless man I worked with that week - Andrew - was from Gaffney, SC - the town I live in now.

3. I was in love with Ric Flair before I met Artie. Okay, maybe a little still?? (it's okay, Artie's knows) :-)

4. If I could be anyone on TV, I'd be Livie Walton. Not sure how Livie and Ric would match up?

5. I want to like coffee - and try and recruite my friend Gwyn to help me all the time, but it still never works (even as good as it smells, it still always tastes like coffee!!)

6. I have been pregnant 5 times, have given birth to 6, and have 7 children

7. I love chocolate, peanut butter and cheese!!!

So, tag you can be it now. Post a link if you do it so everyone can check you out!!

Ash Wednesday

We had a wonderful beginning today to Lent. During school, Troy, Brenda, Emily, Terry and I had a great time learning together of the meaning behind Lent. As I wrote earlier, this is a totally new observance for us. I believe it is going to make Easter so much more meaningful for us this year as we take these 40 days to prepare.

I read a good article that explains a beginning knowledge of Lent tonight, but my favorite I think was by spirithome.com - which explained Giving Something Up For Lent and Adding Something For Lent.

We all talked about the meaning behind everything - and then had some quiet time to decide what (if anything) we wanted to give up and add. Some kept things secret and some shared. Some are still deciding if they are going to participate. It is definitely an individual choice. We'll see how the 40 days progress.

I'm still hoping to hear of some personal connections with Lent - anyone?

Counting the Cost

Brenda and I have been enjoying her devotional - Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. I thought I would share a paragraph.

This is taken from Chapter 9 of Book 4 - Counting the Cost.

"That is why we moust not be surprised if we are in for a rough time. When a man turns to Christ and seems to be getting on pretty well (in the sense that some of his bad habits are now corrected) he often feels that it would now be natural if things went faitly smoothly. When troubles come along - illnesses, money troubles, new kinds of temptation - he is disappointed. These things, he feels, might have been necessary to rouse him and make him repent in his bad old days, but why now? Because God is forcing him on, or up, to a higher lever: putting him into situations where he will have to be very much braver, or more patient, or more loving, than he ever dreamed of being before. It seems to us all unnecessary: but that is because we have not yet had the slightest notion of the tremendous thing He means to make of us."

Our new washer and dryer

Yeah!!!! I have a new to me washer and dryer!!!

Artie and I made a commitment several years ago not to go into any more debt. (Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; Romans 13:8a)

It has been a hard but very rewarding journey. It's funny to see what you can do without if you choose. God has so honored our choice. When our tax money came, we were able to pay off our last credit card - which we have not used but have been paying on for several years!!

Our dryer broke a couple of months ago. It didn't break all at once. It would just tease us often. Sometimes it would work - sometimes not!! So, we just did the best we could. I have a big five line clothesline, so when it didn't work, we just hung out all the clothes (we go though an unbelievable amount of clothes!!!!).

About a month ago, it totally quit working. We knew we were fixing to get our taxes back, so we weren't too worried about it and planning on buying one then. Just waiting and hanging (which I do enjoy very much now). Anyway, the day before we got our tax money back a friend of Artie's in Charlotte got a new washer set and asked Artie if I wanted his. Of course!! So, Artie stopped by after work yesterday and picked them up. He gave it to Artie for some work he did on his air conditioner. God is so good. By not running out and going in more debt, we ended up getting one for free.

Troy helped Artie bring the old ones out and the new ones in this morning before he left for work. After Artie left, Troy changed out the power chord on the dryer and got it all set up for me. The dryer is running now!!! I can't wait to have hot clothes coming out in just a few minutes!!! I do love my clothesline, but I love the lint filter in the dryer too. Clothes seem much cleaner to me when they go through the dryer. Don't worry, we still have plenty enough clothes to keep the dryer running and keep haning out on the clothesline as well!!!

What is Lent - to Dawn

Dawn (who I mentioned in my last post) has a lovely post of her favorite things of Lent. There is so much to read and learn. Guess I better start a calendar for us and maybe a Lent notebook. ?? I so love a new notebook!!!! :-)

The Liturgical Year

I accepted Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior when I was in second grade. I still plainly remember praying the sinner's prayer with my pastor in my little Baptist church and later being baptised.


Things have changed a lot over the years, but one thing still remains the same - I love Jesus and want to the best of my knowledge follow Him and His teachings.


I was blessed to be brought up in church every Sunday, but have learned that I wasn't taught all that was in the Bible. I can remember the day that I first talked with a friend named Robbie about God at church camp. I had never had a conversation about God that I could remember with another person - outside of my salvation prayer. He was real in my heart, but not a conversation to be spoken about. I like the song by Avalon "Everything To Me" - Jesus became more than a story. He jumped off the page to me that day. There was no turning back.






When I got to college, I was continually challenged. I joined Campus Crusade and was expected to share my faith. That was so funny to me - I wasn't (still not) one to talk with people I didn't know. My best friend - Daria (a true evangelist) - would make me go with her to talk to girls in our dorm. We would walk in to McDonald's and Daria would say "Let's go sit with that girl all alone, I'm sure God brought us all together for this". Kelly, full of faith, would say "You go ahead, I'll wait here" Daria was so good and patient with me. I ended up in New York City for the summer, sharing about Jesus with everyone I met from men in homeless shelters to officials in the UN building. I still don't talk with strangers much, now mostly my children - my true disciples.


After college I joined a non-denomination church and a whole new world of the Bible opened up to me. Praise and Worship was wonderful. I felt like I could reach up and touch the hem of God's garment. It was as if Jesus was physically in the room. It was such a growing time. I learned of God's power to heal, our responsibility to tithe, the wonderfulness (I know that's not a real word - but it was a real feeling!) of a home group - like in Acts 2.


We've been out of church several years now (another post later maybe) and have had to seek God on my own and with Artie. Still more growth. I have learned that I don't have to have a room full of people or a pastor to teach me about the scriptures. I learned about being mentored by a Titus 2 woman and the joy and privilege of being a Keeper at Home. God kept teaching me more and more.


Lately I've been learning about how the Bible fits in with our year - the liturgical year - the Biblical calendar year. I had heard of that before, but had no idea what it was or how it fit in with my life. I have met some Catholic ladies online and have learned so much from them. I love the way they fit Jesus and the Bible into their everyday lives. My two favorites are Dawn and Elizabeth. So, in our school we have been learning together. We dove into Advent the first day of December and were so blessed. We followed with Christmas and Ephinany, and I guess in a way - Ordinary Time as well. The girls and I learned together during the week and then the whole family joined in on Sundays.


So, sometimes I wonder why I wasn't taught all this growing up. (Here is a good article talking about some of this) God is so vast, I guess I will always continue to learn more and more.


So, the next season in the liturgical year is new to me. Lent??? We've always celebrated Easter, but never the preparation period before. So, I would love to hear if your family observes Lent. What do you do? We're at a new (to us) church, so I don't know what they will do. Guess I will wait and learn. Our new church did celebrate Advent each Sunday, so who knows.





I will try and blog a little of what we learn and do. Now that Troy will be home for school too, I think this will be a wonderful time to focus on Jesus each day and remember all He gave for us.

Inherit the Land

Here's a cool video we got this week. We would so love to move to a farm like one of these one day!!

You can check out more on their blog Vaughnshire Farm.