Going off the grid

Hey guys, we are in the process of trying to host the website on another space so this doesn’t get lost in the move, but if I am not replying, please just wait a few days, we are getting a cell repeater and cell internet card and the earliest we might get them is Tuesday. Possibility of going into the library to use internet, but not sure.

This is good news, though, it means we are finally moving into our new place. It will be very different, but we are excited. Prayers for us and those coming to help us move tomorrow (or good thoughts if you don’t do prayers).

Ready to countrified again!

Why don't they have stuff like this in the US?

For a long time, I was on the cusp of Plus Size Clothing. After I had the baby, I'm no longer there (knock wood), but could be easily enough. With nursing, I definitely have the 'top' to be in the plus category and have long had to wear a bigger top than bottom. What is nearly impossible, though, is finding something to flatter your figure, especially a post baby figure.

Do you hide your tummy, or ignore it, figuring everyone knows by the 20 lb lump of sunshine and dirty diaper that you're carrying around accounts for it? How exactly do you dress for post baby staying at home, going to church and oh dear lord! family functions! In the summer. Especially when you gave up all your too small clothes (which you desperately wish you now had) when you found out you were pregnant?

Well the site linked above, yeah I wish we had that in the US. The bras alone would be worth the expense of going there if I really had to. I mean, who really has all those sizes that you don't have to special order some ugly thing from a department store catalog to get? All the cute stuff I see in the stores stops at a C. Sorry, some of us just have bigger girls than that. Especially us nursing ones! Definitely a favorite!

I also love the swimsuits, not all the models are a size 0 and look like they haven't eaten in weeks. Rock on! It would be something I wouldn't mind my daughter seeing at some point. Most of the catalogs in the US are full of the same 5 women over and over again in various 'I could be blown away if a gust of wind came up' sizes. Not so with this one. The clothes are SO cute! I think my sister in law would like them too, she's young, but needs more trendy stuff than she can find at local stores. I think the dresses actually look better on the plus sized models, too, you get an idea of what YOU would actually look like wearing it, versus guessing how your lumps and bumps would fit under the size 0 magnified. Awesome. Now if we only had something like this in the US, it would be great!

I'm not happy about it or anything!

Shopping Shopping Shopping

I am going shopping this week! YEAH!!!

Fun Summer Get Togethers

Summer is a time for parties, is it not? What kind of summer party do you throw? Bar-be-ques, mother's day and father's day bashes, graduations, memorial day, and way at the end of the line, labor day. Who wants to think of that now, though, right? We're all just enjoying the spring flowers and hint of summer grill smoke in the air.

So what about those impromptu things you just throw together at the last minute? Have you ever had one of those? I haven't, but I've been to several that my parents did. Usually it's on a weekend and all the sudden, all three of us kids show up with all of our kids and it gets close to a meal and we're all starving. Well, obviously mom did not plan on feeding us all. Luckily, everyone but us also lives in town, so they can either go back to their house, or just hit the grocery store in less than half an hour and be back with everything you need for a good time. Usually the guys volunteer to go, you know, to heave the manly bags of ice, and then call the women with 'what should we get?' as soon as they get there. Ha!

My favorites are the cookouts that involve some good grilled chicken, yes it may be kind of common, but when you usually end up with baked chicken, grilled tastes really good around about this time of year. Grab all the condiments out of the fridge and you've got a smorgasbord of opportunity waiting for you. These impromptu parties don't usually have themes, but 'cookout' is good enough, with a checked table cloth, or even butcher paper spread over the tables (which can be easily recycled at the end of the night) and some crayons in some coffee mugs or decorative pails spread around the garden. Adults can write goofy messages to each other that the kids try to decode, and kids can draw animals and practice writing their names. It's always a good time, makes the kids feel involved, stems off boredom from the adults while the food is cooking, and the kids stay occupied enough not to destroy your house in the meantime! The parents of little kids will definitely want to do this at your house again!

So do you throw impromptu parties? I think the time is ripe for us to try one out. This summer seems like a good time to put our culinary and hosting abilities to the test!

Why am I lil mouse?

Am I still lil mouse? Or is the baby lil mouse? We think she's a lil moose at this point in time. She's definitely grown a lot in the last few weeks, she's almost out of her 6-9 month clothes, but the 12 month ones still seem a bit big.. sigh. I guess it all just is in how you look at it. Moose, mouse, what's the difference? (about a thousand pounds, I know!)...I was always called mouse because I was so small, maybe my baby will be giraffe because she's so tall?

Hope you all enjoyed your mother's day!

Deer damaging your yard?

Ever find yourself in need of deer repellent to restrict the damage to lawns and landscaped areas of your home? My mom has tried everything, including human hair (from the barbershop), rotten eggs and milk, and of course, bars of soap to try and repel the deer from her garden. She even tried planting turnips in their valley to try and get them to go for them instead of her stuff! Mostly, they managed to make their 2 black labs fat and full of stuff they shouldn't have been eating, but must have smelled oh so yummy to them!

The biggest problem for the deer were trees planted around the garden as a windbreak. Even though they were very fast growing, the deer really liked the new shoots and leaves on the small trees that first summer. After rescuing some soap from puppy teeth clenches, mom gave up. But she didn't need to. Havahart® products could have helped her while she was waiting for those trees to get 'out of reach' to deer teeth. Some of them are listed as safe for organic gardens and by the EPA. What could be better than that? Safe, green, and not disgusting enough for the dogs to want to roll in or chew up, awesome!

Out doorsy stuff...

Why am I writing about outdoorsy stuff?Mostly because I've been stuck inside for almost 6 months inside the city. I love to get out of town and hang out with the family, which we did for mother's day yesterday. Awesome. Checked out the pond (2 little fish, a million tadpoles and some GIANT bullfrog tadpoles that you could roast on a spit). Didn't get a chance to look much at the garden, but I did see some onions growing that I wanted to make into pizza sauce! Yum! It was nice to be outside despite the gnats and the skunk smelling dogs that were draped in pond moss!