Had the best Birthday weekend ever!! Started it out with the Tea Quarter Craze and Becky Nankivel and kids, and Shawn B Anderson. Then Friday, took Cody Anderson to the homeschool tour of the West Mall 7. We got a tour and watch a movie. We watched the latest Chipmunk Movie - Chipwrecked. Watching it with friends made it better! The plan was to come home and take a nap. Shortly after getting home, I get a fabulous surprise!! My folks showed up for the weekend!! It was awesome! We went out Friday to celebrate my birthday! Love me some Applebees! :) Saturday, my mom, my sis in law Sabrina Bochman, and I all went shopping! It was a great day and lots of fun! Dad, Cory Bochman, Shawn and Cody all went to the Outdoor Show and a gun show. Grilled out and had the first bonfire of the season!! It was perfect weather, which never happens on my birthday! It was a birthday full of lots of surprises and lots of laughter and fun! Thank you to everyone for making this an AWESOME birthday!! :)

Homemade Pizza Time!!

Well, we are a house that LOVES homemade pizza!! I have to make this at least one a month so that there is not a mutiny at my house! I have always just used a basic pizza crust recipe. Due to my health issues, I am not supposed to be eating white flour among many things. Thanks to Pinterest, I found a pizza crust made with cauliflower. Yes, you read that right cauliflower! I will post a link to the blog that I got it off of at the end here. Following you will find pictures of Cody helping me the pizza. He liked it a lot and had two pieces. Cody knew what was in the crust as well. This is the boy that doesn't like vegetables.

This is what the crust looks like after it is cooked and before the toppings. :)

Here is my sous chef helping top the pizzas. This kid has the makings to be an awesome cook in the future! One thing for sure, he will be able to feed himself!

Half of the batch of pizza!

Kid tested and husband approved!

Here is a link to blog that I got this off of!




http://www.eat-drink-smile.com/2011/04/cauliflower-crust-pizza.html

Good health and good eats!

Heaven gained a good man last night!

Today we are all sad. Bill M. went to be with the Lord last night. We are happy that he did not suffer long with his illness. The Good Lord was gracious and took him home before the pain got to bad. While we will miss him here on earth, this is just a "see ya later". As Bill had his ticket to Heaven reserved long ago!

I never really got to know Bill. So you might wonder why his death would affect me or why I would take the time to right about him. I will tell you why. I know of at least 3 boys that were blessed to have him in their lives. Two of those boys are Bill's sons. The other one is my husband. I know what kind of man Bill was based on how these three boys turned out! My husband has been a friend with the M boys for most of his life. With his sperm donor not in the picture, my husband looked to his friend's dads to see how to be a man. It is on thing to be a good father to your own kids, it is quite another to be a good father to their friends as well! In Bill, my husband saw a man who loved The Lord and loved his family! Best of all, Bill made this look like the way all men should live! My husband told me that Bill was one of two guys that he molded his life after growing up. That he wanted to be the kind of husband and father that these two guys showed him.

So I thank you Bill! You have blessed my life more than you could possibly know! I know that my husband would not be the man he is today if it hadn't been for you! I met my husband's "father" about 8 years ago. I am so glad that he wasn't around while my husband was growing up! I am blessed that you were, Bill!

I am sorry that I never got to tell you all of this in person, Bill. Perhaps, though if your family reads this, they will find some comfort in knowing that you were loved by a great many people!

Roc Day :)

On Sunday, January 22,2012, I went to Athena Fibers for their Roc Day. It was held a week later due to scheduling issues. It was an awesome time! It was the first time I was able to take "Jessie" out. :) Here is Jessie.

Her and I had an awesome time and got 2oz of fiber spun up. No pictures of that yet. :( Here are some pics that I took of the fiber sandwich and of a few of the people there.

It has been much too long since I have seen many of these lovely ladies! I had a great time and it was good to get out and relax and have some fun!

New Year - New Semester - New Challenges

Well, we are off into 2012. Spring semesters have started for college.  Oldest son was not doing so well at one of the state schools. We gave him many options on what he could do as he is 18 - it has to be his choice and he has to live with those decisions.  He choose to come home and go to school part time through a satellite location of the state schools. As this was two weeks before the start of the new semester, there was much running around  to move him out of the dorm, get classes canceled and signed up for in new location, get school financial aid straightened out, etc.  But the boy is happier with this new path and the opportunity to work more hours.  We think he made a good decision and are very happy to have him around more.

DH and I are both back in school this semester as well. We are both projected to graduate in 2015. I too switched school this semester. Mine was a bit more sticky as I went from a state college to a vo-tech  or two year school. I am taking general ed classes this semester online. Next fall I will be starting the Horticulture program.

With all of this going on, my CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome) has been kicking my ass! Some days it is hard to even get out of bed! Luckily for me, I have an awesome and supportive family that understands that some days are better than others. I have started on a supplement program to see if that will help me have more good days than bad days. Will let you know.  If you want to know more about CFS, I recommend this book





I am also waiting on the results from a CT scan I had a couple of weeks ago. My orthopedist is trying to figure out if a FOURTH surgery on my left knee is a good idea or not.

In among all of this, we continue to homeschool the youngest. It is so much fun to see him learn new things!  He got an electric guitar for his 12th birthday. It has been amazing to watch him learn another instrument besides piano and viola. This kid is just plain musical!  He is often singing through out the house. The imagination he has is astounding!  He is currently writing a story line for a video game.

Winter finally showed up around here. We went from 40s and 50s to -9 in about 36 hours. -9 is the normal temps for this time of year but typically we are eased into it. My trees went from starting to bud to frozen over night. It will be interesting to see what this winter will turn out like.

I got the nursing shawl for my friend at church done. I am currently knitting a baby blanket for another friend at church that is due in Feb. Also have to make another baby blanket for one that is due in July. I also started working on "Lifestyle" socks from Ravelry. This is something that we are doing in a crafting class with the homeschool moms. I am also working on a "Hobbit Dress" for me and a scarf in shades of red for DH.  Well, I need to go get my homework finished for the week and get back to knitting. See you all later!

Rough Day

Today was a rough day. This Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is kicking my ass.  This is a very hard thing for me to deal with.  I used to be so active now some days I don't get out of bed except when I have to.  I am feeling very down today. I couldn't take my son to the park today because I was too tired. It was a 50 degree day in January! That temp has never happened here in my lifetime.  I feel like I am letting my kids and my husband down.

To be proactive today, I did some research on CFS. Trying to find ways to maybe tweek my diet so that I have more good days than bad. I would love to just have a few better days a month. There are just some many options and no way to find out what bunny hole to go down without spending lots of money that I don't have.

I am also contemplating giving up some activities that I enjoy.  They are just too hard for me right now. Which do I give up and which do I keep doing. It is hard to know what to do. There is a certain amount of "pushing through" that needs to be done to gain more stamina and strength. Unfortunately, it is a super fine line between helping and hurting.

Just feeling beat up and confused today. So much brain fog so little time.