graduations

Well this was an over abundance of graduations this year for us. we  had a total of 7 that we were invited to or we were putting on. My step son graduated this year.  and a cousin that also graduated.  that was alot.   so we were busy tidying up the house, the yard, and cooking.  we were busy.  I think we got all the inside stuff done except a new dishwasher and a backsplash.  and hopefully we will tear out the bedroom carpeting and put in  hard floor of some kind.  We cooked, and invited,made lists (lots of lists) We were exhausted but we made it through and were even rested by the next day.   I had pulled bbq pork, salads, some bars fruit and veggies and then cake. So it got me thinking what foods do you serve at parties and what food do hope to find at parties of others? 

mothers day and ramblings

hello all,
  I hope you all had a very good, no a great mothers day. I did. I have been married to my husband for 14 yrs. and this was the first yr that his mother was not around due to her vacationing this year. So my hubby had to figure out what to do for it. He took the kids and I out to eat. It was ok food but hey I did not have to cook or clean up. And this is the first year that I had my stepson who is 18 this year. It was weird having him for mothers day weekend. It is always fun to have him.
  So an update on my sprucing up. due to my 18 yo graduating this year I have undertaken projects on the house that needs done for people coming over for the open house.   I am sanding my kitchen and dining room cabinets and replacing ALL the hardware on them. this is all done with hubbys blessings. and I want the floor in bathroom replaced and hopefully the hallway also but we will see. I also have a couple lights I want replaced, but I would need taught how to do that.
 The party aspect of it is all plan and figured out I just have to get the house in shape for it, and cook before hand. oh yeah and go shopping or the napkins, cups and tableclothes. everything else is done. other than like I said the house stuff.  Fun fun fun so if you do not see me on here for aawhile you will know why. I will try to post pics on when I get a chance.
God Bless and keep you,
Debbriel

renewed redoing energy

Well My husband and I decided to sand our cabinets and drawers in our kitchen and possibly in our dining room also.  I did one cabinet door by hand. Then the kids found a sander down stairs in the basement.  I tried using that and I think I was getting shocked.  I asked my husband to try it. he did not.  lLater today he brought home a brand new sander. woohoo. now I can get that job done.  but I guess spending $22. 00 is cheaper than hiring someone to do it which was my next option.   SO I am  on round 2 of sprucing up.  Hopefully this job will get done before my stepsons graduation party.   I have alot to do for this party.  It would be easy to get upset about it but that does not help so I will ask the LORD to help me order my days and be productive, and slowly plug away on the things on my list.

sickness

Well everyone in my house has finally been hit. Hit by the bugs.  we all have colds, fevers, or vomiting. but considering this is the first time all winter that we have gotten sick I consider us pretty lucky and thank God for it.    This brings  me to my question I thought I would ask and that is  when you get sick what are your home remedies or do you go to dr.  We let our bodies do what they are supposed to do and we eventually get over it.  we might go the chiropractor if it keeps hanging on but we try to stay off antibiotics if we can.   I am  trying to give us more vitamin c, and garlic to fight off the colds.

Homeschooling

Well it seems like homeschooling is going well.  I just spent a month making sure that my kids had their math facts down. and while they still need a little more work they are waaayyy better than they used to be. I have 5 kids that I homeschool and 3 learned multiplication facts and I was only going to do one more with addition facts but the youngest wanted to join in also so was learning and usually quicker with the response than her older brother. Kind of funny! There is 2 and a half years between those two.

We are going to do a carnivorous plant study complete with planting some seeds and seeing how they grow. the problem is that some of the plants will not fully mature for 3-5 years.  ugh. I was hoping they could help with my summer flies this year. oh well. 

My stepson is graduating this spring so I am trying to plan a graduation party for someone who does not care what he eats, where it is, when it is, or anything else that has to go with the planning.  Why can't he just give some opinions. 

and then I am trying to talk my husbadn into a vacation before the field work begins. I wonder if we are going to get one.  the last time we had one was four years ago.  

we are still trying to spruce up the house. and it is slowly getting done.  I am trying to sand the kitchen cabinets so I can revarnish them. no stain this time, as I think my kitchen cabinets and trim is too dark for my liking.  I also want all new hardware but I doubt I will get it even though some of it I need just to make the cabinets close and what is in there is hard to find.
Well post comments and let me know what is going on in your neck of the woods.
Debbriel

sprucing up

We have been busy here at the Brown household sprucing up the house. we have gotten new kitchen floor, new toilets, new storm doors. now I am working on repainting.  I have just finished repainting my bedroom a color called cocoa creamy, a cross between tan and cream. now I am working on the bathroom. When I decide it is time to redo the bathroom (or any room for that matter) I try to find a starting off point.  for instance in the bathroom it might be a shower curtain, wallpaper, etc.  I however couold find nothing I liked so I looked in the sheets because you can always sew  a shower curtain. could not find one that I thought I could live with for a long time.  so one time I was at a second hand store(how many of us love that store) and I waas looking in the shower curtains, the regualr curtains and then finally the sheets and found a great sheet.  It was white with different shades of Blue flowers on it. I loved and thought it would be really cheery in the bathroom so I bought it for i think $2.00 and my mom was here visiting so she sewed it. we have a great showercurtain, it will need a liner but that is do able. and then with the extra we made a window valence. I started with a double sheet. perfect size.   So now I am painting the bathroom mostly white, with one wall light blue, and one wall a med blue and then some accents in dark blue. I can not wait til I get the whole thing together.  
With that said what one room in your house needs the most attention and how would you go about giving a facelift?

I am new at this

Well here goes I will try to let you all know what we do here.  For today lets just say that church was good. Heard a great sermon, had potluck at church and then after that there was a family in our church that used to belong to the amish  and have turned to the right way. They gave their whole talk about how they came out of that occult. How God prepared them for the huge change in them. What a difference in their life and in others around them because of what the LORD is doing in their life.  PRAISE THE LORD for them.  They are remarkable.