Finally Home

 Well, we finally made it home. It feels so nice. 

I absolutely cannot wait to share this with my little buddies. Why, yes, I did go to an antique store in AR and put us together a China tea set.  Yes, I will teach them some etiquette and how to be gentle and careful.  It's the memory making I love best. And I may share them with my big girls too. Jordan Ryan and Brylee Dixon I may even let Dallas Dixon join in. 😁

We had the opportunity of surprising some little girls. 

When your Marine Veteran Poppie suprises you and shows up at your school for your Veterans Day program, this is what you get. Look at that child's face then look at her Poppies. She could not contain her emotions and excitement. She waved and blew him kisses the whole time. She cried, Poppie cried, I cried, we all cried. She held in her emotions to be so brave to sing her songs but after it was over and they were dismissed, she ran to her Poppie and just let it all out. Bless her gentle heart. She loves her Poppie. 

When Caroline saw us, she came running into our arms and laps. We got the best kisses ever. 

We got to check her out and their mommy let us have them for the weekend.  We took them to lunch and a treat. 

Later that evening, I finally got to have my tea party with my girls. They loved their cups and saucers. 

After our tea party we went outside to feed the cows and check them out.  We finally got them onto our pasture. 

It feels strange hearing moos all the time now. Now, I get free fertilizer for my garden. We have two that will be calving this season. The girls love to help feed them. 

We got up the next morning and we needed to go grocery shopping. They were a big help. We had to bundle up because it has turned cold here. 

That evening we had another tea party. 

A nice day for another tea party. I even found a use for some of my grandmother and great Grandmothers handkerchiefs. These are Atleigh and Caroline's Great Great Grandmothers and Great Great Great Grandmothers handkerchiefs. They were delighted. Less slurping and notice Caroline's pinky. 🥰 We're getting there.

We are supper and then I had great helpers prepping some groceries we bought and cleaning the kitchen.  I let each pick what they wanted to do. 

I pulled out some things from our pantry and threw together deer chilli for supper. 

The peaches and green beans were for the girls because they love them. 

Somebody else loves their Poppie too. 

We read stories at bedtime and went to bed. The next morning we went to church. After church, I let them decorate a cabinet for us for Thanksgiving 

Neither one of them wanted to go home that night so we let them spend another night. I got Atleigh up the next morning and got her ready for school and packed her lunch. Got her down to daddys so they could get her to school.  I let Caroline sleep in and Poppie stayed with her. She got up when I got back. 

Poppie helped fix her hair. No, he's not performing an exorcism,  he's just brushing her hair.  He is getting good at messy buns. 

Me and Caroline had work to do that day. We needed to get restocked on them some freezer breakfasts.  We made batches of waffles and chaffles. She did a really good job. And we had fun. We might have made a video 😁😁

As usual,  big Sissy is a little jealous that little sissy gets to stay with me. She's already asking to spend the night again.  Bless her. I am so glad we are loved so much and they are so comfortable with us. We have a great bond. 

While I was cleaning up, I noticed it got quiet. Sometimes they just want to read a good book, in a cabinet. Don't worry, they don't lock. She is safe. 

We did a little school too. 

Poppie had gone hunting that afternoon and he told us he would try to get us a deer and he did not disappoint.  He got one he has been chasing for three years. They have a history.  

He had to take it to a friend of ours to hang in his deer cooler. We let ours hang for 5 days before processing which will come soon. 

The next day, me and little sissy was at it again.  We made some balsamic strawberry vinegarette using the cut off tops from strawberries. I let her practice cutting. 

Yes, I got the idea off YouTube.  It is delicious.  You just use your tops of strawberries instead of landing them into the trash. You cover with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, sugar,  pepper and a pinch salt. Muse down a bit and let sit at room temp overnight. The next, strain and get remaining liquid out of strawberries.  Change seasonings and oils to taste. The recipe gave no measurements so I had to play around. You can also make vinegar from the scraps. You can check out videos of what to do with fruit scraps and oh my, the videos that pop up. 

It was time for sissy to get home from school and I had to start helping her count down the days until she gets to spend the night. It makes her feel better. They helped Poppie feed the cows and then they had to go home. 

The next day, once again a project for me and Caroline. I'll explain. When we went grocery shopping it wasn't just for groceries. I purposely bought things that were on sale so I could can and preserve them. This is what I do in the winter.  Things that I don't grow, I buy on sale and then process. This is a good way to stock your freezers and pantries. I do the vegetables, and dear hubby gets the meats. 

So this day was pineapple. 

Mine and Caroline's work from yesterday. I will break it down. These are all the things you can get from pineapples. 

1- From the stem, you can replant and possibly get another pineapple 🍍 

2- fresh pineapple rings, chunks or crushed pineapple. We got 4 pints. Can be eaten fresh or in baking. 

3- from the scraps (rinds and cores), I boiled them down and got the extra juice extracted which contains Bromalaine(sp) which is an anti inflammatory property found in pineapples. I used this juice to make syrup which can be used for pancakes, waffles, French toast, ice cream, yogurt, smoothies, teas, anything you want, even in baking goods. We got 4 jelly jars and 5 mini jelly jars full. 

4- after juicing down all the scraps, they can be used to feed wildlife or compost for your garden. 

5- you can also use the scraps to make pineapple vinegar which is extremely rich in probiotics. 

So, all those things from 2 $1.98 pineapples. Not bad. So many uses.

While they were processing,  we did some school.

When daddy and sissy go there from school, they didn't get to stay long. They had to go get some supper to eat for that night and get back so she could do homework.  To be honest, I don't like school. 😞 No offense to any of you awesome school teachers. It's just that I've been with them since the day they were born and then all the sudden they get whisked off to school.  We barely get to see them when they get home before they have to go to bed. It breaks my heart to see little ones have to get out of bed before the crack of dawn. I homeschooled our boys until Jr High and they became more independent. This is all new to me, well, not that I wouldn't know what to do, because this is not my first rodeo. 

Yesterday all I did was let Caroline play and I was trying to get one room clean and straightened and file papers. Uncle Dallas came by for a visit and played with her a minute. 

Dakota went on call and Poppie had to go get big sissy from school.  That made her day, especially when Poppie took her to the candy store on the way home. 🤣 

They got home and fed the cows and had to go home. 

I had a project to do but it had to be done when they went home because:

No, I'm not crying, you're crying. No, I'm crying 😭 😢. These onions tore me up. I knew I couldn't do them while they were here because it would burn their eyes. 

Last night, I cut up 12 lbs of onions and put them in my roasting pan to caramelize them. 

Then:

Our project today, (while also tending to a sick one that Poppie had to go pick up). Y'all remember those onions I did last night? Well, we turned those into caramelized onions and canned them in beef broth and Lipton Onion Soup mix. These are all the things you can do with them. 

1- French Onion Soup

2- Cream of Onion Soup 

3- Caramelized onions over Hamburger steaks, fried deer minute steaks, country fried steaks, pork chops. 

4- use the broth and make a gravy to pour over the onions or mashed potatoes. 

5- roasts and stews

6- French dip for roast beef sandwiches 

7- use the scraps to put with other vegetable scraps to make vegetable broth.

8- plant the root end of the Onion and you can grow another one.  

The possibilities are endless. Price break down:

4- 3lb bags for $2 each. That's 12 lbs for $8.00. I got 10 qt jars. Look at all the meals I can do with this. It pays to buy things on sale, get more, and preserve it some way. You're Welcome.

Big sister started feeling a little better after I got her fever down. Then it was nap time and story time. A little bit into nap and her fever started rising again. She slept for 3 hours.  When she woke up her Daddy was here to check on her. 

She rested for a bit and she felt just good enough to have a tea party and drink some warm tea. This time they learned how to steep their tea bags and stir their sugar cubes. 

We ate supper,  I cleaned the kitchen while they colored some pictures for Thanksgiving.  We got baths and I made some popcorn and we watched Charlie Browns The Great Pumpkin and Thanksgiving movies. We will save the Christmas one for closer to Christmas.  Then it was bedtime. 

Today, they slept in late. So did I. We all needed it. It's just been a lazy pj day. Big sister is still running a low fever. It is mostly allergies. Little sister is all but hanging from the ceiling. Lol. It's all about balance. Daddy came and got them when he got off call. So me and dear hubby are just chilling. He is about froze to death from hunting all morning. The deer were not moving like they were the past few days. Different moon phase. 

It has been a good week.