Sorry I'm MIA

I am back in PA with the kids. We got here at the beginning of the week. I got to help my Dad on the Shasta a day and a half before he had to return to work. Now work has slowed waaaaay down, it's free labor though so I am not complaining. I did go and get my curtain material today and it goes great with my seat material. I have pictures of it, but I am too lazy to upload them right now. Oh and one more important note, at least to me, we have discovered that the camper was miss titled as a 1973 but is in fact a 1965. I like that it is older than I originally thought.

I miss my hubby since we are up here by ourselves, he has to make a living ya know. Don't tell him I would be happy just pulling our little camper around seeing the country side if it meant he wouldn't have to work. Yes I love my farm dream and I want that so much, but more than that I want to have him around to enjoy this life with me too. I'd give up the farm dream for that and settle for potted plants outside my camper door. I'm an easy girl to please. I am off to my fly fishing course on Sat. I hope it gets just a bit warmer here so I don't freeze my hieney off. I will be taking my camera along and will be sure to get some shots, you just don't know how HOT I look in rubber hip waders!!!


And because I can't post without a picture I thought I would use this shot of Tripp from the other week. He is at that stage right now where it is rare to get a shot of him. But come on, lets face it, dang we make some good looking kids right?!.......i mean I'm not bias or anything ;)

Hope your having a great week
Lisa

Who Knew?!

As I have said before, I do Menus4Moms. One of the great things about the site is that they offer something sweet at the end of most meals. Nothing crazy like cakes and cookies, it usually involves some kind of fruit or fruits. Well the other night it was Orange Jello Parfaits. Super simple to make and my kids and husband LOVED them. It tasted just like an orange creamcicle only lighter. I didn't finish mine cause I have never been a huge fan of jello or pudding. It was nice none the less. Well I had to search my cupboards for something to put this creation in, I had nothing, so I improvised with drinking glasses. While I was doing a terrible job of stacking the ingredients in the glasses it got me thinking of the Tupperware kind my Mom use to have. I thought to myself they could be handy (in case you don't know, I like to pretend I am a 1950's housewife) and would be a lot safer for the kids to handle then the glass cups I was using. So like any computer savvy 1950's housewife I Googled Tupperware parfait glasses. Do you know what I found out?! That a. Tupperware no longer makes this particular product and b. that they are now considered "vintage" and cost more than I realized. Who knew Tupperware Parfait glasses were all the rage and very hard to find? Mom and Dad of all the things you have saved what in the world happened to the Tupperware?? Did you sell it on ebay for an arm and a leg?!

Girls Weekend

Avery and I hit the road on Thursday. The destination?......
Pennsylvanian to see my family and the Shasta. It was a beautiful weekend. I spent my time with my brother Brian during the day and my Mom in the evening.
Avery played in the yard while Brian and I worked on the Shasta. We ripped the whole back end off and rebuilt it. The framing under the window was pretty much rotted away. It was a productive weekend and a very relaxing one(if you can really put those two words in one sentence). It has been a long time since just Avery and I were at my parents home. We will definitely make a point to do it again. The boys had a great time with their Dad. He took them skeet shooting, they finished the fire pit, and they had a cookout. I would say they had fun without us. I'm glad for the time they had together, boys need dude time too now and again. By the end of this Shasta restoration you guys will be pretty much over my camper.

I can't help the excitement, the picture in my mind is too good. I am so thankful for such a great family. My dad and brother will be doing most of the work in my absence and when I can be there I will help out where I can.

**yikes that's never good...

I of course will do all the painting and polishing of the inside which is a job in and of itself. The cushions are off at the upholsterers for a complete overhaul. So excited to see progress being made.

**Brian Me(don't be jealous of my outfit or eye glasses) Dad

Homeschooling is moving along fine. We are finishing out Averys math book and phonics book and should be done for the year in just a few short weeks. We will take off the months of May and June. After the homeschool fair we will begin school again in July. It gets too blazing hot to be outside by then anyways. Have I mentioned before how blessed I feel to be homeschooling my kids?! Thanks Leanne and Rob, I know you were being prayer warriors for me last year and He heard you and in turn I heard Him! I know you love me ;)

My Color Palate

#1

(I am leaning toward this color combo. The blue/green is a bit brighter and I love the two shades of white)
So going along with the whole beach theme/retro camper, I have found two color choices that I am deciding between. I have to decide on the Formica yet, we like all three for different reasons. We will make that decision once I start painting and the floors are down.
#2

I would love to send along some pictures of the inside, but that will have to wait until I take them or I can talk my Mom through the process of sending them as an attachment.



This is the style vinyl I am looking at. I want something easy to clean and still light weight. I think something like this will help warm up the inside a bit.

I hope all of my photos show up this time.

Drum Roll Please.......

** I hope I have corrected my technical difficulties. So sorry :)
I give HUGE kudos to my Dad. I thought he was going to let me down after helping my brother with his newly found $50 vintage camper. In the end he found me this 1973 Shasta Compact. I know it might not look like much now, but if you could only see the vision I have in my head you would be SO impressed.

This is going to be my "Beach Bungalow". It will have a fresh paint job and all the aluminum will be shining and rust removed before it is all done. I will be redoing the inside with a beach inspired theme and all the colors you think of when you think of the beach. It will comfortably sleep all of us, hard to believe right?! I am hoping to have a small potty room if not a potty shower combo in her too. She has her original light pink oven that looks awesome except for a few spots of rust on the chrome, and her original gas lamp that looks like new. Oh the fun I foresee us having in this camper. I want great memories for my kids and some for me and my hubs as well. More photos to come as progress is made, I'm sure you are all waiting on the edge of your seats!!!

* In homeschooling news, the year is winding down for us. Avery will be doing a test prep in addition to her math and phonics until her standardized tests gets here. I will be doing light load work boxes from here on out. I can't say enough how much of a blessing this last year has been. It has not been without its ups and downs but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I love watching my kids learn and being with them and encouraging them. I am looking forward to another year of homeschool and being able to teach Keegan how to read and Avery cursive, which she is dying to learn.

Weekend Project

As stated before here is the finished weekend project. I had wanted something temporary, but better than what I had put up last year. I was tired of stepping over the plastic chicken fencing and the darn dogs had figured out how to get over it and under it. Not only was it ugly but it wasn't doing its job anymore. I was game for some metal chicken wire and some hammered in steaks, but my hubby had bigger plans. This is the final out come, it matches the dog run my dad and I put in last spring. We still needed chicken wire because Piper is able to walk between the pickets without skipping a beat. The bonus of the chicken wire is that the new girls will be able to walk freely in there once they are big enough.


In other news, I started my first Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a Day today. It is in the fridge chillin' right now. I was hoping to get up early to make a fresh loaf for breakfast but forgot that Piper is going to get fixed in the morning. We have to be at the Vets pretty early, so breakfast is going to be a treat at Cracker Barrel.
While reading a new book I was inspired not just to make my own bread more than not, but to make my own butter. So before bed last night I put my heavy cream out on the counter in a canning jar, lid screwed on tight. When I got up this morning I put it in the pocket of my pull over and let it bounce around while I went about my morning business and blessing my kitchen. This is what it looks like when I first put it in my pocket.

This is after it has bounced around in my pocket all morning. You can see how the buttermilk separated from the butter. I poured off the buttermilk and rinsed the butter a few times in cold water and lastly added a bit of salt. I can't wait to spread it on my fresh bread.

My Revenge

My wonderful husband has an IPhone. He uses it not only to keep in touch with everyone and to play games on, but as an alarm. After being startled awake this weekend by the sound of a quacking duck, I've decided to take my revenge. I am going to get this alarm clock that crows when it is time to wake up. It sounds very realistic, they have a sample of the noise on the site. Revenge will be sweet!!!

*I will be posting photos of the garden fence hopefully today. I was just too exhausted to go out and take a photo of it. While hubby installed the posts I painted and then attached chicken wire on the inside. Piper can fit through the pickets and we also wanted to secure it for the new chicks that will be arriving in two weeks. Two days of painting in the sun makes for a tired person when the job is done.

Sprouting Life

My garden has begun to show signs or life and promise of fresh veggies soon.

My first tomato plant to go in.


My radishes are starting to show signs of life. Sparklers and French Breakfast


One of my four peach trees holding on to its final blooms.


One of my apple trees. They are just starting to pop open.


Here is the orchard from afar. My hubbys man cave and the lonely coop in the background.


The true sign of spring are the dirty bodies I am greeted by at the end of the day.




On our agenda for tomorrow, building a fence around the garden so my lovely dogs will stop digging fresh holes for me. Have a great weekend!

Making Paper

Instead of our usual school day we changed it up a bit with some kitchen science. Last night while dinner was cooking I had the kids rip up an old news paper. First thing this morning Avery put it in a bucket of water. This is where our environmental science project began. The kids got to learn how to recycle paper and how we can make new things out of stuff that has been previously used. Okay well that is what I was hoping they got out of it. Really I think they just had a good time making the pulp and playing in it to make the paper. Can I really blame them though?

*so sorry forgot to turn this one This is the paper making kit that I purchased on sale at Walyworld.

Paper and water in the bucket waiting to be re purposed. Note to self way too much paper.

After we turned it back into pulp. This is the point where you would add food coloring it you want colored paper, or even wildflower seeds so you could write a letter to someone and then tell them at the end they could plant the letter and see what grows. I thought that was pretty cool, we will be trying that next time.

Keegan giving it his seal of approval. Of course he like it, it was way more messy than I thought it would be. I will show you the finished projects when they are done drying.

For now here is a random photo of my foot. When I put on my flip flops this morning I noticed this nasty bruise across the top. You would think I would have remembered hitting my foot on something, but for the life of me I have no idea where it came from.


* An update on the work boxes. I truly believe the Lord new I needed this system. I was getting so frustrated with myself and my lack of organization where school was concerned. I was also getting frustrated at Keegan for his lack of enthusiasm. Now the kids are so excited to see what is going on for the day and what center or game they got that they moan and complain when we don't have school. PTL