This is a brief slide show of our trip to the Indiana Dunes and day trip to Chicago. The water in the first few pictures was VERY cold (60-65 degrees.) The last ones, with the waves, it had warmed to about 80 or so. Much better! We had a great time.
Click HQ to watch in High Quality
Friday, July 3, 2009
Springmill State Park
Here is a slide show of our camping trip with our new wonderful neighbors! Once again, click the HQ button in the bottom right corner for a better quality video!
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Fishers Freedom Festival
Here is a brief slide show of the Fishers Freedom Festival. Not to many pictures of my kids, but there are others that are fun (I think anyway!) There are some of the parade and the fireworks! Hope you enjoy! These took place at a friends house that happens to be on the parade route! They had a party and it was a lot of fun! For your viewing pleasure, I recommend clicking the HQ (high quality) button in the bottom right of the video.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Party at the Neighbor's
An impromptu back yard grill out put together by our new neighbors was just what we needed. Here is a slide show of some of the activities! It helped that they have a cute little guy, so I had some great subjects to photograph!
I'm having trouble loading the slide show. I will post it as soon as I can. Sorry!
I'm having trouble loading the slide show. I will post it as soon as I can. Sorry!
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
A Weekend at Turkey Run SP
Even though the possibility of having to build an ark to survive the entire week of rain looming in the near future, we decided to take our chances and head to Turkey Run SP for a weekend of camping and hiking. This is by far one of our favorite parks. The hiking is gorgeous and fun. The scenery is beautiful and educational as always. We are learning more about native plant and wildlife. Maya is able to mark more birds in her bird book and if we can find our tree book, we can also learn more about the trees we saw.
Because of the rain, Sugar Creek, the creek which runs through the park, was up, we estimate about 8 feet or more. Also, most of our favorite trails are along brooks which run into Sugar Creek. This didn't stop us! The local ranger told us the more popular trails (of course our favorites) would need to be waded through. Awesome! In all actuality, it wasn't that bad. It was very muddy and we did get our feet rather wet (and dare I say cold!) But what is a hiking experience if you can't overlook these minor details? I would have to say no fun! Yes, I (Rene) did complain a little, only because my hiking shoes are open, therefor making it easier to get my feet wet and I haven't been able to purchase fully enclosed ones. Guess I better get on that one!
Here is a slide show I put together of our hikes. Enjoy!
Because of the rain, Sugar Creek, the creek which runs through the park, was up, we estimate about 8 feet or more. Also, most of our favorite trails are along brooks which run into Sugar Creek. This didn't stop us! The local ranger told us the more popular trails (of course our favorites) would need to be waded through. Awesome! In all actuality, it wasn't that bad. It was very muddy and we did get our feet rather wet (and dare I say cold!) But what is a hiking experience if you can't overlook these minor details? I would have to say no fun! Yes, I (Rene) did complain a little, only because my hiking shoes are open, therefor making it easier to get my feet wet and I haven't been able to purchase fully enclosed ones. Guess I better get on that one!
Here is a slide show I put together of our hikes. Enjoy!
Monday, May 4, 2009
Layla's First Grade Music Program
Because I forgot about it until the day before, I did not get a chance to invite you all so here is a short video of Layla and her school music program. I just took video of her (because she was the best ;o)!) In the first song, she has not found me in the audience yet! Her concentration is a little off! Enjoy!
Sunday, March 8, 2009
My Firsts
I made my first, all from scratch, apple pie! It was a process that's for sure! I made the crust with Butter Flavored Crisco instead of lard and it turned out perfect! I made the dough for the crust in the morning and put it together in the afternoon. I have one very cool tool in my kitchen that does make this process a lot easier. It's a Pampered Chef - Apple-peeler-corer-slicer!
Here is a picture before the pie went into the oven.
And after....
Here are some pictures of the soaps I have made so far. I've used the Honey Bunches of Oats, and the Basic Soap. I LOVE-LOVE-LOVE them!
Picture 1-from left to right:
Cool Cucumber, Honey Bunches of Oats, Basic Soap
Picture 2 - Tea Tree Face Wash (helps with oily acne prone skin)
This is just a basic soap with a lavender scent. This one if for the girls!
Here is a picture before the pie went into the oven.
And after....
Here are some pictures of the soaps I have made so far. I've used the Honey Bunches of Oats, and the Basic Soap. I LOVE-LOVE-LOVE them!
Picture 1-from left to right:
Cool Cucumber, Honey Bunches of Oats, Basic Soap
Picture 2 - Tea Tree Face Wash (helps with oily acne prone skin)
This is just a basic soap with a lavender scent. This one if for the girls!
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Back to our Roots.....Sort of
This post is not really about camping.
We've come to the realization that as consumers of processed, not natural foods, we are slowly killing ourselves. The junk they are putting in our so called "healthy" food is not healthy. All the commercials I see now advertising "real ingredients" just scares me! So most of our food has been made with what....fake ingredients? Well,YES, actually!
As a result of this, I, as a mother of two, a wife of one, a daughter, sister, cousin, and friend, have decided that no more will my pantry and fridge be filled with stuff made in a factory and bought at the store. Granted, there are things I can't make myself. I don't own a cow, I can't grow my own wheat for flour, or even have chickens for eggs, but I can however make breads, pasta & sauces, grown my own herbs, churn my own butter, make my own frozen pizzas, ice cream, chocolate syrup, pancake syrup, salsas, buy all organic meat from the local market (less per pound than at the grocery or Whole Foods),even convenience foods like Rice-a-Roni or flavored rice mixes. I can also make all my own soaps, laundry detergents and fabric softener, and cleaners. All with natural items. And you know what the main ingredient is in most of them......vinegar! Hey, I can cook and eat with that, so it must be okay to clean with, right? It's been fabulous. My whites are whiter and my counters are clean. Vinegar is a natural grease fighter and anti-bacterial. I can make all these things using whole grains, fresh fruits and veggies and know what I'm putting in my mouth and the mouths of my family, and what I'm using to clean with that they are not inhaling terrible chemicals or having harsh things put onto their skin.
I have found a wonderful website called Hillbillyhousewife.com. This site has given me many recipes for foods we have come to find easily in our grocery isle. The main exception is, mine won't have preservatives, be over processed, full of salt, and yes, taste better. My kids might disagree with the latter of these, but they will get used to it. I personally think there is nothing like homemade!
Not only is all this benefiting our bodies, it's benefiting our wallet. I was able to make the laundry soap for around $.90 for 64 loads. I average 4 loads a week. That's 16 weeks worth of detergent. That comes out to about $3/year for laundry detergent. Not bad. I figured up we spent about $30 on detergent annually. Not to mention all the other cleaners. Breads cost me about$.25/loaf. I made my own version of the frozen Pillsbury biscuits. You know, the ones you pull out however many you want and bake them. Yup, and mine are whole grain, fluffy and good. Hey, if my youngest, the pickiest eater in the world loves them, then you know they are good.
Here is the frozen before and the freshly baked after.
This new found way of cooking and cleaning has really empowered me. To know that, one) I made it with my own hands, and two) it's chemical free, and three) I'm keeping money in my bank account, it's just awesome! My family will naturally be healthier, our waists will hopefully get smaller, and our wallets get bigger! And we do it together!
Here is a picture of the top shelf of my freezer.
3 homemade pizza crusts, about 25 frozen whole grain biscuits, and 3 containers of homemade tomato sauce for pizza or pasta or whatever. All of this costs less than $10 and all is all natural and made with 100% USDA organic ingredients except for about 2 tbsp of sugar. I don't have organic sugar yet. I made all of this Tuesday after work starting at 2pm and finished around 4. Not bad. I do have a bread machine so the pizza dough was done with that, but one batch makes 2 crusts. My next will be deep dish frozen crust and bread sticks. These are all things we eat about once a week, but usually from Papa Murphy's or from the refrigerated section of Kroger.
We've come to the realization that as consumers of processed, not natural foods, we are slowly killing ourselves. The junk they are putting in our so called "healthy" food is not healthy. All the commercials I see now advertising "real ingredients" just scares me! So most of our food has been made with what....fake ingredients? Well,YES, actually!
As a result of this, I, as a mother of two, a wife of one, a daughter, sister, cousin, and friend, have decided that no more will my pantry and fridge be filled with stuff made in a factory and bought at the store. Granted, there are things I can't make myself. I don't own a cow, I can't grow my own wheat for flour, or even have chickens for eggs, but I can however make breads, pasta & sauces, grown my own herbs, churn my own butter, make my own frozen pizzas, ice cream, chocolate syrup, pancake syrup, salsas, buy all organic meat from the local market (less per pound than at the grocery or Whole Foods),even convenience foods like Rice-a-Roni or flavored rice mixes. I can also make all my own soaps, laundry detergents and fabric softener, and cleaners. All with natural items. And you know what the main ingredient is in most of them......vinegar! Hey, I can cook and eat with that, so it must be okay to clean with, right? It's been fabulous. My whites are whiter and my counters are clean. Vinegar is a natural grease fighter and anti-bacterial. I can make all these things using whole grains, fresh fruits and veggies and know what I'm putting in my mouth and the mouths of my family, and what I'm using to clean with that they are not inhaling terrible chemicals or having harsh things put onto their skin.
I have found a wonderful website called Hillbillyhousewife.com. This site has given me many recipes for foods we have come to find easily in our grocery isle. The main exception is, mine won't have preservatives, be over processed, full of salt, and yes, taste better. My kids might disagree with the latter of these, but they will get used to it. I personally think there is nothing like homemade!
Not only is all this benefiting our bodies, it's benefiting our wallet. I was able to make the laundry soap for around $.90 for 64 loads. I average 4 loads a week. That's 16 weeks worth of detergent. That comes out to about $3/year for laundry detergent. Not bad. I figured up we spent about $30 on detergent annually. Not to mention all the other cleaners. Breads cost me about$.25/loaf. I made my own version of the frozen Pillsbury biscuits. You know, the ones you pull out however many you want and bake them. Yup, and mine are whole grain, fluffy and good. Hey, if my youngest, the pickiest eater in the world loves them, then you know they are good.
Here is the frozen before and the freshly baked after.
This new found way of cooking and cleaning has really empowered me. To know that, one) I made it with my own hands, and two) it's chemical free, and three) I'm keeping money in my bank account, it's just awesome! My family will naturally be healthier, our waists will hopefully get smaller, and our wallets get bigger! And we do it together!
Here is a picture of the top shelf of my freezer.
3 homemade pizza crusts, about 25 frozen whole grain biscuits, and 3 containers of homemade tomato sauce for pizza or pasta or whatever. All of this costs less than $10 and all is all natural and made with 100% USDA organic ingredients except for about 2 tbsp of sugar. I don't have organic sugar yet. I made all of this Tuesday after work starting at 2pm and finished around 4. Not bad. I do have a bread machine so the pizza dough was done with that, but one batch makes 2 crusts. My next will be deep dish frozen crust and bread sticks. These are all things we eat about once a week, but usually from Papa Murphy's or from the refrigerated section of Kroger.
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