Wow..been awhile

Wow...its been quite a while since I wrote anything down. Well, I plan on doing better. Update on my life ..... Started a new job after being a stay at home mom for over 10 years. That alone is a major change to our life. We are trying to find a happy medium now that my time is not solely devoted to my husband and kids. We eat out a lot more and our house is not as clean as it used to be, but we are managing. I don't know how moms can work a full time job and still have a loving, clean, satisfied, home. I only work part time and most of the time I'm completely exhausted when I get home. The last thing I want to do is cooking and laundry, and tiding up the house. Not to mention gardening, canning, and cooking from scratch. I really plan to get a handle on the things that I have lost a grip on.....well see how it goes.

I'm so proud

My husband is so amazing! When he puts his mind to something, really amazing things happen. His love of gardening is a major one. His garden started out small and has grown every year. He is now the expert to our neighborhood and our family and friends. You know he's doing something right when his gardening ideas trickle down the street going from neighbor to neighbor. He even taught a gardening class to our city. So to get a little recognition of his amazing gardening abilities is a big thing. A really awesome website gave him the honor of "Gardener of the month" of August. It's a great article and it will help other people to see how special he is. Go check it out.
I am so proud of my gardener!!!!!

Haloween Parties

Our family went to a Halloween neighborhood block party last night, and we were talking to other parents about our kids being out of school, Again. We were joking that we should all go into teaching because they have a lot of days off, including the summer. Of course, I know that the teachers have money taken out all year to pay for the 3 months that they are out. Not counting that though, schools do take a lot of days off. I am a stay at home mom, so it's not a hardship on us. However, I always wonder about how families with 2 parent incomes handle all the days off. What do they do with their children?
The same night one of my neighbors complained to me that her son's class was having yet another class party this one for Halloween. I sympathised with her and we shared similar stories on this subject. In my children's last school they would have a party and celebrate almost every holiday. Easter, Valentines Day, St. Patrik's Day, etc... The whole day was spent learning about the holiday and the party that followed. Hardly any time was spent on math, reading, or other core subjects. Things like this is why my husband and I put our children into a charter school, which basically means a private school paid by the school district, with no extra cost to us. They were many reasons for this move , but one major reason was that they had no school parties during school. We still celebrate major holidays such as Thanksgiving, Christmas and Halloween, but these celebrations or parties are held after school, when the whole family can come. We really enjoy these activities and we love that fact that our child's day is still filled with learning their usual subjects. It is still hard sometimes for our kids, I must admit. Especially Halloween, all they can think about is getting dressed up and getting all that candy. But, in the long run I believe that we have made the best decision in their best interest.

Happy Halloween everyone!!

Welcome!

Well, Here it is..... my own blog. I have been debating on having one for quite some time. I have seen how much enjoyment my husband has writing his own blog, so I decided why not. Someone out there might enjoy what I have to say.
I would like to explain my blog name a little bit. As I say in my profile I was born in a small town in West Virginia until I was 12, then my family decided to move across the country to Utah. This has made my upbringing very unique. I have had the best of both worlds... so to speak.

I still cling to the traditions of my southern roots. Food is a big one, I love to cook and to feed everyone that I can. I make biscuits and gravy for breakfast, and I can the vegetables from our garden. I make quilts and knit scarves and hats for my family. I love to make something from my own hands.
Living in a big city, I have a love for things that are not even an option in the small town that I grew up in. Fine dining, concerts, Operas, museums, etc... I don't think that I could easily give up any of these great things. There is always something to do here, festivals, sports, shopping, the outdoors, and so much more.

I take my country born, city made ideas to the raising of our 3 boys. Christian-12, Killian-10, and Brogan is 9. They get a good mixture of both worlds. They have great southern manners, usually saying Yes Mam, No Mam, holding doors open for ladies, and taking care of their momma. They like most of my southern cooking. They love to go back and visit my family who still live in West Virginia. The freedom that they have there is something that they could not have here. They are just now old enough to start hunting with their Dad, which is important to me, because my Father and relatives always did.
We expose them to many different things that a city has to offer. Plays, concerts, museums and festivals. We take them to great restaurants, and introduce new kinds of food. We take them to the many skateboard parks that are near our home. With a city comes the less fortunate, therefore as a family we volunteer at a homeless shelter for Thanksgiving diner, and help out our friends and neighbors who need our help.
In this blog I hope to share my love of everything that has made me....me. From good recipes, to handmade presents. Secrets of our garden, and books I've read. My struggles as a mom, along with my successes. Read about all the crazy things my husband and I do to save money, and all the projects that are never ending at our home. I hope that you will enjoy what I have to say and come back often to see how well a country born, city made girl fairs in this big world.