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This is nothing special, well to you anyway. I'm not a scrapbook type, or a baby book writer, or even a picture printer. I'm terrible at recording memories. This blog is my attempt at holding on to some of my life as a Christian, a wife, and a homeschooling Mom of 5. I am a country girl that lived in a big city for 14 years, and moved to the Deep South for quiet, quaint, small town living.

Friday, January 30, 2009


Every girl gets the dreaded "gum in the hair" tourture. Will Mom have to cut it out?? Can she save my hair?? Well, once again I was the hero of the night. It is a shame Livia doesn't know how cool I am to know that oil rubbed into the gum will help it comb out. I saved her for school pics next week, and she has no idea.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

No more LaLa

George has called Livia various soundings of LaLa since he could get that much out. Even though he could promounce Liv, Livie, or Livia, he would always go back to LaLa.

Mom: George, say Liv
Goerge: Liv
Mom: Eeee
George: Eeee
Mom: Ahh
George: Ahh
Mom: Yay! Now say Liv-Eee-Ahh
George: LaLa (with a look of "That's what I said!" on his face)
Mom: "sigh"

Well, this week he has voluntarily said Livie on his own. And today, he is saying Livia! Yay!!! It's a little sad, but I'm sure we will still call Liv LaLa for fun. :)

Dinner Conversation

Just another day, and another fun filled conversation at dinner.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Ginnie's one annoying habbit!

Ok, the perfect baby has shown her one flaw. We started rice cereal, and some veggies over the last couple of weeks. Well, you know when you watch commercials of parents trying to feed their kids babyfood and they end up wearing more than what goes in the kid's mouth? I thought that was all hollywood. Nope. It is a babyfood spray fest! At first I figured it was just her getting used to the spoon and food in her mouth but now I think she just likes to do it. It's gross. It's messy. It's her ONLY FLAW! :)

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Home Improvements

They go on forever! This is out 3rd year (and 2 days!) that we have lived in this house. It started out as a two apartment house an we have been working on making it the single family home it once was. With the help of friends and especially Troy's Dad, we have all the walls, pipes, stairs and floors where they should be. We are now finishing off a 2nd bathroom, and an entryway, but not without taking a break to build a deck. :) Yes, my Many husband says "Humph! What's a little sub zero weather!" Here are some pics of the backyard (in progess).

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Bye Bye Wall of Fame!


We still have our Christmas cards out on display. Guess we will be taking them down today. We still have the boxes out with almost everything packed away, but need to get the few garlands from outside. How do people do all of this mess in one day?

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Better than His Head!

Can't stop laughing!!!

We have a 7 minute car ride from school to home when I pick Liv up at 11:30. Ginnie gets all giddy when she is put in her carseat to get Liv. George just uses this time to draw on the magnadoodle. Well, today, Liv hopped in the car and before we even left the parking lot, Ginnie was giggling. All Liv has to do it look at the baby and laughing happens. But today, Liv was trying to tell me something about her day and Ginnie kept laughing. Liv was getting a little frustrated from the interuptions, but finally joined in with the laughing. I asked Liv what she was doing to make Ginnie laugh and she could barely get out, "Nothing, she just won't stop!" We were in hysterics (even George) for the last 5 mins home!

That just made my day. :)

Feeling Domestic

So I'm taking advantage of my new Hermit title (at least until Spring!) and made homemade laundry detergent and homemade yogurt. I have been wanting to try the laundry detergent for a while, but some of the ingredients are hard to find. I got Borax at Walmart and found all 3 ingredients at a local (non-chain) grocery store. I messed up a little on the detergent measuring, but it works fine. Well, on the only load I tried it with!

The Yogurt was super easy and I already had the ingredients on hand so I said, why not? I found the recipe here and drained it in a strainer with coffee filters to thicken it. I added honey so it tasted more like store bought.




All in all, it was good, but the cost was about what I would pay for 2 tubs of store bought yogurt. I like to sprinkle on kashi crunch cereal too! YUM!

As for the laundry detergent, that is still undetermined. On my bargain boards and other frugal-minded blogs I frequent (not to mention the Duggars do it! LOL) this has been talked about a lot. I have a pretty good stash of detergent, so I figured this was a great time to try it. If I don't like it, I'm not out much for the ingredients and I have plenty of backup soap. I was tripling the recipe and messed up and put in twice as much wasing soda than I should have- whoops.

Here's the recipe-
Water
1 Bar Fels Naptha Soap, Grated
5 Gallon Bucket
1 Cup Washing Soda
1 Cup Borax
4 1/2 Gallons Water

Place grated soap in a small saucepan and cover with water. Heat on low until dissolved. Fill bucket
with hot water, and add soap. Stir to combine. Add 1 cup washing soda and mix well.
As it cools it will thicken. May be used immediately. Use 1-2 cups per load.


Monday, January 12, 2009

BABY GENIUS!

Cheap, filling meal

Turkey/Swiss/'Shroom Boat

A fast, easy favorite I would like to say I invented. But, I can't remember if I saw it somewhere before. So.... unless you can prove it, I'm calling it MINE! LOL

Ingredients
1 lb ground turkey
1 can cream of mushroom
1 sm can sliced mushrooms
6 or so slices of swiss cheese
1 loaf of Italian bread.

Brown the turkey, stir in the soup, add the 'shrooms. Cut/tear out a long hole in the loaf of bread and fill it with the turkey/'shroom mixture.
(here there are peas in it)

Top with swiss and bake at 350 degrees until cheese is melted and bubbly. Slice and serve (we like green beans with it).You can make the soup from scratch, cook the turkey with bacon or onions, or use small kiaser rolls if you want. There are many things you can do to vary this to fit your needs. Enjoy!

Homeschooling doubts

The Plan
Send George to Pre-school at Calvary Lutheran for 3 half days a week.
Do not re-enroll Liv for K and homeschool her (taking advantage of George being at school for 3 mornings a week).

I'm educated. I am a good teacher. I want to give my kids the best education I can give them. So why am I worried? I am still thinking I can change my mind and re-enroll her and put off homeschooling another year because I'm afraid. Afraid of missing some fundamental building block of education (like a vowel), or getting frustrated with a child who is so much like me in attitude. Maybe it is the fear of solely being responsible for what she learns and doesn't learn for a whole year (or longer depending on our circumstances).

My reasons to homeschool include finances, our location, and my picky ideas on cirriculumn. If we lived in a school zone that has exceptional schools (ours in the city aren't even safe!), or we had the money for multiple children in private schools, I would not homeschool them just for certain teaching methods and styles. We could swing the 3 kids in private school for the early years, but as they all become full day and then on to Middle school and High school, we would be in over our heads. I know this is a way away, but that also makes me think, if I had to pull them out to homeschool for finacial reasons, it would be much easier to do it one at a time and early.

Troy and I have made our decission. We will go with out plan. I just need to give it my all and find a better attitude about it. I need to get excited and gear up for a fun year to see Livia learn up close and personal. This WILL be fun. :)

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Where to start...

I was not sure how to really start this. I did not just find out about a pregnancy, I did not just give birth. My youngest is 5 months old. Sure I missed a lot of milestones with her, and especially #1 and #2, but I think I'll take the advice of Troy and add some of those poignant moments later.

So, today gave itself a new milestone for Ginnie! Her first food!

Pig's feet! YUM!!! Ha ha, j/k! But.....

She had her first taste of water from a sippy cup! She liked to chew on it and was even successful in drinking about a 1/2 and oz. She also tried a couple of those gerber fruit puff just because I had them and it was fun.



Virginia has not quite gotten the hang of what do to with her tongue, and we haven't introduced cereal into her diet regularly, but just give her little tastes to see how she does. She is very interested in our food.


Monday, January 5, 2009


Stouffer Family 10/08

Family Introductions

Troy- Manly, sweet, tall, social, political minded, head of the family type. What else can I say, he is Perfect!
Janie- Loud, moody, funny (says everyone but her brother and sister), an extrovert with hermit like tendencies (is that even possible?)
Livia (Liv or Lou)- 4 yrs old. Shy in public, bossy at home. She loves being the first to do things, but thinks of her little brother and sister too. She wants to be a Mom when she grows up.
George (Bubba)- 2 yrs old. Happy go lucky! He is all boy, but is not afraid to dress up like a princess if playing pretend calls for it.
Virginia (Ginnie)- 5 mos old. Happiest baby in the world! Never seen an easier baby. She is wanting to stand and is taking a lot of interest in food. She is grabbing toys and sticking everything in her mouth.
Moses (Mo)- Our 2 yr old cat. He sleeps with Livia every night and lets the kids drag him around. He is very good natured.

Friday, January 2, 2009

In the begining.....

There is a girl who is married a handsome man, has 3 adorable kids, loves God, has committed to homeschooling at least the early years, and lives in the city. All these things seem normal enough except for the city part. You see, even after 10 years, life in Baltimore is still a culture shock for her. (She grew up on the Eastern Shore of Maryland)
Now this blog is mostly to record life and keep precious moments alive in her memory, but now you have some background to see things through her eyes.