7 Quick Takes, A Recap of Life in the Tiny House This Week! Hippie Preacher, Big Thanks, and Don't Eat The Soap!

 September has been a whirlwind of activity.  Some of it was typical and planned, the rest..not so much.

1. The Hippie Preacher

 Once a year, we get a visit from Pastor Duke Hergatt. He calls himself the hippie preacher. He is a lot of fun to listen to. He is also a very smart and gifted preacher. He has read the Bible one hundred eleven times! He and his wife, JoEllen, travel all over the country each year.
 We did not get to go and listen this week because Addison had surgery this week. We are sticking close to home for about a week. Thankfully our church records all of the sermons so we have been able to listen in at home. Such a blessing! You can listen to them here if you would like. I know I never walk away from one of his sermons without having learned many new things.

2. Addison


 Addison's surgery was this week. Everything went smoothly. The incision is a bit bigger than the Dr had described. They were also in the operating room twice as long as they said it normally takes. The Dr said everything went fine though. Now we wait for things to heal, and for test results. Those should be in next week.
She has been a trooper through all of this. She was also rather funny to talk to post surgery. Boys are grouchy and mean after being put under, but girls are sweet and loving. She kept telling everyone how much she loved them and was so thankful for everything. On the way home she even thanked me for being such a safe driver. She's a cutie pie.
 We told her she could have any meal she wanted post surgery. She chose Arby's.
Clearly her procedure did not slow her down too much. Plus, look at the size of this curly fry!



 3. It's a good thing we homeschool!

 The last few weeks has served as a reminder as to why I am thankful we homeschool.  We

had a whole lot of craziness going on the last few weeks. Between birthdays, camping, Dr. appointments, a stomach bug that went through the house and many other things...we didn't always get a lot of school done.(Or Laundry, or cleaning. We ate out a lot more than we normally would. Hey, we do real life here on this blog.)  

You know what? That is one of the many benefits of homeschooling. You can take a break if you need it. You always catch up in the future. We actually had a scheduled week off in there somewhere, that helped. This week we are headed back in the right direction. I despise being behind, but also know that it is part of life.
So, those of you who are stressing about being behind or concern about starting to homeschool, because you are afraid things will get crazy, or you will get off track. Just do it.
 Life gets crazy, we get off track, from where we think we should be. What if you are right where you should be? It is all in God's timing. We are right where we are supposed to be.


4. All the love


 We moved into the tiny house in September 2014. Between renovating the house and having a baby, we didn't get out into the community to meet many people until 2015 or 2016. It took us a while to find our village.
I have to say that I have never been as thankful for our village, as I have been the last couple of weeks. Everyone has been so kind and helpful. Our pastor showed up at the surgery center. Friends and family sent gifts for Addison, lots of messages, calls and texts. A few people even brought food. One friend brought cookies and even helped with some school. Another friend picked up the oldest two and took them to their scheduled activities this week. Including co-op. That friend deserves a medal. Speaking of co-op. That is one heck of a group of ladies!
Between our church family, real family, friends and homeschool family/friends we have really felt the love lately.

Thank you all for all that you do! We love you!




5. Because he loves me, and wants me to be not crazy.


  Since we were sticking close to homes this week. I avoided store trips as much as possible. Since we shopped for a whole month at the beginning of September, it wasn't too big of a deal. We mainly just had to pop into the store for milk, eggs and of course we would get some produce from the farmers market.
  I asked Dustin to stop into the pharmacy for some milk and bandages for Addison. He brought the milk and bandages. He also surprised me with this. He said it made him think of me. Awe. He's a keeper.
He also added that I had had a hard week and figured I needed it. He knows me well!






6. There's a fine line between soap and dessert

 A wonderful mother at co-op, makes soap. It smells amazing, leaves your skin so soft and it is organic. She gave one to each of the mothers who had her children in a class. I grabbed a honey oatmeal. It is amazing. I was planning to message her and order some more. Then I had the thought of  'I wonder how hard it would be to make our own.' off to Pinterest I went!

 I did a lot of researching and reading. The basics don't sound too hard. I fully intend to give it a try in the near future. For now I will be placing an order with the other Mom. Clearly she has it figured out. She has at least 7 different types that she makes.

 By the time I was done researching basic soap making, I ended up back on Pinterest. It was getting pretty late into the evening. Then all of the really fancy soaps started popping up. I was having to check the actually descriptions to be sure it was soap and not a dessert.
Seriously, there is a fine line between soap and dessert. Look at these things!

 

After I started craving a cup of coffee and a slice of pumpkin pie...I figured it was time to walk away from Pinterest for the night.

Then I fell into the homemade make up rabbit hole. That's a story for another day. 

7. Things we made this week.

  Since we had to stick close to home this week. It gave me the chance to get some actual cooking done. We had Chili, Sausage Stuffed Peppers, and homemade pizza.

We also had some flourless peanut butter chocolate chip cookies and there is also a big pot of apple butter in the works.

What was in your kitchen this week?

Hope you had a great week!

Blessings,

~Lyndsay

~ Sausage Stuffed Peppers Recipe ~ *Gluten Free*

  Well, look at this. I'm actually getting a post out and it isn't just a 7 Quick Takes.

  I'm calling that a win!

 Things have slowed down a tiny bit. Mainly because Addison is not allowed to be around germs or germ ridden places until her stitches are out next week. Which means we have been sticking really close to home. I have never been so thankful for our village (Church family, real family, neighbors and our homeschool co-op/friends.) They have all been such a blessing this past couple of weeks. It has been such an out pouring of prayers, calls, messages, texts, gifts for Addison, help with shuttling the other kids, stopping by for coffee, and even bringing delicious food.

 A great big thank you to all of you amazing people! We love you guys!

 This afternoon, we did venture out to take Emma to cross country practice.

 While we were out we ran a couple of errands, that did not require Addison to get out of the car.

 We went to the pharmacy, stopped at the office, put gas in the van and we even stopped to see our favorite farmers market people, Trish and Andy. (They started out as the nice couple who sold us our weekly supply of fruits and vegetables. Then they became customers of ours as well. Sometime over the summer, we became friends.)

 While I was there, Andy gifted us some bell peppers that were in need of being used up ASAP. They were still good, but not at the peak of freshness. Andy and Trish are good about making sure their produce is top notch. Their loss is our gain. :) I also grabbed an onion, sweet potatoes, red potatoes, cucumbers and some cherry tomatoes(Addison can't get enough of these lately.)

 The plan was to chop the peppers and freeze them for this Winter. However, while I was in the kitchen peeling and chopping apples for apple butter(More on that later). It occurred to me that we had all of the ingredients for stuffed peppers.

  It's a family favorite!

 

  I figured you all might like to try it too.

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SAUSAGE STUFFED PEPPERS




Ingredients

- 6-8 bell peppers, any color
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 lb pork sausage(I used regular flavor today, but you can use spicy if you want more of a kick)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 medium zucchini, finely diced
-  4 Roma tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped (I actually used the cherry tomatoes we bought today)
- Red pepper flakes, as needed (1-2 tsp)
- 1-1 1/2 cups cooked rice
-  1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut the tops off the peppers. Remove stem from top. Remove seeds and membrane from whole pepper. Chop remaining top portion of bell pepper. Set the whole portion of bell peppers in baking dish just large enough to hold them upright. You don't want them falling over half way through cooking.

Heat the 2 tablespoons olive oil in large skilled over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook, breaking up the lumps, until the meat is cooked through.
Add the chopped bell pepper and onions into the skillet cook for 3-4 minutes.
Add the garlic and zucchini to the skillet and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
Add the tomatoes. Season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to taste.
Stir in the rice and 1 cup of cheddar cheese. Cook until heated through.

Fill the peppers with the rice mixture and top with the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese. Pour 1-2 cups of water into the bottom of the dish.  Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes, until cheese is golden brown.
 

ENJOY!

 

We like to top this with sour cream and serve with chips and salsa.

________________________________________________________

If you wanted this to be a 'clean' meal. You could swap the sausage for ground beef, ground chicken or even ground pork.


If you decide to give this recipe a try, be sure to stop back by and let me know how you like it!

~Lyndsay

7 Quick Takes, A Recap of Life in The Tiny House This Week! Two Birthdays, Roasted Zombie Flesh, Old Lady Shoes and Crazy Toddlers!

Hi! Did you miss me? Life has been a little crazy, and I sort of didn't get to write, or shower regularly and I forgot to eat a few times. Don't worry, I'll catch you up!

Grab a coffee (Is it pumpkin?) and take a seat. Here comes three weeks of Seven Quick Takes all rolled into one! That probably makes it more like 21 takes, but I promise to keep it brief.


1. Two birthdays, one party, and a girls only shopping trip.

Emma and Anna both have September birthdays. They also just so happen to fall two days apart. So that means this non birthday party planning Mama has to actually try a little bit. We tossed together a small joint party for the girls. Emma also requested a girls only lunch and shopping trip with her sister Addison. Emma chose Olive Garden. She didn't  realize that her free  birthday dessert would come with a group of waiters and waitresses singing,  Happy birthday. She was just slightly embarrassed.
We also crammed in some winter clothes shopping for everyone. It was a good weekend.


2.  Canning applesauce and a small kitchen fire.

It's fall. That means it's apple time! We already canned one bushel of apples with one more sitting in the kitchen. This batch will probably be part apple butter.With one more bushel on the way. That one will be apple pie filling.
I did accidentally catch a towel on fire in the process of making this batch of applesauce.
I saw the flames and started yelling 'Fire' while simultaneously putting it out. The children found this exceedingly funny. Emma sliced her finger while peeling apples. Anna put them in her stroller and scattered them all through the house. We ended up doing an apple hunt to find them all. Nothing has started to smell. I'm assuming we found them all. Alex avoided the whole process in true preteen boy fashion and Addison was around. More on her later.



The applesauce is really good. I can't seem to keep the kids out of it. We're calling it a success!


3. Camping next to the bathrooms and roasting zombie flesh over the fire.

We went camping with some friends. Four adults, 7 kids and an entire city's worth of tents. It was fun, exhausting and totally worth all the work. Google maps failed us just a bit with this trip. We went to a place neither family had camped before. Google maps claimed we would be 15-20 yards from a bathroom. Nope. It was 15 feet! It will forever go down in history as the time we camped next to the bathroom and the waste water dump. Lol



 I really wasn't kidding. There is the bathroom right behind Alex!










We fished, swam, built sandcastles, sang songs around the fire(Alex and the boys put on a small church service Sunday morning.), went out for ice cream, went star tipping, rode bikes, played cards, ate delicious food, chased the toddler and  drank lots of coffee. The playground near the campsite had a zip line. That went over well!



The parents enjoyed it as well. But we all know we only really do it for the kids.



We decided to cook bacon over the fire our last morning before loading everything up. The fire wasn't wanting to take, the griddle area wasn't cooking the bacon and everyone was hungry. So we improvised. We put the bacon, accordion style, on the marshmallow sticks and roasted it over the flames. We accomplished our task, but the bacon turned grey and black from the smoke. One of the Dad's commented that it looked like zombie flesh..and the kids just went with it.



                 Roasted zombie flesh = Good


 

4. She's got skills!

Anna is two now. It's been interesting watching her turn into the person she is going to be. She is talking so much. She thinks goldfish crackers are the only food group and her favorite things are playing Mommy, cooking with her play food (She received three new sets for her birthday!), shutting all the doors in the house and coloring...on the walls.
Here's a small recap of the life of Anna the last couple weeks.
Remember the busy boxes? Yeah, she found them when my head was turned. They will never be the same again.






I did not get a chance to sort and organize her toys after her birthday. In all honesty, I still haven't done it. Life has been a bit crazy the last few weeks. This is a prime example of why we limit the access to the toys in our tiny house. Because it looks like this. She is always so proud when she dumps it all out like this.

 










 Call me crazy but I think all two yr olds should have a baby and a stroller. My kids have always loved them. We have worn out at least four of them over the years.
This has made me laugh so many times recently. Anna despises all things with straps that can restrain her. Her car seat, stroller, high chair etc. However, we can't keep her out of this baby stroller. She buckles herself in and sits there for a while. Then she starts yelling for someone to "Buckle!" and free her from her self imposed prison. I'll never understand it, but I will forever find it entertaining.

 

5.  Remember when the kids got to be Doughoys?

We received a copy of the Historical Society's newsletter last week. We were surprised to see that the kids and their friends made the front cover!



6. A few random things.

-Business has been going good at the new shop. Dustin had a fire engine to work in two weeks ago. The shouts from the back of the van were almost deafening when I pulled onto the lot that day.

-Sometimes you have to take the entire body off of a vehicle to get to the engine. I've seen it quite  few times over the years. But people find it cool. So here you go, a little bit of awesome from the tiny house family's business. ;)

 

-While camping, our friends introduced me to this little beauty. It is  a Chemex coffee maker. It is amazing. It is my new best friend! It makes the most delicious, and strong coffee. Amazing!

 

- It is occurring to me that this guy hasn't showed up too much in the blog lately. So, you get a picture of my handsome young man. I had to take him to the Dr this week for a stomach bug. He was 5'5"! He can slow down now. He said his ultimate goal is to be taller then his Dad. I don't think it will be long. It is a good thing the boy loves basketball.

 

- I little about me... Dustin bought me some more of my favorite shirts. They have fun/encouraging sayings.  I love them. I also found some shoes with a supportive arch that I absolutely love. I realize I have crossed over into the old lady/mom shoes/fashion. I'm a lot more ok with it than I thought I would be. There has been a lot going on around here lately. Stuff that reminds me of when Emma was really sick. I have to say that I'm not a fan and so, so ready for all of this to hopefully be resolved soon and for life to be a bit more normal. I'm doing my best to keep everyone held together. They are all still here and accounted for, so that's a good thing. This Mama is wearing down fast. Im super thankful for our support system, my husband and our God. God is good. There is a plan, there is a reason much bigger than all of us.

 

- Emma is still doing cross country. Her mile is under 9 minutes now! She is so proud of herself.

- Dustin got a new toy. He got one of those outdoor cookers. He made us this amazingly delicious seafood steam pot dinner. We all enjoyed it so much.

 

7. An Addison update and a prayer request.

Do you remember when I commented about Addison having a rough summer? 

If you do not, then you can catch up on the link provided above. She has had some really odd things going on this summer. We though it was just a few little things that were just that...little things. Turns out that isn't the case. All of those little things were just symptoms of one big thing. I can't give out too many details just yet. However, I can tell you that she has went un-diagnosed for almost six months, despite us taking her to the Dr. multiple times.

We are still sorting things out and waiting for test results.She is scheduled for surgery Monday morning, to have at least one lymph node removed and biopsied in her neck. Then we will be waiting for even more test results. Then we will know what direction we will be heading after that.

We are trusting in God, praying a lot and keeping her calm. She is not ok with the idea of having stitches and a scar. She doesn't exactly know what is going on. She is six. However she is one smart cookie and understands more than we probably realize. Her main fear at the moment is the stitches and the scar. 

Please keep Addison in your prayers.

Thank to any and all who stop by and read our blog. Our lives are crazy, blessed and a bit of a mess. We will get through this and move forward. God is good all the time.

~Lyndsay