Ya'll Behave Yourselves

I'm considering adding a Military Monday to the weekly line up here at Lovin' Life At Home.  It would include pictures and little updates about Lee and the ship and their deployment.  Is that something you all would like to read?  I know it is not Monday anymore but I will give the first installment a day late.    

This is the most recent picture from Lee.  He sent it to us a couple of days ago.  Look at that blue ocean back there.   Gorgeous!  They are obviously a long way out there because the water around here looks like 2 week old green tea with some coffee thrown in.  Yuck!  

Speaking of a long way away...  I may not be around much for the next week or so.  I am going to meet my sweetheart at the ship's liberty port.  Right now all that I can say (on the blog) is that it is in another country.  When I return, I will fill you in with pictures and details of our adventures.  Until then behave yourselves, ok?  At least give it a good try.  No whining about missing Friday Funnies or Sunday Suppers allowed. Like my friend Deanna says "If you cannot be good, at least be interesting".  

Ciao for now!

 

School Is Now In Session

Today we began our second full week of school.  Yep, still homeschooling.  This will be our 10th year.  Caitlin is in the 11th grade but she went to public school for K5.  About halfway through that first school experience I wised up and pulled her out to do school at home.  This was something I always thought I should have done to begin with but was too busy second guessing my abilities.  I cannot say that we have never looked back or floundered in our decision.  The year that Gracie was in 1st grade, Abbie and Holly were in 4th and 5th, and Caitlin was in 8th, I began to question my sanity.  All in all it has been overwhelmingly beneficial to us as a family.  The girls have thrived and learned and it has been the glue that has helped hold us together in our transient life.  

Ah, look at Caitlin helping Abbie with her Math.  Isn't that sweet?  Uh, wait did I say Caitlin helping with Math?  I better go check this out.  Caitlin's not my math girl, but she sure knows how to wield her grammar police badge.

Gracie is reading her science book aloud to me.  See the fingers up there on her head?  That's her way of saying "C'mon mom, put the camera down and pay attention".

Gotta go before someone makes me write 100 times "I will not blog during school."

Sunday Suppers

Ok, considering the way I have been feeling for the past couple of days, you guys almost got the Ramen Noodles recipe or none at all.  BUT, I took pity on you because this is by far the very best chicken pot pie you will ever eat.  I'm was never a chicken pot pie fan myself.  When I was growing up chicken pot pie came from the freezer section of the grocery store.  It was shaped like a mini pie and for some reason when it was served to me it was flipped over on top of my plate.  An upside down, dry, tasteless, strange looking meal. Just one step above a TV dinner.  Lee's mama made this homemade one for us a few years back.  The second I tasted that rich buttery crust and creamy filling, I became a loyal chicken pot pie fan!

The YUMMIEST Chicken Pot Pie

1 Can each of Cream of Chicken, Potato and Celery Soups

1 Can of Veg-All (or mixed veggies) drained

2 Cooked chicken breasts chopped into bite sized pieces

1 Stick of butter

1 C of milk

1 C flour

Mix together the ingredients of the above cans.  Make sure to drain the veggies.

To this mix in your cooked and chopped chicken.

Pour the soup/veggie/chicken mixture into the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish.

For the topping, melt the one stick of butter in a microwave safe bowl.  When it is all melted, add to it one cup of milk and whisk in one cup of flour.  Whisk until you have a smooth batter.  After much trial and error I have found that the topping is best made if you follow the butter, then milk, then flour order.   

Pour the batter over the top of your filling that is already in the pan.  Make sure it is spread evenly all the way to the edges.  

Bake it at 375 degrees for about an hour.   

I sincerely hope that this recipe will turn you into a chicken pot pie fan.

Let me know how you like it.

Friday Funny

Cell Phone Mania

Take a little trip back in time with me.  We won't be gone for too long I promise.  You may not be able to go on this trip with us if you do not have conscious memories that date back before about 1990 or so.  If you do have a few thoughts that go back that far then buckle up and hang on cuz here we go.  

Everyone in this picture is between the ages of 5-16

Remember when a phone was that thing that hung on the wall in the kitchen?  It was probably the only one in the house and it had a very, very long cord on it that would stretch around the corner and into another room.  This cord was spiral shaped and was always tangled around itself in spite of your father untangling it daily.   The length of said cord provided much needed privacy when some boy called and you did not want to be mercilessly teased by siblings or hounded with 20 questions by the cord untangler.  

Remember when you would leave home and worry that you would miss someone's call?  Later you would hear from said caller that they'd been calling and calling and no one answered and they would then ask you where in the world you had been.  By then they had probably forgotten why they had called in the first place. Later as times progressed you could rely on your new fangled answering machine to answer while you were not at home.  Inevitably though you would have someone like my grandmother informing you that they hated talking to "that machine".  And boy didn't we think we were something when the cordless phone became all the rage?  It weighed several pounds but no matter, you could walk and talk at the same time!!

Then came the first generation of cellular phones.  My pawpaw had one.  You had to carry it around in a duffle bag sort of like a mini suitcase and just as heavy.  It cost a fortune and heaven forbid you leave your calling area of about a 10 mile radius, just think of the roaming fees! 

 If you can remember those days, I'm here to inform you: 

IT AIN'T LIKE THAT ANYMORE!

Random Shots

I'm tired folks!  I got up this morning with about 100 things to do on my imaginary to-do list and I might have accomplished about 10 of those things.  Yesterday I saw a guy wearing a T-shirt which read " I am so far behind I thought I was first".  Today I needed that shirt!  It hasn't been a bad day, just very busy.  The girls started school yesterday, so I'll get pictures of that posted before long.  In the meantime, because I am too tired to think of anything else I'm posting some random photos taken within the past 2 weeks.  I hope you enjoy them.  I expect to be my old energetic bloggerific self again tomorrow, so watch out!  

Our Mimi and Papa went on an Alaskan cruise, can you tell?

Oh the dangers of falling asleep on the couch with four very wide awake daughters in the house.

Pssssst.....these are Lee's toesies.

I have to let him reclaim his manliness-this is what he is currently about these days.  Before he left we let him have the nail polish remover.

Caitlin took this pic of unsuspecting Wrigley on his way to the groomer from her side mirror on the truck.  Clever shot I thought.

Poor little guy never saw those clippers coming.

When tough Navy girls get a little down in the dumps what should they do?  Go shopping at the Vera Bradley store of course!

 

Lee Update

OK I'm not sure what is up with that face he is making.  He looks like he's giving somebody what for.  Not likely though since this is a funeral.  He sent this picture earlier today.  If you look through all the way to the back of the picture you will see the red and white stripes of the flag draped coffin.  Many times when they go out to sea they will perform a burial at sea for someone who has served in the Navy.  Just a another day on the job for Chaps.