Robin's Nest

Sad but true folks I got up this morning rushed to get ready for work, headed out the door stopped at the closest Walmart market for a few things I knew we needed at work and some stuff we didn't need.  Got there three minutes before clock in time rushed to the fourth floor only to find that another nurse was there! YAY! An unexpected day off! Actually I thought she was supposed to work tomorrow not today but hey I am not complaining!  I talked to her for a bit then decided today I would get the lights for our tree at work, pick up another thing I had forgotten, and oh yes get my driver's license replaced!  For about a week now I have been unable to find several things and the last place that I could remember having any of them was in my car.  Normally this would not even phase me since I now lock it every time I leave it. However, my husband also uses the same car and he does not lock it. So there is no telling if my things are just misplaced or...Fast forward five days and co

Wow! This month has flown by.  It is time to do end of the month chores at work and it seems we just barely did the beginning of the month chores.  The holidays are in full swing and Christmas will be upon us in no time.  We currently have 41 residents at my work and I am not sure what to get them.  I like it to be individual but then sometimes getting everyone the same thing works out to be less costly. Last year I made everyone a rice sock heating pad.  Now I will probably make the same thing for the new residents this year but the old ones need something too...  I have had various ideas throughout the year but nothing that seems to shout out to me.  There are some who the choice is easy and others are just like buying for family...you know "what in the world do I get them". It is the first Sunday of Advent and I think of all things I am thankful for, grandkids and birthdays! Being able to live in a land where we can do or be anything. It also makes me wonder why we

Happy Black Friday! Have you ever been out on Black Friday? Fighting the crowds, being run over by shoppers who think these deals will never happen again? I went once about ten years ago.  That experience was less than fun.. I could hardly move the cart through the aisles, I did get the item I went after but I felt like a minnow in a shark tank!  In retrospect it wasn't even that great of a deal. Since that very day I just decided it wasn't something I would rush to do again.  I have purchased a few "black" Friday deals since but a) not at the crack of dawn, b) not the day of Thanksgiving and c) only because I was in the store for something else and happen to run across a "leftover" you know one that someone missed... This year I had mulled over many ideas of what to give the adult children and the grands, but haven't really settled on anything specific.  The adult kids have everything they could possibly want or need and the so too for the grandkids

Today has been  the second of two days off in the last 20+ days from my day job.  It is the first day that I did not physically go to my place of employment and do something for one resident or another. As I sit at the table and decide what to do with this valuable time I have my mind goes blank...probably from the overwhelming amount of things I am behind on! The list of what needs to be done is so long, just to sit and write it out would take both of my days off without interruptions...  The odds of that happening are slim to none! So today I went to King Soopers this morning to get part of our bi weekly grocery haul and spent 29.81 not too bad for being able to get most of our holiday and winter shelf stable things. That total included a 14 pound turkey, 4 pints of fresh raspberries, 5 two liter Vernors ginger ale, 1 two liter orange soda, 1 two liter 7up, 4 two liter A&W Root beers and 1 two liter Squirt and 3 quarts of fresh buttermilk and last but not least a jar of Italian

You know you have been neglecting the blog when you can't even find your way in! The summer flew by and it is Fall already..we have done a bit of homeschooling over the summer and are trying to hit the books full force now. We are moving on to first grade in some areas and continuing kindergarten in others. Another move we made was to take the six year old off the medication that she had been on for almost three years.. not sure if this is a pro or a con for us. But we felt with us homeschooling there was more ability to be flexible with how she learns and allow her to learn structure in a more flexible environment. May not make sense in how it sounds but controlling her with meds isn't working. We are struggling some days but for the most part she has fewer meltdowns off the medication than she did on the medication. At home we can stop what we are doing and change course and it helps...in a classroom with nineteen other children and one teacher you cannot always do that. So w

Play doh... Surely it was invented by a carpet company! My 2 year old Grand daughter loves play-doh! She is conscious enough to keep it on the table and not make a huge mess... at home that is. Gramma's house is a different story because my littles take their play-doh everywhere and it is a mess!  Don't get me wrong I have tried to enforce the keep it on the table or else rule but when you work full time and the person in charge when you are gone doesn't enforce the same... well it just goes awry anyway! They love the stuff it keeps them busy for at least 30 minutes, it improves their dexterity and sticks to the carpet in a bad way :)  We are homeschooling right now and most days we get something done but not everyday is a full education day. They are preschool and kindergarten right now, my daughter wants us to put them back in public school so that she can send her daughter to preschool with our youngest... I don't want to put mine back into the system. However, I a

I got up today got ready for work just like any other day that I am running late...forgot that it was mother's day. Did not remember to send any cards.. even though I bought them weeks ago. Here it is almost nine o'clock at night and I didn't even text any of my sisters to wish them well today. I can't remember much these days....in my last post titled cell phones, chickens and hot cocoa I never mentioned chickens or hot cocoa lol. Probably could not remember what I was going to say about them at the time.  But just to recap a bit the chickens have been fenced in on top now, they have a large yard and a fairly large henhouse. We have lost quite a few hens in the past to owls and other mishaps That was mother's day and it is now June 1st, as I began to blog this morning I realized that so much has happened since I took time to write that one post may not be enough to cover it all. But that said here goes... They have finally opened a spot for another nurse in my de

Last night I was frantically looking for my cell phone. I called it several times still nothing. So I just decided not to worry about it I can't really justify worrying about it. After all I really hate the monthly phone bill.  But my family would fall off the face of the earth if they couldn't reach me 24/7...not to mention my work. Even so I may try to go without a cell phone next month. If it's my connection to the world..then why does it feel like an electronic leash? For the same reasons that just because I am paranoid doesn't mean they are not out to get me! My daughter came by on Thursday and met the eight kittens and then together we searched for a Afghan that I had made in the Patten of the American flag but that I had not sewn stars onto yet. We didn't find it but we did start sorting through a shed and found old pictures of her and her siblings and of her children in their toddler years... plus many things we had both forgotten about and plenty that sh

Good morning! I woke to a dusting of snow that has since accumulated to several inches. Perfect wet snow for building a snowman once the little ones get dressed and are ready for the cold! Today will be a fun wet day! We finished our morning lessons and breakfast and cabin fever hits early each day so this will be a welcome change to Dad making us stay in out of the weather.  My husband grew up in California so as a child snow was not a playtime adventure!   But I grew up in Michigan and this kind of weather was a blast! Now we don't have a sled or a sledding hill out here on the plains but snow is still fun! And absolutely no reason to stay cooped up inside..   They will be soaking wet in a few minutes and a hot bath will be waiting! And quiet time will follow.... I hope!   It is my goal today to finish the taxes and send them in. My procrastination and disorganization has cost me a lot in lost refunds and buying duplications of stuff we already have but c

Today was to be the big day but a couple of little ones did not feel well.  But that is ok I stopped in at the place we were planning to go so I could get an idea of the cost to expect....and maybe a park is a better idea lol. I remember the first two birthdays for this little one. She had no reaction to anything for either birthday. Even though she had been to every celebration this family has had. There has always been an emotional disconnect. For her third birthday we had a bit larger celebration as her bio grandma had been released from prison so she wanted to make up for lost years and events. Again it was as though she was not the guest of honor. By her fourth birthday she got the hang of the cake but the singing made her cry. Her fifth birthday was celebrated at preschool by giving others small gifts..giving came naturally to her. We kept today to just us and she was thrilled just getting cupcakes with candles. Gifts were nice but she really didn't play with them just

This has been a really busy week at work. Plenty of openings for workers and the weird thing is that none of our open positions are listed on the website.. oh well working short is now the norm anyway. So being organized is even more important than it used to be. Getting off early on Sunday is so helpful. Especially when we are low on slushies syrup, chocolate syrup, and meals are not planned for the week yet.  So first on the menu to make is oven fried chicken Super easy and delicious! This was made with homemade shake on coating, popped in the oven, 40 minutes later and it is ready to serve. I started with homemade bread crumbs, seasoned, added some extra parsley, a little sugar and a little paprika. It had to be good the little ones who are very picky about chicken on a stick (chicken legs) gobbled it up! The last two pieces were all I got a picture of! And they were gone before I started dessert. Tonight we had brownies for dessert. I have been wanting to make these for wee

Tomorrow is my first day back for the new work week.. it is hard to get motivated when I did not get much done around here this weekend. (Thursday and Friday are my weekend).  The laundry is piled high and the dishes are right along with it.  I feel lazy for sure! But the upside is that I can make a list at work and try to get one thing caught up each night. My work on the pantry was pushed not only to the back burner but right off the stove lol! Now that assessors have done their part my DH came up with a to do list that he thought was priority. So after discussing it we decided that the most important item was to put the wire for the stucco over the wrap that he has put on the house...for the third time. The winds here are pretty strong in the spring and in the winter and in the fall ...well I guess all the time but we do get some nice days that are good for working on the house and yard. I do get frustrated that when I am home a lot of times DH tends to kick back and watch his tel

Another week started and another admit that didn't get completed actually it didn't even get started. Patient arrived along with meds...no directions though. Oh well such is a day in my world... One of the hospice nurses arrived to check on a few of her patients that live with us and she asked what I was doing.. at that moment I had been checking some of the five year old's school work and getting more ready for her. It was then she shared that she too had home schooled her kids. Of course I thought that was way cool! Then she shared that her daughter had found a site that was for preschool homeschool curriculum "ABC Jesus loves me" bible based and free! I hurried home from work today so DH could get some outside work done. While he worked on the yard the kids and I made pizza bagels and played, unbeknownst to any of us one of our cats gave birth to four kittens in the laundry room lol! So four little grey kittens Joined the farm! We found later last night

Well today is the big day.  The DH was afraid we were not being taxed appropriately so he's called the county assessors to come out and measure the house. So we have been scrambling to get stuff picked up since we tend to let the wind do what it will with stuff we leave outside. Over the winter even more stuff gets blown around and well generally it is pretty bad out there.  The assessor arrived and it turns out they had to measure every out building as well as the house. The good news is that we don't get taxed on it for another 18 months or so. Even then it will be at 80% of the assessed value. I can hear the little ones up stairs fussing at each other, but there isn't any blood curdling screams yet so I will stay at the kitchen table.....and wait. Maybe I will go hang the last of the laundry. Well at least what is done for today. It feels so good to have weather that allows line drying again! My electric bill will appreciate the break! Each spring and fall the JBF s

For weeks...no maybe months I have felt a strong desire to clean all my cupboards and list all my pantry items and quantities so I can shop more wisely. Well today was the day I at least got started with the process. The pantry seemed like the easiest place to start. Unbelievable the amount things that I found that have been purchased again because I could not find them in the first place.  So now that I have started a running list I hope I can continue until I have tallied everything in the pantry. Once I finish that task, and it may take a week or more, I plan to continue with the freezers. I am sure this will really cut down on our grocery bill. If I can accomplish this I will move on to other areas of my life that are in a shambles! My ultimate goal is to be able to work part time rather than full time and enjoy the two littlest kids and our grandkids. I really enjoy my job but it will soon come to an end any way so I want to be prepared. It is supposed to be a nice day today

Well really it sort of is I did start with the refrigerator in our kitchen. I emptied what needed to go and wiped down two shelves. That is about all I will get done today. We have meat that needs to be ground into hamburger and I will spend another half hour trying to find the adapter piece for my kitchen aid mixer.  Today is a no school day... church and playing for them, work and cleaning for me and DH is doing outside work. I am really working diligently to pay off all our debt so getting homeschool materials at the lowest price possible is important to me. This week did not see any bill paid completely off but this is the third month in a row I have not dipped into our LOC at the bank.  That is really good for me anyway. I plan to sell stuff at a garage sale, but I am struggling. Here is my dilemma our church started having a yard sale each spring to raise money for missions. So each spring that I have thought I would sell some stuff to raise money to pay down my debt I feel g

In my last post I forgot to mention some of resources that we used to keep our cost to homeschool as low as possible. Mostly I forgot because the kids are on me like white on rice when I get home from work and then the two year old is also likely to be over and if she is it is all I can do to get dinner ready and try to get an evening lesson in for the five year old.  One good resource that is available to us is the learning resource center at our public library. They have so much stuff there in one area for all age groups...it was nothing short of amazing to me.  This was way more than what was available when my older kiddos were homeschooling. I struggled to find curriculum for them...dealt with negative bias from most people at the thought of working full time and trying to homeschool. We also check goodwill frequently for gently used and almost new materials. EBay and other online sources are extremely helpful for getting all kinds of worksheets, reading materials and ideas! Fr

I try to get ready for the school day on my day off but I have to squeeze in laundry, shopping and caring for my two-year old granddaughter along with any field trips and last minute call offs at my job.. or at least that's how it was last week.  Our manager returned to work yesterday and that took a ton off of my shoulders.  Like most places we are "downsizing" the work staff. That said not many people are happy about the changes and we lost three day shift employees because of it. Two were planning on leaving eventually the changes just sPeeded up the process. In many ways I feel it was for the best. They were somewhat on the whiney side. It seems easier and less stressful even though we are working with less staff. Today was doctor's rounds and that adds a bit of spice to the mix. For some reason I was behind and back peddling a good portion of the day. I came in to work and was greeted by a less than thrilled night shift, then I realized the printer/copy machi

Whew! I made it through another work week! It seems like it gets longer and longer each time but it is still Saturday through Wednesday. It does get longer it is a fact. Because I started this post almost a week ago! And here or is Monday and I am still trying to make time to get a post on.  Homeschooling and working are a bit of a challenge at times. At least when trying to teach young children. I home schooled my older children but they were self motivated for the biggest part and wanted to get done as soon as they could. For the kids to get ready for counting we have started to let them help with processing the eggs. It involves counting them and putting the eggs in cartons. What is work for me is fun for a five-year old! Here she is with her work table. I did set the cartons around the edge of the table  ...after all we are learning to add not subtract!  She wants to Do the sorting But her idea of that is throwing the speckled eggs back at the chickens!!

Good night! So today started with a lack of sleep on my part.  I again waited till the last second to get up and get moving for work...that meant no doing dishes before I left, no cooking breakfast or packing a lunch. In fact even managing to take a few essentials and my time badge was quite an accomplishment for me today. And I came straight home no stopping for anything. I did manage to get two very important things done today. First I sent my paperwork for my student loan deferment to the lender, second I called my aunt. Now the latter probable doesn't sound like much but it truly was. She is a dear 96 year old who lives alone with her dog. Truly if we had not taken in two more little ones I would be in California taking care of her. She of the last of ten children, sister to my maternal grandfather. She is such a set soul and has been through so much. She is a wealth of family knowledge and life knowledge. I wish I had come till know her sooner in life, but like a lot of youn

The yogurt was a huge success! I shall have a great treat to enjoy several days. I cannot believe I ever by store bought yogurt. I just finished a rather large bowl for my dinner tonight. I did cook for the rest of the family but I have indulged in so much junk food today I thought I better hold back. With that thought I have had a terrible two weeks of not eating correctly, mostly indulging in junk food and soda. Each night I tell myself tomorrow Is the day  I rethink how I spend my calories. The huge problem with this plan Is I forget! Also I am usually so emotionally exhausted by the time the kids go to sleep I drop like a fly sprayed with raid only to wake each time a child coughs, cries or rolls against the side of their beds. Needless to say my house is a shambles right now, my ability to function at a normal pace is diminished at best. I manage to get to work on time each day for the most part. But I go empty handed. I forget to take a lunch with me, or sometimes I forget to

In a past post I had declared a no spend month. That failed and almost miserably! So this month I am trying a no spend day. I figured one day at a time might be more successful. Today was not the day to start however, I had to buy a soda at work to save my sanity lol crazy right? It was just one of those days where I could not get ahead of the paperwork. In fact I clocked out long before I left. Finally I just shoved it all in a drawer labeled to be filed and went on my way. DH had called earlier in the day to say he needed money in his account and I needed to hit the bank before they closed.  Also I have developed a fun habit of making crock pot yogurt and I needed a container of plain yogurt to use as a starter, plus on Monday I had scored some organic milk for one dollar a half gallon!!! I have been so ready to make a fresh batch of yogurt I could almost taste it!  I made a half gallon last Friday and I took it to work and they ate it up! So this girl needs to make some ASAP! There

Well the day's young so it could turn to diamonds but right now it is definitely coal! Work is so busy I am never sure I have done all that needs to be done. And home life is just as busy. It is hard sometimes to hang on to the thoughts for the moment much less remember the chaos of yesterday. Life with autism is a constant feeling of being on the edge...I had a friend years ago who worked very hard to try and figure out what was different about her son. He was a beautiful baby! The perfect baby, dark hair, beautiful big brown eyes with lashes that would be the envy of any woman. After five long years he finally was diagnosed with aspergers. At that time a firmly foreign word to any of us in her circle of friends. As I look back and remember how smart that little guy was, I am not sure how his mom survived. His dad and I were in the same unit and she was alone with the kids more often than not. When her husband was overseas and I was not; I never realized how hard it was on her. N

Winnie the pooh was a favorite character of mine but not so much the little ones I have now.  It seems they could care less about him or tigger or any of the other characters. So sad to see an era pass on... But they are replaced with Caillou, Daniel Tiger and the Veggie tales for the most part and of course Curios George. That is ok perhaps their children will be more interested in this type of thing...lol my excuse to hoard! So I have been reading up on different ways to Declutter a room. I have been very surprised at how much attention is devoted this subject on the web.  At least that means I am not alone! Pack rats unite!!! Seriously though I am very bad at getting rid of stuff Although I seem to manage to get rid of relationships without much trouble....sad to say.  Or at least that is the way it seems. I have neglected this blog for a few as we have had several family"emergencies"come up. However, while dealing with those I took time to have quiet time and read oth

How in the first week of the new year can I be out of canned spaghetti sauce?! It is a standby in this house...I used to make my own but that has been years ago.  However, it may be time to start again. Canned sauce is relatively inexpensive so I fall back on it for so many things and then when I am out I think holy canolli! Another day eating something other than what had been planned...hmmm not sure if that is a violation of resolution or not..  I worked late and the kids will probably not last long enough for me to cook a while chicken on the rotisserie. So spaghetti two nights in a row for the kids, chicken finally got done and the stew is in the crock for another dinner that should do us for a week. I really need to get on track with debt pay down. I will rejoice when I can choose to work outside the home as opposed to bring a slave to debt. My daughter opened an etsy shop after visiting a prominent doll store with her two young children. She said the initial shock of the  pric