The Masked Underoo Man

OH MY GOSH! I couldn't stop laughing...
The kids and I are outside playing when from around the corner of the house Noah and Josiah come running up to me. This is what they looked like:
Yes, that's underware on Noah's head! He made that all by himself. He said he wanted a new fighter mask. He wanted to look like the toy in his hand.
I did have to ask..."Noah, did you get that from the dirty clothes pile in the laundry room?" He said, "No, I got it from my drawers in my room." Phew.

I laughed for a while on this one...

Princess dirty face was havin' fun crusin' in her hot ride!

Awww, so cute.

Hold on Alanah, don't move! Mommy needs her camera, ok?!

The Cob chateau with higher walls and more windows.

Dr. Mercola on Cell Phones

This is full of good info. I found the article insightful. It was full of information that I HAD heard before but it also included new facts, statistics & other data that I HADN'T heard before today.

Some of the shocking facts that made me stop in my tracks...

Shocking facts about cell phone use -- especially about cell phone use in children. I've turned the correct answers GREEN.

1. What country has banned cell phone use on trains to cutdown on 'second hand radiation'?
A. France
B. Belgium
C. Japan

2. In what country is it now illegal to advertise mobile phones to children?
A. France
B. England
C. Canada

3. A cell call lasting just 2 minutes can alter the natural electrical activity of a child's brain for up to how long? (This one made me freak!)
A. Stops when a call ends
B. 20 minutes duration
C. One hour duration

4. When you use a cell phone what percentage of the energy emitted from the antenna is absorbed into your head?
A. None of it
B. 30% of the energy
C. 70% of the energy

5. The average child uses their cell phone about how many minutes per month?
A. 2600 minutes
B. 1300 minutes
C. 120 minutes

Here's the link to watch the 7min. video of Dr. Mercola sharing valuable information. The statistics are in and it's CRAZY! He also provides a "better than" solution.

Blue Tube Headset

~~RANDOM~~

We steamed plums & peaches for juice this weekend. This cool machine is a loaner and WOW it would be hard to go back. I've tasted the easier way!! :)

Bottling the juice.

After I steamed the fruit and the juice was bottled, I decided to blend up the fruit and make fruit roll-ups or fruit leather in the dehydrator. The kids are loving it!

~~~~~COB UPDATE~~~~~

It's got windows!

Paned windows on the front and picture windows on the sides. Slightly tilted inward for passive solar.

The round windows in the middle double as canisters on the other side.

The side picture windows.

Side profile.


~~BIRTHDAY STUFF~~

I had a very nice birthday this year, I felt very spoiled. Thank you to family and friends for such a great weekend. Here's a few of the gifts that were given.

It's the big dog, a 12" cast iron skillet with lid. Made in the USA!

Another big dog. 12 cup french press. :)

Some wonderful books...

A pair of earrings from Austin, he's such a sweetheart.

Money and gift cards.

I ended up getting a new bedding set with the gift cards.

Some items not pictured would be a nice date that Dusty set up for us, a fun girls night, a birthday party with family, birthday cake, Olive Garden gift card, lots of cards, some sweet phone calls, a couple birthday texts, and tons of Facebook messages.

THANK YOU everyone! You guys are the best. I'm so blessed.

The Grapes of Wrath

Kaianah and these goggles just crack me up!
Just kickin' it with my goggles on...

So funny....

Plums, plums and more plums! ~~Plum benefits~~

Thank you EB & TB for the yummy fruit!! We've been able to harvest peaches, plums, pears & grapes.

Plums are all washed and now they are drying out.

I read in my "Backwoods Home" magazine that you can just wash, dry and freeze. Then you can pull them out in the winter (when you have more time) and make juice, jam or just defrost and eat.

6 gallons later...I'll be busy this winter!

Then came the grapes...did I know what I was getting into? NO! Grapes took me 2 days. (I've since heard of easier ways)

I'm still not working for Vita-Mix but oh man I HEART this machine! Grapes were washed, de-stemmed, mashed up, cooked, strained & canned.

Oh my, this took sooooo long! I found out the next day that you could use a large pillow case to strain all the grapes. Just fill the pillow case, hang it up and leave it over night. I wish I would have known that! ha,ha

Fruits of my labor. :) THEN I found out about a nifty little juicing machine from Lehmans. A co-worker of Dusty's is letting us try it out, so I'll let you know what I think after I try it out!

Building with Cob

We decided to put straw bales on one wall.
See that wood ramp? That's where the front door will be. Windows will be on both the left and right side. I found some cool windows on Craigslist this week, can't wait to show you!

The Davis Daily~Untitled

Song lyrics by Thousand Foot Krutch.
I love the line "To live like we were different"

I added the song to the blog, if you scroll to the bottom of the blog you can see a list of songs. Click on the one you want to hear. It's our own little commerical free radio station. :)
Let's keep it moving in a forward motion,
If we can hold on, we can cross this ocean,
There's no sense in lettin' our emotions,
Get in the way, until the door keeps closin'

If we sort this out would we know how
To live like we were different?
I know we've both had some doubts whether things would come around
And look at us now

I'm not trying to tell you how to live your life, but
Let's keep it moving in a forward motion,
If we can hold on, we can cross this ocean,
There's no sense in lettin' our emotions,

Get in the way, until the door keeps closin'
I never thought, we'd doubt,
Whether this world would come,
Around, and work itself out

But it's more than a sound,
When it moves everyone around, are ya ready now?
And I'm not trying to tell you how to live your life, but
Let's keep it moving in a forward motion,

If we can hold on, we can cross this ocean,
There's no sense in lettin' our emotions,
Get in the way, until the door keeps closin'
I won't be afraid Your hands they cover me,

It's so worth it I can't let it fade
My hands are high and raised 'cause it's worth it
And I'm not trying to tell you
And I'm not trying to tell you

And I'm not trying to tell you to live your life, but
Let's keep it moving in a forward motion,
If we can hold on, we can cross this ocean,
There's no sense in lettin' our emotions,

Get in the way, until the door keeps closin'

COBBIN' IT UP!

It's coming along.
Here's some pictures of the progress.

It's almost as tall as the 3 year old! :)

Austin's free gym membership.

Another angle to see.

Alright C.C. you happy now, we got some COB pics up!

~~Free Cob Workshop Schedule~~

~~~FREE COB WORKSHOP SCHEDULE~~

This is an invitation to come join in the fun of building with COB! We welcome all our friends, family, friends of friends and co-workers. (Email me if you need the address)

Dusty Here:

I am now at the stage where I am applying ALOT of cob onto the walls. Mr. Miller has blessed us with the use of his tractor, and I was able to mix (probably) more than enough cob to build the walls.
If anyone wants to join us in building with COB we invite you to come by at any of the following times.

~~~~SCHEDULE~~~~
Sept. 14th (Mon.) - 9:00am to 3:00pm
Sept. 15th (Tue.) - 9:00am til dark
Sept 16th (Wed.)-5:30 pm til dark
Sept. 18th (Fri.) 5:30pm til dark

*Future dates TBD

You will need to bring:

• Gloves (optional) We are talking about the ones for working with concrete (the cob will dry out the hands)
  
• Hat (for added shade)
  
• Food (we will have a few snacks out)
  
• Clothes that can get dirty
  
• Water bottle
  
• A good attitude
  

~Kids are welcome.~

If you plan on attending please email me, or leave a comment in the comment section of this blog entry. Please indicate the day you are planning on coming out.

Here's an example of a little Cob Cottage. (Taken from the Internet, not our picture)

A little pressured...ha,ha

I tried out my new pressure canner a few days ago.
I'm still alive to tell about. Nothing exploded! Yeah!!

Green beans were next on the list. I couldn't can these in my water bath, they have to be canned with a pressure canner.

The canner started making lots of sounds, I have to admit it was a little freaky for my first time. :)

Yeah! I did it! I had done more tomatoes just before the green beans.

I can now say I've canned green beans in a pressure cooker. Thanks Jan for letting me call you a million times with questions! :)

The Davis Academy~~NOW OPEN!

Here at the Davis Academy we strive to find the perfect balance between academics, religion, life experiences & hands on learning.


Soccer is encouraged.

Children of all ages are encouraged to climb on the play structures.

Academics can be multi-locational.

Here's one of our happy students!

All that kidding around to say we started school yesterday & here's some pics! :)

HIGH END GREEN HOUSE (ya right!)

Today's project:
Straw bale cold frames for winter. I'm finally going to attempt the 4 season harvest. (Note the kids wagon in the background, that was what I used to haul the bales from point A to point B!! We are a high tech operation around here! ha,ha)
I stole the bales from the COB project. The windows we got for free from a guy down the street. He was happy to see them go! The dirt came from a pile that was formed when we put up livestock fencing. The second window isn't pictured yet but that will go over the second open space. So, you are looking at 2 cold frames.

I love the window idea because I won't have to prop up the side, I can just slide the window open for ventilation.

Here's a pic of the window open.

On deck to be planted: More lettuce, (we planted some a week ago) carrots, Swiss chard, onions and spinach.