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Wednesday, November 27, 2013

My Thoughts About Shopping on Thanksgiving...

I'm sure you've all seen the news and headlines informing the public that some stores will be open on Thanksgiving Day.  KMart is opening at 6AM on Thanksgiving!  I think this is absolutely ridiculous!  

I am not a Black Friday shopper.  I'm not against it, I just don't do it.  I can't stand large crowds.  I can't stand the traffic or the long lines.  I understand why people do it.  I know there are wonderful Black Friday deals.  Some of my friends do it and, for most of them, it is tradition.  They get together with their family or friends and spend the day battling the massive amounts of people and have a great time, but it's not for me.  

Black Friday e-card

I am against shopping on Thanksgiving!  However, I don't blame the shoppers, I blame the stores and their owners, Presidents, whomever!  I find it sad that they are making their employees work on Thanksgiving.  I understand that for Black Friday to happen, employees have to wake up extremely early the morning after Thanksgiving, or maybe the night of to get all the sale items in order, but making them show up for work at 6AM the day of is insane!  The shoppers could all rally together and insist that they will not shop on Thanksgiving, but let's face it, that won't happen.  If I was one of the shoppers, I would worry that the high ticket items would all be sold out by the time Black Friday actually got here because of the people who chose to bust through the doors at 6AM on Thanksgiving.

There was a story on our local news about an employee at Pizza Hut who refused to work on Thanksgiving.  He was of course fired, but I applaud him for standing up for what he believes in.  

What message are we sending to our kids....the next generation?  Are we teaching them to hurry up and chow down their turkey and dressing so we can finish the dishes and go stand in line at stores even though we just got done telling everyone what  we are thankful for.  It's bad enough that right after the Fourth of July, stores start getting out their Christmas decor.  Don't get me wrong.  I love Christmas!!!  In all the commercialism that comes with Christmas, I try to teach my kids the true meaning of Christmas.  (And when I finally heard B tell Mel the other day that "Christmas isn't about presents, it's about celebrating Jesus' birthday," I felt like I may have finally got it through her head).

Search results for 'working retail' Ecards from Free and Funny cards | someecards.com


While searching for the Ecards to go along with this post, I came across this one...
Funny Christmas Season Ecard: Im bored. Think Ill go to the mall, find a great parking spot and sit in my car with my reverse lights on.
Too funny!  One of the things that annoy me most is when a car follows me in the parking lot as I am walking to my car with my arms loaded with bags and three little kids and they wait for me to back out of the parking space.  I make sure to take my time:0)

As always, this is my blog so all opinions here are my own.  Whether you choose to shop on Thanksgiving, Black Friday, or three weeks from now be nice to each other;0)

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Monday, November 25, 2013

I Must Confess...

I am HORRIBLE at texting!!!  Those of you who know me well already know this.  If I was given a grade, it would definitely be an "F."  Don't get me wrong.  I love texting.  I do feel it is important to have a direct chat over the phone with someone, because I feel like in today's society social interaction is dwindling fast.  We are so consumed with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, texting and all these other things, how often do we actually pick up the phone, or better yet, hop in our car and actually talk to a friend or family member face to face. (Okay so I got a little off topic there!  That should be a subject for another post.)   However, I would much rather text than talk on the phone.  The main reason...kids!  I saw somewhere that trying to have a phone conversation with someone who has kids is like talking to someone that has turrets.  No matter how often, I remind my kids that I am going to make a phone call, they still interrupt me.  They may not talk to me for three hours, but as soon as I pick up the phone someone needs something.  If I text, that person can't hear what is going on in my house;0)


sorry folks

 95% of the time, my phone is within arms reach.  I am able to check my messages with one hand.  I have to have two hands to reply. (I know!  I'm not very coordinated.)  Sometimes I'll get a text while I'm in the middle of making lunch or carrying a laundry basket or kid.  I will check it and then when I have a chance to respond, I have completely forgotten that someone texted me!

Sorry friends who text me...

It maybe takes 5 seconds to read a text message, but at least 15 to respond.  In that 15 seconds, a kid has climbed the banister of the stairs and cannot get down, just projectile vomited in my living room, tried to stand up, but fell and bumped their head on the coffee table, pulled the air freshener out of the wall, the list could go on.  Sometimes it may take more than 20 minutes for me to respond to a text.  I figure that is okay because it obviously isn't an emergency or I would get a phone call instead of a text.



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Friday, November 15, 2013

Fall Fun...

A couple Sundays ago, Brad was in the fields and it was gorgeous outside so the girls and I headed outside to enjoy one of the last nice days of the season.  They decided they wanted to rake leaves into a pile to jump in, but by the time they got a pile that was big enough they were over it.
Jo stayed in the sandbox, of course!  I'm still debating turning the toy room into a sandbox through the winter. 



She wasn't feeling the greatest.  She had a cruddy cold for what seemed like days.  Actually it was 10 days.  I counted. 
Once they were over the leaf pile, they headed to the trampoline.   

Trying to get a decent picture of all three of them was a failure.  Christmas pictures tomorrow should be interesting! 













Loved the clouds on this day.  Perfect for picture taking! 




Love! 




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Sunday, November 10, 2013

Oh So Sweet Green Beans...

Tonight I am bringing back and old recipe, but it sure is a good one and one that we eat a lot!  If you have been visiting This Farm Family's Life for a while..oh say since March 2011, then you have probably already seen my recipe for sweet green beans.  I am participating in a Table Talk series with Indiana Family of Farmers and we were asked to blog about a recipe that we have previously shared on the blog, but the pictures were less than perfect.  So let's have a look at the old pic...


Blah!  So...with a little bit of help and a new gift I was able to get a better picture of this yummy side!

  We eat green beans about once a week.  We plant them in our garden and then can them so we, hopefully, have an abundant supply of them all winter long.  People often tell me that they don't like green beans, but with this sweet twist on them they usually end up loving them!  This recipe involves brown sugar which definitely adds a bit of unhealthiness to this fine vegetable, but they are oh so good so it's all worth it ;0)!!
Oh So Sweet Green Beans

1 qt. or 4 cups green beans

1/2 smoked sausage link (or  ham/ ham bone.  If you have a ham bone left over from Thanksgiving dinner, now would be the perfect time to use it.  Deliciousness!) 

1/4 Cup brown sugar

1/2 Tablespoon onion flakes

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

salt and pepper to taste

1. Place green beans in a pan and add just enough water to slightly cover them.  Add the sausage, sugar, onion flakes, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.

2. Bring to a rapid boil for 5-7 minutes, then simmer for about 20 minutes. (If they are store bought, they may take longer to cook)

Enjoy!




Note:I am participating in Indiana's Family of Farmers Table Talk Series and received a gift in exchange for my participation.  All photos and opinions are my own. 


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Friday, November 8, 2013

The Best Text I Will Ever Receive...

It's always fun to get started planting in the Spring and harvesting in the Fall, but it's also fun to be done!!  We finished harvesting this morning and I received the greatest text from Brad.... 

That's right!  Harvest 2013 is now in the books!  Thank goodness!  While there have been many years when harvesting has gone a lot longer,(I believe in 2006 we finished the day before Thanksgiving) this year in particular seemed to drag on forever.  I don't really know why.  Everything seemed to run pretty smoothly.  There were no major break downs.  Well, we did have one that I remember, but it just so happened that they were able to use the combine until it rained and then they took it into town to have it worked on.  We didn't have a newborn this year either;0), but it still seemed to lag on forever.  Halloween night we had some pretty heavy winds, so for the last week they had to battle corn that was down.  If it rains and the corn is down, it takes a little bit longer to dry before you can harvest it.   However, compared to last year's drought, this was a MUCH better year.  We definitely have A LOT to be thankful for!!

There are still a lot of farmers that are not finished yet, and I hope everything goes smoothly for them.  I'll be thinking of them and their families.....and wives!....but for now I am jumping for joy because Harvest 2013 is over for This Farm Family's Life!!!!

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