A snapshot-of times

Things here are currently quite stressful.  As of this moment the past 48 hours of my life have been as follows.  Wednesday after school, dinner, family television time and bed for the kids, I preceded to stay up for the entire night. This was solely for the safety of the family.

Wednesday night turned into Thursday, finding myself back in bed after the bus took the kids to school.  Sleeping only until 9, I was back up with Braelyn.  Our day consisted of work around the house and a smaller than normal amount of homeschooling in the form of her Valentine's list.  Thursday evening came and brought with it dinner,television time and bed, and here again I am awake.

  A wayward child has returned home from a placement. His therapist is concerned for the safety of the family.  It was recommended that we place this child in a group home.  However, all of the homes we have contacted have given us the 'he is too dangerous for our facility" line.
So what to do. . . after much deliberation we cam up with the whole 3rd shift idea.  Back to retracing my days. . .  This shift is divided by myself, Ya-Ya and Tim as much as possible.


Our concern is not over the top,we read frequently of family tragedies at the hands of teenage angst.    This 'extra time' in my day has produced many creative ideas and sewing projects as the family sleeps soundly.

As of right now this is the only solution we have. How long can we keep this up.

The lost art of food preservation--Dehydration

I have always loved dried fruit 'chips'. They are sweet and full of good things.  The packaged ones are often greasy feeling and have tons of added chemicals and are oddly expensive, considering how easy they are to make at home.
Now that we know Lady Brae is allergic to red food coloring, we have removed several of her snacking options.

Here is the easiest, cheapest and most convenient way we have found to dehydrate foods at home.  Dehydrators are expensive and can be very ineffective.

Using only CVS bucks earned by coupon-ing we purchased a Hamilton Beach sweater dryer.  It features 5 stacking trays and a forced air fan.  The mesh coverings can be removed and washed.

Alton Brown does his own version with a box fan, furnace filters and straps--I have done that one too but this is easier and I think cleaner.

We sliced the bananas that we found marked down at Ingles, then dipped them in lemon water (prevents browning).  We lined them up in single layers and set the dryer on.

The dryer was covered with fabric to increase the foods contact with the moving air and keep little fingers at bay.
 The banana chips are almost finished.  We have a healthy, cheap, and super sweet snack that will store well.


We are already looking forward to using this make shift dryer with our bountiful garden for this upcoming season!