What to do with all those oranges

One of the things that I love about Florida is all of the delicious oranges we enjoy each winter.

Recently, I was thinking about oranges and all of the uses this fruit provides our family. I thought it might be fun to list a few of them.


Of course we all love to drink the nutritious juice. My guys help with the squeezing....which usually turns into playing!


The remains of the orange after making juice goes to our pigs. They love the peel and fruit that is left in the orange.

Have you ever wondered what happens to all those orange peels at the juice plants? One of the many uses for these remains is to feed it to the livestock. My hubby is able to get some of this on occasion for our animals and it is a real treat for them.

They will nibble on this pile for a few weeks. The picture doesn't show the true color. It is actually more orange colored than this. Today, I saw our momma cow, Missy, lying down right in the middle of the citrus peel! The hill is lower now than when this picture was taken. I guess she wanted to be able to graze and rest at the same time! Isn't that just like a Mom, multi-tasking ; )

And one last use for our oranges is a game we play with Napoleon, our pet goat....

Doesn't he look hilarious? He lets us put the oranges on his horns and then he wants to have a man vs. goat boxing match. Usually Monroe or one of the older boys will tussle with him. It is all in fun. It is almost as if he becomes "king" when he gets those oranges on his head!!

As much as I love the orange season, I must say spring is my favorite time of year and I sure am ready to get my spring garden planted and my flowers planted as well!

Blessings to all

We celebrateValentine's Day in our home each year with a treasure hunt. This year was no exception. I always wake up early and create a list of hints that takes each child on a separate adventure throughout the house, sometimes outside the house. My children have always looked forward to it. I think they are just as excited about the hunt as they are about the gift that awaits them! Even the older guys enjoy the game which really surprises me. I think it is a part of their childhood they are in no hurry to leave behind. As a mom, I kinda like that!

Here is an example of one hint: " Good morning Valentine! Let's start at the 'beginning' for our first clue. "

Here Brandon is searching Genesis for the next hint. He is looking in the "beginning". From this point he may be off to the dishwasher, fireplace, washing machine, freezer...you just never know where that next clue may be. Another example he had on this particular day was: "Were you just a 'wee' bit stumped dear? Here is the last 'wee' little clue. We should always be ready to be a 'warrior' for Christ and 'battle' our flesh and Satan!" This was the final hint and the gift was in the Weapons and Warriors game box. No one seemed to be able to find the answer to the last clue. Even Dad joined in the search as I was shouting, "Now your warm! No! No! Now you are cold!"

Alas, two happy Valentines!! Did you notice Brandon's hint with the "wee" clue in it? His gift was the wii remote. The gift doesn't usually work together so nicely with the clue so naturally I couldn't resist the play on words with this one!

Brent was not home when we played our game. So, Brandon and Bryce decided to make a treasure hunt for him later on that day. They didn't want big brother to be left out. Don't tell anyone but I think Brent was glad they remembered to include him.

Hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Our Day to Celebrate

Aren't these two little guys just the cutest you have ever seen? Okay, I know that is a Grandma's opinion. Maybe I'm slightly prejudiced to say the least. Let me begin by saying that we are so fortunate to have each and every boy that the Lord has blessed our family with for the past 20 years. I love boys! They are energetic, creative, adventurous, and protective of their mother : ) An added bonus in raising boys is the way they handle a disagreement. It is usually over with in just a couple of minutes with someone getting a shove or punch. An apology quickly follows and just like that, all is fine! They are best friends once more!

However, our arms have been longing to hold a precious baby girl. Brooke had her sonogram appointment today and the Lord has answered our prayers; our wait is finally over!! Yes....IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!!! Isn't she gorgeous!! Okay, I'll admit she looks like all the other sonogram pix I have ever seen. But that's okay, we will be holding her soon and I just know she will be gorgeous!

There has been celebrating all day long around our house! Brooke has been craving crab legs during this pregnancy so tonight we feasted on crab legs, sushi, and grilled shrimp. I was so excited I forgot to grab my camera to get a few shots for you to see! Now the fun begins! We get to go shopping for all those adorable baby girl clothes we have drooled over all these years.

I'll keep you posted on the due date and birth.

My Sunflowers Aren't Smiling Like They Use To

Don't they look happy!! Just smiling and lovin life!

I planted sunflower seeds late summer/early fall. I was taking a risk with their survival, I know but we usually have such mild winters I thought they may have a chance. Boy was I wrong! We have had below freezing temps the past three nights. Now for all my family and friends enduring below freezing temperatures, burst water pipes, no power and snow, snow, snow please know I am not complaining ; ) My heart goes out to you all! I know you are looking forward to spring!!

However, here are my lovely sunflowers now:

A sad bunch to say the least! If I had thought about it I would have cut them and had their smiling faces inside the house for a few more days anyway. This little garden is just out my kitchen window and I really enjoyed the beauty of these sunflowers as I was about my daily chores in the kitchen. Oh well, spring is on the way and my seed order is placed. I will try again in a couple of months!

Sausage Making Time

We recently butchered our second hog ourselves. Our first attempt was pretty much unrecognizable chunks of pork by the time we got through with it! I just made a lot of BBQ pork sandwiches, soups and such with the meat. It was still delicious, so much better than any you might buy in the grocery store!


Thankfully, this time went so much better. We actually have boneless pork chops, tenderloin and ribs. Monroe de-boned everything, except the ribs, of course. Then we decided to try our hand at making breakfast sausage. We had some fresh venison and we added pork ham in with it to give the venison a little more fat since it is such a lean meat. We also used Leggs seasoning mix. The results were definitely worth all the effort. We made about 35 lbs. of sausage. If you look closely in the picture you can see the difference in the texture of the two piles of sausage. The meat coming out of the grinder is the second time through. The other pile is much coarser and still needs another time through the grinder.


This sausage won't last long around here. My boys would eat it everyday if I would cook it for them. We didn't make link sausage. Instead we decided to leave it ground . I think it will be more versatile this way. For example, I needed a quick lunch Friday so I cooked the sausage with chopped potatoes and onions. It was a snap to fix! Most importantly, it was a hit! I can also mix the sausage with ground beef for certain dishes. I think I will try that with chili.

It is so rewarding to sit down to a meal and realize that we know where everything on the table is from. The fresh vegetables from our garden, the bread baked from our kitchen and the meat hunted by the guys or homegrown. No worries about tainted vegetable fields or diseased meats. Then when we bow our heads to give thanks to our Heavenly Father for His goodness, we truly know how dependent we are on Him!