eat sleep and farm

Not too terribly much to report here. We're enjoying settling back into the normal routine after vacation, hoping our "photo downloading gadget" on the computer gets fixed soon, so we can show you pictures of our vacation, and enjoying this beautiful time of year! Ethan is so enthralled with the colors on the trees, the rainbows after the rain and the leaves on our grass. He saw the rainbow in the sky today and said "Rachel, that is God saying "Efan... I will NEVER flood your house again!" " He was so happy when he saw it. He kept screaming out the car window "Thank you God! I see it! You promised me and now I see it!!" Those little moments always make me cry. I'm turning into my mom... I started to cry when I heard him saying that and then I'm waving my hands in front of my eyes. I guess that does something magical to my tears. :-\ Miss Rachel is getting so big. Its frightening. She's mostly walking all by herself now. She's ...

Oh, we're home. :) Vacation was loads of fun and pictures will be coming soon. Thanks to those of you who prayed it would be a blessed time... it was! Everyone stayed healthy and our travels were safe and our time there wonderful! -Stef

Our brother-in-law Jeremy turned 32 on Wednesday! We were on vacation and completely forgot. :( Hope you HAD a wonderful day, Jer! We wanted to post this on our regular website (so you could read it) but its having technical difficulties. So Amber, we're counting on you to read this to him. :) We love you -JSE&R

to my cousin Sarah! the big 1-0 is finally here. :) love ya, Stef

We're getting very close to our vacation getaway and couldn't be more excited! Everyone is healthy, thanks to lots of prayer and vitamins. We'll be staying in a vacation home in Pacific Grove, CA (right next door to Monterey) and about 2 blocks up from the beach! This is our first family vacation, without our parents, so we're feeling quite grown up. :) Jason and I have been on one or two night getaways by ourselves, but we've never gone on an actual week long, family vacation, just the 4 of us. Its also going to be the first time we've been away for so long since Rachel was born. I've been doing my typical "pre-vacation deep cleaning around the house" this week. Today I completely gutted all our closets; organized, got rid of junk (yes, we've acquired junk the short 7 months we've lived here) and put away all the summer clothes and pulled out the official winter clothes. I moved our furniture and cleaned behind it (sadly, for the first tim...

Costco is now selling a Bare Minerals (make-up) starter kit! Its only $39.00 at Costco and online or through the TV, its more than $60.00 so this is a great deal! You do get one less blush brush, but still! Its a good deal, so if you use Bare Minerals, check it out at Costco!

Rachel is walking!! For the past month she's been able to take maybe one unstable step and then she'd fall down. For the past week or so, she's been able to take 2-3 steps ok, but nothing more.  Today, we were at our friend's house and Jason was helping her walk to our friend Kay and she took about 5 steps... then 10... then 15!  By the time we got home tonight she was walking clear across the room and letting go of furniture and walking on her own! She still hasn't figured out how to stand up all by herself, but we'll be there soon.  Its so weird to see her walking! She seems way to big. :( 

This morning the kids were getting the biggest thrill out of seeing the rain. For Rachel it was the first time and she was screaming with excitement. I started singing the song "Rain, rain, go away, come again another day!" and Ethan stopped me and said "But Mommy! You told me we want the rain to come so God can water the world!" It was then that I realized... we're never happy. When its hot its too hot and when its cold, its too cold. When it rains, we're annoyed and when we haven't had rain in a while... we beg God to send some so we don't go into a drought. Even the news anchors do it! Its nuts. And so I ask.... are we ever happy and thankful? My other question is... what are some fun things you moms do with your kiddos when its raining outside? We got blankets out this morning and made a fort from the coffee table to the couch, which was great until Rachel decided to take the roof off. :) I taught then how to play hide-and-seek, but that didn...

I got this from a friend of mine and felt so burdened to pray for these families and for this whole situation. This makes me so sick to my stomach. I can't even begin to tell you how much, so I won't. I'll just end it here and share the link/article with you. Clickhere to read.

This has been a pretty busy weekend, but packed full of just really good stuff. Friday night Jase had another softball game, of which I had to miss, but I heard I didn't miss much, since they lost 14-4. :( I teased Jase and said "You have to let them win ONE!" I went to my friend Haley's house for a tape series on Biblical Discipline and raising our children God's way. It was... excellent, to say the least. We heard the 1st session on Friday night, followed by some good discussion and then we all met back at her house this morning for sessions 2 and 3, followed by discussion and then a time of prayer. It was the best tape series (on that subject) that I've ever heard. I've been talking Jason's ear off ever since. :) He and I refuse to give into Ethan and Rachel's sinful behavior and we for sure don't want to adopt the world's views of renaming sin and calling it something cuter; lying is lying... not "fibbing". Rude is rude... not...

My friend Heather Jerrolds had a baby boy today!! His name is William Sawyer and I hear he and Mommy are doing fabulously. Praise God for a healthy and safe (and quick!) delivery! Many blessings to Roy, Heather, Emma and Jack on this new addition to their family. With love ~JSE&R

"Let the wife make her husband glad to come home... and let the husband make his wife sad to see him leave." (Ryan Rippee)

Here are 8 tips for a happy home from the Jon and Kate plus 8 show. BTW - I'm totally bitter... we tuned in to TLC tonight at 10pm to watch the premiere, only to find out, its on Discovery Health... a channel we don't get. I will be calling Comcast tomorrow, to see if we can add one channel, but I'm not holding my breath. We'll probably have to add the other 500 channels, for only $100 dollars more a month. Can you hear the optimism in my voice? Me either. :) So enjoy these tips! None of them are super Spiritual, but very practical and we can all probably learn from an organized mother of 8 kids -- 6 of which are 3 years old. Tip #1 Organize As a mother of sextuplets and twins, one of the best methods for keeping a family organized is lists! No one has the memory of an elephant! Keep a constant running list of "To Dos" and then cross things off as they are completed! My to-do lists consists of meals for the week, which loads of laundry need to be done, and...