eat sleep and farm

A family I teach piano to was very kind to let me borrow their Little House on the Prairie (all 9 seasons) DVDs! I have been watching season 1 with Ethan and have really been enjoying this walk down "memory lane." Its fun seeing Ethan watch them for the first time and enjoying them as much as I did. He gets very into the story line; asking me about the different characters and often saying "she is NOT a nice girl" about Nelly Olsen. :) I love how simple the show is. Nothing too scandalous , but plenty of pretty deep topics that are nicely discussed for a family setting. I think I will invest in this series next time I see it for sale at Costco. Its been nice to be able to be lazy on the couch while Rachel naps and at least get some down, quiet time with my boy. What are some of your favorite throw-backs to watch?

I got this "challenge" from my friend Jill. I'm posting 3 recipes on here and tagging 3 friends to do the same on their websites. I think that's how it goes. :) I'm tagging Trish, Gina and Krista. BBQ FAJITAS Makes: 4 servings, two fajitas each 1 Tbsp. oil 1 lb. beef sirloin steak, cut into strips 1 red pepper, cut into strips 1 green pepper, cut into strips 1 onion, halved, sliced 1/2 cup Original Barbecue Sauce 8 Flour Tortillas HEAT oil in large skillet on medium-high heat. Add meat; cook and stir 3 min. Add ...

I've run into some issues and so I'm putting my website back to a private setting. Sorry if this causes any of you stress. Just pick a password you can remember and it shouldn't be too hard. ;)

I was lurking around my blogspot account, trying to figure out a few things with the settings and I came across this page with TONS of comments that many you have made and they never got published!! I'm glad I stumbled across that page, because there were about 25 of them. Anyway, I went ahead and published them, but they go pretty far back. I'm so sorry to those of you who posted stuff and never got to see it up there. I wasn't ignoring your comments Trish, Laura, Jill, Gina, Erin, Krista, Jenn, Jess Green and more. This is terrible. I'll have to go check that page on a regular basis just to make sure it doesn't happen again. Love you all,

Our kind and gracious God is, once again, blessing us with another child! Its true... I'm pregnant!! Life has been very exciting around here; the kids are both thrilled. Ethan's response was very cute -- he dropped everything, ran across the room and threw his arms around my neck and then said "Its because I prayed to Jesus about it -- I knew He would give me a baby!" Rachel obviously doesn't fully understand but she knows there's a baby in my tummy and often comes over and gives cute, gentle pats or little kisses. I'm sure it will start to really click when I'm showing. :) Thank you to all of you who have already said you've been praying for our little one and for me as well. We really appreciate it! I've been blessed with very good pregnancies so far, but we don't want to be presumptuous, so we covet your prayers during the pregnancy. So there's our news. Pictures and updates to follow in the coming months! -Stef... for all o...

These are some pictures from our previous week. The top pix are of our trip to the Zoo last week and the bottom ones are a couple from our trip up to Auburn. If you want to see more you can see them all at our jastef.net website.

As many of you know, I get my computer time in when the kids are either napping or in bed for the night. I think because of that, I can be quite engrossed when I am on it, knowing my time is limited. Yesterday I was enjoying a nice chat with a friend, in which we discussed politics, Christianity and more. I was deeply engrossed in our conversation, I didn't hear my two munchkins get out of bed and very quietly (and deceitfully) head for my bathroom. I'm guessing Ethan peeked around the hallway corner and saw me busy, so knew it would be safe to get into stuff without my knowing. I suddenly heard laughing and jumping around and so I shut the computer and went looking. What I found was our son, giving our daughter a nice haircut! Yes, with scissors. He chopped about an inch off the back of her head. She was patiently sitting there, waiting to see her new do. They saw me and of course, looked extremely guilty, but oh! so cute! :) I had a hard time disciplining them, but I managed...

Our couch arrived today! We've been waiting anxiously and its finally here. Ethan and I unwrapped it, put the feet on it and set it all up. We're both lounging on it now and very much enjoying its coziness and I'm enjoying the way it looks in our family room. :) Its a chocolate brown, leather high backed couch and is very comfortable. My last project for the house (until we get the hardwood floors installed) is to put the curtains up in the family room. I know the pattern I want, but I need to find the right size now. And then find the curtain rod, which I tend to be pretty pick with. Since I have no idea how long that will take, I'll go ahead and take some pictures of the couch, the kids bedroom furniture and the black bookshelves... at Jess Green's request. :) Although, if you watch the video on our family site, you can see the shelves in the background. :)

I didn't have 28 candles, so we settled with 2 on one side and 8 on the other. :)

This is sort of a dumb post, because I'm literally just venting about something that drove me crazy yesterday. And, I know many of you lady readers will sympathize with me... big time. As you know, I made cupcakes for Ethan and his friends and then a double layered basic chocolate cake, with buttercream frosting for my birthday. I got this "basic" cake recipe out of my William's Sonoma cake cookbook. What a huge mistake!! Because I don't like to use the word "hate" too freely, I will say I strongly dislike their cookbooks. I don't care for the way they take something so simple and try and add 55 million (ridiculous) steps, getting you to the same result the cake recipe in my normal cookbook gets me to, only faster and the simple cookbook recipe tasted way better! So sad... 3 hours of my day I can never get back. BTW - the picture I posted is NOT a picture of the cake I made.

From the day I find out I'm pregnant, I start keeping a journal for our kids until they're born and the journal continues until I decide to stop writing in it. :) I'm not sure if I'll go as far as 18, but for now, that's the plan. This is the journal entry I wrote for Ethan shortly after he was born. You're here!!!!! Do you know how long I've been wanting to write that?! You were born ON my 25th birthday -- February 6th, 2005 @ 9:55 pm -- 7 pounds, 10 ounces and 21 inches long You have short black hair and so far your eyes look mostly blue, with some brown. You are absolutely beautiful. We couldn't have prayed for a more beautiful or wonderful son. You've already filled our lives with so much joy and you're not even 48 hours old! :) Oh, this might seem funny to read, but your name is Ethan Darrel. Your middle name is your Dad's middle name and also his Grandpa's first name. Grandpa Darrel didn't live long enough for Dad or me to kno...

this is a special thank you to my friends Jill and Jess for the wonderful birthday breakfast! I had a great time with you girls. Thank you!!

Many of you know I am addicted to the show Bringing Hom Baby (on TLC). Today I saw an episode that had me in tears through most of the show. This couple has tried, without succeeding to have children and so adopted a little girl from China! Coming from a family where two of my siblings were adopted and living through that whole process, I have come to admire and greatly respect couples that can so selflessly take a baby into their home and love them as one of their own. Especially in today's age where Doctors can do these unimaginable, crazy things to our bodies to make them reproduce, whether they want to or not. :-\ This couple had such joy and delight in meeting their little daughter and the smiles and tears on their faces was just as precious as those you see in a delivery room. It was very moving. I only hope these kids grow up to know the blessing they've been given.

Ethan's birthday is on Wednesday and this morning we talked about what we would eat on his birthday and what we'll eat at his party. He had a very specific menu, which made me laugh. Such a guy. :) I asked him where he'd like to go eat on the night of his birthday and he said "I would like to eat chicken and rice and noodles." Which is perfect since Jason and I already planned on taking them to PF Changs in Walnut Creek! He wants to go to Cold Stone for dessert and he would like to get candy on his ice cream. For his party he requested cupcakes for the kids. But not just any cupcakes. He would like mint flavored frosting, with sprinkles on top. I asked him what the moms and dads are going to eat and he asked me to make "an all chocolate cake; chocolate frosting AND a chocolate cake." He said I don't need to put sprinkles for the moms and dads, but I could write "its Ethan's birthday" on the cake. :) I just died laughing at how he was so...

this picture makes me happy... I do confess. :) A long time friend of mine has a brother who takes amazing pictures and this is one of his "cool and random" shots.

Today we're venturing off to the Sacramento IKEA store to buy the kids their new bedroom furniture and then a couple pieces of furniture for the main part of the house. The kids are SO excited! Its pretty cute to see them all amped to go buy new stuff and set it up in their rooms. We're buying them the extendable twin size beds, so they can grow with them. Our bedrooms in this house are not large rooms, so we're excited to be able to find furniture that won't take up so much space. I'll post pictures on Monday, after its all built and set up. Ethan also keeps asking me to take pictures of him with his new Little Tykes work bench, so I'll get that one up here too. :) Have a good weekend, everyone!