eat sleep and farm

my sweet baby was feeling fussy when I took these, but I love her just as much :)

I love getting magazines in the mail from stores I've either a.) never heard of, or b.) have never shopped at. Today we got a magazine called MoMA and I have fallen in love with it! I'm not a fan of all modern decor, but I do have a side of myself that is strangely drawn to a little bit of it. Anyway, the webiste is a totally fun place to browse, if you have nothing better to do with your day. Enjoy

After having several TV free days, Ethan came to me and said "my brain misses being sucked in by the Tv." Don't you love the way your small kids can sometimes sum things up just about right?!

Because I thought this was so well written (I could honestly sit and read anything Laura writes, I think she's an excellent writer!) I decided to link to her post, that she wrote after reading my post. So, if my long winded post on The Business of Being Born wasn't enough for you... go ahead and read this.

This is our first major holiday away from family, so we're working on starting some new, Arnold family traditions! We typically alternate families each year (since Thanksgiving is all about people and food) and so the first part of the day, we're used to being just our family. The Thanksgiving Day Parade is a must in our house. I make a breakfast casserole the night before and so we all get up, turn on the parade and eat in our pj's. That is followed by as much football as we can possibly squeeze in, before heading to our extended family's home. So this year, we're having some friends over and I think we're going to make pumpkin pies and possibly eat something besides turkey for the main course. We're not really turkey fans in this house :( So, I'm wondering what some of YOUR traditions are! I'd love to hear fun things you do and ways you start your holiday season. Do share.

** this post is just way too long and I am giving major props to those of you who've already read it or chose to. I hope I'd do the same for you. I finally (finally) watched the netflix movie, The Business of Being Born. Its about time, I know. I wanted to have the time to sit down, take notes and really be able to pay attention to the information given and do the movie some justice. I've heard very negative feedback on this movie and very positive feedback and then some feedback that's sort of... somewhere in the middle. I also have no qualms admitting that I was actually afraid to watch, for fear of being either totally turned off by it (thinking it might be a very exaggerated view point) or for fear of being so turned off and unhappy with hospitals, OB's and surgeons, that having another child in a hospital would terrify me. I am happy to report that the movie is very well done, very informative and very educational! Which one of us doesn't want to learn? Whi...

God has placed several friends and some family members on my heart today... and it feels heavy. I like to try and fix problems with solutions that are quick and painless. Sadly, there are a lot of situations that can't have a "quick fix". But they need our prayers and so I wanted to ask that you'd pray. I will not mention who these people are, that's not the point of this post. Just please pray with me, if you read this, and know that God knows exactly who you're praying for. And if you're hurting and read this post, know that you're being lifted up, especially today.

So I made this soup again and I decided to add a few things, per my friend Brooke's suggestions. It turned out amazing! I added kale, bok choy, mushrooms and more garlic. The kitchen smells so yummy and I'm really hoping it helps Jase get over his cold. He needs his sinuses to be cleared, hence the large amount of garlic. Plus, I'm 1/2 Italian and so I'd bathe in garlic, if at all possible. Anyway, here is a picture... not too exciting, but believe me, its yummy.

I have kind of an odd question. What do you do with your collection of vases? Do you put them on display? They're typically too pretty to hide away in a cupboard, but what if you don't really have a spot for them? At our old house, I had them in such an odd spot, I'm almost afraid to say. It was weird... the tile on our master bathtub. I don't know why. I put two of them there one day and pretty soon, a collection of them were gathering there. Its so weird. At this new house, we have some higher up windows in our formal dinner room, with pretty wide window sills. I was thinking they could go there... but is that weird too? Where do you ladies put your vases?

This recipe is SO yummy. I don't think you have to use the bag of 17 beans from Trader Joe's, but I think most of you shop there, so I left it in the recipe. Its a cheap bag, I want to say it was less than $3.00 - Enjoy! 2 cups TJ's Bean & Barley soup mix 2- 32 oz. vegetable broth 1 cup onion, chopped 1 cup celery, chopped 1 cup carrot, chopped 1 cup bell pepper, chopped 1 tsp. dried basil 1 clove garlic , crushed 2 TBSP. olive oil 1 bay leaf 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning 1 can canned tomatoes salt and pepper to taste SOUP: Soak beans overnight (optional) in a large pot of water, then rinse and drain. Pour 4 cups of vegetable broth into pot with the beans. In a separate pan, cook the onion, celery, carrot, pepper, basil and garlic in olive oil until soft. Combine this mixture and remaining ingredients into the bean pot and cover with more broth. Simmer covered for about 1 hour to desired tenderness. Be sure to occasionally check liquid level and add more broth if necessary...

Our kids have always been good eaters; I won't complain about that. They love green foods and they'll typically eat whatever is put on their plates. Ethan has a few food allergies, but its nothing too serious. A little while back my friend on Facebook was selling her cookbook called "Deceptively Delicious". I've wanted to give that book a try for quite sometime, but always avoided buying it because I don't need to hide good food in my kid's food, to get them to eat it. I was in Costco about 6 months ago and looked through the cookbook and quickly fell in love with it! So when my friend posted it on her facebook profile, I put my bid in for it right away! It arrived in the mail just before we began packing and moving, so I just started looking through it last week. We've made a few things in it and so far, we're just enjoying how fun and healthy it is! The recipes for baby food are simply marvelous. Kara has never eaten with such delight. Ethan and ...

I have no idea if this is common to everyone and we're just late, but I wanted to share. Over here at the Arnold household, we love pancakes - all kinds. We love them. Pancakes and eggs are just a great way to start the day. This morning I asked Ethan to grab the tub of flower for me and he accidentally grabbed powdered sugar. I went to have him put it away and he asked if he could taste it. That followed a long "Mmmmmmmmm!!!!!" and then he asked if I would sprinkle some on his hot pancake. So I lightly buttered them and then sprinkled away! I have 3 kids quietly chowing down on their breakfast, so I'd say it was a success :) I have no idea if its healthier; less sugar in the actual powdered sugar than in the syrup? I don't know. Its just very, very yummy.

There are lots of people we miss, but Ethan and Rachel have 2 people they talk about daily and its their cousins, Joe and Emma.

Tonight I made some pull apart cinnamon rolls for the kids. They got to help stir the ingredients and of course, lick the spoon. You're supposed to eat them warm from the oven, after you drizzle the glaze over the top. I served it to the kids with a cup of milk. They ate, quietly, with only the sound of smacking lips and every so often, you could hear one of them say "mmmm..." When he was finished, Ethan came up to me and said "Mommy, I'm not sure if girls cook as best as you do... so when I'm married, could you come cook these things for my family?" I love this age of total innocence, mixed in with total ignorance :)

I thought I'd take a quick minute to post about how things are going, in this new adventure we're on. First off, I have to do my best to convince you all that it most certainly does not rain here every day of the week, all year long. It often rains during the middle of the night, but I think we've seen it rain (and it was more like a sprinkle) only once since Sunday. We've had 3 days of beautiful, sunny, partly cloudy weather and, like I said in one of my previous posts, you just cannot describe how beautiful the trees are during the fall months. It takes my breath away every time I drive through our neighborhood. We live in a private neighborhood, with a layout that was payed close attention to, so all the roads have trees lining them, and when they're all a different, beautiful fall color... it makes you want to sit and click picture after picture, all day long. Anyway, enough about the weather. Our moving truck arrived today! It was very exciting. I told the driv...

Our poor little Kara had a rather sad farewell to California last weekend. Friday night we were at my parents house for dinner and to say good bye and during picture taking time, she began to get fussy and cry for me (I was the one taking the picture). I suddenly heard my sister Trisha say "She's turning really blue!" and realized she was talking about Kara. I looked over and saw her lips all blue and her face following suit. She basically looked like a baby who was about to cry really loud, but couldn't quite finish the cry. I could tell she wasn't choking because she wasn't gagging at all. I picked her up and began trying to calm her down and get her to cry it out and then realized the rest of her body was turning very blue. My Dad was standing nearby me, so I handed Kara to him and begged him to please try and help her. I also realized at that moment "I need to re-learn CPR!" Its interesting in the moments of helplessness how quickly we realize th...

We arrived at our new home Sunday night around 6pm. The drive up was long (for sure) but our kids all did so well, it really didn't feel as long and miserable as it could have. Ethan and Rachel didn't even whine once! They did a range of different things; slept, colored, looked at books, listened to music and watched a few movies. Kara was such a trooper! She only really got fussy during the last hour (which ends up actually being the hardest part for everyone). She slept a lot, ate in her car seat, enjoyed the rest stops when she got to get out and run her energy off for 15 minutes and then slept quite a bit. The drive through Oregon was absolutely breath taking. That is one beautiful state! We took a few pictures (I'll post them in a different post) with our cell phones and they just didn't capture its true beauty. Portland is a great city and looks like its a lot of fun! It reminded me a lot of San Fransisco. When we got to our house, the kids came in and screamed, ...

This has been such an emotional roller coaster summer! There have been several different life changes that have taken place and book ending it all with us moving out of state has been so rough. For us, this move is bittersweet. We are very, very excited about what this move will mean for us. We're not going lie. Its very exciting. What we've seen of Washington, we've loved and even felt "home sick" when we left. We know God is wherever we go and we know He is guiding every step we take, so that part is the "sweet" part. However, leaving all of our family and so many of our amazingly wonderful friends, and our church... that's going to be the "bitter" part. That's the part that makes you want to say "Just kidding! We're not really moving!" This past week has been a week of very little sleep, a lot of cleaning, purging, organizing, dumping, packing, planning and then ended with a ton of good byes. We began today at church, ...

Yesterday the kids and I drove into SF to say good bye and have one last play date with our friends. We will miss them so much! It was the first good bye we've actually had and I didn't care for it... at all. This next week is going to be a type of sob fest for me, I think. :( Ethan, Kara, Rachel and Jenna (sweet baby Chloe is missing from this picture)

Take your bitterness, your hatred, and your desire to put down. Take your unloving, self- righteousness and throw it all down. Throw it down at the foot of the cross where He died, throw it down in the dirt where His shed blood for you lies. Take your time and money, your energy and your gifts - place them all into service for the One who uplifts. Don't be fearful of tomorrow, don't allow grief to win. Give God all the glory and let Christ work within. Remember He loves you; you're made in His image. He cares for you, tends to you and He knows all your struggles. When you suffer, He suffers, when you ache, He aches too. Don't take daily trials and throw them away -- take them to Christ, each and every new day. Your conversations with Him are sweet perfume - your service to Him lights up a dark room. Putting bread on the table of a widow or orphan; showing God's love to others is how we adore Him. When you raise up your hand, may it be only to praise Him, when you ...

We're learning this song on Sunday and I cannot wait! Have a listen - you'll be quit encouraged. "Hallelujah! All I have is Christ! Hallelujah! Jesus is my life!"

For Kara's 1st birthday I wrote this little list of cute things she's doing and saved it for her in her baby book. I thought I'd share... along with a picture of our one year old girl. she walks all over the place; amazing us with how big she is. she plays peek-a-boo and never tires of it. she's curious, crazy and cuddly - all in one. she's going to be a talker, of this we are certain. do we wonder where she inherited the urge to talk so much? i think not. when she smiles, our hearts melt. when she giggles, you can't help but laugh back. she adores Daddy... visitors take about an hour to notice this. ethan is her hero; she can sit and watch him endlessly. rachel is her friend; "make-believing" it what they do best together. mommy is the proud kisser of boo-boo central. there's magic in those kisses ;) the jungle night time song is her favorite. you start to sing it, she'll stop and listen. her auntie trisha holds a very special place in her he...

Our Pastor preached an excellent, thought provoking sermon this morning, on our giving and why Christians give. He gave several different reasons why some might give, ranging from guilt to legalism to just being the way they were raised - not giving much thought to it at all. However, the basis of his sermon was on our giving and how it ought to be a well spring of joy for Christ; His love and sacrifice for us. How He provides our every need - even the money we bring in from our jobs. At any rate... my mind has been whirling on the subject all afternoon. I do that and it can be annoying, but I'm thankful to whirl over profitable things sometimes. So here is basically what I've come up with and I decided to post it and then ask what you all do at your churches. I'd love to get a wide variety of answers and ideas, so please feel free to share. I was thinking that some people might forget about tithing or don't look at it as a form of Worship or understand its importance b...

♥ What are your middle names? Renee & Darrel ♥How long have you been together? we've known each other 15 years. friends for 10 years before getting married. dated 6 months engaged 7 months ♥ How long did you know each other before you started dating? 9 1/2 years ♥ Who asked who out? He did the asking. Talked to my Dad first and then surprised me :) ♥ Who made the first move? He did. On our wedding day ;-) ♥ How old are each of you? me-29 him- almost 28 ♥ Did you go to the same school? Nope. ♥ Are you from the same home town? yes. ♥ Who is the smartest? I say he is, he says I am :) ♥ Who majored in what? Me- Music Theory/Music Appreciation J- Computer Science ♥ Who is the most sensitive? Neither one of us is very sensitive. I think its pretty equal. ♥ Where do you eat out most as a couple? Blue Dolphin or Melos ♥ Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? Hawaii and Washington DC ♥ Who has the worst temper? Neither wit...

I'm not a big fan of baby accessories. I mean like the hair bows, shoes, belts, ties, bracelets, etc... I'm not sure why. Possibly because my worry is, I will eventually lose them and then hate myself for it. I don't like losing things, but seem to lose socks in the dryer and pacifiers from Kara's mouth, all the time! And we have a pretty strict rule of only using the paci in the crib for bedtime. Its crazy how these things disappear. Anyway, when Kara was born, my oldest sister sent me a tiny little gold bracelet for her. I loved how dainty it was and I loved what was written on it -- "Jesus Loves Me" -- so sweet! What I love most is when Kara wears it and how she looks especially cute with it on! She never takes it off and wears it with such a girly pride. My Mom and I were at a consignment store today and noticed a display of hats and head bands and fell in love with them! They're hand made and just so... foofy. Is that a word? I like that word. My Mo...

a view of the street as you head out of the neighborhood These are some pictures of the home we're renting in Washington. Its a home we can eventually buy, but we'd like to live there at least a year, before planting more permanent roots there :) the view outside our street, at the top of the hill. the house coming down the street (the house is in the left bottom corner another view from the top of the hill. One thing we loved about this house was the location. We liked the fact that you feel like you're out in the middle of nowhere, but civilization is about 5 miles down the road! We also loved the open layout... I think its going to suit us really well.