eat sleep and farm

I feel like such a horrible Mother, but I'm hoping my excuse of moving will make me seem less so.  I never posted pictures of Kara's 1st birthday and I am just now getting around to it. Since we have a new camera now, we're finally going through flikr and organizing everything there. I'm in the middle of getting the pictures in order and into posts, so come tomorrow morning, they'll be up! I know this mostly only excites our family members, who still haven't seen them, but I'm sure you'll all enjoy them. Our friend Heather took them and we are so appreciative to her for bringing her camera and capturing these moments for us! Thank you, Heady <3

Kara is coming on 14 months old in a couple days, so this is her 14 month post :) She is our curious, wandering child. She spends most of her days figuring out what she can get into, what she can climb on, what she can carry around with her, and how she can copy her older brother and sister. Its funny to me, because she doesn't play with E&R very often... she watches from a distance and then once they've moved on from whatever they're doing, she goes and copies what they were doing. The funny thing is, when I told my Mom all of this the other day, she said I was exactly the same way. If she feels comfortable with the activity, she'll join in. Otherwise, she watches from afar, and tries later on, all by herself. She's very, very attached to me and yet at home, she is very independent. I think when she's comfortable and feels in control of her surroundings, then she's most happy :) We're learning new words, but not at the same pace her brother and ...

I accidentally forgot to send out change of address cards (oops!) and now I have several people emailing me asking for our new home address. If you're one of those people, please send me an email and I will send you our new address! If you don't have my email address, send it to stef@jastef.net Thanks!

We had a great Thanksgiving! It was our first holiday, just the 5 of us. We missed our families, but I have to say, there is something wonderful about spending intimate time as a family, on a holiday. We woke up to our traditional make-ahead-breakfast and the Thanksgiving Day Parade. The kids enjoyed it SO much this year. E&R sat through the whole thing, laughing and screaming when they saw floats with their favorite characters. I was a little worried at how excited they got when they saw the Yo-Gabba-Gabba dance. They've never seen the actual show, but we have the weird circular toy and so they recognized the song right away. We played tons of legos, wii, dress-ups and did lots of cooking. I prepared all the food on Wednesday, so today all I needed to do was cook it. Our menu this year.... baked orange rosemary chicken mashed potatoes grilled onions and carrots stuffing (I made it from scratch and its amazing! I'll share the recipe soon) marshmallow salad green salad It wa...

I was sharing some of this with my sister the other day and decided to blog about it. It helps me when I can write my thoughts down and then mull over them. I'm hoping this post is encouraging, if not thought provoking and, I love being encouraged by you all and I know you'll have encouraging feedback for me :) I'm just going to jump right in... I'm not sure if its the move or not, but my relationship with God seemed to be at such an odd place this past month or so. Being in God's family sometimes feels very similar to being in an earthly family. Sometimes we actually tire of being around each other; we grow too familiar and complacent and feel like we need space. The only thing is, when you get space from God... it doesn't always make the heart grow fonder. Not that I told myself I needed space from God - do we ever actually admit that? And, God never tires of me or says He needs space from me. Knowing this, I began to dig deeper. I think for me, its just an ...

Today we took advantage of my day off to go to the Seattle Aquarium for the day. The kids really enjoyed the exhibits; we got to see a whole bunch of fish, seals and otters, and an octopus! Stef can fill in some details later, but I wanted to share some photos from the day.

... my husband thinks so anyway! I made this pie for his birthday (since he's not a fan of cake) and he loved it. Said it was better than any pie he's ever had. So I have to share the recipe with you all. I got it out of my Real Simple magazine (along with my entire Thanksgiving Day menu) and its called Chocolate Fudge Pie. Lets face it, anything with the words chocolate and fudge in it... its gonna be good. I had fun making it entirely from scratch. I'm not a cooking/baking goddess and have been known (many times) to use frozen pastry crusts, the tub of cool whip, and to not even bother with the chocolate shavings on top. But since this was for J's birthday... I went all out. And had fun doing so! It turned out so amazing. 1 pie crust (store bought or homemade) fitted into a 9 inch pie plate 6 oz. semisweet chocolate (chopped, plus more set aside for shavings) 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter 3 large eggs 1/8...

This does.... he knows I'm about to say something silly, so he's waiting.... ..... he hears it. its making his tummy hurt, he's laughing so hard. he tries to stop... but can't. so he decides to repeat it, to see if it will have the same affect... ..... and it does. .

Hello blog world! This is Kara at 13.5 months... this is what you get when you ask "Kara, where are your eyes?" I was trying to get her to stand in one place, but she thinks she needs to walk TO the camera as I'm snapping pictures :) I asked her to say Ethan -- "E-Ah!" I love this sweet face. I think I give her 1 million kisses a day. this was her reaction, when she first laid eyes on our new camera. she's thinking... "what is it, mom?" she's a very happy eater these days; making sure to get the food in every crevice... showing us how much she enjoyed it.

Keeping with tradition, we had a treasure hunt for Daddy! This year, since the kids are older, they picked out all the decoration, they set up the table, they told me where to hand the birthday sign and they made the clues for the hunt. They also picked out all the gifts, except the two that were from me :) I had a hard time keeping them from running to the gift before Jason figured out where it was. They were so excited and into it. We got him lots of candy bars :) running out to the mailbox for the most exciting gift... Ethan was so excited to have Jase open this... he sees it! Star Trek movie!! we've been waiting for this one to come out on DVD! Rachel gave me a cute photo moment... and then Ethan joined in :o)

I've been going back and forth with keeping Rachel's bangs long, or growing them out. Tonight we made the decision to cut them. Her hair, with no bangs, tends to look very messy all the time and unkept. I either have to slick it down with gel (which I hate) or at least always have them pinned, so they're out of her face. I told her if we just cut the bangs shorter, we won't have to fuss so much over them and she was quickly a fan. She also has little baby hairs that grow in all the time, which I never know what to do with. Anyway, here is her after shot.... I think she looks cute both ways... haven't decided which way is my favorite yet. You can be honest - we don't mind :)

My husband turns 28 today. Its probably not as amazing to most of you as it is to me. When I met him, he was about to turn 13 and so for me, 28 seems SO old! I can't believe we're both getting so close to our 30's (me sooner than him, of course). I just want to wish my love a happy birthday. I love you so much, Jase. Thank you for being the man of our house, the guider, leader, protector, provider, play mate & friend to our kids, my best friend and right hand man. We could not live with out you and thank God for you every day! I'm excited to celebrate this birthday. Mainly because its his first birthday where its just us, with no family... so I've done my best to really play up the day and fill it with lots of fun. The kids and I have planned a fun treasure hunt - at the end of the hunt we have a big surprise waiting for him. But also because I love any reason to "celebrate" him and to teach our kids how to express on days like this, how much we love D...

I've been posting this recipe every year, for the past 4 years, so I wanted to continue the tradition :) Pumpkin Crunch: Ingredients: 1 box of yellow cake mix (or make your own) 1 large can (28 or 29 oz.) Pumpkin 1 large can (10 or 12oz.) evaporated milk 3 eggs 2 sticks of butter or 1 stick margarine 1 cup sugar 1 tsp. cinnamon 1 cup chopped pecans (or your favorite nut)Method: Melt the butter in a small saucepan. In a separate bowl, mix pumpkin, evap. milk, eggs, sugar and cinnamon. Line 9×13 inch pan with foil (spray with cooking spray). Pour pumpkin mixture into pan. Sprinkle cake mix over pumpkin mixture. Pat down. Sprinkle nuts. Drizzle butter. Bake for one hour @ 350 degrees (usually more) Let it stand for at least 10 minutes before turning out on cutting board. Its best to stand 2 hours or refrigerate to speed the cooling. Turn cake over on cutting board. Peel off the foil. Slice and serve with either cool whip or vanilla ice cream.Enjoy!

I've started something new in the past couple of months and thought I'd share, because its been a time and life saver for me! I've struggled with meals in general a lot since getting married. I am not the type that loves to cook so much, you will not find me in the kitchen non-stop. Mainly because that keeps me from keeping my home in other areas, or from being a Mom in the way (I feel) I should be. Same reason I don't live on the computer, or spend too much time on any one hobby. Again, personal preference, not necessarily the way it has to be for everyone. I have struggled with not be able to always get that good, healthy, hearty meal on the table, at the same time (or near the same time) every night. About a year ago, I began praying about it and basically asked God to help me to use my creative side - what little it is... I told Him my frustrations and asked for His help and guidance in the area of better managing my time and especially when it came to grocery sh...

This is fun! I found this link on my friend Jenn's website and thought it looked like fun! Give it a try... I'll go ahead and tag 5 of you :) Jess Erin Holly Jodi M. Jill (if you don't have a website, just post your results as a comment here) Here is what they said my decorating style is -- Jase says it sounds just like me, so I guess they did well! Stef , you are an ELEGANT MODERN You keep up with culture, style, and trends, but have a classical appreciation for beautiful forms, simple lines, and well-made functional objects. You are inspired by good design and quality craftsmanship, and prefer the streamlined and a bit of breathing room to the overly embellished or cluttered. Yet your home is warm and a bit glamorous, not cold or cookie-cutter modern. You like mixing in a bit of flourish: beautiful antiques, luxurious fabrics, cozy throws, and some lovely accessories that add up to a refined, inviting, well-designed home. You value serenity. While there are probably a...

My niece Madison, walking with Kara at the pumpkin patch. I love this picture...

I miss these chubby little faces and cute little baby voices. I can't believe this was only 2 years ago. Mostly because to me, Rachel looks so much like Kara here and its hard to believe our 3rd baby is already THIS big. Sigh.

I love learning. I like to research things, think them out, talk about them (my poor husband often hears my thoughts 10 million times on one subject - that IS an exaggeration, but gets my point across) and I especially like to learn from other, usually older wives/moms. This "job" of wife and mom is ever changing and continually needs improvement, so I glean from wherever I can. Since we moved, I've been working on getting a nice routine down with my kids. Mostly because our lives here took on more routine, with Jason's new job (he has very set, specific hours) and his job allows him to be home with us until 2:30pm every day. Also, our lives have slowed down quite a bit here, which has been nice, but also a hard adjustment, mostly on our kids. Ethan misses the business of life and seeing people every day, going new places and meeting new faces (didn't mean to make that rhyme). Rachel seems to love this new schedule. She craves and loves routine, especially when we...

Just FYI, we're getting a camera this week!!! Stay tuned :)

Since we moved, I've been jotting down cute/funny things my kids have said. I think I have enough now to make a decent post. Enjoy. E: "So, where does Nana fit into all my luggage?" (as we packed the car to leave CA) R: "I love being in Washington at our new house, but I do not love being so far from my people." K: "MMMMAAA!" (Emma) E: "What?! We live in a house, that has a house on top of a house?! (getting re-aquainted with living in a two story home) R: I was kissing Rachel good night before I went off to bed... she was already fast asleep, but she turned over and I said "I love you, Rache" and she answered "I love you too, Nana." K: "Shisha!" (Trisha) E: as we drove past our mall and saw a cell phone store... "we have to call Papa and tell him about these stores. He has a thing for stores!" - my dad loves cell phone stores. R: "I feel taller, now that we live in Washington" - she is very rando...

I'm going to post about my sister's visit now, instead of waiting until she leaves b/c then it will be a very depressing post. We've had such a great time together!! On Wednesday night she made official (and last minute) plans to come visit us with her youngest daughter. We picked them up at the airport on Thursday night, complete with screaming, jumping and lots of hugs. The kids were SO excited to see Trisha and thrilled to see their cousin Emma. Kara wasn't so sure at first, but by the time we got home, she remembered right away, just how much she loves her Aunt Trisha. Friday was a chill-at-home day. We ate a yummy breakfast, watched some movies, played some games, the girls played an enormous amount of dress-ups and we took naps. Rachel's cold got worse Friday night, complete with fever and the chills, so we laid low into the evening. Nice. Saturday Trisha graciously offered to baby sit for us, so Jase and I could get out together. I got my hair cut, we went t...

I love listening to Christian radio and lately my older kids have begun enjoying it. The other day a song we typically sing in church came on the radio and Ethan said "Its like having church every day of the week and in our car!!" He's right. That's exactly why its such a blessing to me. Yesterday there was a little clip on the radio, from a local Pastor and his small "clip" totally blessed me and gave me some good meditations throughout the day; something else to thank my Savior for and see His love for me in a whole new way. The Pastor was speaking to stay-at-home moms, who care for their children all day long. We become tired, worn out and in need of a break every so often. We wonder from day-to-day "Can I do this and do this well? Am I cut out for this job or am I the last person on earth who should be doing this?!" We feel tired, wasted, spent and like our brains can only handle so much, before we just need a good nap. He reminded his listener...

I love when my kids use big words. But I really love when they use them properly. It makes me laugh and then it makes them feel so big and grown up when I congratulate them. Today, Rachel's word was "obsessive" and she used it properly. "Mommy... can I get this chapstick for Jenna?" "No... I don't think her mommy will want her to have chapstick. You girls are too little for chapstick." "But, I think Jenna really wants me to get her some for Christmas!" "Rachel, I said no, so you need to obey me and move on." "I just think she really wants some and NEEDS some. I think her mommy wants her to have some too." "Rachel Kathryn. What did I say to you? Maybe we should find Jenna something different for Christmas." "But... it was the chapstick that she NEEDS." "No, Rachel. We're not going to talk about it anymore" So she stopped talking about it, but sulked for the rest of our shopping trip. We...

I can't tell you how thankful we are for God's amazing kindness and mercy to us, as a family. We feel so blessed in so many ways. Some past blessings have been what we've presently been missing; living near extended family, church and friends... but even with the loss of those things, we feel overwhelmed by God's goodness to us in our move. We moved very fast. From the day Jason got hired to our moving day, it was less than 3 weeks and two states away! I'm not sure I realized how fast it was until we got here. Traveling up here went so smoothly, I'm still in awe when I think about it. Our first 2 1/2 weeks here have been... wonderful. I struggled for the first few days, feeling lost without my things, feeling suddenly aware of the distance from family and friends and realizing that this isn't just a weekend trip, but a permanent thing. I think the first 3 days were hardest on me. Now I have moments in my days where I'll stop and think "Oh, it would...

About a week before we moved, my sister Amber and her two kids, came to visit us! We had a blast going to the pumpkin patch, out to lunch and then that evening my sisters and I went out for a fun girl's night out. So much fun and a great way to say good bye. My kids, with their cousins from LA Kyle & Ethan my sister captured such a sweet picture of Kara... Madison, Rachel & Kara