eat sleep and farm

(I wrote this the night we got into town and was just now able to post it, so its almost 2 days old - just in case the timeline confuses you)  We arrived safe and sound! Our trip went smoother than we imagined; all three kids did fabulously well! I was telling Jason, we should think about becoming world travelers, since we appear to have kids that do remarkably well with it.  When I got them out of their beds at 4:30AM and told them we were leaving (finally) for California, they were all so wired up, I wondered how on earth they'd ever calm down. The sun rises very early in Washington, so we didn't have the luxury of darkness in the car, like we did when we made the long drive from CA-WA back in October. They stayed awake a good hour, asking every few minutes "now are we almost at Nana's house?" and when I did my best to explain exactly how far the trip was going to be; how many hours it would take, Ethan gave up and went to sleep and the girls followed suit ...

... how about, Going Home ; a rather long post about my feelings on our trip. We're getting ready to venture back to our old hometown. Its a very weird feeling. I'm filled with lots of mixed emotions. Lots of mixed emotions. I'm excited, but tired thinking about the drive there and the drive back. Just because I know how long the drive is. Thankfully our kids did fabulous ( seriously ) on the way up here. I guess I have this sneaking feeling that our trip up was a one time thing and the smoothness of it all isn't going to be repeated. Terrible feeling, I know, but its true. The kids are excited, but keep asking "we're coming back to our home here, right?" Ethan continues to remind me that we need to be sure and let the lady who owns our house know that we're coming back. He's so nervous that it will be occupied by a new tenant when we come home. Rachel is worried about the drive as well and keeps asking me if there's a way she could just slee...

After Kara and I had been sick for a good week, we had a couple days where we both began to feel much better. So we took advantage of it, by taking a day out and heading into Seattle. we went to the Aquarium  Kara looks innocent, but just before this picture she was trying to climb IN the tank.  Jason held the camera for most of our time there, so the only snaps I got of him... were ones from behind. Sorry, Love.  after Jason left to go to work, the kids and I ventured over to the wharf and rode the carousel, ate some ice cream and counted sail boats. The End.

I've never liked the term "when Mama ain't happy ain't nobody happy" and yet I do believe a similar phrase would be true when Moms are sick. I've never actually heard this phrase, but I think it would go something like this "when Mama is sick, life gets put on hold." Its the case in our family anyway. So since I've had what feels like a horrid sinus infection {and yes, I did cave, called my Dr. and will be getting meds soon} we've done a lot of stuff just around the house. Playing with toys that I put away months ago - so glad that I can pull them out of the closet and use them for times such as these. Its been yucky being sick, but I've really enjoyed the down time with Jason and the kids. We've had a few days where we don't get out of pjs and a few days where all we do is play, bake yummy treats and watch movies.  like this day - Rachel and I made some very yummy chocolate, chocolate chip cookies {my mouth is watering just thi...

I have many reasons for why I love "mommy" blogs, but lately the #1 reason would be, many of us are in the same time of life and experiencing very similar things with our kids! Its so funny to me when I see posts some of you ladies write and I'm LOL and nodding my head in total agreement. Sometimes I'll say to Jason "its like we all live so far from each other, but our days are so similar!"  Kara has entered what already feels like the "terrible two's" {even though I detest that term} and she's not yet 20 months old! She's into everything. And I do mean every thing. Jason learned a bit of what my days look like, when I was sick this past weekend and stayed either in bed or on the couch most of the weekend. He would come give me these looks like "my goodness, I can't believe you do this every.single.day" - and I know he was thinking it, because he said it on a couple occasions :) He did a fabulous job! Several times I ca...

What I'm thinking: Lots of things. I need to start getting the house ready to be gone from it for many days. I need to start thinking about packing. Like... maybe go beyond just thinking about it and actually start putting some things together. Thinking about how odd it is that we're rarely ever sick and then just before a trip, we're all getting sick :(   What I'm reading: Foolproofing Your Life - aside from the Bible, its the only other must read I've ever come across! The Love Dare and my Bible {I've been in Proverbs a lot this week} What kid quote made me laugh: We began drinking raw milk several weeks ago. After studying up on it and watching lots of documentaries on food/drink, conversations like these make me realize just how much our kids absorbs. Ethan: "Mommy, may I have some water?" Me: "sure" Ethan: "thanks. If its okay, I'd like raw water today."   What we're learning: this week, even more complexiti...

My husband works a very odd shift. Lets just say he doesn't get home until midnight. Maybe its not odd... but its odd to us. There are things we love about it and things we hate about it. But, I had to just laugh a few minutes ago, when I realized its 12:02 AM and I'm heating up spaghetti casserole, with salad and sparkling cider... our midnight snack I guess ;-) Any weird things about your schedule? That you don't mind sharing with the world, of course. I'd love to hear. I think its funny when our "normal" makes other people LOL

I haven't had much at all to blog about these days. I've been sick for the past week (I think its a sinus infection), then Kara came down with the same head cold a few days ago and so life has been pretty slow. Lots of playing outside, going on walks, taking naps, reading, etc... nothing super "blog worthy". And then there's the whole lack of really wanting to blog about stuff we do. Lately I've been in a picture mood and not really up to writing posts. I know some of you will notice the new blog layout and probably wonder what on earth is wrong with me. "Didn't she just say her last layout was everything she hoped it would be?!" Yep, I did say that. I also said I'd never move to Washington ;-)  Short story is, the other layout wasn't working. On many levels. We actually stumbled across this one, Jason tweaked it a bit and I fell in love. I love when that happens. This layout is super awesome because I have the freedom to change it up...

in early April, at the Lake Washington Pier for lunch after church... Celebrating our 6th Anniversary! Aunt Emily's visit in mid-April Today, enjoying the warm weather not sure I'm ever going to get used to a warm day with NO smog. Rachel is looking for bugs... Kara is copying Rachel :-)

Alright girls, you're all super sweet. I can't get over your support and love on my previous post. Wow. I feel inspired all over again! Which is great, because I think the tendency is to get into good shape and then slack off or revert to old ways. My friend Jessi gave me a great idea (not sure if she meant to, but she did anyway!) I think I'm going to check back every 2 months or so, letting you all know how I'm doing and asking YOU how you've kept up with working out! Maybe it will be a great way for us to inspire one another and to hold each other accountable. Don't feel bad if you don't want to join in... I won't be offended. I just thought, for those of you who DO want to, feel free to leave a comment on this post and share with us what some of your goals/ideas are. I'd love to help and encourage you all in the ways you've encouraged me!

2010 was a new year with new goals and resolutions for me. My top goal was "follow through with goals you make this year." Doesn't seem like much of a goal, but I'm sick of making new year's resolutions/goals more like a joke than a reality. Especially since last year and this year I made pretty realistic goals for myself. I decided 2010 would be the year of finishing goals that have been set. So January 5th'ish rolled around and I went to put on a pair of jeans that were still way.too.tight around my butt/waist. I complained to Jason about it - "I feel like I lost a bunch of weight when Kara was first born; that initial weight that comes off right after baby. Then I hit a plateau and now I've actually started gaining weight!" Jason has always been super low key about my weight gain during & after pregnancies. I've often told him that if he were more on my case about it, I'd probably feel more pressure to lose the weight. But, he...

Ladies, this is an excellent sermon that I think ALL of you and your husbands would appreciate very much. So many of you who have lost a baby, or more than one of your babies, or are praying that God will give you even just one baby, came into my mind yesterday at church. I won't mention you each publicly {you know who you are} but I know for certain this sermon will be encouraging, among other things. For me personally, it helped me to remember ways to pray for others; ways to encourage and lift up others, and new ways to know how to show love and care to those who are hurting around me. And selfishly, {in a good way} I appreciated the way it helped me personally to understand grief a bit more; the whole grieving process and to understand God's view of and experience with it, better. I would recommend listening to it together. I can't tell you how much of an impact this had on us as a couple. We're really thankful to our Pastor for bringing these things to our atten...

Motherhood has definitely exceeded my expectations. Pretty much in the area of of my heart. I never knew I could ever love another soul as deeply as I love my kids. When we got married, I remember telling Jason that I couldn't ever imagine myself {before marriage} being able to love a man as much as I love him. And boy, was I wrong. Then came Ethan... and I thought "This is it; I'm madly in love. I don't think I could love another child as much as I love this boy. How do other moms love multiple children?!" And then came Rachel, proving my theory wrong, followed by Kara - and I think now I understand that God just keeps enlarging our hearts, with each new child we welcome into our family. In honor of today, as we celebrate this amazing journey called Motherhood, I wanted to post some of the things that steal pieces of my heart away, every.single.day.  When Kara says "I lub you, Mama." Ethan apologizing, without being prompted. Rachel telling Jas...

I love good news. Who doesn't, right?! I'm the one who loves Facebook status updates that involve wedding, pregnancy and/or baby arrival news. I'm a huge fan. And today was my lucky day! Today I found out a couple in our Home Group had their first baby! He was 9 days overdue and so you could just sense the sigh of relief when his Daddy posted about Mama going into labor yesterday :) His name is Gideon David and he is completely adorable. I should tell you though, its very rare that I've seen anything but an adorable newborn. I also found out some friends of mine are getting married! And just today, 4 of my friends have announced they're expecting!! Its making this day feel completely wonderful. Top it off with this week of warm, blue skies, gorgeousO weather, I'd say its pretty amazing. I think we need chocolate cupcakes to make it even better.

the man surprised her by coming around the corner with a leaf blower...  she doesn't like leaf blowers. bye-bye old lawn! later that day.... very proud of her little sister for being so brave :) 2 weeks later....      I've been super thankful for the rain we've had the past 2 weeks, because that means I haven't had to come out and keep the grass wet by hand watering it :)  We're quite pleased with the outcome and the kids are anxious to be able to run and play on it. Jason has been coming up with some really exciting garden ideas for the back yard, so I think this summer we'll be working on that!