eat sleep and farm

I had this idea. Woke up this morning and had the sun staring into my face. I knew the kids were still asleep and when I saw it was 8am, I knew I had a good hour before they'd wake up on their own. We live kind of out in the country. With stores 5 minutes away, but in the country nonetheless. And our house is on a long dead end street. So I knew I could take my cell phone and keys, head out the door and take a brisk walk up and down our street, while keeping an eye on our house. Perfect! Every so often good ideas to come into my head. I walked down to the barn and visited LadyBug {the horse}, watched the sun rise even higher in the sky and just enjoyed the very fresh air. I think baby really appreciated it.  this is from the backyard. I was first sitting out there when  the grand idea struck me.   we do see the sun in the winter, contrary to what SO many  want you to believe. But you can't count on it.  Some days its there, some its not.  And we get more r

   Here in Washington, this is how we use umbrellas :)    we dance with them, use them as forts, and shield ourselves from 'bad guys'.  Spring time means... lunch on the back deck.      worn out from running {every mom loves to see this} the exploring never ends.  Ethan said "boot man was here." 

Can you believe we only have 29 days until our baby's due date?! I can't. Especially when I realize he could be early. That means we could have even less. I'm doing my very best to cherish every moment of this pregnancy, which has been hard for me. I'm carrying very low, so I'm mostly just uncomfortable all the time. But the kicks and nudges and little squirms when he hears my voice make me want to soak up even the uncomfortable moments of this journey. This pregnancy has been harder on me and I really think its because I've been pregnant for the large part of the past 12 months. Its been a lot for this body of mine. I told Jason I'm coming to the realization that baby's in-utero, though sometimes difficult, are much easier to care for than when they're out and needing one-on-one attention and care. You'd think I'd learn that by now, but I'm pretty sure its something I have to remind myself of with each new child we have. I see/hea

In that sermon on Habakkuk that I've been listening to, Pastor Matt Chandler poses 10 questions {he said they did not originate from him, they came from Tim Keller} that I thought were excellent, thought provoking, soul probing questions. I had to share. His main questions are : What drives you? What makes you angry, what satisfies you and what consumes you IS what you Worship . Even if they started out as good gifts from God - Your spouse or your children or your friends or your church and/or Pastor are not bad things. They're all good gifts from God. We have a way of turning even good gifts into idol worship. Be more consumed with the Giver of the good gifts than you are with the gift itself. "Do you want to know what consumes you and what you're really Worshipping? Answer these 10 questions." I would personally suggest doing this slowly, with care. Give it time , r eflection , and  prayer  so your answers will be honest, convicting and helpful to

A glimpse of our lives over the past few weeks,  through cell phone photos :)   He loves to help Jason with the yard work.  I was in the kitchen cleaning up from breakfast,  looked out the window and saw this cute sight.  I remember when this little lawn mower was too big for him to push.      He told me, "I like being with Daddy....     Even when we're just doin' yard work and stuff."  she pretty much dances and sings wherever she goes.  She was mostly just enjoying the warmer, Spring weather.   she told me this is her garden.  caught them showing sisterly love @ lunch.   Family movie night = The Lorax.  We loved the movie.  Very cute and even the environmental message was a good one!   first movie Kara sat all the way through in a theater.  She appreciated NO scary parts.   this is how they watch the Food Network :)                         And.... the snow returned!  this is what you call &

 Jason and Katie hosted {yet again} a fabulous St. Patrick's Day party!  We look forward to this party every year.  This year we met a couple new families  one of which, we found out has just started attending the same  church we go to and lives right behind the house we used to live in.  We were neighbors and never knew it! The cool thing is, they have 3 kids, same gender order and ages as our kids!   We played a limerick game that ended up being super fun.  I resisted at first and watched a few rounds and then joined in once I realized  how to play and really enjoyed myself.  Plus, who can pass up a few good laughs?     I have no idea what face I caught, but it made me LOL :)  everyone busy at work, creating their limericks :)     Kara's new friend Lucy : the other kids were all downstairs playing games. I was just    too lazy and didn't want to go down there for pictures.     We had a full day with family stuff in t

clarity, in a world that seems so unclear about so much. I get so tired of having to battle my own mind; my own thoughts and desires. Being firmly rooted in God's Word and in community with His people is a great way to achieve this. And even though I know those things are true, I find myself trying so many different ways to achieve clarity before doing what I know is right and true. in Matthew 11:28 Jesus said, "come to me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."  JOY , even in the midst of great sorrow. I want to love , even when I don't agree.  Not in a cheesy, shallow "everyone sing peace, love and harmony" way, but in a real, honest to goodness, genuine, Christ like way. Love that desires to help, to serve, to go the extra mile and that seeks nothing in return. You know, the love like a Father sending His

Several months ago a friend posted this sermon link on Facebook. I'll just get it said now, because maybe its weird - I do like listening to sermons online. I'd actually rather listen to a good sermon series than read a good book {sorry, Mom, I still don't love reading}. This one caught my attention because, lets face it, how many sermons have you heard preached from the book of Habakkuk? I don't think I've heard any. Probably heard a Pastor read a verse or two from Habakkuk, but I've never actually heard a sermon series from the book. So that peaked my curiosity first. I turned on the first sermon and found myself unable to move from the computer. I kept turning the volume higher , so I could hear over 3 kids playing in the playroom. I have 2 sermons left before I'm finished, I've posted the link about 3 different times on Facebook and really, honestly can't say enough about it that would do it justice. I am so thankful God gave Matt Chandler

Its what my kids said tonight when I served them Chili Mac. I knew they'd like it, but I had no idea they'd scarf it down and ask for seconds! Its always a huge WIN when kids want seconds. A few years ago I heard someone say that Emeril Lagasse was on a show we used to watch, Jon and Kate Plus 8 - and they went on and on about the dinner he made with them. I decided to go google it and found it. To my pleasant surprise, its a Martha Stewart recipe that Emeril uses. I'm not a huge Emeril fan {I don't usually care for his stuff} but finding out it was an original Martha, made me want to try it :) And I'm so glad I did. Its kid friendly and Dad and Mom will like it too! Thought I'd share with you all... Chili Mac Prep time: 20 minutes Cook time: 40 minutes Yield 6-8 servings {it made more like 10 for us} Ingredients : 2 tsp olive oil 2 medium onions, chopped 1 red bell pepper, chopped {I added this to the recipe} 2 jalapenos, stemmed and minced {I

Last week we celebrated our 50 day countdown until baby's due date!  The kids and I made a chain several weeks ago {when we made it, it had over 100 chains} and its pretty amazing to see it dwindling down faster than any of us imagined.  I can't believe his due-date is arriving as fast as it is. I have days where it feels like it will never get here {only because of physical discomfort} but for the most part, this pregnancy has been flying by. Which has been nice for me, since I've now been pregnant for a year, with only a month's break in-between. I am SO ready to meet this little one. I had my 32 week appointment a couple weeks back and everything checked out very well. Baby's heart beat was nice and strong and as Rachel said "more normal sounding." She was excited because my midwife told her "that's because your brother is getting to be a normal sized baby, almost ready to come out!" I love bringing the kids to my appointments.

Hey blog readers! A few of you emailed me this weekend and said "just so you know, my feed reader isn't picking up new posts from your blog anymore - so I had no idea you were posting new stuff!" My blog is now set to a private setting. Which means you can only view it if I've given permission. And I'm giving permission to any friends/family who want it - I didn't set it to private to avoid specific people, just strangers. I've become increasingly skeptical of having so much personal information and so much especially about my kids on here for just anyone to see and since this is genuinely a blog just about our family life, I saw no reason to keep it totally open. Sadly, this takes away ability to se when new posts pop up in your reader {sorry} and kind of forces people to check our website now and again to see if we've posted anything new. And if you forget to do that, you won't offend me, no worries :) If you're on Facebook, I will be