eat sleep and farm

My friend Melissa pointed to this blog in her last post and I have officially linked to it, after reading for what feels like hours. I might be, I've lost track of time. This blog can also be titled "The Ways God will use Cora's life" -- it is incredible to me how God has taken 11 months of a sweet little girl's life and has used hers to bless so many others. What gets to my heart every more? Her parents count it ALL joy as they go through and encounter various trials. And boy, have they gone through trials. I was so inspired by this blog; by their love for Christ and the way their love manifests itself through them. Its not something they have to point out or prove; its very evident... because for them, its so real. Their blog is called "the macs" -- enjoy the read. But grab some tissue first. Then go kiss and hug your sweet children and remember to be thankful for each one God has given you. No matter how loud, crazy, messy, or naughty they can be. ...

Kara had her appointment with the EN&T specialist early this morning. Well, 8am is early to our family :)   I have to thank you all SO much for praying because the results are GOOD! The specialist said that even though the right tube isn't placed perfectly in the ear drum, its close enough and doing the job it needs to do. He said its been draining fine and seems to be helping her ears. He did say her ears still have a bit of an infection, but he said if they were very infected before (which they were) then she's on a good road to recovery. He said we could do the surgery to basically make that tube insertion look perfect, but it would only be to make the tube look perfect. He firmly believes the tube is in well enough AND doing a fine job at helping her ears drain. Yay! He said because her ears are so infected and having so many issues, he has no doubt she will need at least one more set of tubes put in, as soon as this set falls out (probably sometime in the fall). ...

I wish December would go by slower. I get frustrated every year at how much we have to cram into one month. By the time Christmas Day is over, I'm wondering what happened to the 1st 24 days of the month; its crazy. And every year it gets worse. Our play group has done some fun things this month. We've been busy all week with fun activities to do with them! I do love all the festivities. I wish we could do this stuff more than just one month out of the year. This morning, I actually thought about doing various "December" type stuff in different months. I'm not sure if it would be fun or just weird though, so I have to think it over. Maybe doing something like making different months with different themes. February is the love month already, then maybe March could be the "craft month" and so on. I'll keep mulling it over.  I'm very anxious for Christmas Day to get here! I can't wait to see the excitement from our kids. To see Kara really enj...

When I see this picture I suddenly realize how much time is really in a year. Kids get SO big in one year. And, I finally realize why everyone keeps saying that Rachel suddenly looks super grown up! Wow. Rachel and Kara's growth totally shocked me. Amazing. This one is just here because I think its adorable and miss these days.

I've had a lot of fun trying new recipes for the holidays. This is the first time in my life that I'm not falling back on my Mom's wonderful cooking, never really having to take it on, all by myself. I've hosted Christmas for Jason's side of the family for the past 3 years, but everyone pitches in and brings food, so even then, I've not had to do ALL the cooking. Thankfully our family is still quite small, so I'm really only having to make it for Jase and me. Our kids pretty much eat anything, aside from boiled spinach. Oh, Ethan hates canned peaches. Anyway... We're feasting on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and then Sunday we're having friends over and feasting some more! We'll be rolling ourselves into the New Year ;) Christmas Eve dinner will be as follows: Wild Rice & Apples with stuffing, stuffed into a baked chicken Vegetable Saute with Roasted Garlic  Cabbage Salad  Dessert is going to be the same chocolate pie I made for ...

Our poor Kara has good days and bad days. And some days she has a little of both. We're very anxious to see the Ear Nose and Throat specialist this Thursday and even more anxious to hear what he thinks Kara needs. Our regular Pediatrician said he would definitely do the surgery... however, he's not a specialist, so he said he "might be wrong". So the ENT may have different news for us and I'm praying for better news than surgery. Though its not the end of the world if she ends up needing it. I was looking through some pictures Jason took today and realized you can totally see her ups and downs, even in these pictures. Poor thing :( - us -   we get told we look SO much alike. I'm starting to see it :) being silly with Mama such a happy girl! our little beauty Just a few hours later, the fever sets in. Her ears and teeth begin hurting again :( heading off to bed as soon as the fever breaks. This carrier comes in very handy during times...

Princess and the Frog One of the best things about our move to WA has been more quality time with Jason. The kids tell me almost on a daily basis how much they love getting to spend so much time with Daddy now. They have all morning and part of the afternoon every single day, with play time, video games, reading books, going on fun dates, and just being together as a family. Instead of feeling like he has to make time, its very natural to finally have the time. Its priceless and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Today Jase took E&R to see the new Disney movie Princess and the Frog. They've been anxiously awaiting its arrival to theaters and they were thrilled when they heard they got to go on a special date, just with Daddy :) Ready to go and heading out!