eat sleep and farm

What I'm thinking: Right now I'm drinking tea and thinking about staying healthy. I have been "flirting" with getting a cold for the past 4 days and I'm determined to beat it.   What I'm reading: Just my Bible this past week. However, I'm starting the book one of our Pastors wrote called Doctrine . What kid quote made me laugh: Today Ethan walked up to Rachel and asked her "do you think I look good in this shirt?" to which Rachel replied "Um... you look pretty good, but not handsome in it." - I LOL :)    What we're learning: how much we love Spring!! We're enjoying the rainy days, the days with hail, the warm, sunny days and the fact that we haven't had to use the heater in over a month now! What I'm watching: nada. Last night was my TV night, with Biggest Loser, Lost and V. What's cooking: Italian stew just finished and a fudge cream pie is coming soon! What 's something fun we did over the weeke...

I just watched this and learned quite a bit of new tricks! I was also thrilled to see they had Dave Ramsey on there - Jason and I are going through and using his book, Total Money Makeover. I also loved what she says about coupons. Though coupon clipping isn't always a bad thing, I think its often a ploy for the marketing companies to get you to buy that specific brand, in that specific quantity. I'm rarely able to use coupons for food, because its typically already prepared food, packed with preservatives and junk I don't feed my kids too much of. I've found that I can almost always beat the coupon price (on non food items) if I just buy the store brand and stay away from the coupon brand that's being pushed. Anyway... I know several of you are thrifty ladies and would love this video. I really learned quite a few things from this video on meal planning, tips on having cost and time effective shopping trips, ways to stay organized, setting priorities, etc... ...

......  I said that to a lady the other day when she asked me "how old are you?" As soon as the words came out of my mouth I thought "really? seriously?! Thirty ??"  Yeah... its true. Ethan likes to gasp, groan and act shocked when he hears how old I am. He tells me "30 is SO close to 100!" and I think he feels like it should make me feel special, but it has the opposite effect. The other day I was reading parts of my journals. I didn't have time to sit and read through all of them, so I just skimmed through each one. I have journals that go back all the way to 1991, so its super fun to look through. I think I get most of the enjoyment out of seeing ways that God has grown me in the past 20+ years. I was surprised at some of my early entries, at how much I still feel the way I wrote back there. Here is one entry from 2001 (I was 21)   Also, just for clarification... today is not my birthday. I turned 30 back in February. I just came across the jo...

Hanging outside with our neighbors after church.  Picking flowers.  walking barefoot on the grass.  taking rides in the wagon.  cat naps on the lawn.  being together, doing absolutely nothing.  board games.  playing ball in the middle of the street  sitting on the curb talking until the sun goes down.  inviting people in for Sunday dinner.   Sunday night movie.  having Daddy home with us.  enjoying the blessings God has given us. Rachel is the flower picker in the family. She says she's finding just the right bunch for her wedding someday.  Rachel and Kara with some of the neighbor kids.  Rachel and her friend Leah. Kyler is up to bat.  I could not get over the look in his face! :-D I actually hit a home run!  just before he smacked it out of the "field" ;-) 

As soon as my sister walked in the front door, hugs were given and then her belongings were played with. We like to make people feel right at home. The girls really enjoyed her "sun hat". They wore it around the house for several hours, trading off and getting a big kick out of it.  My Mom {in typical Nana fashion} sent along fun little gifts the kids. She knows them very well too - knew exactly what to send! Ethan got some bungee airplane sets, Rachel got a hip sack purse and Kara got her first ever back pack! She insists on still carrying it with her wherever she goes :)  Thank you Nana for the gifts and thank you Aunt Emmie for coming to see us!!! 

This post is for my husband, Jason. He switched office locations last week and loves his new location. Amazon is working on integrating all their offices to one, main location in Seattle, so slowly but surely, where he is now will be full to the brim of Amazonians :) Tonight we drove into Seattle to see his new digs. I love to see where he works. I like going to the location and getting that proper picture in my head, so when he comes home talking about his day at work, that picture in my head lines up with reality. I think I'm a visual learner, so this would make sense. I love giving the kids the opportunity to SEE the place Daddy goes to every day, so that when we pray for Daddy's time at work, they would see that building/office in their minds and know exactly what they're talking about. And, since work is such a big part of Jason's day, I enjoy knowing as much about it as possible.  I brought along the camera and pretended to be taking "random" shots, ...