When Your Children Make You Proud!

 I am just so proud of my boys that I have to share! :) Both boys were playing out front and came and asked for a bag or bin to put leaves in. What leaves? We really don't have any trees in the front that are dropping leaves right now. I looked outside and saw that they had piled up all the elderly neighbors leaves and wanted to carry them all to our compost pile. :D So proud of my boys for thinking about others!
Wish I would had taken pictures of them hard at work!
Here is a picture just for fun!

Turning 3

Lillie at age 2

My daughter turned 3 yesterday! As with all my kids....I am just in love with her! Although there are days I am exausted from taking care of her, I am so greatful God gave me this sweet, beautiful, yet spitfire of a girl! HAPPY BIRTHDAY LILLIE, WE ALL LOVE YOU!!!
See how big she has grown!

What a big 3 year old you are!

Visted a new church

Since we have moved, we have not found a new church. It hasn't been my priority for a long time. Finally my priorities have change and I am glad for that. As I have been preparing for homeschooling and have noticed my kids acting up, I decided it was NOW that a home church be found. So in the next couple of weeks we will be looking for a church. This Sunday we went to a small church....I mean small! Only 3 families. No Sunday school. I let the pastor and his family know that my children have only gone to church a couple times this past year and that they have never had to stay in the service with me. They almost always went to a childrens church.

I must say I am dissapointed in myself for not training my children to be able to sit and behave for any period of time. :( And I am now on a mission to teach that to my 10, 7, and 2 (almost 3) year old. They did great though. (ofcourse I felt embarassed for them not sitting the whole time) They all sat good for 40 minutes. I must think positive and realize that 40 mintues is BIG for children who have never had to sit.

I loved that the families there homeschool and very very sweet to me. They realized that this is a learning process for my kids and that practicing at home is a good way to help the kids learn.

I am anxious to start family worship time and doing devotionals with them again. I also plan on having the kids sit in one spot and practice sitting for periods of time.

The church was great, and we plan on going again. Maybe next time my husband will accompany us.

oh Lord!!! I am happy to be in your presence again!

Completing Him Challenge Week 1

Decided this would be a fun challenge. It was started by Courtney and is at her blog.

For week one:

June 14 – Step 1: Post a picture and/or write about your dating days.

So here we go.....
Casey and I met at a big camping bonfire party and I was just smitten by him. His nickname was "The Firefighter". And I love a man in uniform. I had no clue if he was a real firefighter or not. He was not feeling well so I was checking in with him every once in a while. The next morning my friends had left with out me and I needed a ride home. Fortunalty Casey was there and asked if he could take me home. This was the start of our relationship. Our dating consisted of meeting at a local hang out and just talking and having fun. I don't think we really ever went out on a real dinner date.

Here is a pictures of us at the Oregon Coast on a boat hunting for crab legs. Sorry the quality is not so great. Our scanner is not that great!



Step 2: Consider: How much time do you spend on a daily/weekly basis cultivating your marriage now? In what ways can you regain some of what has been lost in the daily shuffle of life?

I haven't been doing this at all. After almost 11 years of marriage, we have really lost touch. So this week I will spend some more one on one time with my husband and remind him how much I love him and respect him! I will lift him up in prayer and make sure I tell and show him I love him! With having 3 children and soon to be 4 (Step daughter comming for the summer!!!! :) ) we really haven't had any alone time at all. I need to make it a priority.

Wish I had more pics, but our scanner is not working very well!

Update from the homefront!

WOW it has been awhile since I have posted. That seems to be the norm around here. We are a very busy family. Both Casey and I have been going to school. Him full time and me part time. It has been hectic, but very enjoyable for me. I actually like going to school and as of right now am pulling A's in both classes! YAY!

The boys school year is almost over and I am as excited as them to have a summer break. The boys have done great in school and really have enjoyed thier teachers this year. I was able to go on a field trip with both of them! It was so good to be able to spend time with them at school. I think Andrew will have a boy teacher next year and he is excited for that. Male teachers are hard to come by! :) Joe is starting something new next year. He was accepted into Oregon Virtual Academy and will be schooling at home. He and I are excited for this and can't wait for the curriculum to come in the mail! :D

Lillie is growing like a weed. She is imaginative playing so much now and everytime I try to video her, she spots me and stops playing! :( She is slowly potty training and is excited to go to preschool this comming fall!

The weather here has been cold and raining one day to sunny the next. I was able to get some planting done, but then we had a wind storm and the chickens were able to sneek out and ate all my crop. So I am starting over and gardening veggies in the front yard in pots. Hopefully we will be able to eat some fresh veggies this year!


Here is a picture of the kids and I at the sportsman show with the golden Eagle.

And here is the one from last year. I love comparing the 2. Boy the kids have grown!

Cooking With Lillie - Making Playdough Part 2

Part 2 of making playdough! See this post to go to the beginning.

Once the burner is on medium, soon the wet dough will begin to form and look like this. Keep stirring. ;)

You may have to start flopping the dough over to make sure all is getting heated. It will soon start to take on a solid form. The color will brighten up also.

When it looks like the above picture, I flop it out onto a counter and begin kneading it and helping it cool down. WARNING: it will be very hot. You may have to wait a few minutes before you can knead it.

Let it cool enough for your anxious child to play, and your done! Enjoy! This batch makes quite a bit. It can be doubled, but you will need a bigger skillet because this recipe fills mine to the brim!
Grandmas Soft Playdough

3 cups flour
1 1/2 cup salt
3 cups water
2 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon cream of tarter
food coloring
spices or extract for smell

First mix all the dry ingredients
(for this time, I added allspice, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Sometimes I add lavender, or vanilla)
Then add all the dry ingredients and mix together.
Turn stove on medium heat.
Stir till dough takes form and looks like playdough!

We store ours in a tupperware container and use it for months!

So tell me? How do you make your playdough?

Cooking With Lillie - Making Playdough Part 1

This is a playdough recipe that I just love, and Lillie loves making it with me! To make it easy for my 2 year old to help, we first get all the ingredients ready! I put them all in small containers that she can easily poor into the skillet.
FYI : Although the skillet is on the burner, I do not actually turn on the burner till Lillie is done stirring and I move her out of the way! :) Yes, I know kitchen safety!! :)

Here is Lillie patiently waiting for me to get the move on! :)

Stir, stir, stir. This is Lillie favorite thing to do! She is mixing all the dry ingredients together before we add the wet!
I mix the food coloring into the water before we it to the dry ingredients. Stirring is so much fun!

When it starts to look like this, I move Lillie away from the stove, and I turn the burner on and stir some more. So here is the brief pause while I move her.........
Okay, really it is because Blogger will only allow me to use 5 photos at a time! :( Be back in a moment!

Here are all out ingredients ready to go!

Touring Tuesday

I was recently reading a blog that was doing a Touring Tuesday and was really enjoying it. Her blog is now not working, so I thought I would give it a try. So, every Tuesday I will try to give you a tour of areas of my home, town, and fun places we go! Please come along and enjoy the tours!

Our first tour will be the outside of our home. This is what people see when they first pull up to out house!

This is what you see from the other side of the street. This is a rental, so there is not a whole lot we can to. Or want to pay to have done! :)

If we are still here this summer, we are going to power wash the fence, fix the rotten ones, and repaint it!

Come on through the gate. Their are about 16 rose bushes in the river rock. They are beautiful in the summer, but a little dull in the winter!

Their is always someone waiting for you at the door!



Welcome to our little home!

Check back next week, and I will let you in to see the kitchen, or maybe a field trip!
Leave a comment please, I would love to know who is stopping by! :D

Beautiful Flowers, Beautiful Neighbors

With spring time weather in Eastern Oregon today, it reminded me of some beautiful pictures I took. We used to live in a pretty old house. We didn't like it and for many years wanted to move. What was keeping us was our neighbors. To one side of us was a sweet older couple. We loved them and our kids did too. She always had beautiful flowers growing in her backyard. Roger and Norma traveled to Nebraska every spring and summer to visit family and for many years I was there to tend to her flower and feed their cat. Oh how I miss tending to her flowers and visiting with their cat. We miss their great friendship and learned many wonderful things from our dear neighbors.

Now for the pictures. Oh how I love summer and beautiful flowers!

Are you a skirt only woman? Awsome giveaway!

Do you only wear skirts? I love to wear skirts! I do not wear them all the time, but am starting my collection. And one day plan to try only wearing skirts. I feel more sophisticated in them, more pleasing to look at, and feel just plain pretty when I wear them. I only have a few and would love more! So I am gonna tell you about a great give away! Stop on by Life in a Shoe and enter yourself also! The give away is for a skirt from New Creations Women Apparel. They have a great selection and I can't wait to try one out! Might have to buy a new pair of boots to go with it! ;)

Learning About Disabilities

Our son Andrew (6 almost 7) has a small disability. When he was a toddler and preschooler I was sure it was big and he really needed help. But as he has grown and learned how to cope, the disability has slowly decreased. He has never fit a diagnosis. I have searched and searched to diagnose him, but to no avail, he doesn't fit. He has a little of this and a little of that. So far I think he has Sensory Processing Disorder (Hyposensitive). The diagnosis is mainly just for me because I feel for some reason that I need to know. Today I went to a class about Aspergers and ADHD. It was informative. Most of it didn't fit into Andrew's life. He does well in school and most of the class was about how to help the teachers teaching them and how as parents to give the right information to teachers to help the child learn. Some of the ideas I can use at home when he is doing his homework. For a while I thought. Why am I here. My kids are being babysat while I listen to what I already know. Then at the end of the class, I realized why God put me into that class. I was talking to a preschool teacher who was just taking the class for a certification, but her grandchild showed small sighs of issues. So as I was describing Andrew she was amazed and gleaned from me everything I was saying! And what she thought was the best????? I had explained that Andrew never slept very long. As an infant, to toddler, to preschooler, to schoolager. This past year we accidentally put a very heavy blanket on his bed and for the first time he slept through the night! We didn't realize it till 3 days later that it was a trend. Why didn't we think of it sooner? He needed pressure and security to sleep! :) We were happy. Then as school started he would do great in school and then breakdown when he got into the van for the ride home. Sometimes in the parking lot. From this, I learned to have a heavy lap blanket in the car and a chewy snack and drink for the 2 minute drive home! It works wonders!

We still have many more quirks to work out, but I am happy God led me to this class to help someone else out like me! I also learned of a resource I can use in the area I live and I great woman who has 2 children with disabilities that I can call on if I ever need advice or new ideas! YES!!

Here are some websites I use that have helped me with Andrew:

Sensory Precessing Disorder
SPD Parent Share

The Out Of Sync Child

well, I can't seem to find my list, so if you have any other great sites, let me know! :)

We are a family that loves baby wearing!

When I saw posts on moms talking about baby wearing, I always though I loved my stroller too much to start wearing Lillie. But as I was doing daycare and could not afford a double stroller, I decided to buy a sling for Lillie. I loved my sling even though sometimes it was hard to use. I then found the mei tai and loved how it looked, but knew I couldn't afford a good one. That is when I started looking on line for paterns. Eventually I found a patern and changed it to look more like a Baby Hawk carrier. Then I went to work. I found an old curtain to use for the fabric and a part of some cool sheets we weren't using anymore. I used one of the think fabric pads you can use to change baby on for head support for a littler baby (the head support was tucked in on this picture for some reason). Doesn't look exactly like a Baby Hawk, but good enough for me!Anways, I have loved my mei tai and am so glad I am a baby wearing mama now! So much that when deciding to go for a walk and pick up the boys at school, I used a stroller for Lillie and she just kept saying that she was going to fall out. She ended up walking the whole way! My oldest boy loves to carry Lillie too. I will post one of him when I can find it! :)

And on another note: Can anyone tell me how to post a picture on blogger and not have it the first thing on my post?

Want to eat healthier this year?

We do and have been doing pretty well! But we really miss certain things. One major one is popcorn with yummy butter, or sauteeing in yummy butter! Well, I just read one of my favorite blogs and Amy is giving away a free bottle of grapeseed oil! SO I had to do some research. The grapeseed oil she is giving away is from Wildtree. I checked out their catalog and yummy, it all looks great! Here is some info from their catolog: " Grapeseed oil is low in saturated fat, even lower than olive oil. It is high in Antioxidents, like vitamin E. It has no colesterol. And there are even studies showing that it helps raise HDL (good colesterol) and lowers LDL (bad colesterol) and may have other health benefits like lowering blood pressure. " Sounds good to me! Amy even gives a couple recipies to use it in! The popcorn idea looks awsome! We love buttery stovetop popcorn! Check it out and get some for yourself!