Down on the Farm

This week we went to the state fair. Always a fun time I look forward to every year. Lots of animals, fried foods, people, music and random eye candy to boot! Of course I took lots of pics, so I thought I'd share a few.

That family shot...gotta do it!

Giddy up

First time eating that yummy corn!

Smooches

Taking a rest before the next exhibit

Little hands on the farm. The kids get to be farmers!
The sister shotIt''s great to be a kid!

Sometimes...

Over a month ago we lost two of our chickens to some wild animal. We are not sure what, our dogs just pulled their bones out of the wooded area and they were picked clean so it could have been any number of animals. Anyway, our local feed store finally got some full grown chickens in this week so we stopped by to get them and let the chicken laying begin again. We had left our coop open for the past week or so to let the chickens free graze so Michael had to go through the wooded area to find them and get them back in the coop to introduce them to each other. We won't let these chickens free graze until they get the picture that the coop is their new home. So, before we could close the door we had to get the first chickens.

Well, Michael was searching through the trees, that all sit on a pretty sharp hill on our lot when I saw the creek was full again and yelled to him, "Hey, the creek is full, is the ground wet?" He then proceeded to call back, "Yes, and slippery...." Just then I heard a boom and an, "Oooooooochhh". My poor hubby skidded down the hill a bit and ran smack into a tree. Ooooo, that had to hurt. Of course I couldn't help but laugh at the irony of the situation. Sometimes you gotta just burst into fits of inappropriate laughter, you know?

Ten Smile Tuesday

Did another week just go by? Whew, it is crazy how fast they seem to go. I like doing these 10 smiles so I get a moment to just savor the last week and have a record of the good things. So, without further adieu, here they are!

1. Worship at the barn. Some friends at church decided to have worship at their barn last Friday. They just invited the whole church over (it's not a big church), a bunch came and we just had a great time of fellowship and singing. Love it!

2. Tomatoes. One of my tomato plants now has 10 tomatoes on it. Woo hoo! Not only do I love to eat them but I'm going to try my hand at canning them for sauce this summer. I am so excited!

3. Giraffe feeding. Lilla loved feeding the giraffes so much that when we got home she had to call Daddy and Grandma and tell them all about it. She's also been saying, "I pet elephant" all week long. Too cute!

4. Blackberries. My neighbor has a huge blackberry tree and she is allergic to them so she said I could come and take as many as I want. I plan to go over later in the week so I can make blackberry pie for the church picnic this weekend. Yummo!

5. Bananas foster. Our local Culver's has this ice cream creation, their own version of Bananas foster that is soooo yummy. We had it last night and enjoyed it immensely!

6. Friday. See my last post for details. It was just a good day. :)

7. Rain. We have had a lot of rain in the midwest this year. It has destroyed much of the crops, and much of my garden to boot. But, I want to be like Corrie ten Boom's sister that she wrote about in The Hiding place. They were in a concentration camp and she was thanking God for the fleas because it kept the guards out of their quarters so they could do bible studies. So, in light of that, I'm going to be thankful for how green the grass around us is, how full our well is and the very little need to water anything. You just got to look for the good.

8. Job. I've been reading the book of Job this week and it is teaching me some things. First of all, there is one of the best verses in the Bible in chapter 19. I'm going to let you go there to read it for yourself! :) Also, it is reminding me that God is all powerful, He sees us, He knows us and He is able to do whatever His will is for our lives. Who am I to question that?

9. Time with Daddy. Lilla and Michael have just been so cute together lately. They have been spending a lot of time just being together. Here is one of the pics of them eating sandwhiches together. It just touches my heart to see that Lilla has a Daddy that loves her so!

10. In the kitchen with Lilla. The peanut has loved so much lately cooking and cleaning in the kitchen. She particularly loves to wash the dishes. Go figure. It's just fun to watch her grow up and have fun doing what we think is the ordinary. You gotta love it!

What are you smiling about this week?

The other day...

Friday was one of those perfect days.

The weather was lovely. The sky was blue, no rain that day. I turned on the sprinkler for the first time. Lilla loved it.

I laid in the hammock and enjoyed the trees around me, the smell of the fresh country air and the sounds of my little girl's laugh stretching out over our yard. I looked at the back of my house with the little window in the middle which is to be the nursery for our new little someone come December.

All I could think was, God is so good. And I, am thankful.

10 Smile Tuesday

So here's it's Tuesday again so I thought I'd look back on the last week and relish the good of the last week.

1. My grandma (Bossy) going to be with the Lord. While it has been sad at the loss of life, the promise of eternal life is so much bigger that I find myself a bit jealous. Ah, the joy of seeing Jesus. What a day, what a place, what a Saviour!

2. An impromptu, and hot, day at the zoo last Thursday. It was like 90 but we had such fun! They have this new water area for the kids that is a total blast! Lilla just ran around splashing and loving the water spilling and spraying all about. I'm sorry I don't have pictures but I couldn't find my small camera and didn't want to haul around the big one. It was such good times though and I'll have to take pictures next time.

3. Garage saleing. So several of you asked if I found anything good on my new adventure on Saturday, and I did! We have a swing set for the peanut but we wanted a Step 2 thing for her to climb on too. We searched and searched and this is what we found for $20!

Not too shabby! We also got a Step 2 wagon that was in almost new condition for $20. I didn't get a picture of that yet. Our old one broke so we were excited to find such a good deal! I also got some books and clothes for the peanut for next summer. Her younger cousin is quickly catching up to her (Lilla is really small for her age) so the clothes train of her older cousin will probably be ending pretty abruptly. So, I'm stocking up for cheap, gotta love it!

4. A pool for the peanut. We were going to just buy one of the little blow up deals but this was on sale at Target and the peanut loves to swim so much we thought, heck, why not. Plus, she kept hugging the ad and saying, "My pool." I'm really not kidding. :) She is really something! So it's like 2 feet deep and 10 feet long, she loves it!

5. The peanut and Papaw on Father's Day. Is this not adorable? They were feeding the ducks together. Love it!

6. Storytime at the library. The peanut loves to sing and dance and that's what she got to do! I don't know if you can see the frog on the carpet in this picture but she really liked him. She kept saying, "Frog, ribbit, ribbit!" What a comedian!

7. Pea salad. I know that many might not like it, but I do. Really, just about anything with peas you can pass my way. My nephew had a graduation this weekend and my sister-in-law made it, oh just yummo!

8. Fresh strawberries. While most of my garden was a washout because of the flooding, a few of my strawberries, that were not eaten by critters, were able to be salvaged. Such fun to pick and eat them!

9. Time with my hubby. Michael took a couple of bereavement days last week to spend time with us and it was just so nice to have him here. I don't think I really knew how much I missed him until I saw him again. He suprised me by meeting me at the airport (he said he had to work and would send someone) with flowers. Such a sweet surprise!

10. Home. There is nothing truely like it, and I'm so glad to be back!

Oh, and one more for good measure. 12 weeks. I love 12 weeks. I feel like myself again. Very little to no nausea. Energy. It's like someone plugged me in. Love, love, love 12 weeks!!

What are you all smiling about today?

Well...crap

Yesterday, while the peanut and I were playing in the backyard, she pulled out my itty bitty gold hoops and laughingly threw them in the grass. Now, if you were too see our grass at this moment, you would know why this is a big problem. Needs a cut does not begin to describe this mess.

So, I began to search on my hands and knees through blades and weeds aplenty. The peanut kept trying to pull me over to her sandbox so I had to finally say, "Honey, remember how you pulled mommy's earrings out and threw them in the grass? Well mommy is trying to find them right now."

Her response? "Oh crap."

My response? "Honey, that's not a nice word. Let's not say that word anymore."

Her response to that? With her little girl giggle, "Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap." Giggle.

Uh huh. Again with the mother of the year prize.

10 Smile Tuesday

OK, so before the day gets away from me again, I want to post my 10 smiles for the week. The peanut is still sleeping so I'm going to try to make it quick before she wakes up and the world bursts open!!

1. Painting. I gave the peanut watercolors and a paintbrush for the first time yesterday and it was love at first sight! She just kept painting and painting and painting. She probably spent a good hour and a half doing. It was lots of fun!

2. Family. My stepfather's family came to visit my parent's the weekend and it was so fun to see them again. We always have a good laugh and it was just a fun time.

3. Play kitchen. I found a Little Tikes play kitchen for the peanut on Craigslist and she is loving it! She loves the idea of cooking and baking and it has been fun!

4. Cookie making. The peanut and I made cookies for the first time last week. I usually don't make them here as I can't control myself to not eat all of them so this was a special treat. She had so much fun doing it you can't help but want to do it again!

5. Sermons. I've spent a lot of time in my car lately and so I've had an opportunity to listen to some of the sermon podcasts that have been sitting there forever. I really enjoy verse by verse (expository) preaching and I've downloaded some good ones so they've been eductional and thought provoking. And that is super good when you are a stay at home mom and your day can consist of wether to watch Dora or Diego!

6. Money Saving Mom. Thank to my friend Amanda, at Blessings all Mine, I was introduced to this website Money Saving Mom. She has got some great advice for saving money, getting things for free and coupons. Love, love, love it! I put her link in my sidebar if you want to go save money too!

7. Puddles. The peanut has discovered the joy of puddles. She loves to jump and splash in them and will just giggle and call out "Puddle!!" Seriously adorable!

8. Potty training. We've been kind of laxed lately as we've been so busy but yesterday she did go poopy for the first time on the chair. Holy cow, I almost cried!! Good stuff! OK, except for the fact that I had to clean that out, that's just not cool. Ewwww... Unfortunately, due to her very small size, the big toilet scares her so she won't go on it. Oh well, one step closer is a smile for me!

9. Deals. Kohl's (my favorite store besides the GAP) was having a super great sale this weekend, my in-laws gave us their 30% off your entire order coupon. We got the husband a bunch of new polos for work and I got my new summer t's and we saved a bundle. Good times!!

10. Buds. My trees are really finally budding. Two of the trees have got little bitty leaves on them. Summer is coming!! I think that is my biggest smile of all!!

What are you smiling about today??

Under a Shady Tree

So I know I've posted little of substance lately, it's just been so lovely outside that I can hardly think of sitting in my house while the beauty of spring pops all around me. I've been pulling weeds, arranging my flowerbeds (no flowers yet as our town still has the possibility of a late frost!), picking out seeds for my garden, enjoying the peanut's new swing set and sandbox, putting up a hammock in the yard and just enjoying the beauty of God's creation.

It has mostly been in the 60's here so it has finally provided me an opportunity to wear my flip flops again. Oh, how I've missed my flip flops. I have a pair of croc ones that I wear that are the most comfortable ones I've ever worn. And, let me tell you, I've worn a lot in my day. I like to be bare foot and that is the closest way I can do it and still keep my feet relatively safe.

Today it's back into the 40's with a chance of snow...brrrr...old man winter hasn't let go of that grip yet...darn it!! So, today I will stay inside and hibernate for a bit while it warms up. Actually, I've got a lot of work planned today, a birthday party for the peanut to attend and a steering committee meeting. It's probably a good thing it's cold so I won't be drawn to go sit under my tree on my new hammock, which I love by the way! I can't wait until the leaves are out and it really is a Shady Tree, good times!!

Oops, the peanut is up, gotta go! Hope you all have a great weekend too!

Mother of the year?!?!

OK, it's actually a post of why I will probably not be nominated mother of the year...take a look, what do you think?

Evidence #1: Running around with no pants on
Evidence #2: Teaching her to be a tree hugger
Evidence #3: Popcorn for lunch
Evidence #4: Letting her play in the mucky creek with sticks
Evidence #5: Letting her hug and kiss a worm

What's your verdict?

Ten Smile Tuesday

Here we are, another Tuesday already. I thought I would start early before I forget. Here are my smiles for the week:

1. On Sunday night, as we were driving from church to Wal-Mart in the back seat we hear a little voice singing the entire words to There's Just something about that name. Without prompting, nothing, the entire song! Pretty cool for a child that just turned 2 last month! More than that though is just the warming of my heart. It was the loveliest rendition I ever heard!

2. Last night we had a ladie's tea for St. Patty's day with the women at my church. It was nice to get to know people better and spend some time with a 93 year old woman! Oh, the stories she has to share!

3. Corned beef and cabbage yesterday. Michael doesn't eat cabbage and I love it so it was so nice to enjoy it yesterday!

4. Spring. It starts in 2 days people! It doesn't completely feel like it here yet but the grass is really starting to grow again so it's on it's way, I know it!!

5. On Friday night the peanut and I turned on our Laurie Berkner DVD

and just danced around our living room laughing and chasing each other. It was just so much fun and exactly how I want her to remember her childhood!

6. Easter decorations. I love the lighter colors and the bunnies all over the house, it just lightens up my world and makes me smile!

7. Girl scout cookies. I got mine finally on Sunday and I'm telling you, oh my goodness, so worth the wait. I'm glad I only ordered 3 boxes though, they are so addictive!!

8. Telling the peanut about the real Easter story. Although she can't completely get it, she's on her way and it's thrilling!! The bible says that a knowledge of God is placed in all of our hearts, even the rocks cry out to him, isn't that wonderful to know?

9. The baby bunnies, rabbits and ducks we visit at our local feed store. I mean really, what is not to love about new life? It's beautiful!!

10. This week in church we sang a song that I just love. Humble King. If you don't know it, you should. It just really touched my heart. There's a line that says, "You are the God of the broken, the friend of the weak, you wash the feet of the weary, embrace the ones in need." I mean really, what is not to love about such a God?

Have a good week all!

Amy

10 Smile Tuesday

"Enjoy life, this is not a dress rehearsal!"

1. Yesterday, at dinner I was getting frustrated with the peanut once again as she just refused food, AGAIN. So, I started praying for patience when I hear this little voice, "Mommy, I pray Jesus." OK, so just melt my heart why don't you. So I started her off, "Jesus (she repeats what I say), I love you." She then told Jesus she loved Him. Wow, wow, wow. Could there be anything sweeter?

2. The sunshine yesterday and today. It's been streaming through the windows all morning and I am just loving it!!

3. A new refrigerator. So, we are not major purchase kind of people, but we were at Fry's Electronics on Friday and saw this Maytag they were just trying to move for $500. I think the normal price was like $1200. Our old one was, well, old, to say the least. The door was crooked, it kind of cools things unevenly, it was smaller...blah,blah, blah. Anyway, we got the new one yesterday and wow, it is nice. It's funny because it just barely fit so they had to squeeze it in, but we are loving it. Oh, and now we have an extra one for storage in the garage.

4. My little drummer girl. She got this for her birthday and just loves it.

She just walks around the house playing her drum all day long!

5. MOPS. We had such a good time on Friday just spending some time with other girls and learning about making our house a home with simple decorations. It has totally inspired me to "create".

6. Conversation with my husband. We've been learning more about evangalism at church and it has really spurred my husband and I on to thinking more about it. The other night we just lay in bed talking about it and how important it is to us and to God. Now that was something worth staying up late for!

7. Reconnecting with old friends. I signed up for a myspace page 2 years ago to keep in contact with my little brother and sister in Florida, but it has really been an avenue to find old friends. Some friends from junior high contacted me this past week and it was so fabulous to catch up with them! Love it!

8. The blog party. I've really enjoyed getting to know some new people and spending a bit of time on their blogs. I love a good party!

9. Books. We recently got the peanut some Dr. Suess books from Kohl's (they are on sale for $5!) and I have seriously enjoyed them. Particularly Horton Hatches an Egg. They are funny, have lots of words and fun pictures and they are a great way to end the day!

10. Fresh eggs. Our chickens have started laying again in the last couple of weeks and it has been so great. Just this morning I went out to find two more of these delightful eggs. You can see the one has some chicken fuzz stuck to it. Now, that's what I call fresh!!

Spring is here, the sky is blue...

OK, so spring isn't actually here, but we did get a bit of a peek at her today. We ran around, played with the melting snow, got on the swings, scooped up doggy poop (which, clearly, was not my favorite part!) and just enjoyed the sun on our faces. Lilla's pants, shoes, gloves and behind were completely drenched and muddy from being out there, but I still had to drag her in. I think she's about as ready to be out there as I am!

Our chickens are producing again so that has been another fun part about the impending spring. We hadn't had eggs from them since the fall so it is nice to see those brown oblong shaped yummies once again! I love when they produce a lot because then we are able to share them with friends and family and they are always well received!

What do you enjoy about the warmer weather?

Beeny Weeny

Saturday night my sister in law decided it was time to get all the special girls together from her life and have a girl’s night. She rented a limo to pick everyone up, had drinks and food and foot baths. She wanted it just to be a time for the girl’s to have a great time and just be girls. That was so very thoughtful of her.

You know, since I got married I never have time with just girls. I always have the peanut attached to my side and I just thought it would be so much fun. You know, kind of relive my youth days a bit. Looking back I remembered spending lots of nights going dancing with my friends and just laughing and talking and I missed it.

I had another friend that lives nearby tell me she was going to have a weinie roast the same night and invited our family to that. You know, just sitting around a campfire. Toasting hot dogs and munching on smores. Laughing and talking, sounds like fun! Of course I couldn’t do both and I had committed to my sister in law first so that’s the way I went.

Taking a ride in the limo was fun. I had a glass of wine, which I just never do. Please people, I am way too cheap to buy alcohol. Not to mention, I don’t really care for the way it makes me feel and I don’t really like it around the peanut. Anyway, as a result of not drinking since I got pregnant with the exception of a couple of sips since the end of breastfeeding, it didn’t take too long before I was feeling it. And I’m talking not in a good way.

To compound the issue, I was surrounded, with the exception of my sister, Erika, by a gaggle of girls who’s apparent only topic of conversation was drinking, sex and more drinking. Wow, the depth! Mind you, I’m completely incapable of small talk so this to me is like sticking needles in my eyes.

Let me just tell you how by 9pm I was calling my husband begging him to come and get me.

On Tuesday I talked to my weinie roast friend to ask her how things had gone. She relayed the story of how her daughter got sick at the gathering but she wished I would have been there to shoo everyone away. Apparently they stayed another two hours. Is it totally sad I wished I would have been there too?

Yeah, when it comes down to it, I think I’m just a weinie roast kind of girl.