Two Terrific Twos!

 

First was Thomas - and now our Sophia is two! She is so full of joy!!!

We love our Sophie!

Learning Gratitude from My Mother!

I remember being a teen, laying down at night, and hearing a crunching noise from under my pillow...

a thank you note from my mother! She always knew what to say, right when I needed it most. 

And what a great example she was to me. My mom would not only write us children notes, she would also send thank you notes to her friends and neighbors regularly. My brother even received one of these precious notes in the mail after my mom had passed away.

My mother not only had gratitude - she expressed that gratitude in thoughtful ways!

In January of 2020, I wanted to feel more joy in life for the coming year. So I followed my mother's example of gratitude and started a simple gratitude journal. I would write one thing each and every day that I was thankful to have in my life - everything from my loving husband, Luke, to a working dishwasher and a day of rain... 

When March of 2020 came, this helped me find at least one joyful thing in life each day. When days and weeks are challenging, this helps me find my blessings. I have yet to miss a day, and today, I am thankful for being able to find something to be grateful for 

EVERY

SINGLE
DAY!

I am so very blessed! Thanks for your example, mom!

 

She's a Magnificent 7!

 

We love our Ash so very much! She's so creative and loves to read and learn... 

And she LOVES bugs!

I am so blessed to have such a lovely 7 year old!

For Thy Bounteous Blessings....

It has been a busy few days processing more of the tomatoes, using 2 chicken carcasses and preparing some of our dry beans for use!

I ended up with 85 jars so far - black beans, garbanzo beans, white beans, pinto beans, chili base with the tomato juice, soup base with the chicken stock, lots of tomato sauce... and of course, more tomato powder (not pictured) made with the dried tomato skins.

This is about 1/3 of them done

I have also been working on getting the sweet potato ready to freeze and what we roasted and ate already is delish!

And veggie curry and pasta sauce (also for the freezer) with the leftover chicken stock and tomato sauce respectively...

I give thanks so much for these blessings!

The Countdown Continues!

 With the arrival of Oliver, we now have:

7 year old Claire - Growing up too fast!

6 year old Ashytn - our budding

Entomologist! 

5 year old Parker - our fashionista!

4 year old Olivia - sweet as can be!

3 year old Rylee- life of the party!

2 year old Thomas - Grandpa's boy!

1 year old Sophia - Everyone's princess (especially daddy's)!

And our newest "little brother", Oliver!

I am so blessed!

Eight Is Enough... For Now!

 Welcome to Oliver!!

We are in love!

I am so blessed!!!

Thomas is Two!!!

 He is such a delight! Nothing terrible in sight!

We so thoroughly enjoy seeing this little man grow and learn!

And I love seeing Grandpa Luke with this little... there is something so special with these two!

        I am so blessed!!!

Three! And She's Charming Indeed!

 

Rylee is a little bundle of energy! She has a beautiful smile and is usually so kind to all those around her. We love our Rylee and her adventurous spirit!

I am so blessed!

Summer is a Time for Projects!

 

I have had BIG dreams on expanding the garden this year and have worked hard to make them a reality (in progress)!

When I needed a tree removed this spring, I decided that this area would make a great expansion to the garden. So Jon helped me remove two bushes and add a glorious arched walkway. Now I have this:

Which MANY wood chips and seeds later has become this:

Really hoping for lots more food!

And the rest of the garden has been fun - although I inadvertently (they were marked incorrectly) bought 2 pumpkin plants that took up too much garden space... 

I even learned that I like Swiss chard and small eggplant!

I am trying my hand at growing in self-wicking buckets this year too. So far, so good.

And speaking of wood chips, I covered about 1/2 the back lawn to cut down on water and mowing. Jon helped me hang a giant swing - and as Rylee says, Grandma's playground was improved!

And these old kitchen lights?

Received a much needed make-over!

I LOVE it! Plus I can see things in the kitchen SO MUCH BETTER! I didn't even realize how dark it was...

Then this last week (since I don't have enough garden space ;) - 

From this....

To this!  

Can't wait for my fall crops to start growing!

I am so blessed to have great parents who taught me to work hard and how to grow things- and not to be afraid of working hard and trying new things!