Our latest..

This week is the third week of potty-training for Leah!
She continues to excell in her training and I am so glad! She does wet her Pull-Ups sometimes at naptime,(and at night of course) but has very few accidents during the day, which I am thankful for. This week we have graduated up to wearing big-girl underwear with a Tshirt. She has been having a hard time pulling down her panties in time, so it has taken a while to get here. :) Now we are moving her up to wearing pants (or dresses) and teaching her to pull them down (or up) in time. Treats continue to be a great motivator! This next week, we will work on moving the potty chair to the bathroom! Big change! :)

Bekah is growing, growing, growing!! She caught that yucky cold that's been going around and struggled with it last week, before giving it to Leah and I this week. (yuck!) I had her weighed on Friday, and her weight (with clothes) was 16 lbs 1 oz and measuring 25 inches long! Wow! We moved her old bassinet out a few weeks ago, as it was much too small for her. (she was hitting the sides with her hands as she slept) We put a crib in our room for her and it took her a while, but now is sleeping well in it!

Our garden has given me a break this week, which is nice! I am waiting on my soybeans, corn, and tomatoes to ripen before I begin my next canning process! I did however, can 16 pints of carrots this week which was fun! Otherwise, I have been enjoying going outside with the girls, and going for walks with our new double stroller! (It is soooo nice!)

Have a great Labor day weekend! I am looking forward to just having time with family for 3 whole days! :)

Congrats!

Congratulations to my friend Tammy, her husband John and son Jed on the birth of their new little girl!

~Violet Mae~

born Tuesday, August 26 around 4:30pm

6 lbs 5 oz

(didn't get a measurement)

Tammy said her birth went well, and wasn't too hard/long. Violet has a bunch of dark hair, and is very healthy and so is Tammy! What a blessing!

My Silly Girls!

My sillies..

Leah, in her new big-girl panties! (sorry for the half-naked picture.. potty-training is an adventure!)

Leah "holding" Bekah

Whoops! Fall over! (as Leah says)
silly, silly!

Make-It-At-Home Monday : My "secret" Sweet Iced Tea recipe

Today I want to share with you my secret homemade Sweet Iced Tea recipe! We used to buy the Nestea Instant Iced Tea but once I tried making it homemade, I will never drink that instant stuff again! It is very easy, and SOOOO good! Enjoy!

Laura's Secret Recipe Sweet Iced Tea
(makes 1 Gallon)

6 Tea Bags (any Black-based tea)
4 Cups boiling water
¼ tsp Baking Soda
1 ½ Cups Sugar (can be less to taste)
12 Cups cold water
mint leaves for garnish (if desired)

Place tea bags and boiling water in bowl. Add baking soda. Cover, let steep for 10 minutes. Take tea bags out, do NOT squeeze. Discard bags. Add sugar and tea into gallon pitcher. Stir until dissolved. Add cold water, stirring well. Refrigerate until cold. Serve on top of ice with mint sprigs, if desired!

Leah's 1st Haircut!

Before picture: different lengths.. and never cut!

After Picture: All one length, much neater-looking!

I cut a few inches of curls off, only because I had to, to even it out. It was still a sad day! (I did save them for her baby book though!)

Fun at the Park!

It is sooooo nice to have such a great park close by our house! I would have loved to have a park like this to play on when I was a girl.. so fun that my girls can enjoy it! I love the beach next to it as well. Great for meeting friends at!

The park in Lake George

Leah and buddy Jed (born 3 days apart!)

Leah, loving her boucy duck


Handsome guy Jed!

My friend (and Jed's mom) Tammy enjoying Bekah (with her own baby girl in utero!)

Still More Free Beans!

Quick note, I still have FREE Beans!

They will be ready over the weekend (Sat/Sun) , please let me know ASAP if you want to come pick them!

Thanks!

Operation Florida Update!!!

Things have changed a lot for my challenge, Operation Florida!

For starters, some of Josh's family wasn;t able to go as planned, so that made costs rise for us even more, so we aren't going to be able to go to Florida this year. (sad)

HOWEVER, we will be using the money we raise to go to Georgia instead! His family we would have seen in Florida lives there, and his aunt graciously is welcoming us into her house to help us save costs! So, hopefully this winter/spring, when things up here are chilly and snowy, we will be flying to Georgia for a nice family vacation!!!!

So, our Operation Florida has become Operation Georgia! And the costs will be a lot less, although not quite determined yet, it will be a lot easier for us to do! Plus it will be great to see all the relatives down there, some of which I have never met! :)

Thanks to all who have supported and helped me save funds! I am so thankful!!! I will tally up my savings and update soon!

Quick Note: FREE Beans!!

That's right! After just the FIRST picking of beans from our garden, I have enough for the year for us, and have two or three more pickings to go! (Ahhh!)

So I am offering FREE Green Beans to whoever will come and pick them! We grow organically, no pesticides, and the beans are great! PLEASE come and get some! Let me know ASAP if you would like beans as I'm sure they will go fast! The next picking should be ready Monday or Tuesday. I am open to anytime you can come to pick. Just let me know!

Thanks a lot! I hope this is able to bless you!

What a Busy Week!

Hello all.. I know it's been a while since I've posted.. what a crazy week this has been (and continues to be) :)

Our BIG News this week is Leah is working on being POTTY TRAINED! I took my friend Anna's advice on Monday, and dressed Leah is a Tshirt and NO diaper. (Just naked!) She immediately noticed the difference, and went potty right away in her potty chair! Had a few accidents on Monday, but nothing huge. Tuesday, and Wed. went WELL! She had no accidents, and went potty on the chair all day! (Every hour or so) I am sooooo proud of her! What a big girl! She gets potty treats when she goes (Suckers) so that is a good incentive. She wears Pull Ups at Naptime and Diapers at night. But Tues and Wed. I noticed her Pull Ups were dry! Wow! ;) I am just sooo excited to have her potty-trained!

My week has been crazily busy with BEANS... our garden beans came in ferociously, and I have been trying desperately to keep up picking! We planted 2 huge rows, and I am thinking I should have just planted one! Out of 4 feet of row I got 2 HUGE bowls full (about 14 qts worth) and I still had 3/4 of the row left! I used my canner for the first time on Tuesday, and it was an experience! I was scared beyond belief it would explode or something.. (lol) but it went perfect and they turned out great! The second time around it was much easier as I was familiar with it. I went out early this morning to pick my second row of beans (and this is only the first picking!) and am working on snapping, washing, and canning them today! It is quite a job! However it has been pretty good so far, just making sure I keep at it is the trick! :) So far, I have done 19 quarts! Wow! The fun part is mixing potty-training with having to can beans.. we just have the potty chair in the kitchen.. works great!

On another note, my friend Tammy and I went and saw "Mamma Mia" Tuesday night, and it was such a great movie! A couple adult humor spots, but all in all it was a fun movie! I loved the songs, and DID feel like dancing along! I had to bring Bekah, but she was great, and loved to see the "big screen". Tammy is 37 weeks pregnant with her baby girl, so it was a fun Mom/Daughter night out! :) I highly recommend the movie.

Well, I am off to keep busy with my chores! Wishing you all a great week, will be posting again soon.

HUGE Blessings!

We have been blessed 4x over this month with so many HUGE Blessings! I had to share them!

#1 - A Great "Work" truck!

Josh's little red truck isn't quite up to par for all the farm work we need it to do now, and this truck was literally gift-wrapped for us! (sold from a friend) In one day we heard about it, saw it, bought it and paid for it!!! Wow! It is a '95 Chevy Silverado with 4-Wheel Drive and even a bench seat in the back for the girls! (It seats 6!) What a useful vehicle this will be in winter! (Plow season!)

#2 - A Double Stroller!

Thanks to Craigslist.com I found a NICE used double stroller in the Cities for only $35 that my mom will pick up for me this week, as she is down there visiting family! I am sooooooo excited to start using it for my munchkins!

#3- A Brand New Chest Feezer!

We have needed one for quite a while, and late this week as I put away some of my bags of fresh garden peas, I couldn't fit any more in! So, we broke down and bought a new Energy-Star model, 15 ft feezer! So now we have lots of room plus more! How nice for garden stuff!

#4 - A Beautiful China Hutch!

I confess I have no pictures of this, as it is not in my posession (yet)! To make a long story short, I have been searching for a year or two in various locations for a cheap, beautiful China Hutch for my tea set and other "pretties" and my waiting has paid off! I bought one off Ebay for under $100!!!! And this is a huge two-piece model with buffet and top display hutch! It is simply goregous!! I can't wait to show you all pictures!! I will be picking it up in Sept!! :) Yay!

God has really been blessing us this week, what with all these blessings I listed, and the garden produce coming in in abundance.. he is truly a cup-runneth-over God!

Rebekah's Dedication

At church this Sunday, our family was up front, dedicating our Rebekah Grace to God! The same pastor who married us (and dedicated my siblings :) was able to pray for Rebekah and helped us tell the congregation of our desire to raise Bekah for God. My mom sang a song for special music and it was beautiful! It was a very special day!

Rebekah wore a very special dress made with love by a dear friend of my mom's. I got to go and pick out the color and style a few months back, and had so much fun! Leah had a similar dress for her dedication, yet hers was pink. I was so taken with the pretty blue ribbons on this dress I loved it instantly. (Looks so cute on Bekah, too!) She has a bonnet, but it was a tad smaller than I thought it would be, so she wore it for pictures only. Hard to plan ahead how big she would be.. as a premie! :)

Just a fun note: we took Leah up front with us when we had Bekah dedicated, (I thought it'd be great to have our whole family up there) so Josh held her the whole time, and while Pastor was praying, talking etc.. she was stroking Josh's face, feeling his goatee.. it was kind of funny! Poor Joshy! All in all, she did great though.. and no major disruptions!

Pastor Fred and our family

What a sweetheart on Dedication Day!

Sweet little face.. cute bonnet!

My Frugal Friday!

I have had a great deal of good savings lately, and since I haven't had much luck couponing the last few weeks due to lack of good deals, it was great to find some freebies again! _______________________________________________

Target:

Powerade .. FREE w/$1 off coupon (plus 0.21 overage!)

2 Carefree Pantiliners and 1 Band-Aid package - All FREE with special $5 off 3 prod. coupon! (Plus $1.00 overage which I used on the small spray bottle, making that FREE too!)

All Travel Detergent .. FREE (w/$1 off coupon)

Wal-Mart:

4 Bic Pen Packs... 0.33 each (after $1 off 2 coupon)

Well Patch ... FREE after $1 off coupon (plus 0.03 overage)

Johnson's Buddy Soap .. FREE (w/$1 off coupon)

4 Kotex Pantiliners ... ALL FREE with 4 $1 off coupons

Farmland Ham ... $1.16 after $2 off coupon (This rang up wrong on my receipt.. it should have been only 0.98, but it's still a good deal)

Farmland Sausage ... FREE after $2 off coupon

Action Scrubber Set ... Paid $1.75 OOP and will be getting $4.99 back in mail in refund.. so I was PAID to buy this! Great deal!

And I couldn't pass up these girls' Tshirts for only $2! ( so cute!) I picked up 2 for Leah next year and 2 for Bekah for next year. _______________________________________________

I love getting great deals!!! :) I went to Target again that week and picked up 3 Gillette Body Washes FREE, 5 more FREE pantiliners (who can pass up FREE?) and couple bags of Bliss Chocolates for $1 each! Fun Frugal Friday story!

And the garden season starts..

I just finished making and canning 12 pints of Strawberry Jam, 4 pints of Strawberry Jelly and 15 pints of Triple Berry Jam (Blueberry, Raspberry and Strawberry) which is all my jams/jellies for the year! They all turned out lovely, and it's very nice to have that done!

Then, this week I find my garden is beginning to be ready to harvest! Starting with the arrival of my Snow Peas!! I have been picking & freezing all week! So far I have 16 quart bags frozen, just from 3 pickings! Wednesday night I made the YUMMIEST stir-fry with them.. I could have eaten the whole pan! What a treat these peas are!

Next to harvest should be my green beans.. and that will be a challenge! Trying out my pressure cooker for the first time! :) Any advice? :)

My yummy dinner, Chicken Pea Pod with Cajun Rice.