HOMEOWNERS!!!!!!!!!!

We are officially Homeowners!!!

As of this past Tuesday, we (finally) closed on my parent's house, and transferred everything into our name, dotted our I's and crossed our T's and signed our names about 27 times! And it is all sooooooo worth it! I am just SO excited to finally be done with all of that!

This house deal has been a LOOOOONG uphill process, and furthermore cementing the fact in my mind that business among family can be "messy" and "drawn-out" But I am sooo thankful to finally own our own house and land! It is a real blessing! YAAAAAY!

Where did my parents move, you may ask? Their (new) house will be built next door to us, starting after the New Year. They are digging the basement now and making sure it is all ready for the winter set before the ground freezes. :) We are very excited about that, but it will be to at least February before we are seperate households again. Oh Well! I am just EXTREMELY thankful for our house! (so fun to say! OUR House!)

Underwater World

Josh and Leah enjoy the fish!

Leah was amazed!!!!

HUGE Manta Ray

Bekah and I

What we came to see- the Sharks!!! (Leah's fav)

Bekah really liked the view too!

It was awesome!

My only regret about doing the Underwater World is it is really expensive and we did it last in our trip to MOA, so we really didn't have a lot of time to truly enjoy it. But the girls had sooo much fun, and Leah got a lot of first-hand knowledge of Fish.. we have been studying them in school. :)

Fun in the cities.. a month late!

I wanted to post my pics from our Family Reunion we went to in September! Yes, late I know! I was hoping to get some of my cousin's pics to post here too, but I guess I'll keep waiting for them. :) It was the first time in 7 years or so, my mom's side of the family was all together again! It was great!

My newly married cousin Blair with Leah

My cousin Scott's new wife Norma helps Leah read her book

My Aunt Noreen and cousin Caitlin with Leah

Norma with her sweetie, Bekah. After enjoying holding her she leaned over and said to her husband of 4 months, "I want one of these!" Very cute!!

The whole fam at Chili's

Leah's first ride on a "real" MerryGoRound at the Park in MOA

We had so much fun!!

Fun at the Firehouse

Leah and I went to the City Firehouse Open House a few weeks ago and we had a blast! We got to ride on the biggest fire truck there ( in the front seat!) and it was the highlight of the day. She also got to pretend to drive a fire truck, watch the Hospital's Helicopter land in the lot next door, eat a hot dog lunch and take home a fire helmet! Leah thought it was a lot of fun, and I did too! We will definately make this a habit every year!

SUPER Photo Deal!

Isn't this photo priceless? How about $5.34? That's the great deal I got at Sears Portrait Studio today! Included is 35 Portraits! ( 1 10x13, 1 8x10, 2 5x7 and a bunch of others)

Here's the scoop on how to get this deal for yourself! ( I highly recommend it!)

1) Look in ANY magazine for a FREE 10x13 coupon for Sears Portrait. (If you can't find any of these annoying magazine inserts, let me know.. I'm sure I have some laying around!)
2) Now go to http://www.coupons.com/ (Page 2) and print the Sears Portrait coupon!
3)Make an appointment, get the photos done and then the hard part;
4) listen to their sales spiel.
They will try their best to sell you LOTS of additional photos for a extra money ( I can't believe how much they are!) but stand firm! I wish I could have purchased some of the other poses, (they were so cute) but I stuck to my guns and walked away with a great deal! :) Plus I got the cutest photo package!

Here are two of the other poses I could have bought, but it's enough for me that I can see them online and have them on my computer! :) ( Yes, that is legal! As long as you don't print them)

Good luck on your photo deals!

Leah: 2 1/2 years old

Bekah: 7 months old

I'm a Proud Mommy!

I saw this "quiz" on a couple of my friend's sites, and thought I'd do my own!

____________________________________________

(All proud mommies fill this out.)

Children's names: Leah Rose & Rebekah Grace

How long did labor last?: 36 hours (incl. painful early labor) with Leah & 4 hours with Rebekah

Did you go all natural or did you have drugs/ c-section?: I had wanted to go natural and made it to transition before I had stadol and an epidural with Leah, then she came emergency Csection. With Rebekah I had an intrathecal (sp?) only, and she was a VBAC.

Boys or girls? Girls

Weight? : Leah: 8 lbs 12 oz & Bekah: 5 lbs 7 oz.

Any hair? : Lots of black hair for Leah, and peach fuzz (bits of red hair) for Bekah

How much weight did you gain? : 35 with Leah and 25 with Bekah

Did you lose it all? Not with Leah, but did with Bekah! (still have 10 lbs left to loose from Leah)

Early or late baby? Leah was on her due date. Bekah was 7 1/2 weeks early!

Who drove you to the hospital? For Leah, Josh did. With Bekah, I drove myself to a checkup and ended up staying due to premature labor and had her 4 hours later!

Did you breast feed? Yes and still do with Bekah.

Who kept the baby most? Me!

How did you pick the name? We both liked the name "Leah" for a girl.. I have always been fascinated by her in the Bible, Josh picked "Rose"(I wanted Kristen, lol) Rebekah was our second choice name for a girl with Leah, and since I was so sure she was a boy we didn't have one picked except for that name, but we still loved it. She is named after my sister who died at 1 1/2 years old. Grace is my middle name.

Who cut the cord? Leah: our doctor did due to the shotgun C-section, and Bekah: Josh got to!

Where was the baby born? My hometown

Did you video the birth? No way I'd want to relive either of them!! Yikes!

Who was in the room? Leah: Josh, my mom, his mom. Bekah: Josh, and his mom.

Do you want more? Definately hope for more, but God knows best! We'll see what his plans for us are!

Natural Living Goals: Revisited

Revisiting my post from last year on Natural Living Goals, it is great to see how many I have accomplished this year, and have yet to work on!

My Natural Living Goals- (from November 2007)

1.Start growing fresh Herbs indoors and use them in cooking more!
(I tried to grow these inside, but it didn't work. It wasn't warm enough I think. But I did plant a huge planter full outside and LOVED getting to use them in cooking!)
2.Grow my own Alfalfa Sprouts and eat on everything!
(Haven't done yet.. hope to soon!)
3. Make more things with fresh ground Whole Wheat flour instead of White, and use more Organic honey instead of Sugar.
(I now use only my own fresh ground Whole Wheat flour and Unbleached Organic White flour.. hope to use more honey instead if sugar, but honey is pretty spendy now)
4. Eliminate "High Fructose Corn Syrup" products.. and either make own or buy organic (sodas, condiments, juices etc..)
(Been working a lot on this, eliminated at least 1/2 of these products for healthier ones! It is amazing how much food products have HF Corn Syrup in it! Yuck!)
5.Drink More Tea instead of Juice.. daily is best!
(I Keep trying to do this more!)
6.Use Brown Rice instead of White, possibly in place of noodles too!
(Accomplished! Trying the noodles now!)
7. Or just buy Whole Wheat Noodles... :)
(ditto)
8. Learn to make Whole Wheat Tortillas and Pita Bread
(Still hope to do this!)
9. Buy Energy-Efficent Light Bulbs
(hope to switch to these once we buy our house)
10.Buy 3 Green Tubs and RECYCLE more!
(ditto)

My Natural Farming Goals: (So exciting now that I have a house!)

1. Build Double Chicken Coop (one side for egg layers, the other for meat birds)
2. Buy Chickens
(Maybe in a few years, Josh wants to wait a while as it is expensive to start up)
3. Plant More Apple trees in Orchard
(Next year I will do this.. I ran out of money this year!)
4. Plant 2 more matching strawberry planters to match one I have
(Acomplished!)
5. "Resurrect" our dying Raspberry Patch
(Next year, hopefully!)
6. Buy 2 Patio Planters of Blueberries
(Planted two plants in the orchard, but they died. I will get them replaced for free this next year!)
7. Get 2 Baby Pigs to Raise for family and us
(Maybe someday.. too expensive now)
8. Plant Trees/Flowers around Yard (Landscape around house)
(ditto)
9. Grow HUGE Garden this next year
(Accomplished!)

To do someday: (hopefully!)

1. Raise Own Honey.. Get into Beekeeping!
2. Raise a beef cow
(Still someday!)

David & Goliath: 2 year-old tells all!

We learned the story of "David & Goliath" last week in Bible Time, and this week Leah has been telling it like this:

" David.. Goliath.. scary! Rock.. round n round n round.. BONK on the head! Fall down! "


So precious!

Pretty Tea Things

My new China Hutch is finally here!!! Beautiful glass shelves, drawers, and lots of storage space for all my pretty things!!!

"Autumn in Avonlea" tea party with my Leah.. tea with Anne's Plum Puffs!

Leah agrees.. Plum Puffs are yummy!

Random Fun

Bekah trying her first real food.. carrots! (Not very impressed by them, is she!)

Leah "tries on" boxers her way

Uncle Isaac's new "homie"

Leah "helping" with Bekah while I was processing Swiss Chard

The end result: Laughter!

Bekah tries on Leah's sunglasses

My Bekah and Me

My precious second-born baby girl!

To a loving home only!

We are looking for a new home for our 1 1/2 year old Golden reteriever, Teddy.

He is VERY well behaved, loves kids, is gentle and sweet. He is an AKC Registered Purebred. He is in Inside Dog, housetrained and very lovable. We will include all dog supplies with him. (ie: kennel, etc)

He is a great dog, we just don't have a lot of time/energy to spend with him, and he deserves someone who really will treasure him, not just treat him as "one of the kids" He is a GREAT dog.. especially gentle with kids. :)

If you are interested please let me know!

a puppy picture of him!

Applesauce and more!

I have been asked by all my friends who recieved apples to post my applesauce recipe! :) Well, here is how I make it, step by step.

First of all, I cheat big-time and use a food mill/strainer.

Link to one here: http://www.amazon.com/Back-Basics-220-Strainer-Sauce/dp/B000I4Y4PK/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1222953027&sr=8-1

They are fairly expensive (around $55) and can be bought in town at L&M Fleet, I think. But they pay off hugely for all the work they save! I just halve (or quarter) the apples, boil them until they are mushy, then put them through the mill, which hand-cranks, and pushes the apples through a strainer, forcing the mush (applesauce) out one side and the cores, seeds and skins go out the other side. :) Ingenious, no? I also use this mill for my tomatoes too! It makes great sauces.

Those of you who aren't able to use a machine like this, my advice would be to peel, core and skin the apples (a pain I know!) and boil them until they are barely soft, them mush them yourself. Easy to make without a machine, just requires much more time!

Basically my family just likes the applesauce plain jane. I add sugar until it is just barely sweet, then I can it. (you can also freeze it) Last year I added a bit of cinnamon, which I thought was good! Experiment! Whatever you and your family like.. no sugar works too!

Good luck to all you applesauce makers!

I'm Back!!

After a week of having no computer (my parents one died) and being gone for a weekend, it is great to be back at home with my own computer!!! (We brought ours out of storage and hooked it up!)

We had a GREAT time in the cities and I hope to post pics very soon from all we did.. :) I picked up my China Hutch while we were down there and it is LOVELY! (Pictures soon)

We ended up bringing 6-8 garbage bags full of apples home from my Aunt and Uncle's house! (WOW) I made a massive batch of applesauce on Tuesday and it is sooo good! I have shared all the rest amongst friends and they are ALL GONE! I am so happy that I was able to share them!! What a blessing!! I just love the fact that they are being used and appreciated!

Hope all of you are well, will post more soon!!