Imprints on my heart

 

These are handprints I don't really want to wipe off.
They remind me that being a mama is about
embracing it all...even the dirty stuff.
Even smearing the dirt around sometimes
just for the heck of it.
They remind me that a spotless home is
not necessary of a family
knitted together by love.
Games, gymnastics in the family room,
hours of reading together, meaningful conversations,
getting outside, playing in the dirt, exploring....
these are the things I want to remember.

I love little reminders like this, don't you?

A little Saturday fun

 

Hope your weekend is blessed!

xoxo

Loving the view

 We're in our new home and
finally getting to a place where
we may be able to unpack soon.
But before we do,
we're just enjoying the moments.

First thing in the morning,
the girls come into our room
to greet the new day.

The lovebug thinks we've got
a riding mower,
and I hate to dissapoint.

Our "other girls" seem pretty content here too,
especially when I give them free reign.

The little chicken chaser.

We've been enjoying lots of family visits
since we moved in.

Lots of room for the big kids to slip and slide.

I think we're going to get some pretty sunsets.

 

This is one of my favorite views ever.

We haven't had time to travel
anywhere this summer,
but we're really enjoying
our blessings
right where we are.

Hope you're enjoying all of your
blessings this summer, too.

xoxo

Garden giddiness

 

 

 

 

 

Ohhhhhh how I love to grow my garden!
Whether it be flowers or food
it's all such a feast for the senses.

Our garden is growing gangbusters right now
with strawberries, lots of herbs,
tomatoes, chard, kale, zucchini and lettuce.
I gave baby J a leaf of chard to play with
and she had a ball, whipping it
back and forth until it was shredded.
She is also obsessed with the strawberry patch.
I can't keep her out of them, nor do I want to.

In the flower garden we've got gladiolas,
sunflowers, foxgloves, and dahlia's
that are just starting to poke
there sleepy little stalks and leaves
out of the earth (hope they bloom before we leave).

Maya has created her own little garden
which is dedicated to a friend
that passed away earlier this year
and fittingly named it "Jolea's Heven".
The loss has been tremendous to her
tender little heart and difficult to
explain or understand,
but each time we acknowledge
and pay tribute to her memory
and to the little miss's feelings
we are taking steps toward healing.

The photo at the top is, of course, baby J
with her goofy self...
running all over the house
with a nesting box on her head
in her usual Josie style.
She is such a nut ~
a girl after my own heart.

Hope you are enjoying all of
the blessings that June brings.

xoxo

This old house

 

Is our new home!

 

Moving day isn't until July (God willing)
but we are crazy busy just trying to prepare.
We are really excited to start making memories
together in our new place.

Even more though...
I'm just grateful to have a home, freedom, food
on the table and a wonderful family
 to share it all with.

 xoxo

Halloween ghoul & his girls

Mr. N won the prize for best googly eyes

and definitely the scariest looking

ghoul in the house

The little peanut was hands down the

sweetest little ladybug around

while her little-big sis was

 a beautiful ballerina

I went all out and dressed up

as a mom of three

and my beautiful Bri stayed home
(being grounded stinks)

and played the role of cinderella.

It was really our first Halloween at home.

We hurriedly carved pumpkins

early in the evening

before the little ones

got dressed up.

After knocking on doors

halfway up the street,

the little miss decided

we could hit the other side

and be done.

She prefers giving the candy I guess.

We had a pretty good turnout
of visitors and eventually ran out of candy
(which I was grateful for).

I think we'll be doing Halloween at
home again and again.

summer bounty

mr. man and our little miss planted

only one tomato plant this summer.  i don't

even think they got it into the ground until

july but boy did it multiply! 

we've harvested at least 24 tomatoes

from this baby and  most of them are bigger

than my fist with still more to come.

they are so beautiful and tasty to boot.

i love watching my husband and girls

taking joy in the harvest of our little garden

of zucchini, cucumbers, mint, basil,

sage, parsley, oregano & strawberries.

we are getting excited to pick the rest

of them so that we can start our fall garden.

not only did the mr. plow the earth this summer,
i was also able to get dirt under my nails
planting some of my favorite flowers.
little m got her annual butterfly garden going
and i started a new flower patch to enjoy
dahlias, gladiolas, foxgloves, delphinium and more.
it did better than i even expected and makes
me smile every time i go out the front door.

feeling blessed to have a yard and a garden
that provide many moments of beauty.

hope you're enjoying the beauty of summer's end.

xoxo

Hello Summer

The clouds have finally broken.
The sun is kissing our skin
and summer is officially here.

Some break out the swimsuits
and beach toys,
for others the barbeque
and horseshoes,
but for us in this season of life...
we're going straight for the
cheap beer and mimosas.

Whatever your pleasure...
Happy Summer!

green eggs and...

haven't actually tried them with pork thus far,
but we sure have enjoyed them
every other way possible.
scrambled. hard-boiled. egg salad.
quiche. baked goodies.
have i missed anything?
do you have a great egg recipe
that i must try?
please share.

it's a joy to walk out and
collect the bounty from our
young ladies in the backyard.
although not everyone may agree.
between pooping and digging
they make plenty of extra
yardwork for the mr.
he's a gem to put up with me.
and them.

The littlest sister

Sweet Josie Love joined our family
 on Sunday, November 21st at 3am
 in the comfort of her daddy's arms.
She was born a healthy 6 pounds and 12 ounces
at home while her youngest sister slept.
Her biggest sister was an incredible help
throughout the labor and birth
and stayed up with us until dawn
welcoming our little peanut.

Josie's birth story:
The "due date" for our baby was said to be November 20th which we were skeptical of as the other two girls were born ten days and two weeks later than the projected date.  Needless to say I was a bit surprised (although excited) by the contractions that started around 4am on Saturday the 20th.  I asked Matt to call in sick as I was sure the baby was coming.  He did.  And within 3 hours the contractions had stopped almost completely I was so disappointed.  We went on a walk around our neighborhood, visited friends at a birthday party, and laid low for the day.  Matt debated going in to work that afternoon since there was no sign of labor, but stayed home at my request.  By 10:30pm the contractions started coming much more
 regularly and with more power than before.  Bri got out of bed when I told her I thought the baby was coming that night and kept me company until around 1am when I decided to wake the Mr up.
It was not a friendly wake-up.  It was a "why the hell are you sleeping while I'm suffering" awakening.
Needless to say he was slightly dazed and confused by my crankiness.  I wanted to know when the heck he was going to call the midwife cause the contractions were coming fast and furious.  The next couple hours were somewhat of a blur.  My daughter, husband and midwife were readying the room while I concentrated on getting through the contractions.  They took turns assisting and comforting me between preparations.  At 3am our little girl made her entrance with my oldest daughter and husband by my side.  Mr. N held her as she came into the world and announced to me that we had another little girl.  I looked up at Bri who had lost the color from her face and looked like she was about to drop on the floor.  She was helped to a chair where she could regain her stomach.  Josie was wrapped in a towel and brought to my chest immediately.  My Mr woke Maya to meet her new sister.  We were left alone as a family to enjoy our beautiful new gift.

I loved having our little Josie at home.
I loved being in my own room, in my own bed.
I loved the sweetness of our time to enjoy
our little beauty and embrace her new life as a family
in the warmth of our nest.
I loved the peacefulness that surrounded us
from the moment I went into labor,
throughout the birth and after she arrived.

I love my little Josie.
She is yet another blessing in my life.
I am thankful beyond words.

Nesting

{our pre-pregnancy nest}

{our little nest now}

My sweet Mr. has been working away

 to carry out my every desire in preparing our home

 for the newest little addition

 and he has left nothing undone.

 He has built, sanded, scrubbed & painted ~

feathering our nest to my heart's contentment.

 Just adding to the many reasons I LOVE this man!

I've still got some wallspace to decorate,

but oh how I am enjoying my new restful space.

The time is drawing near and I'm feeling ready

to embrace this new little life with arms wide open.

Settling in

Life has been crazy busy around here between all the critters and childhood drama...mama needs a vacation.  But since we're buckling down here for the summer (the Big Miss is taking a summer school course) we'd might as well get everyone cozy.  The "girls" got there very own coop donated by our sweet neighbors.  It will need some extra work, but is perfect for now just as it is.  We are so grateful to have a new home for the chicks, since they were sneaking their way out of their box in the garage and leaving little brown gifts for us everywhere.  Blehhhh.

Our ferocious beast of a dog has taken well to all the critters and they are pretty bold with her to.  I had one slip so far where I left the house for about 30 minutes with chickens and the dog loose in the back.  Once I realized what I had done, I raced home dreading the possibility of feathers and blood strewn in every direction.  Luckily she hasn't aquired a taste for raw chicken yet, but I'm hoping not to make that mistake again (at least until they're big enough to give her a fight). 

Hoping things slow down a little bit so we can relax this summer but until then, we'll just enjoy the company of our happy little friends.

Sweet blues

A day filled with delicious blueberries for the pickin and watching the chickens dance is not one short on smiles.
There really is so much to love about summer.

xoxo

Livin country in the city

To add to our ever expanding household I have temporarily gone insane leading to the 4 pooping chicks in our garage and 6 rambunctious kittens in our bathroom.  All this on top of the dog, fish and two young humanoids sharing our seemingly shrinking space.

The kittens are temporary.  They are.  I found them at the feed store when going to acquire the 4th and final chick that I'm probably not supposed to have.  They were in a small unsheltered cage outdoors.  One had already escaped.  They were all starved and had only dog food pieces set out for them so large that they couldn't get their little mouths around it.  Apparently someone had dropped them off the day prior leaving the feed store to "care" for them.  I knew that if I left them there some of them would not make it.  So, here we are all cozy with a mini farm living in our home.  Luckily, I found an animal rescue that will adopt them out once they've been spayed and neutered (hopefully no more than a month away).  We are fostering them until that day comes meaning feeding every 4 hours (except at night between 10 and 6 at which time I will only leave my bed to pee or to feed a newborn child).

All we need now is a goat and a pot-bellied pig so we can start charging for the petting zoo.

Told you I had gone insane.

play day

Yesterday the little miss & I went for a visit to see our dear friend J and check out the amazing artwork at I MADONNARI.  I couldn't help but stand in admiration of the talent and commitment it took to finish these beautiful  pastel paintings in a matter of three days knowing all the while they will be washed away within weeks by weather and footsteps.  There was so much life in these pieces and each seemed to tell it's own story.

Just gorgeous.

There was a section of concrete dedicated just to children and I loved the vivid colors that blanketed the blacktop.

This one in particular fit me perfectly right now.

After a day spent taking in the sights in SB we had our friends over for a little playtime.  The girls played "family" and watched a movie while the mamas worked on sewing projects (well one of us did).  Miyo made this sweet little dress for her daughter while my project was much less involved.  Since mine is a gift I'll just give a little glimpse of what my hands were making:

I definitely like the little sew-op we had and am hoping there's many more to come.