Spring Blooms

I wasn't motivated to re-plant my vegetable garden so instead i walked around the house and took pics of spring blooms around here.

Here's some of them.....

Lilacs:

Azalea:

Tulips, that are dying from the heat!!

Those pretty purple trees:

something little and blue that likes shade:

Bullrushes, the white fluffy stuff is going away:

and of course, Daffidils:
It's nice to see some color again. The winters seem to get longer every year! Hope to have annuals planted by this weekend.

Meal Planning

The worst part of cooking for me is trying to figure out what to make. I spend way too much time agonizing about what to make for lunches and suppers. So i started a list of what i'm making for the week. I sit down Sunday nights and write it all out. I'm on my 3rd week of doing this and i LOVE it! I can't believe i didn't do this sooner. i was always hesitant to try it, because other people said they've tried it and it doesn't work for them. Well it works for me, i save a lot of time, hassle, etc. with planning my meals for the week on Sundays. It doesn't take long to do. If you thought about doing this, give it a try!

Birthday Weekend

Rod's birthday was Saturday, and we had a beautiful weekend to be outside and celebrate. Saturday eve we (just rod and i) went to a restaurant in Etown that has outdoor seating, we really enjoyed that experience. They made the atmosphere almost Carribean-ish, and it was warm enough to feel like we were in the Carribean! Sunday Eve we went to the River for a picnic supper, then came home for birthday cake. The twins like to sing "Happy Birthday Dear Daddy" and Adam just wants to know when it's his birthday again! oh boy, November is a long ways off!

There's something about being near water....so peaceful.

Adam's sand castle....

Rod's cake of choice is Ice Cream cake roll. It's been a tradition since he was a young boy.

In other news, i got my garden all planted (tomatoes, peas, beans, corn, peppers, cantelope, carrots, onions, cucumbers), only to find that today all my tomatoes, cantelope, and pepper plants are down to nothing! Was not happy about that. we never had this problem before, but we have more skunks and possums around here then we used to and apparently they like my garden. So i need a plan. More on that later.
We have 5 more new kitties. that's 9 total baby kitties. Yikes! This latest batch has some calico so at least we have some color, but still....we need to find homes for these kitties! and also get some mamma's fixed. All 9 were born right outside our back patio door. Well this morning i saw Blacky moving her batch of 4 away from the patio. I'm pretty sure i know why.......
Have a good week everyone.

boys 2 year pictures

I took ben and brad to penny's last week and got their pictures taken. last time i took them (18 months), they didn't have anything there for them to hold or sit on, so we didn't have much success as they were running off in different directions. this time i brought everything but the kitchen sink in for them to keep them occupied and help them cooperate. they did great. mostly because they are 1/2 year older now, but the props helped too.

my favorite one:

runners up:

Chinese Outfits

Rod's aunt and uncle brought these cute little outfits home with them from China last year. I was digging through their clothes recently and found them. I'm glad i did because they have almost outgrown them lengthwise. We just call them Chinese outfits cause we don't know the real term...komonas? They wore them to church today. Don't mind their faces in this picture, just look at the outfits :)

Our Day

We had a big day today...It started out like every morning lately, and that's checking to see if Blacky is skinny. This morning Blacky was skinny and we found the kittens..3 more black ones, yippee. That makes our total cat population -6 black cats, 1 calico, and 1 gray one. If anyone wants a cute black kitten in a couple months, let me know :)

Then we headed down to my parents house, where we enjoyed some outdoor time. Adam got a 4 wheeler ride from Grandpa down to the farm where his cousins live, while my mom, the twins, and i worked in the flower beds. The boys found a frog which kept them occupied for quite awhile.
Then in the evening, it was story time. That gets a little tricky sometimes :)
The day was topped off by Brad barfing in his bed....everywhere! I opted not to get a picture of that.

It was a great day, I got me a good life!

Easter

Hope you all had a nice Easter. We survived our 2 dinners, had a great time w/ family. It's good to see Adam learn more and more about what Easter and Christmas is all about. But, of course, his highlights were the Easter Egg hunts!

The boys had an Easter Egg hunt w/ our neighbor on Saturday at her place...

Sunday we had church, then headed to my parents for lunch & rod's aunt and uncle's for supper..

Smoker cousins, with their filled up Easter baskets..The kids held up better then Rod & I..we were pretty tuckered out by 9:30 while the kids were in their rooms, chatting and carrying on.

This week we are probably getting new kitties...2 of our cats are VERY pregnant! Adam keeps asking when Blacky is going to "lay" her kitties :) We're hoping she doesn't "lay" too many..The cat population is quickly increasing around here.

Have a good week

Quality 2 on 1 time

After the twins bday party, my mom took adam for a couple days so we could spend time with the twins. We had a great time together. I hardly ever am with just one twin alone, but i don't think they mind since they don't know any different. I think they like it when i can be with just the 2 of them, when adam is away. We went to barnes and noble the one morning to read books and play on their train set. They each got a thomas train for their bday, so we took those along to use on the big track. Then they got haircuts in the afternoon. That went much better then expected. They actually enjoyed it. This was the first time i ever took any of my kids to a hairdresser. We were in and out of there in less then 15 minutes. Good deal! That evening i took the boys out to eat. Rod has been sick, so we gave him time to rest.

Ben laughed through most of his haircut. The girl cutting their hair was so good with them.

Brad cooperated, but wasn't sure what to think at times. Wishing you all a meaningful Easter!

Birthday Boys!

We celebrated Ben and Brad's 2nd birthday last night with family. They've always loved their Fisher price farm/barn set, so i decided to make a barn cake for them. Found a picture in a magazine and copied that.

I love how Ben and Brad knew this was a special evening just for them.

There was a lot of action, with 9 kids there. But everyone went home in one piece :)

Oh what Grandma's don't do for their grandkids!!

As i think back to their 1st bday, i can't believe how much they've changed the past year. They weren't crawling (just snake crawling) or pulling themselves up at 1 year old. They hadn't quite picked up on sign language yet at that time. Now they are talking, running, and so smart. I'm so thankful for their progress. Even though the past 2 years have been hard at times, it's more my situation at fault and not them personally..(ex. born early, big brother only 16 mo. older, having TWO the same age, etc). But i sure do enjoy them, they are so sweet and when everyone is getting along, they are so fun to watch and interact with. Their favorite things right now are Hide N seek, being outside, chasing kitties and pestering chickens, riding their trucks, and reading books. They've started doing fun twin stuff like wrestling, blaming their stinky diapers on the other one, and tickling. They're in a bit of a mommy stage right now, hopefully some of that is because they were sick this past week, and ben started teething.

Here's Ben and Brad 2 years ago on their birth day. You guys have come a long way! I love you, happy birthday!!

1st Picture together....1 week old.....

Meat Lady

I love to give. To help people in need and bless them. And i'm grateful to have a husband who likes to give too. After kids, i wasn't able to volunteer anymore and i felt sad about not being able to give in that way. But God always opens new doors in whatever season you are in. I've recently felt like the "meat lady". My home farm had 2 cows go down pretty close together this winter and rod had them butchered. We had an overabundance of meat in our freezer. i have thoroughly enjoyed randomly taking some to church for people here and there. And more specifically, there's a family Rod and i are connected with whose family is in crisis, to say the least. I show up at their house every couple of months carrying meat in for them. I'm not sure what words are exchanged when they see me coming in with my latest stash, but i do know it blesses them. It doesn't solve all their problems, but it helps meet needs and it's something that i can do in this season of my life. God, use me to bless others in whatever ways i can. Whether it be meat lady or otherwise....