SSSAAAAMMMM

Mathias read his first book today by sounding out the words! We are so proud of him. He was very excited and had to read to Daddy after dinner tonight. Speaking of dinner..... we had spaghetti and meatballs. I wanted to post a picture of Lathen after his meal. I think Keegan might be putting the pics up on his blog (since he took the pictures). Much fun had by all! You can only imagine the mess!
I've been sewing alot lately and enjoying it very much. In the next few months I'll be showing some of my projects. Stay tuned!

Happy Fall!

Despite the high 80 degree temperature today, I am looking forward to my favorite season. Adding a few Fall decorations around the house makes it feel so cozy. Hopefully the weather will soon catch up to my decor! Happy Fall to all!

Sunrise

This morning.......

Mathias to Daddy "Good morning Sunrise!"

Zebras and ostrich and elk, oh my!

Visiting Grandma and Grandpa is always a highlight for the family. Here is the recipe for a good time:
-1 wild animal ranch (ostrich being our favorite!)
-1 amazing cave tour (Lathen threw his pacifier into the 5,000 year old bat guano. Not a pretty sight.)
-ice cream bars (because your grandparents are so nice and love ice cream, too.)
-panning for gems (a little work pays off!)
-homemade banana pudding ice cream (because Grandma can make anything and it tastes yummy!)
-tractor ride on the wagon with Grandpa (because it wouldn't be a complete visit without one.)
-1 hot tub dip (always fun, except when you bonk heads with your siblings.)
-1 playtime in the sandbox (Grandma and Grandpa have one built into their deck.)
Add a dash of working a puzzle with Grandma or visiting some of the houses and projects Grandpa is working on and it's a full weekend with great memories. I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend.

First Egg!

Sunday was such a fun filled day. Not only did we celebrate Mathias' birthday with friends and family, one of my new chicks laid her first egg! The only sad part about this story is that I am not the one who found it. I guess that is okay and it doesn't take away from the excitement of the first egg. I took a picture of it and that reminded me of the time three years ago when I actually took my first egg to Texas to show my in-laws. I can't imagine what it will be like to have 17 chickens laying at the same time!

On another note, we have a thirteen year old! We are so blessed! School is going very well and we're having fun in the process!

Until next time........

Okra and Jenga!

This day was full of okra and Jenga! This morning Tony had a hair appt. and Keegan had a birthday party to attend. While they were gone, I began preparing fresh okra to put in the freezer. I had looked at several different methods and thought I'd give it a try. I breaded a whole gallon ziploc full. It was a little time consuming, but I know the labor will pay off in the end! I also filled another gallon bag full of whole okra. The whole three hours (remember I have a one year old) of preparing this wonderful okra (yes, from our neighbors) Tressa and Mathias played at the kitchen table with Jenga blocks. Three hours straight and nothing but laughter and fun! They set them up in different patterns and then pushed the first one to then cause a chain reaction. I couldn't believe how long this went on. Later in the day I began preparing okra to eat tonight. Yum! It also made at least enough to fill a gallon ziploc and we even had leftovers. So I highly recommend the Jenga game blocks for hours of entertainment and some good ole fried okra. BTW.....Tony just shot a Copperhead snake in our backyard! Yikes!

Good Neighbors

Summer is zooming by and as you can tell, the kids have had fun swimming.
We had a wonderful surprise today. Our neighbors stopped by and blessed us with a large amount of beautiful strawberries! One of their relatives brought them from California. The kids were eating them like candy. I'll be making freezer jam in the morning. If there are any left! : )