this moment....and technical difficulties

we have been having technical difficulties this week. luckily i was able to sneak a post in today. i hope to be back in this space permanently very soon. until then,

this moment

a friday ritual

one photo, no words.

a moment from the week that precious is to me.

this moment

this moment

a friday ritual
one photo, no words. a moment from the week that precious is to me.

oh what a night

just when you think you have settled in for a quiet evening.....

sawyer had just had his bath.

i had cleansed my face and had my pjs on.

jordan was at a soccer match with lindsey & family.

cameron was building sawyer a desk. he had cut down a smallish tree. cut it in pieces to make legs. sanded those legs. started sanding the top and was pulling an old nail out when the chaos started. "Mom i think i need to go to the hospital. i ripped a hole in my arm." he says

and a hole he did rip. while pulling that nail out with fencing pliers (the ones with a hooked end), the hook caught him in the arm. it was terrible! i threw on a cardigan and flip flops. sawyer through on real clothes and we were gone.

(sawyer is always there to lend moral support)

two hours in the emergency room and 5 stitches later we were on our way back home. poor cameron. my baby was brave. "i am a man" he says. but i saw his eyes while the doctor administered the numbing shots. i think he will make it however. plenty of phone calls from friends and of course the girls that swarmed him when i dropped him at school this morning make for good medicine.

today i....

today i....




woke up early to shuffle the boys out the door to seminary...boy is 5am early.




made breakfast for my family of the eggs from our own chickens.




wiped away a tear when i left my peeps @ school.




sat in the first quiet of the morning...the time when the boys have just left and it is just me and my thoughts.




made a trip to the library and soaked up the stories, the words...nothing better.




made a after school hour reading tent to read Milne with my sawyer because the rain made the ground too wet to lie on our blanket to read. the hour when kindergarten is over but high school has not. the hour that is sawyer's & mine.




took the time to take a breath and be thankful. thankful for my family. thankful for this life that is full and chaotic. for the opportunity to shape the minds of these special boys. and to have mine shaped by them.




listened to my husband be a father to his sons. a talk around the dinner table. talking about their day, his job, and teaching them to be men.




watched jordan cook dinner. a favorite dinner of ours...spaghetti and meatballs.




felt my heart grow just when i thought that was impossible.




listened to my littlest peep read to me with his oldest brother playing jazz from his room as our soundtrack. music to my ears.




got down on my knees. prayed for my family and my friends. prayed that i might
be the mother that is pleasing unto Him.




what did you do today?

10 things

• the master gardener's spring plant sale today....got some herbs to contribute to my herb garden
• the fact that summer is almost here. i am so ready for my peeps to be home and learn with me!
• A Trail of Crumbs...the memoir i have started. it is beautifully written.
• the pure enjoyment i receive from my chickens
• the possibility of a tiffany blue kitchen
• red enameled cookware
• reading Milne to my Sawyer
• movies under covers with my peeps
• peacefulness

this moment

this moment

a friday ritual

one photo, no words. a moment from the week that precious is to me.

buzz buzzin down the parade

today was the kindergarten's bike parade & picnic. my boy has been super duper excited for weeks now. he has been planning on to decorate his bike and which helmet would be just the right one. yesterday, he and his dad made final plans and then a trip to the store (complete with a ride on the electric pony) for supplies. then the painting began. sawyer decided his bike should be a bumble bee....i mean what else you make a gold & black 2 wheeler. well maybe his first choice was a hot dog but luckily he realized that might just not work out. that kid keeps me in stitches. after much paint and great debate the buzz mobile was complete. he had the time of his life. and so did i. thank you sawyer for once again inviting me to join in on the fun!

how dare they!

how dare they? how dare my sweet little fellas grow up.

this one. this one with his electric eyes and contagious smile. his love of all things golf and his friends. ever the peace maker and nary a more compassionate heart. always willing to lend a hand with smile. often with a book in his hand ready to have a discussion with his mother. when did he stop playing four square and start driving? when did he move on from finger painting to college english (as a junior i might add)? i am so proud of this young man...this leader among young men with heart that belongs to his Father in Heaven 1st and to his mother 2nd.



and this one. this one with his dark hair and mischievous grin. his quiet yet fun take on life. his love of animals and brothers. always in search of the joy life has to offer. to make another smile. the sweet, reverent way he passes the sacrament each Sunday. this soul filled with compassion, so much so he would give up going to a movie to stop and change a flat tire for another mother whom he didn't know. a bestest buddy of his younger brother. who told him he could go from a tree climbing, bicycle riding cub scout to a high school freshman with a driver's license in his horizon? oh how do i love this gun toting, sling shot making, car loving boy.

and finally this small one. this cotton topped kindergartener oozing with charm. his excitement of learning new things and willingness to bring me along. he too has a love for all things golf, and animals, and well, life. this renaissance boy who loves with passion sketching, fishing, painting, music, gardening, books, building, the gospel of Jesus Christ, and again life. always willing to do his part. to work hard and play harder.generous. kind. loving. and a good eater to boot. this sweet spirit has gone to a newborn in NICU clinging to life to an athletic young boy. from toddle to a gallop. from being read to now reading to us. my baby is no longer much of a baby and now more a boy. this guy, like his brothers, holds my heart in his tiny, dirt stained hands.

how dare they?

uninvited guests

that's it. i am not gathering the eggs anymore or at the very least for a while. 3 chicken snakes in 7 days may just be my limit. especially since i stuck my hand in the nesting box with one of our guests. the guest on the left had 3 eggs (2 of which were ceramic)in his belly. i guess he thought it was an all you can eat buffet. his friend only had one. how do i know that you ask? because my one day vet, cameron, squeezed them out to inspect. oh boys!

10 things

1. jack johnson
2. homemade white pizzas
3. kaminari taiko
4. early morning walking....love to see the sun rise as i walk
5. gyros
6. teaching sawyer to read
7. celestial university
8. $6 facials
9. dates with my peeps
10. photography

japan fest 2010....the people

erin & i spent saturday at the 17th annual Japan Fest. they have it every year (or so the emcee reminded us just after he would say 17th annual). i loved it. the food, the culture, the music, the japanese karaoke gong show, and of course the people.

i am a people watcher. watching others is one of my favorite pastimes. at the festival there was some of my most favorite people to watch....those of a different nationality. the sweet faces of the young, the beautiful faces of the old. those whose life can be told in their eyes, the road map of their journey in the wrinkles. i love them. i will share a few.

japan fest 2010....taiko drummers

am a fan of taiko now! this was incredible. the power with each tap (BIG tap) of the drum was deep, loud, beautiful. the rhythms were of another time. they took me to another land in another time.... an ancient time of love and war. it was truly amazing. by far it made the day for me...well the taiko and one of the members with the most awesome mullet i have ever seen.

japan fest 2010....the food

i have to admit that this what i was most looking forward to.

can you say curry? so very yum!

(totally ripped this photo off of erin)

had to get a chocolate dipped banana because....

"there is always money in the banana stand."

this moment

this moment

a friday ritual
one photo, no words. a moment from the week that precious is to me.

hen party

my girls are very particular about their nesting boxes. though there are 6 for 13 hens (more than plenty for that many hens) they favor 2 boxes. i went to collect eggs yesterday and this was the scene.

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this is my box!

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i am here and i am not moving

*

*

no this is my box

*

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okay then you better scoot over

*

due to technical difficulties....

this moment

a friday ritual

one photo, no words. a moment from the week that precious is to me.

a little late but here i am and apparently beautiful

my sweet sweet sister in law Erin has awarded me the beautiful blogger award. isn't that the nicest? i have a feeling she has run out of beautiful blogs to award and has been forced to mediocre blogs. in any case, thanks!

the one and only rule is that i share with my readers 10 things they do not know about me. TEN?! okay, let my nerdiness go public......

1. i love to fill out forms. if anyone goes to the doctor in my family, they just hand them to me. it has a proper place for each thing. a neat little box to check. a handy list to mark off. what could be better?
2. i would rather be with my chickens than shopping. yes, the former queen of the mall is so over it. i love my girls (and 2 boys) and visit with them everyday. they give me lovely eggs daily so it is the least i can do to thank them and keep them company.
3. log trucks freak me out. i will not drive behind a log truck. it is only a matter of time that they are going to come sliding out of those things and kill us all!!
4. i dream of living in Vermont on a farm. it is gorgeous there and the farms in the pictures are of a Norman Rockwell quality. i am sure that i would be in heaven there with my sheep and goats and cows and pigs and chickens. i am sure of it.
5. i sing every word to every song that comes on the car radio...very loudly i might add. it is sad but true. if only i could sing on key.
6. i love my organic garden. OK that is not news to anyone but this is. i have signed up to take the master gardeners class with the Jefferson County Extension Agency. i have always wanted to do it so i am.
7. i am super duper insecure. that has always been the case. how is that possible when you are so loud you ask? i do not know. i second guess myself at every turn. well....i did. i am working on it. i think it is getting better. i am me and that is all i can be.
8. i wish i were a seamstress. i could make all sorts of lovely for me to wear and fabulousness for my home.
9. i cannot stand gum or to watch it being chewed. totally grosses me out.
10. i am a closet writer. there. my biggest secret. i should say i secretly write. i am no writer. but that doesn't stop me.

so there are my ten things. i now bestow this award to.........

::Lacy Ruggles

::Teri Iseman

::Jennifer Shepherd

::Molly Dunham

::Theresa Montes

::Shannon Swafford

::Monica Hindmarsh