Great Grandma and Aunt Janet

Catching Up

These hot summer days are keeping me away from the computer(it's a good thing, really).  I have lots of old photos to post.  Hopefully I will get them all on here in the next week or so.  Stay cool!

What an Amazing Dad

Nate always continues to amaze me.  On this particular morning, Contessa and I slept in until 8 am.  It was a work day for Nate, but by 8 am he had already put in a full day.  Nathan, Layla, Julius and Gunnar had all sat and read their Bibles together.  Then Nate made oatmeal and got them all fed.  After cleaning up the breakfast stuff, he and the kids got in a few rounds of Orchard.  All this occurred before the baby and I were awake and before he left for work!  Now you understand why I think he is so amazing!

Proud Daddy

Daddy loves his new baby girl.

Cuddles with Daddy

Waking up from nap time is always a bit easier when you can cuddle with daddy for a bit.

Nine Years

I can't believe it's been nine years since Nate and I got married.  What a wonderful nine years it has been.  The Lord has blessed us so much!  It's hard to believe that in just nine short years we are on the brink of adding a fourth child to our family. Crazy!

This morning Nate found different songs from our wedding to play for the kids.  You already know that Nate and I are kinda weird, so it's no surprise we had weird songs for our wedding.  The kids' favorite was 500 miles by the Proclaimers.  Head on over to his blog to hear it for yourself.

To see pictures from our wedding you can read last year's post here.

I'll leave you with the song I walked down the isle to.



I tried to find the song that Nate and I danced to, but it wasn't on YouTube.  It's Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise - You and Me.  Love that song!  I got the CD out this morning and played it for the kids.  Here is the song my dad and I danced to.



So much fun to look back all these years later.  Maybe we will pull out our wedding video to watch tonight!

Nathan, thank you for being my knight in shining armor and walking with me through a life I never thought was possible!  I look forward to what is in store for us over the next nine years!  I love you!

Another Snow Day!

Nate and our family were blessed with another snow day!  I think this makes four for the year.  What fun.  Nate had Friday and Monday off, too, so this is a nice extension to our long weekend.  We are very spoiled to have so much extra time with Nate.

We have made some good progress on our supplies list for our home birth.  Birth kit, blood kit and pool liner have all been ordered.  We continue to check off other supplies as well.  I will feel much better when the list is completely finished.  I have started to make room in a closet and drawers for the baby's things.  Then I will need to wash the clothes, blankets and burp cloths.  Time is ticking away!

Naturally Fermented Vegetable Medley

As we continue our journey deeper in the world of fermented foods, Nate and I decided we were ready for a little spice.  Our first batch of sauerkraut was a dud.  It got moldy because we didn't watch the liquid levels close enough.  So that batch had to go in the trash.  The second batch of kraut turned out and we have already eaten it all gone.  We are anxiously awaiting a batch of fermented garlic-dill pickles.  They should be ready any day now.  Because it is winter and the house is colder, the pickles are taking closer to four weeks to ferment fully.  I made a batch in the summer in only two weeks, thanks to the warmer temps.  Nate and I threw together this beautiful vegetable mix to get another batch of something fermenting since it is taking so much more time.  We mixed cauliflower, daikon radish, carrots, jalapenos and garlic.  Looking back I probably should have added onion, too, but there will be more vegetable crocks in the future.  While we wait anxiously for our pickles, we have been feeding our fermented food needs with Topor's pickles from the store.  I love them because they are naturally fermented and they are less than half the price of Bubbie's pickles.  I will try and keep you updated on all of our fermented adventures!

Other posts on naturally fermented foods:

Naturally Fermented Sauerkraut
Boost Your Immune System Naturally

First Real Bibles

Layla, Julius and Gunnar all received their first "real" Bibles this Christmas.  Nate has been leading us in daily family worship and the kids wanted their own Bibles to read along with Mommy and Daddy.  Not familiar with what family worship consists of, then grab a few of these books/ CDs to find out (there are many more resources besides these).

Christmas Cookies

Well, the task of making Christmas cookies is done.  Last night around dinner time, the last few cookies were frosted and laid out to dry a bit before packaging them.  Nate delivered some to our neighbors, pastor and friend Gilbo.  The kids were happy to play with all the left-over dough scraps.  I have a plate of plain cookies left for them to frost and decorate today.  Christmas cookies are a bit of work, but its worth it for this special time of year.

Nate was a huge help to me yesterday.  He tackled a mountain of other tasks and errands so that I could make all the cookies and rest a bit throughout the day.  He went to the post office, recycling center, the grocery store two times, delivered cookies, sorted through old Christmas decorations and took everything we wanted to donate to St. Vincent's.  He then ran a grabbed us some pizza.  We enjoyed a picnic style dinner on the floor since the dining room table was covered with frosted cookies!  What a man!  His hard work was rewarded with an evening spent with some friends, after he helped get the kids to bed.  Thank you, honey!  I couldn't have done it without you!

Well, I better return to the kitchen.  I have bagel dough that is ready to be shaped.  After that I just have one more thing to cook for Christmas dinner and I am pretty much done for the next few days!  I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Haircut

Why Should I Blog Today

...when you can just read my husband's hilarious blog post.  Beware.  Coffee almost came out my nose as I proof read it for him this morning!  Enjoy!

Falling Off A Toilet

Surprise Hay Ride

While visiting family this past weekend, Uncle Jamie offered to take the kids on a hay ride.

,

Cousin Cara joined in on the fun!

Nate and Cara said it was pretty bumpy, but the kids didn't seem to notice.

Hugs of gratitude for Uncle Jamie.

Cousin Cara, Grandpa, Nate's brother Jeremy, Grandma, Uncle Jamie and Nate

all were enjoying the warm autumn weather.

Saturday Morning Swordfight

Not What I Thought

I was so proud of myself the other day when I found a pair of wind pants, size XL at the Salvation Army by my parents' house. They still had the tags on them! They may be red, but Nate's school colors are red and white, so he could make it work. As he was holding them up looking at them, I thought to myself, man, that waist looks small! Nate put them on, or painted them on, so to say. I started laughing so hard I had tears running down my face. It took me a good ten minutes to regain my composure. I had a hard time keeping the camera still enough to take a clear picture! Turns out they were a youth's size XL! Sorry honey! I will have to do better next time, lol! At least some kid at your school will enjoy them!

Nate was good sport enough to let me take his picture and he gave me permission to put it on my blog! He took his own picture with his phone and sent it to friends for a good laugh. I refrained from taking a picture from behind because they were really tight! I figured Nate didn't need a picture of that floating around the Internet! Thanks honey. I enjoyed the good belly laugh. Thanks for having such a great sense of humor! Hopefully others will get a kick out of this, too!