soil,,, check.

addie and her silly faces, she is always making silly faces.

mark has been working hard and mixing all this dirt together in a wheel barrow and then dumping it in the planter. long, hard work.

the car said it was 86 degrees today. i went to the farmers market and i couldnt resist to buy a watermelon. which gave me the idea that i might even try to plant a watermelon in my garden. :)

little miss buck. :) she is sooo crabby. wow. all day it has been whining, crying and tantrums. you would never believe me with these pictures, but no joke, she is a monster. but o so sweet. i do love her, even when she blows my eardrums out. :)

i have felt a lot of accomplishment with my etsy shop recently. 79 sales so far! :) that makes me very happy. i never would have thought i would have that many. :)

i am planning on having a BIG shop update soon, this week or next. i will keep you updated. you wont want to miss it! :)

another accomplishment, this is my #402 post!! wow! it feels so good to know i have kept a small record of our life. with people i love and things that make me happy. i love to look back and see all that has changed and remember special events.

happy spring!

goulashes and my thoughts

i love that word:) goulashes. it sounds happy. we pulled ours out, even though it wasnt rainy. the kids tromped through our unmaintained yard. i sat on the porch swing breathing in cooler, non suffocating air.

i thought about planting some new flowers in the beds. this picture reminds me i am a busy mother with busy kids.

the girls picked the barely blooming flowers. they always bring them to me. i love it when they do that. i feel special. loved.

i thought about where the perfect spot for our garden would be. i hope i chose the right spot.

going along with that, i tried to learn a little bit on square foot gardening. i am so excited and nervous about starting a garden. i do NOT have a green thumb. but i have to remember that i cant get any better if i don't try.i have grown up with the influence of gardening, my grandma is a master gardner and my mother always had a successful and large garden every year. my mother in law now is very knowledgeable about planting and has a beautiful garden herself. they have encouraged me and taught me a little about getting stared. i feel like i can be good at it and enjoy it if i give it a shot, we will see. i cant wait to get my hands in that dirt and show my children where squash and lettuce come from.

i thought about how i love having time with my kids. how lucky i am to be their mother and that i am able to stay at home with them. and no matter how hard mothering is, i am so glad i get to do it. everything i do is for them. they are joys. i am learning to savor every moment.

enjoy your monday.

i am looking forward to a new year

some things i would like to do in the new year...... no pressure added. i am not one for resolutions. but i do like the idea of a new start, and new year to do things better, to change.

welcoming 2009:::::

cook more meals and introduce more new foods to my family

make my house a home

do more crafts with my kids

maybe have a baby, maybe

learn to knit

dont get discouraged

become organized, for real

video tape my children once a day

get to bed early, on a regular basis

serve

become unafraid of the telephone

spend less, save more

listen

make my family laugh

be a better wife

be a better mother

be a better friend

chill out (not let stuff bother me so much)

forgive and forget

pray

learn

plant a garden

play with my kids

do more, click, scroll, type less

find confidence

live each day

be happy

finding joy in the journey

"If you have childrem who are grown and gone, in all likelihood you have occasionally felt pangs of loss and the recognition that you didnt appreciate that time of life as much as you should have. Of course, there is no going back, but only forward.




Rather than dwelling on the past, we should make the most of today, of the here and now, doing all we can to provide pleasant memories for the future.



If you are still in the process of raising children, be aware that the tiny fingerprints that show up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys scattered about the house, the piles and piles of laundry to be tackled will disappear all too soon and that you will - to your surprise- miss them profoundly.

Stresses in our lives come regardless of our circumstances. We must deal with them the best we can. But we should not let them get in the way of what is most important- and what is most important almost always involves the people around us. Often we assume that they must know how much we love them. But we should never assume; we should let them know. We will never regret the kind words spoken or the affection shown. Rather, our regrets will come if such things are omitted from our relationships with those who mean the most to us."

President Tomas S. Monson

I believe these words where spoken just for me. Last night i picked up the Ensign and read these words. How fitting they are for me right now, in my times of struggle and battle with myself. This journey can be a joy, I just need to find it, in all the everyday things. Find the small joys. I am not very good with words and cant explain exactly how i feel. I have struggled with depression on and off for a long time. I have never wanted to admit it or do anything to fix it, because that may mean going to tell all of my personal thoughts to someone i dont know. How much this talk helped me. I am just so grateful for a prophet who listens to the Lord and who can speak to us the words of the Lord. How grateful i am for this talk. How grateful i am for this season. The season of thanks and gratitude.

You can read the rest of the talk here.

i cant think of anything clever to title this post

i have been on a downer for awhile. the last few days have been very challenging for me. so i decided it was a good day to physically find and capture things that give me that pitter patter in my heart. things that make my eyes smile.

her eyes, especially after a nap. what is it about the puffy, just napped eyes that i love so much?

fresh eggs from my sister in laws chickens. the different shades of neutral, the speckles. makes me feel like i am living a simpler life and a longing to live on a farm.

the morning sun bursting through a freshly drawn window onto a bed of messy sheets. i love it every time i see it. maybe that is why my bed never gets made. :)

one of these days i will be able to pick fruit from my own backyard.

a picture that addie "stickered" hanging on my pantry door.

and this shirt that has been hanging in my closet that i love so much,(because it is the perfect color of vintage yellow, and it has a bird on it) that i was able to fit into. this time it wasn't so snug around my middle. grin.

tired

today i locked myself in my computer/sewing room. i sat down at the computer and pulled up this talk. i was in need of some enlightenment, some strength. read it, you will too. :)

colors of the season

added alittle fall decor ontop of my desk. sticks with paper leaves.

yellow, brown, and orange. some of my favorite colors.

oh boy... after reading my comments from the last post, i want to tell you, my life is far from perfect. i try to keep my blog a positive and happy place. i have struggles, fears, sadness, pain, worries, hardships just like you all do. i dont want to be one of those people that everyone thinks is perfect, believe me, i am far from it. i yell, my house is dirty, i am overweight, i miss church... a lot, i dont read my scriptures enough, i dont make dinner every night, i have piles of laundry in my closet, i am so impatient with my children, and so on. i am just like everyone else and have flaws. i want to be able to connect with you. i want you to know i am just like you. i think its hard in this blogging world, to remember that everyone is a person and not just a picture and a name you click on.

i love you all, my friends.

need to go get my children in order!:)