An Insert from My Family Blog

Happy New Year!!

I thought I would share this with those of you who used to read this blog... I say used to b/c I haven't blogged in such a long time and I certainly haven't been good at keeping you up to date on things. I posted this on my family blog and thought you might like to read it. Maybe this will get me back into the swing of blogging again!!

It is 2011.... As a young girl I always thought about the future and what Gods plan was for my life. I remember thinking about 2011 particularly and thinking about how far away it seemed at that time. I often wondered if I would be married or have children as well.   Did you ever do that as a child?? Think about the future....that is? Well it is 2011 and time has flown by since I was that little girl. Alot has changed since then and I am so thankful for all the many blessings the Lord has blessed me with.

I am not one to make new years resolutions because most of the time they don't last (actually all the time they never last.) I can only think of two people in my entire life who actually stuck with a resolution for one year. That is pretty committed, huh??

The only time I ever made a resolution was when I was in 8th or 9th grade. I (along with some other friends of the family) committed to not eating candy or drinking soda for one year. I can honestly say I MADE IT!!! See I am not a big candy eater, I just love cookies, ice cream, and pies, and I only drank water so it wasn't that hard for me. I know you are probably wondering why I did it then, right?

Well if we could make for the one year then our parents would give us $100 at the end of the year.

Not a bad deal for an 8th grader, huh!?!?

Good ole' memories!!

Well I say all that to say that this past December I decided it was time to try something new. I thought January would be a great time to start but I didn't really make a resolution. I just sat down and talked with my husband one night and told him I wanted to try some things this year. If it works great and if not then I can say I tried.

The idea I had was to have a garden and to make most of our food from scratch.... I'm crazy, I know!

I have wanted to make more of the food we eat from scratch for a long time now but haven't really taken the initiative to do it. I have also wanted to have a garden but we have never really had the time or place to have one.

So what I am going to try to do is prepare healthier food with the least amount of preservatives/pesticides as possible....Which means more things will be made from scratch and most of the food will be organic.

Don't get me wrong, I am still going to make all the things we really like to eat but it will just take more planning and prepping in the kitchen then normal.

I have talked with a couple who lives here in RH who have a 1 acre garden and also my husband's grandparents who had a garden for many years in there back yard and grew up on farms in west Florida. Unfortunately I was told that where we live we have to many wild animals and they will eat the garden up.... SO my bubble got burst there. Unless I buy an electric fence to keep the critters out I will be waisting my money on seed. And I am NOT buying an electric fence right now! So I guess now that I have the space and time(haha) the little critters have put a stop to the garden I wanted to have.  I still think I am going to try some stuff on our screened-in porch where I can move them around in pots to get sun and keep them safe from the animals in our woods. We will see how that goes.

I am not going to be able to blog about what I make all the time or whats growing (or not growing) in our yard but I can get you started on something I made today...

I attempted bread. For some of you making homemade bread is second nature but to me it's not. I always found it easier to pick up a fresh loaf from the Publix bakery. I always thought that working with yeast was harder then it should be but then for Thanksgiving my mom and Omi (my German Grandma) showed my sister and I how to make easy homemade yeast rolls and how to make spaetzle (A homemade noodle.) I realized then that it isn't that hard and if all else fails you can make another batch! 

 For the price I can make 4 loaves of homemade bread I can buy one loaf at the grocery store. Interesting, right?

Well my bread only took 2 1/2 hours to make including the rising twice and the baking. I am looking forward to making a vast variety of homemade foods in my kitchen this year. You should give it a try and if you have questions give me a shout!!
So if I can make my bread look like this the first time, then you should at least give it a try!!

October Update

Good Afternoon Blog....

I have been thinking about writing all week... Seriously!!

Well I am finally getting a chance to blog for a quick second. 

About our life in Georgia... Well It has been beautiful. The weather has been amazingly gorgeous and we have been spending all our mornings outside playing at the park or in the yard. It is starting to get dark earlier at night and that is bringing us in sooner then we would like in the evenings. I could handle the weather being colder but other then that it has been great!

The boys are growing like weeds. Ethan has finished up with his soccer and absolutely loved it. We are planning on doing T-ball in the spring so for now we are taking a break from sports and will pick back up in the spring. Tucker is starting to say more words and he also likes to copy his brother more and more. Which means Ethan is learning what is means to be a ....good example!

They are really cute together when they decide to actually play together. I spent the morning cleaning today and they played the entire time. It was really cute to listen to them play, get along, and be safe while doing it! Ethan kept telling Tucker he was the baby and he had to listen and do what he said....I'm not to sure Tucker new what he was saying but he went along with it. 

As for Gus, well he is working alot, but doing great! I am so proud of how hard he works and his desire to love, provide, and lead the family. I am doing well... Just staying busy being a mom and wife! Which I love. 

I haven't set any time aside to do alot of photography lately but I am going to try and do better with that. 

I was able to get some pictures of us out on in the front yard a few weeks back....

So I thought I would share them with you if you haven't already seen them on Facebook or on my family blog. 

Enjoy!

Trip To Destin

Here are some pictures of our recent trip to Destin, Fl. We we were so excited to be able to meet up with friends and spend a few days vacationing this past month. We spent our days either on the beach, in the pool, or boating. Pretty much in the water alot of the time. It was so beautiful and the water was very refreshing. The guys did go deep sea fishing one day and had a blast doing that.They were worn out afterwards but I think they would have done it again the next day if they could have.
Tucker and Chandler were teething while we were there but they were great troopers.
When we got home I realized that Tucker had 4 back teeth coming in. No wonder he was a bit fussy. I can't believe I missed that! I mean I knew he was teething but I couldn't ever tell how many teeth were coming in so when I was able to get a good look and saw 4 I was shocked!

So we had a wonderful time and we can't wait to go back.

The first set of pictures are of us at the pool, beach, and on the boat!

Cutie Pie- Chandler

Tucker checking out the water

Lindsey and Chandler

Ethan loving his time in the sand... What boy doesn't like to dig to his heart content?

I don't know what he is doing here but look at how big he is getting

Tucker

Lindz sun bathing on the boat

The next set of pictures are from when we went out to dinner.They are pictures of our view at the restaurant and the beautiful sunset.

These are views from the restaurant and our table.

Lettow's

Broome's

Evans

Ethan being our clown and trying on ladies hats

Later that night after dinner some sweet friends drove in to Destin just to visit with us for a few hours and then drove back home.... Can you guess who?
Tim and Laurie Howard-Thanks you guys for driving in to see us and visit. It was great seeing you!We hope to see you again real soon.

Oh, and these pictures were taken at around 1:00 in the morning , so you will have to excuse the way we might look. 

Here is our view from the condo and the main living room space. You can see Tucker by the small round table. He was pretty happy to be out of his car-seat after being in it for about 7 hours.
What was also really neat was the Lettow's, Broome's and us were all able to stay in the same condo. Which made it alot more fun b/c we got to spend so much more time together.

After I upload more picture I will share some more from our trip but for now that's it!

Getting Settled

I know, I know... I am having a hard time finding time to post on the blog these days. 

First reason for not blogging lately, we are in our new place. We moved July 5th and July 9th. Woo--I am glad that is over and don't want to do it again for a very long time! The hard part wasn't just having two little ones but all the boxes and everything was so overwhelming that most of the time I didn't know where to start. I was also sad because of the friends and family I was no longer near. Well--I still am sad about that. I don't know that you ever get over moving from a town you have grown up in your entire life. But I am very glad for Gus and know that this is the right thing for us. 

With lots of help from Gus we have been able to put a big dip into the unpacking. I think I have 4 large boxes sitting in the living room to unpack and then about 4 medium boxes left to unpack in a closet. So we are getting there!!

Gus of coarse has a small to-do list and the garage to finish but I am feeling really happy about our accomplishments this past week and a-half.

The boys are doing well. Ethan is in Vacation Bible School this week and then I have him registered for another VBS next week. We are signing him up for Soccer starting September and then I am registering him for T-ball as well. I think we are all looking forward to when that starts. As for Tucker he has been a bear lately. He is cutting another tooth, he's stubborn, doesn't get along with his brother, and is just plain grumpy. I am praying for this to quickly pass! 

Second reason for not blogging, I just got Internet, phone, and cable on Saturday. Our neighborhood is a fiber-optic neighborhood. So we don't get to have Comcast or AT&T as providers. Everything is really difficult to do. It took the guy over 5 hours to install our Internet, Cable, and Phone on Saturday. Yeah--Not exactly what I had in mind to do all day nor did we know it would take that long--but hey--We are connected now! 

So there's my short version of our life lately. 

Oh and this past Sunday we were ecstatic to have some friends stop by on there way home to Florida from there weekend in Savannah. We had a wonderful time talking the afternoon away, swimming that evening, and having dinner with them. I told Gus after they left that their visit was exactly what we needed. So--you guys know who you are--Thank You So Much for Visiting US!! We loved it!

Anyone else who wants to stop in to see us, please know your welcome. We love having people over!

I haven't had much time to take pictures but I am planning on taking some of the boys this week. They are growing so fast and getting so big. I will be sure to do that soon so you don't miss out on there cute little faces!

That is all for now, folks. 

Have a great rest of the week!

Whats Been Goin On?

Ok so its hard to believe it has been 16 days since my last post. The longest it has ever been since I started this blog which was back in the fall of 2009. Lately it has been--well-- CRAZY-- is an understatement. 

Recently and when I say recently I mean within the last week we found out that we are moving. 

We knew it was a possibility but we just never knew when. We also didn't expect  (well I guess I should say "I") didn't expect it to be this soon. 

I know I have talked about trying to sell our home in the past and it just hasn't happened.With us planning on moving before July 10th we knew we would have to make some decisions. Our Realtor was really sweet and said she would let us out of our contract so we could try to rent the house. Which is what we are going to do.

I listed it on Craigslist and have talked with 4-5 people (who all check out--no scams) and are going to look at our house. 

Woop--woop... I am pretty excited about that but I just pray that we will be able to pick the right renters for us. It is a scary thing renting your home for the first time. I sure don't want anyone coming in an ruining things. So we are being very careful, getting background checks amongst a few other things. So hopefully no worries there. 

So yes, I am moving sometime between July 8th-July 10th to Savannah Ga. I am busy making appointments for renters, packing, playing with the kids, calling and e-mailing on homes for us, and much more. I feel like I'm running a circus!!

But I am thankful my husband has a job and I will always support him.

Well I must run for now. I need to finish a few things before our two appointments tonight. Hopefully I will get a chance to update you next week once we decide on a place. So for now-- Have a great rest of the day!