Not your average birthstone jewelry!

From the top you should know that I'm NOT a jewelry kind of girl.  I've tried, but I just don't remember to put it on....or I don't feel a loss without it... I'm not sure what it is.  I just don't wear much jewelry.  Most days I stick to my engagement, my wedding ring, and {if I can find it} my watch.

Excellent for the large family :)

We are in the process of adoption from foster care.  It's a long process that takes a lot of work, a lot of time, and a lot of prayer.  As a dear friend says, you can't accidental adopt a child.  To commemorate the completion of our family, I've always wanted a piece of birthstone jewelry.  It seemed to make sense--my husband on one hand, my kiddos on the other!  Today I happened upon this site and I think I'm on my way to ditching the birthstone jewelry!  Here are my top favorites.  You can also buy the pieces a la carte and design your own creation.  How awesome is that?  If I can't make up my mind, I just may have to have a bracelet and a necklace.  Or maybe one piece of jewelry for every year we spend trying to bring home our kiddos!  Just one more small reason why I can't wait for my little people to come home!!

I think this is my favorite necklace selection.

Isn't this a fun bracelet?

The Wurtz Cabin

We spent three days and two nights traveling and playing with new-ish friends of ours from our church to the North Fork of the Flathead River just above Glacier National Park.  Four adults, seven kiddos (ages 8 months to seven years!), and a sum total of 15 hours of driving.  We had a fabulous, fabulous time!  Making friends as an adult with children is HARD, mainly because building good friendships take time, and time is something that we don't have a lot of these days.  But 15 hours in the van with another mama (with quiet, contented children) as well as a few days sharing a cabin and seven meals together can really help a person get to know somebody!  It only took four hours of being in the cabin when both of our husbands declared that this vacation shall be an annual event.  I like it when the men have so much fun that they start planning a repeat before we even leave :)

Looking for a great cabin that sleeps 12?  Check out the Wurtz cabin here!  And don't forget to stop at the Polebridge Mercantile on your way up there!!

Slow. Down.

Slow down.  

There is beauty to behold.  

A Savior to worship.  

A baby to hold.  

A husband to kiss.  

A world to explore.

Our time is more important than our money.  Spend it wisely.

When you are weary

Are you weary?  No, I don't mean tired, I mean weary.  


This afternoon I could feel the weariness in my bones.  After six years of owning a house we never planned to keep, we went to the closing of the sale of the house only to find out that someone in the buyer's camp dropped the ball and the financing may be in jeopardy.  We came home deflated.  Completely.  With yet another thing in our life that has no current resolution, it just seems much. 


Mountain Man and I were talking about this over lunch today.  When we were in college we both had this image of adult life that seemed rather, shall we say, monotonous.  We get married, go to work, and do life.  But that isn't how life has been for us, and I dare say it isn't how life has been for most people our age in America.  


As the weariness and heaviness set in this afternoon, I started thinking about the almost 10 years (next month!) I've spent with my husband. Every single year together has included a "major life transition."  Every year.  We've moved across the country away from everyone, bought a house, gutted and remodeled the house, started professional careers, and then spent two months preparing for a deployment that never happened.  All in our first 18 months.  We've battled infertility, depression, oppression, and addiction.  We bought a second house.  We got pregnant, moved internationally, had a baby, moved again, had another baby, moved internationally again, and had another baby.  I've stopped working, started working, stopped working to have babies, started working with babies, and stopped working again.  We spent 18 months pursuing an adoption that never happened.  We bought a puppy while having two in diapers.  We started homeschooling.  We are trying to bring home our children from foster care.


It feels much.  And it brings to mind this verse (from my childhood, which was memorized in KJV!):


"And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."  Galatians 6:9


We generally don't get weary when we do our own thing.  We just get bored.  We get weary in well doing.  Paul could not speak these words of encouragement to the Galatians if he had never been there himself.  Weary.  Tired.  Ready to give up.  But isn't the desire to give up a good indication that we are accomplishing the things that are greater than ourselves?


I want to give up.  I want to stop searching websites and making phone calls and submitting home studies and waiting for the phone call that never comes.  I want to stop making lesson plans and searching for deals on curriculum and reading articles on how to educate my children.  I want to stop living on a budget and paying down debt.  I want to stop having the hard conversations with my husband that keep us up at night.  I want to give up.


But when I look at the things that feel wearisome, I realize that these are the very things that God has asked me to do--rescue my children from foster care, school my kiddos, live debt-free, build intimacy with my husband.  So I take a nap, have a glass of lemonade and breathe in the promise--I WILL reap a harvest.  I just can't give up. 

If your baby pool gets stolen

I'm sure it's a common thing to have your baby pool stolen out of your driveway, right?  Well, maybe if you live in downtown Richmond or LA or somewhere like that, but in Montana?!  It was shocking to me, too.  I want to believe that a desperate mother or father with zero dollars to spend at a yard sale took both pools (yes, they stole TWO baby pools).  Probably not. . .

The theft was a catastrophic loss for the kids.  I had to put on my mommy thinking cap last week to combat the 90 degree corn-growing-weather.  Sometimes mothers in our country forget that as long as it is fun, it doesn't need to be perfect--like playing in plastic storage tubs!

Can you hear him say "No thank you!  This is my tub!  Move to yours!"

With only two plastic storage tubs and three children, I needed to get VERY creative with Sweet Girl.  Her baby doll clothes were looking pretty dirty, so I got out my washboard, a dry rack, a small tub for soapy water and a small tub of rinse water.  (As a side question--does anyone ever think to wash baby doll clothes?  It took me three years to notice that they were dirty and another two years to do something about it!  HA!)  She thought it was fantastic!  And, amazingly, the boys didn't spray her with the water hose.  There was peace for almost an entire hour!

Sweet girl had such a fun time that we played this again two days later!

Boredom Busters

My kiddos are close in age--almost six yo, four and a half, and almost three.  They don't yet know the word "bored" (don't ask me how I pulled that one off!) but they sure know how to act that way! When the Boredom Monster comes to stay for a while, I see a definite increase in yelling, fighting over toys, and whining.  I don't like any of those things (does anyone?!?) and  I have found that if I give them some structured activity, they tend to play better by themselves after the activity is over.  So, here are some things we are doing in our house this summer. . .

1)  Chores.  I know, they are young, but they can still help do something.  I recently invested in small watering cans, a new and easy-to-use broom and dust pan set, and a swiffer mop.  Although I'm not thrilled with the results of the swiffer, it is easy for them to use, they feel very responsible, and the floor is cleaner than doing nothing (which is what happens to my floor most of the time!).  They also help clean the bathroom, and they do a pretty decent job when they do it with me.  After spending an hour doing chores with mama, they are usually very excited to be left alone in their toy room!

2)  Stations that they pick.  Because of the work of having many small children, we don't have a lot of playtime one-on-one.  We recently played a little game together that went something like this:  For 15 minutes we did what Silly Boy wanted to do.  For the next 15 minutes we did what Crazy Man wanted to do.  For the next 15 minutes we did what Sweet Girl wanted to do.  No one could complain about the activity their sibling chose or they would lose their time to choose the activity.  Everyone had to participate with each activity.  I couldn't answer the phone during our 45 minutes of playing.  Because I was so focused on them and they each had a time to control the activity for their siblings, everyone left the time very happy!

3)  Stations that I pick.  There are a lot of toys in our house that our kids just don't touch unless I bring it to their attention.  Since we home school, I have a small collection of "educational" toys.  I make stations that could include a book station (with a theme like all Dora books or all Thomas books), puzzles, lacing activities, stamps and paper (or stickers and paper), and play dough.  Every 10 minutes they have to change activities. They have to do all of the activities and they can't switch activities until the timer goes off.  The lack of control over what they play, when they play it, and how long they can play it can certainly cause some tension (such a good teachable moment or three!), but the decrease in control over their play also makes them so thankful for "free" playtime that they handle the free time much better after we do our station time.

There you have it--three strategies this mama uses to keep peace in the home and hair on my head (you pull yours out, too, from time to time, right??)

First TV, then the newspaper

I know it sounds crazy, but I managed to be on the news on Wednesday and in the newspaper on Saturday!  Completely unplanned, but very fun :)  All of my "fame" is here and gone all at the same time!  If you want to read about handling pests in your garden, take a look here.  My new gardening friend Amy Grisak is a well-published free-lance writer of gardening articles for various magazines like Mother Earth News and Hobby Farms as well as our local newspaper.  Pretty easy way to get into the paper, huh?  She helped me identify the issues with my swiss chard, and then helped again with my beets.  When she heard that I also had potato bugs, she said I inspired her to write an article on pest control in the newspaper.  I should have bought a paper on Saturday. . .

Spray painting furniture. . .

Last weekend my dear husband took the kids away camping for three days.  That's right--three days of no kids, no cleaning, and no cooking. I can get a lot done with those things out of my schedule!  In addition to reupholstering the the glider, I painted this desk and chair.  (The fun part is that I got both the desk and chair for free from friends!!)  I was able to cover the cushion of the chair with the same fabric I used to cover the glider.  A friend had recommended spray painting the furniture as a faster way of getting the job done.  I am all about doing things quickly!  Spray painting IS faster, but I wouldn't use spray paint for something larger than this little desk. However, I am pleased with this little project of mine--what do you think?

Before shot of the little desk and chair.

Different shot of the chair.

Black!  I love black!

I'm so very pleased!!

I'm famous!

You never know when an ordinary trip to the library will lead to a spot on the evening news.  Moral of the story?  Always fix your hair before going to storytime!  (Don't you just love Benjamin's blue superman cape?)

The Garden Journal

The best gardening advice I've ever received (and haven't fully implemented!) is to make a gardening journal.  Even though we are half way done with the growing season, it isn't too late to start recording what is going on in your back yard.  If your memory is like mine--nonexistent since the introduction of children--then it is helpful to be able to compare one year to the next.  Here is how mine is set up:

1)  A small three-ring binder or three prong folder.  It doesn't have to be fancy unless you have a fancy daughter like my Sweet Girl who likes to decorate everything.  In that case, you've also come up with an afternoon craft for her without even trying!

2)  Notebook paper and graph paper.  I know--the notebook paper makes sense.  You gotta have something to write on!  But, if you are married to an engineer (or you are one!) I'm sure you have graph paper left over from college that he (or you!) just can't bare to get rid of.  It is excellent for drawing diagrams of your garden and raised beds!

3)  Calendar.  Check out the free downloadable calendars here.

4)  Historical weather info.  Did you know that you can go to Weather.Com and print off a calendar of the highs and lows for the previous month?  From the home page type your ZIP code in the search box.  On the next screen click on "Monthly."  It will show the high and low temperature as well as the total rainfall each day of the month thus far.  It will also give the average temps/rain for the remainder of the month.  From this screen you can click "previous" to find the actual data for the previous month. I've found this very helpful to have in my binder as I'm trying to plan the seed starting dates and plant dates the next year.  My optimism gets the best of me and I really don't believe that it is as cold as it is in April and May until I look at the calendar from the previous year!

5)  Seed packets.  When I have used all of the seeds from a packet, I like to tape the packet to one of the notebook pages.  If I have questions as to what the company name was or what the day to maturity was SUPPOSE to be, I can look at the packet very quickly.  If you are planting a smaller garden, you can just record this information on a sheet of paper for quick reference (since you'll use the seeds for multiple seasons).  If you purchased transplants, include the little info tab from the transplant so that you can remember the type of tomatoes (peppers, squash, etc) you planted each year and record how well they grew.

6.  Photos.  Although I haven't printed photos to tape inside the binder (although I really want to!) I think it is helpful to take pictures of your plants at least once a month. It is much easier to monitor growth and compare from year to year with pictures.  I am also hoping to use pictures from this year to help me better plan and utilize my space for next year.  For example, while I know that my buttercup squash vine will run all over my garden by September, right now there is a lot of bare space.  With the pictures, I'll be able to determine which crops will mature quickly enough to plant in that bare space and will be ready to harvest before the squash takes over.

7.  Gardening Articles.  Have you found something good online or from Mother Earth News?  Print it, clip it, and put it in the journal.  No need to look for it again!

I hope this gets your wheels turning with ideas on how to gather and record information about your garden.  The more we know, the more we grow!

While the cat's away

While the cat is away, this mouse will reupholster furniture! Jeremy took the kiddos camping for three days last week and I got to stay home by myself (luxury, luxury, luxury!!).  Beyond spending hours upon hours getting ready for the upcoming school year (and ignoring the garden!), I finally got to do some of those really LONG projects that I never have the time or energy for.  I got this glider rocker three years ago at a yard sale, and over the past three years it has gotten a little, um, sad.  It was so sad that I couldn't even cover the cushions--I had to make new ones!  With the help of my friend Summer, we got this little project done (plus dinner, plus a lot of talking) in 5 1/2 hours.

Sad, sad, sad.  The back cushion can't even stand on its own!

Three inch foam is NOT easy to cut!  Especially in a semi-circle!

When friends help with projects, I actually gt into a picture!  Do you like the pattern I made?

Almost like new again!

Grilled Mediterranean Vegetables

I'm not so much a meat-eater.  I love my fruits and veggies.  My Friend is also a veggie kind of girl, so when I found this recipe, I knew she would enjoy it as much as I would.  And I was right!  It was fabulous!  So here is your Saturday recipe, complements of June/July "Taste of Home" magazine.

Marvelous Mediterranean Vegetables (p. 68)

3 large portabella mushrooms
1 each sweet red, orange, yellow peppers
1 medium zucchini
10 fresh asparagus spears, cut into thirds
1 small onion, cut into rings
3/4 cup grape tomatoes
1/2 cup fresh sugar snap peas
1/2 cup fresh broccoli florets
1/2 cup pitted Greek olives
1 bottle (14 oz) Greek vinaigrette
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Directions:
1)  Slice veggies and place in large resealable plastic bag.  Add vinaigrette into bag, seal, and turn to coat.  Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
2)  Drain veggies and transfer to a grill wok or grill basket.  Grill, uncovered, over medium heat for 8-12 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently.  If you don't have a grill basket, use a disposable foil pan.  Poke holes into the bottom of pan with a meat fork to allow liquid to drain.
3)  Place on serving plate and sprinkle with feta cheese.

YUMMY!!!  Make sure to enjoy this dish with a veggie lover.  It makes nine servings, so if you are like your veggies but you are married to a meat kind of guy (like I am!), you need to make this and invite someone over to enjoy it with you.  It rains on my food party when I have to share something this delicious with someone who doesn't appreciate it as much as I do!