Mannanah Jam

Last weekend the boys and I had the opportunity to attend an annual family blue-grass jam my parents host each  year.  Unfortunately Stephen wasn't able to come with us, he stayed home and built a rail at  the top of our stairs so the boys won't fall off and kill themselves - don't I have just a wonderful man?!?!?!?  Yes! In fact we did move into our upstairs last weekend!  And as soon as I get my camera back from my mom I'm going to take pictures and post before and after shots of our extensive remodel job! (which by the way, my amazing and very talented Hubby did 99% of himself!)

Any way . . . here are some photo's I took at the Jam last Sunday:

My In-Laws singing (we are very blessed to have talented musicians on both sides of the family!)

David & His Uncle Jack, they are 3months apart in age and the best of friends!

"Uncle Jack"

Mitch & Carl singing together !

My brothers youngest. As David calls him "Baby Rodger"

Scotty

My siblings singing together

Home Grown & Delicious!

We love to eat yummy food, who doesn't?  And this time of year offers a virtual goldmine of opportunity to eat healthy and spectacular food!  I love the challenge of trying to create an appetizing meal using only things I've grown myself  or been given from friends and families gardens.  Here is our dinner from the other night - homegrown free range chickens raised on my parents organic farm and butchered by my hubby, myself (yes i do help with the butchering - *gives self pat on the back :) and my dad and siblings.  

Fresh red potatoes dug from my daddy's amazing garden just an hour or so before dinner.

And Fresh from daddy's garden Zucchini grilled and topped with garlic and cheese. 

 I have also been experimenting with herbs the last couple of years, and just the other day I decided to harvest them all.   Here are all my herbs freshly picked and sitting on our dinning room table:

And here they all are hours later after being picked off the stems and laid out to dry:

I have been really enjoying cooking and baking with fresh herbs.  The taste is so much more poignant and bursting with flavor than anything you can buy from the store!   I didn't even realize what some herbs flavor really was, being as the dried little jars from the grocery store all kinda taste like dirty sticks :-)  I encourage any one with a pot and a window to try growing some fresh herbs - you will be amazed!

Do you support your man?

I was driving to my parents from Litchfield today and listing to a CD when this song came on, it's one of my favorites I just love the lyrics and hope and pray my husband would say the same  of me . . .

She Supports Her Man

By: Paul Overstreet

Well they were married young

And at first life was hard for them

Her friends and family told her

She should not have married him

'Cause sometimes he'd get out of work

Then he'd work on big ideas

And the part time job she'd have to take

Would barely pay the bills

Sometimes they could both hear 

People talk behind their backs, saying

She supports her man

Yes, she supports her man

And she believes that everyone

Should have a helping hand

And the Bible on the table says

It's all part of the plan

She's in love so she supports her man

Well after 15 years or so

Her man wound up on top

And when his big ideas came through

Well, everyone was shocked

To find he'd never take the credit

For all his success

He was quick to set the record strait

When people asked

He would always turn to his wife

Take her hand and say,

Yea, she supports her man

Yea, she supports her man

Any good I'll ever do 

She believes I can

And the Bible on our table says

It's all part of His plan

I've been blessed 'cause 

She supports her man

Well last Sunday he turned 92

And she's just 85

But to look at them it's plain to see

Their love is still alive

His eyes don't see as well as hers

His ears hear fewer sounds

But with his feeble hand on her arm

They still walk through town

Now everybody's saying it's wonderful to see

How she supports her man

Yes, she supports her man

'Cause she's believes eternity

Should find them hand in hand

And the Bible on their table says

It's all part of His plan

So with the strength God gives her

She supports her man

Yea, the Bible on their table says

It's all part of His plan

So with the strength God gives her

She supports her man

Just A Little Photo Shoot

If there is one thing I love about being a photographer (and there is actually more than one :-) It's taking pictures of my boys and just the everyday things that happen around our house.  If there is one thing I hate about being a photographer, it's that I feel every picture I take and display must be a piece of art.  But if there is one thing I've learned from being a photographer, its that every photograph is a piece of art - because no mater how rudimentary it may be it captures a moment of time that otherwise would be lost forever! 

So here are a few pictures of my boys that I took today . . .  

P.S. if you didn't know I am a photographer check out my photo blog ~ 

http://www.lydiajphotography.blogspot.com/

What I did Today

What I did today was a little crazy, at least I almost went crazy!  We are house sitting for my parents and dad said we could have anything we picked from his garden, sooooooooooo, today I needed to pick cucumbers and  green beans as well as weed my tomatoes.  I manged to get the tomatoes weeded while the boys napped, but unfortunately they didn't sleep long enough for me to get to my picking. Rats!   So after pondering for a while how exactly you pick produce with two babies in tow; this is what I came up with:

One:  Strap the 1 1/2 year old in the stroller

Two: Keep the 2 1/2 year old from running the 1 1/2 year old into any thing

Three: Convince the 2 1/2 yr old that he does want to pick "baby pickles"

Four: Pick as fast as you can! 

(while preventing the 2 1/2 yr old from stepping on and smashing all living vegetation)

Scotty liked "gardening" for most of the time :-)

In the Garden 

Where does the time go?

How have I gotten so behind on blogging?  Where does the time go?  Believe me, I have very good intentions of  staying up to date and writing witty and inspiring post for all the world to see!  Every time something, cute, funny, tragic or just down right annoying happens during my very average and normal days I start mentally writing my blog post to depict it.  But some how it always stays a mental post. And by the time I get to a computer, and have two minutes to think *poof* my mental masterpiece has vanished leaving behind only the vague realization that once upon a time I actually thought of something clever to write.   So that is that.


Now on to life.

It keeps on moving, just like my busy and mischievous little boys.  Davers and Scotty keep me busy.  Stephen keeps me grounded and laughing and everyday life, well it just gives me something to do and a million moments to pray to God for the strength to make it through another day.

So here are a few pictures to catch you up on the growth of my little family . . .

Our family this Easter at Stephen's Parents House

Going to the Park!  The boys love walking to the park on nice days.

The fireworks in Litchfield - July 2011

Waiting for the Watercade Parade - David LOVED all the candy!

Me and my man at the Parade

My Bible and a Gun

David just loves to be like his daddy.  Lately he is always telling me he is "going to work" and then he'll take his little "brief case" and put on his shoes and ask me if he can "use the car".  Well the other day I decided to take a look at what exactly he was taking to work in his brief case, I opened it up and found, a cell phone, an orange play gun and a bible.  I got kinda chocked up at that.  So often I feel like i'm not measuring up as a mom, and that because of my failures my boys won't grow up to be the men we desire them to be; so i think that this was a little encouragement from God.  Because that is exactly what I pray we will raise, boys who boldly go forth into the world with their Bible in one hand and a gun in the other.  Boys with a strong spiritual foundation and a burning desire to win the world for Christ, and boys who know it's their God given duty to protect and provided for their family.  Thank you Lord for my little man, with his Bible and his gun!

And Thus Begins 2011

I know, I know.  I have been quite horrible at updating this blog.  I apologize to any of you unfortunate enough to be following my ramblings!  But thank you too.  2011 has begun.  And with it my boys are growing quickly . . . so here are a few pictures from the first month of this year . . . 

David & Scotty playing with magnets - or maybe they are eating them. hmmm, I guess perhaps I should feed them more!

David ridding in the car with his "uncle" Jack.  Davers and Jack are the best of friends and get along soooo well, it's a blast to watch them play!

In the Holiday Spirit at Stephen's Aunt and Uncles on Jan 2nd

CUTE!

David's new favorite thing to do is give Scotty baths. I'm not sure Scotty enjoys it half as much as David does :-)

Oh' my baby is eating food, *sigh* I guess they do have to grow up . . . 

David turns 2! We had a little birthday party for him!  His uncles and cousins came and played for the day, what fun!

L-R: Uncle Jack, Cousin Mathias, David, Cousin Holden, Uncle Carl, & Uncle Bruce