Multitude Monday - January 21st, 2013

There has been a wide variety of excitement around the Neaton ranch this past week.


There was a rooster attack. He managed to scratch my leg pretty good, even through my jeans. His days here are numbered.

Joseph has finally come to grips with being weaned. It's been about 3 weeks and just this past week he finally stopped asking for 'milk time' and stopped throwing a fit at bed and nap time. It's such a blessing to have one less battle around here. Tonight I brought him to his room and laid him down and the sweet little one says...'cover me up, night mom.'

We also brought home a cute little puppy on Saturday. Joe and the kids had went and picked him out about a month ago and Joe went and picked him up this weekend. We have been talking about him off and on for the last month and the kids kept going back and forth on wanting him and not wanting him.

I'm pretty sure everyone is thrilled that he is here now. He has seemed to have had numerous names over the last couple of days, but think everyone has settled on - Buddy.

Dirty faces make me smile!

Other blessings...meals stocked away in the freezer, the start of greenhouse prepping underway, Friday night dinners with friends, Netflixing movies and no commercials, ordering groceries through Amazon, phone calls and chats with friends.

The week ahead includes a midwives appointment (30 weeks already), a meeting with an insurance salesman and a final Christmas party.

Joining Ann...

God bless!

Book Review - Fully Alive

Ken Davis's book Fully Alive is his journey to live fully alive again. He shares his personal journey of losing weight and investing more time in friendships and how along his journey he renewed his relationship with Christ.

There are bits of humor throughout the book as well as a healthy dose of inspiration. I found it to be an easy read, yet still did pull a few good nuggets of inspiration from it.

I like that he shared to start you just need to get moving and take it one step at a time...which can be hard for those perfectionists out there. After all, Jesus wants all His children to step from the wilderness of mediocrity onto the path of living fully alive. (pg 8)

I received this book from Booksneeze's blogger program in exchange for an honest review.

God bless!

Multitude Monday - January 14th, 2013

So many gifts for our family over the last month or so...large and small...seen, heard, felt and experienced. Here's a few...

Children heard playing so well with each other...
...Joseph having a couple of extra 'mama's' to help him out

Chickens in the front yard

Leftover Christmas treats unearthed in the freezer

New niece, Reagan...
...held, snuggled and cuddled

Sitting and reading with my 3 favorite little ones...
...book after book after book

Fresh baked, homemade warm bread...
...and loads of butter
...and Joseph says honey too!

My partner-in-life, Joe beside me...
...working, parenting, living, loving

Winter sunshine, even with it is bitter cold out...
...stocking hats and mittens

Joseph's ever growing vocabulary...
...and the things he says

   

 He has been telling me 'hold on, hold on' when I ask for him. 

Apparently I tell everyone to 'hold on' quite often.

He is fascinated with the word 'tuna' and will randomly 

throw it into whatever he is talking about.

Children quickly getting over a stomach bug...

...all 3 were hit, but none had it for more than 24 hours

Growing baby belly...
...and just now having to break out the maternity pants

Counting with Ann today and looking forward to a week working back into a routine.
God bless!

Recipes ~ Tried and Approved

I have found some great ideas, recipes, etc on Pinterest. Here are a few of the recipes we have tried out and enjoyed...

**Updated - I forgot some very yummy recipes (I'll blame it on pregnancy brain)...

Pumpkin Pie - Pumpkin pie made with maple syrup

Caramels - Butter, honey and cream...what could be better.

Monkey Bars - Banana bars with browned butter frosting...delicious and easy.


English Muffins - I've made these a few times over the last few years - before Pinterest. I just made them last weekend again and was reminded how easy and yummy they are.

Baked French Toast - I made this baked french toast for Christmas brunch with my family and it was a hit all around. I used a cinnamon bread rather than the sourdough and it was delicious.

White Bean and Kielbasa Stew

Gluten Free Carrot Cake - I made this gluten free carrot cake a long time ago, but we all loved it - more so than the gluten filled one I normally make. It did taste better a couple of days later after it sat for awhile. I used honey instead of the agave and I used a mix of butter and coconut oil instead of the grapeseed oil. I also increased the cinnamon and decreased the nutmeg a little.

Caramel Corn - This caramel corn is yummy and easy to make. We made a bunch and gave it as gifts for Christmas as well.

Homemade Ketchup - This homemade ketchup is super easy to whip up and it's yummy too. I add everything to a quart jar and mix with my hand blender. I go light on the seasonings and my family seems to like it better.


I know it's not really canning season right now, but here are a few new things I did this past year...

Canning Dry Beans - You need a pressure canner/cooker, but canning dried beans was super easy and so nice to have some on hand.

Rosemary Rhubarb Jam

Pineapple Zucchini - It's basically zucchini canned in a lot of sugar and pineapple juice and the end result tastes just like canned pineapple you would buy in the store. My kids have been eating it up...they do think they are actually eating pineapple though. Charlie would probably decline if she knew she was eating zucchini.


Happy Eating!

Baby #4 - 28 Weeks

Baby #4 - 27 weeks

I'm about 28 1/2 weeks right now and feeling pretty good.

I'm pretty sure this is the smallest I've been during pregnancy...but have still gained plenty of weight.

Baby is growing well and moving around like crazy.

At my last midwife appointment, he/she was moving around so much we couldn't get a steady read of a heartbeat with the fetal-scope. 

My only complaint...I'm having horrible rib pain that I never experienced with any of the others.

We have been talking about names, but haven't come up with anything quite yet.

God bless!

Happy 2nd Birthday Joseph!

Our Joseph turned 2 on December 26th, 2012.

The last 2 years have went by so fast...at least it seems that way. It's probably because we just have more going on around here.

He is talking like crazy and quick to repeat everything he hears. 

Like a typical boy, he loves all things with wheels...tractors, bobcats, trucks, cars, etc. 

I think his second favorite thing is to be naked. He is constantly taking his clothes off diaper and all. 

This may just make potty training easier though. He has been wearing underwear off and on for the last week, with varying degrees of success. One day he will go 5 hours with no accidents and use the toilet numerous times and the next day he has 3 accidents in the first hour of wearing them.

Not that it was a very nice gift from mama...but I weaned him earlier this week just after his birthday. He is still asking for milk everyday, but also drops it rather quickly when told that there is no more milk.

At nap time yesterday, he asked for 'milk time'. I told him I didn't have any milk anymore and he would need to have water instead. His response was 'buy more?'

Happy birthday Joseph!

God bless!

2012 - A Little Review

This past year has flown by. I feel like a million things have happened, but can't remember anything.

The winter was spent...
               ...playing in the little snow we had...
               ...garden planning and dreaming...
               ...business and work prepping...

In March, we had this little bull calf born right here on our little farm...

Moosely ~ He looks so little here. 

He has grown into a monster of a calf in the last 9 months

By April, we had the greenhouse planted and the beginning of our massive gardening projects had begun. I tripled our garden space this year and feel so blessed that we were able to reap many rewards from it all. I love looking at all the canned goodies lined up on my cellar shelves.

Our Charlie turned 5 in May.

By summer, we added 5 new laying hens and a mama cow with twin calves to the Neaton ranch...

...and did a lot of canning...

Early August, we found out we were expecting our 4th little one and made the decision to have a homebirth with this baby (probably our last)...

...and celebrated Cori turning 3 (with pie, not cake).

In November, Joe and I celebrated our 7th anniversary. Grandma and papa Neaton were kind enough to take the kids for the night and we were able to get away by ourselves for the night.

One of the biggest accomplishments for our family happened in December - We became COMPLETELY DEBT FREE! I'm so proud of my husband and all his hard work. We planned, made changes and sacrifices and got it done.

December also brought, a new sister-in-law when my brother, Travis married his lovely bride Kelsey...

...and our littlest one, Joseph turned 2! It's so hard to believe how fast they grow and that soon we will have a 4th little one here.

God bless!