"The habits of a vigorous mind are born in contending with difficulties."
~ Abigail Adams

"It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one."
~ George Washington

" Let the wife make the husband glad to come home,
and let him make her sorry to see him leave."
~ Martin Luther

Happy Thanksgiving Day to all!!!

I am home with my family today for Thanksgiving. Just my dh, my children and me. The house is warm and smelling of turkey and cornbread stuffing. It is a drizzly day in the Pacific Northwest and it has made me reflect on past Thanksgiving days.
Remembering when I was a little girl and waking up to my mother already cooking and preparing for the feast to come. As I grew up, helping her and learning from her. What to prepare first, setting the table, making our home warm and welcoming. Playing games with my sister and looking forward to all of the wonderful, yummy pies set aside for after we had thoroughly stuffed ourselves with turkey and all of the trimmings. Dad saying the prayer over our meal and thanking the Lord for our blessings.
I am a little sad today as this is the first Thanksgiving that I don't have all of my children with me. My son is spending it with another family and I miss the thought of having all of my babies here. I know!! They grow up and start their lives and I am truly fine with that. It is just marking the passage of time and how quickly life changes.
This is my fourth Thanksgiving without my Mom. I have been thinking of her a lot lately and missing her greatly. Other than my dh she was my closest friend. *sigh* Seems like yesterday, I was cooking with her and we were laughing together about life, the children's antics...
However, with all of the curve balls that life throws at us, I am so thankful for all that the Lord has blessed us with, our health, our home, work for my dh and the ability to stay home and raise our children to honor God.

~ The one who offers Thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies Me; to one who orders his way rightly. I will show the salvation of God. ~

~ It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; to declare Your loving-kindness in the morning, and Your faithfulness by night...for You, O Lord, have made me glad by what you done, I will sing for joy at the work of Your hands. How great are Your works, O Lord! ~

Blessings to you and yours ~ Nadine

Our Sweet Baby Boy!!

I want to present our newest blessing, Gabriel Landon. Isn't he just adorable?

He was a wonderful birth. Definitely one of my easiest. I had five hours of labor and about nine contractions. The last two contractions, when my water broke and when he arrived, were the only really painful ones that I experienced. I wish all of my labors had all been like that!!! We delivered him in a birthing tub which, if you can use it, is amazing with natural birth.

Our midwife, the amazing Megan, went out to do some paper work while we were waiting for more contractions to kick in. Little did we know, the next contraction would be delivering that sweet bundle of joy!!! We had to wait two weeks past his due date to meet him but we all know that 'due date' is a very subjective term. I am just thrilled to have him here. All of you moms out there know just how that feels, finally getting to hold that beautiful baby and smell that sweet baby smell!! That is such a wonderful smell. It has always amazed me that babies can come from where they come from and smell so incredibly sweet. God's creation is truly wonderful!! Is there a more powerful way to connect than with the sense of smell?? I wish I could bottle it so I could smell it on those days when I am having a baby craving! ;D

Much too long!!

It has been far too long since I have posted on here. Much has changed in our lives over the past year. We moved this past summer to a bigger home (Yay!!) but on a smaller piece of property ( not so yay...). We are loving the extra space in this home, especially the girls, who were all in one tiny room. It backs to green space so, that helps us to not feel so claustrophobic. We all really miss the acreage, though, and desire to get back on acreage again.
We are expecting our 10th blessing any day now. In fact, he is a week "over due" tomorrow. My babies have always been a bit on the late side, so I am not concerned, just getting a bit uncomfortable. We are excited and anxious for him to get here, though!!!
Our oldest turned 20(!!!) on the 23rd. It is so hard to believe that my first baby has grown up so quickly. When I look at mothers who are frustrated or short tempered with their littles (myself included), I really just cringe. Your time with them as littles, teaching them and helping them, is just so very short. You just don't realize it when you're in the middle of diapers, feedings and toddlers!!
I plan on utilizing my blog more to gather information that has been helpful to me as a wife, mother and homemaker. I want to build a ready resource for myself, my daughters and anyone else who needs it. I hope what I post is helpful.
Have a blessed week!!!
~Nadine

learning (& relearning) a new trick...

I attended a really interesting class this past week. It was about sustainable living on a budget. Very, very fascinating. Here is her website, http://www.sustainablebudget.com/. Some of what was taught I already apply in our life here on the 'farm'. Alot of the rest I am beginning to or striving to apply. It is all about shrinking our consumerism not only for the environments' sake or to decrease our spiral into debt for things that mean nothing but for the sake of our spiritual sanity. What are we focused on in our lives? What is the quality of life within our family and how can we make it better?
She had us watch a video also, which I had already watched on Dr. Mercola's site but was still excellent to watch again and probably one or two more times wouldn't hurt!!! It is called the Story of Stuff and everyone should watch this eye opening tidbit.
You can find it here....www.thestoryofstuff.com.....awesome, watch it!!!!
I am also working most plastics out of our home and moving back into my old habits of applying the principles in Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. A book all should read and learn. Very informative. I will continue to add my tidbits of learning on here as I return to what I know and add new knowledge gleaned from this wonderful resource. I will begin to soak my grains starting tomorrow. Then they are always on hand to make a wonderful, filling and tasty meal. I just wish there was a place to get raw cow milk around here. My family won't do goat milk after a few days. It tastes too goaty and we are spoiled with the sweetness of cow milk. I miss that fresh cream!!! So rich and wonderful!!! There are several places up in the Puget Sound area but, alas, none available close to us.... I will continue to seek out a supply around here. I must, I must!!!