I love my babies!

Brandon started school last week. I am really excited for him to finish his MBA and then his CPA. Sounds good but it'll take about 4 years. I know that we're looking at a busy next couple of years with his busy and the kids getting into school and sports. I also know that in the next 5-20 years Ill look back and long for days like today. I know that these are the days. The days when I can snuggle and smooch my kids all day long and sont have to worry about treats for school and soccer practice. I can stay in my jammies all day long and I'm still Phoenix's "best friend ever." On hard days I can take the kids to the park and play all day long and they'll think I'm the coolest mom ever. These really are the days. I love my babies through and through. My mom once told me that we were her best friends. She loved being with us and playing with us. My babies are my best friends. I love to tickle and play hide and seek. I love to race around and around the kitchen playing tag. I love the days when I'm not feeling good and we get to lay on the couch and cuddle and watch disney movies all day long. I love this life. Today we played twister then followed it with juice and tortilla pizzas. The kids were so excited that they licked the oven door!! Haha!

A typical morning...all before 11am

We decided to have a little fun today swimming in bins. When Brandon's sister, Arianna, came to visit a few weeks I realized just how country I have become. I was sleeping when she showed up around noon and my kids were running around in their diapers. The kids were so excited to collect eggs and feed the chickens and then they played in the bins and sprinklers in their diapers. I think if I lived in the city I would still let them swim in bins but wearing swimmies. It's nice that out here I seldom have visiters so I don't have to impress anyone. On the other hand..I do miss entertaining and dressing up all the time. Here are pics of our adventure today. While taking these with my old camera I realized how much I miss my nicer broken one. I was thinking that I would servive without it but I don't think I will. :( I know that now I'll have to wait...

What a day!

I just babysat twin 7 year olds and a 6 year old. It was fun! We made cookies and played outside for most of the day. I cant believe how different it is to be with older kids then babies. I really think it's harder but maybe that's because they weren't mine. Now I am just tired. I can't believe how quiet it is around here.......

Life on the farm...

I never get bored of the land out here. It is so beautiful and it grows an amazing garden. I don't really think that this is the life for me but I am enjoying my time out here. I am trying to live it up and learn as much as I can to take with me when we are done here. I am not sure I will ever have the opportunity to raise chickens and live this life again. I do enjoy my chicks. There is nothing like going out and getting fresh eggs. They are SO different then store bought eggs which are usually older then 2 months. Every morning I usually get up and clean up the house really quickly. I get the kids dressed and then we have breakfast. Then we're off to do outside chores before it gets too hot. We feed the dog, feed the chickens (the kids love to go in the run and feed them scratch), water the garden and burn trash. It doesn't take long but it doesn't take long for the kids to get bored of being outside. In the afternoon we pick the produce we need for lunch and dinner and get the eggs. The kids love to get the eggs and we usually drop one every few days. Brandon hates weeds so I usually try to pull weeds everyday. Last week we trapped a mouse in the kitchen. The next day we were all doing outside chores when Brandon came in to get his gloves when he saw a mouse run across the top part of the stove. YUCK! The last pic is its fate.

Surprise Brandon!

We had a surprise birthday party for Brandon today who turns 28 on Sunday. The kids loved it and I loved that it kept us occupied most of the day. We made brownies and decorated them, cleaned the house, made streamers and party hats. We even made a really nice dinner. Brandon said that it was a pleasant surprise to come home to. Brandon, I love you through and through! Have loved these last 6 years together and can't wait for 600 more! You are my everything. Truly, Forever and forever, Brittany

I have been wondering why for the last few days my chickens haven't been laying very well. I know that little red has been eating eggs but she can't possibly eat 5 a day right? Well I found them. Looks like Miss Maran decided to make a new little nest spot and everyone else followed. Her eggs are the dark ones and the ones I have been waiting for! After the green ones! Cool huh?

More garden pics

Our garden is growing like crazy! I can't believe how well it's doing for my first garden. We have already eaten a lot and there is still more to come. I have done some things right and some things wrong. The first peas I planted weren't very good but the next ones I tried (Oregon Sweet Peas) were better. The Tomatoes are PERFECT! I planted slicing tomatoes and they're like eating candy! The raspberries are almost done and I still have one batch of jam to can. We're picking blackberries for jam also. The first picture is acorn squash. I intended on having them grow vertically but never pinned them up so they are all over! There must be 20 squash coming on and more to come!! I can't wait to bring goodies to Jennifer next month! Then next picture is the peppers. I already picked 3 from this plant. I thought they were green bell peppers so I gave one to Nix...they're HOT! The third pic is a pumpkin. I have 2 big white ones and one green one coming. all from the same brand of seeds. I'm excited to see what the difference it. I wonder if the white ones were cross pollinated. Next is watermelon. Next to the tomatoes I am most excited about the watermelon. We have 2 coming on. We planted cantaloupe but I don't see any coming on yet. Second to last is the green pumpkin I was talking about. can't wait to see what it looks like!! I have learned that I love to garden. I think it's something that I'm good at and it's a good outlet for me. I son't really enjoy canning but that's because I'm not so sure of myself yet. There's nothing better then fresh produce!!

So I am not feeling as crazy as I did last week. On Sunday I just realized that its time to buck up and feel better. There were a lot of little things that were dragging me down. I made a FHE chart to make sure that we are having FHE every Monday and made sure to cover all topics. I talked to Brandon and he agreed to help with the lessons. I also picked up my scriptures again after 2 weeks without reading every morning. I feel great! I gave away my rooster because hes been waking me up every morning at 4. That's a story all in itself. Jennie came and got him and my rooster and her banti rooster tried to kill eachother. They were all bloody. She called and told me that she needed to bring him back but Brandon said to butcher him or leave him out for the coyotes. She ended up butchering her banti. I'm now trying to get rid of my dog too. She's good and I love her but I'm not really a dog person. I think she'll be happier somewhere else. So here are a few pics from this week. I made up the recipe for the stuffed zucchini but it was GOOD!

Even though this has been a hard week there have been things that make me smile. here are a few... My Ameracauna chickens are now laying! They lay the green ones! Kali is doing much better. We now have her as an inside dog and she doesn't run away anymore. She's a great vacuum! Nixie has been so cute lately. She loves to watch Transformers while Ati is taking a nap. She usually falls asleep. A few days ago I really needed a nap and I also needed cuddle time with her so we laid in my bed together. I hugged her and told her that i love her. She said, "Mommy, you're my best friend ever!" Awww! Totally melted my heart especially because this has been such a hard week.

I need to complain...

My face hurts. I got 4 fillings 2 weeks ago and they are still throbbing. I went in to get them looked at and the dentist was gone and the sub creaped me out. my back hurts. It feels like I have knives sticking out of it all the time. I can't sit, I can't stand. I am nausious. I have been for 2 weeks now. don't get your hopes up. the test was negative. I'm grumpy. I have been for a week now. I feel badly for Brandon. I, I, I...

"I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles." ♥ Audrey Hepburn