Spring is here!!

Well, Spring has arrived and with it all sorts of beauty and greenery. Also the spirit of newness that Spring brings has come.

At Little Oasis Farm we have baby goats arriving in the next few weeks. Another Nanny goat is due with her kids in August/September.  We have a new puppy Lucy and 30 chicks arriving the first week of May.

Our new puppy Lucy!

A few pictures of my two baby girls...(well, more than a few ;))

Aibhlinn-Nylia

EverLyse Amberly

My love is busy building another chicken coop to replace our old one we had to patch up years ago when we first became chicken owners.

You will find him outside working on it every evening. He is trying to get finished before our chicks arrive in early May.

I have been working on our sunroom. I still need to paint and add decor, plants etc..There is also still work to be done in the nursery. Trim and Aibhlinn's bed need painted. I also need to add the pictures and decor. 

My older princess heads to a Christian camp to volunteer in late May. She will be helping in the kitchen with meal prep and clean up. I am so excited for her!!

And finally my boys! My Marines! We are so proud of these young men! OORAH!!!

   

Until next time! Blessings!!

I'm Back!!

I am here! I am!!

I took a hiatus from blogging here but I am going to work very hard at keeping this blog up to date!

We have a new baby in our home! Sweet EverLyse Amberly was born Feb. 12th 2015 @ 12;35am weighing in at 9lbs 2oz and 17 1/2 inches long.

She is a sweet precious baby! We are so blessed and enjoying her so very much!

This is me the day of her birth...I was so big with her! My baby belly just kept growing out and out and out. All out front! My poor aching back!

Ready for some pictures? Lots of pictures? Ok, these are all from her birth..

And this is her taken today..6 weeks old!!

Also we have some Marines in our family now! My two oldest sons graduated from the Marine Corp on March 13th, 2015.

Our family!!

I am starting a new weight loss journey and you can keep up with me  HERE

Until next time!!

An Update....

Time has like usual slipped away from me. It's October already! We are well into our homeschool year.

This year we have chosen to do a unit study approach to keep things as simple as possible.

ZL and A are doing Prairie Primer. It is based on the Little House series of books by Laura Ingalls WIlder.
You can read more about it here  

We are meeting with two other homeschool mama's and their children each Monday to do the activities together.  We are enjoying it immensely! It is a great addition to our school year!!

G, Red, & M are using Christian Cottage Unit Studies this year. There is 3 volumes; each one covering a different theme such as American History or different cultures; Geography.
You can read about these unit studies here..  

A review you can read here.. 

JN is focusing this year on learning all his letters and numbers. I am using an Abeka Phonics workbook and other workbooks of various kinds for his numbers. He is good with numbers but has to work harder on his letters. He is improving all the time!
A reward we have promised him is a dessert at a place of his choice once he knows all his letters.

Blessings so far this year:

My two oldest boys; J & Z graduating from our homeschool! We have graduated 3 children so far!

These same two boys leave in late January 2015 for Marine Boot Camp. !!!

A new baby girl on the way! Our first time having two dd's in a row in 20 yrs of marriage!  My dd's have all been 7 years apart.

My love getting a good raise!

Restoration of relationship!

How about some new pictures??

The two littlest enjoying Thomas the Tank Engine...

 
Me! My most recent womb photo!

The girls at their Frontier Girls Induction ceremony. I am co-leading the group this year with a fellow homeschool mama.

First pictures of little missy!

JN spent all summer catching toads and frogs!

This year Father gave me this scripture!  There have been some rough roads we have had to walk down this year also and knowing He is in our midst singing over us fills me with gratitude and peace! 

I will end on this note...

Heading out with a song in my heart!!

Our goings on...

Wow! Can you believe it's April already? Time just flies by doesn't it?!

There is a few new things going on at our home. We have a goat! Otherwise known as Judy Moody. She is pregnant with twins and maybe a surprise 3rd baby hiding in there..due the first or second week of May.
My children have spent many hours reading books on raising goats and then telling me and daddy all they have learned. And I am sure you can imagine how excited they are for the arrival of the kids!

A dog who lives somewhere in our neighborhood killed all but one of our turkeys and 2 of our chickens. That was a sad day. Want to hear a neat story, though? Three more of our chickens were gone and we assumed dragged off by the dog and killed but 3 weeks later the Hens returned! We were so excited but definitely surprised. It might not seem like much, but to us it was an answer to prayer and a miracle that they returned and alive at that! So, a sort of happy ending..

Two more of my sweet children will be graduating from Hawksley Haven Homeschool in June. It is so amazing how quickly children grow up! My sons Z & J are finished with their schooling and are now young men and embarking on a new and different part of their lives. J will be 18 this month and Z 17 in June. J is thinking about joining the military. It's a big decision but I trust that whatever he chooses Father has him in the palm of His hand and will work out the plan for J's life.

My oldest Mo is starting college in the fall at the local college here. She is majoring in Early Childhood Development and is hoping to earn an Associates Degree.

I am still hard at work on my own school work. The courses for Doula and Childbirth Education. I recently met Carla Hartley founder of Ancient Art of Midwifery Institute. It was so exciting to connect with her and glean from her wisdom.

And I am reading! A lot! I am making time to read as I really enjoy it and haven't made time for it in many years. Those little things are so important!

The last really good book I read was Partials. I'm just waiting on the 2nd book from the library now.

This summer we as a family our taking on a few new projects for our local famer's market. I am also going to be busy going through my bookcases and getting rid of many homeschooling books. I am going to sell them at our homeschool group's annual book sale. I have a birthday party for M & K in May and then a graduation party in June.

I am also revamping my homeschooling schedule and curriculum to make this next school year go more to plan and to reduce stress. We all need a little less stress, am I right?

Well, that's our life in summary. Until next time.....  

Aibhlinn-Nylia is 1!!!

Aibhlinn-Nylia is 1 yr. old today!!This last year has went by so quickly. I really can't believe it.

Aibhlinn-Nylia's last year in pictures...

January 2013 1 day old..

February 2013

March 2013

April 2013

May 2013

June 2013 Baby girl did the Color Run with me!!

July 2013

August 2013

September 2013

October 2013

November 2013

December 2013

and just a few more from this month January 2014..

She is just precious! I love you baby girl!!! 

Another New Year is Upon Us...

I love the beginning of a new year. It is a time I can start over. I know, I know, any time can be a starting place for newness but the first month on our calendar always reminds me of new things; hopes and dreams all fresh and a place to begin again.

I don't usually make New Year Resolutions and if I do like most people I don't keep them. Every year my greatest desire is to do better at spending time with the Father in His Word. To make Him my priority. This is something I am still working at every day. I want to end the year closer to His heart than where I began.

This year though I have things I want to accomplish. I am walking out of PPD and into joy and hope. What I haven't mentioned is that I made what for me was a huge decision and began to see a Therapist. My 2nd appointment is this week and surprisingly I am looking forward to it. I grew up always being told that we don't tell anyone our dirty laundry. Everything stays in our home. I brought that into adulthood. I grew up not being allowed to be vulnerable so as an adult being vulnerable and seeking help has been very hard for me. But I knew I needed to change. I knew I needed help walking through many things in my life; the PPD and childhood issues and hurts...betrayal as an adult and hurt piled upon hurt by human beings who are as flawed as I am.

So I walked into the Therapists office a few weeks ago for the first time and I did what I have never done before...I told her about my hurts and wounds. Deep things in my heart that have never been healed.  I aired my "dirty laundry" so to speak. And when I left although I felt emotionally overloaded and on the verge of tears it also felt right. I knew it was right where the Father had led me.
This is the newness that He is leading me into.

I also have that last bit of weight to lose to arrive at my goal weight. Can you believe I have lost 6 ounces shy of 65lbs? In about 10 months I lost 65lbs! But I am not done. I have 30 lbs to go!

I plan to make a habit of working out at the gym 4-5 times a week. I am also making veggie/protein/fruit smoothies most days to add to my diet. And I have now been Gluten Free for about 5 months! (I still miss bread and pizza!)

Every year I also strive to be a better mother and wife. I want to change what isn't working and think of new ways to bring my children up to love and serve the Father. I want their lives to be fun and joyful! I want them to have great memories to pass onto their children someday!
I want my husband to want to come home at the end of each day to see me and wrap his arms around me.  I want him to WANT to be with me! I want to be more than some old married couple. I want to be lovers and best friends! I don't think that being married for just about 19 yrs should prevent us from accomplishing this. If anything it should benefit us to be better for each other!

When my sweet man comes home each day he greets me with a kiss and a hug. He asks me how my day went. And each time with my arms around him I tell him it's better now..better now that he is home.
I feel so blessed that I get to be my man's wife. To hear him tell me I am beautiful everyday. In fact, one of the nicknames he has for me is "Beautiful". He has my heart!!

And so......

There is a road ahead of me with many twists and turns. I don't know exactly where it may lead but I can trust that with my hand in the Father's I will arrive at the end better than I began!

My Motherhood..

Today my oldest child; Morgan-Britney is 22. It's hard to believe that 22 years has passed by but then some days I can definitely believe it has.

Looking back I remember that scared 16 had old girl who was pregnant and didn't know what to do. For months I ignored my pregnancy hoping it would go away. If I pretended it wasn't true maybe it wouldn't be.  9 weeks into the pregnancy I realized that wasn't working and I had to face what was really going on inside my body.

Standing in the shower one month after her conception and one month before my 16th birthday I was so nauseous. It was that instant I knew I was pregnant. I didn't need to see that second pink line to know.

Being a young mama wasn't easy. It was scary, hard, fun, confusing and lonely. When I married my love 3 years after my daughter's birth I was so ready. I didn't want to walk the parenting road alone any longer.

As my daughter has grown I have also. I have changed from a young fearful girl into a woman. I have met my Lord and given my heart to Him. I have met and married a wonderful man who is still my husband almost 19 yrs later. I have had 11 more children. I have experienced wonderful times and laughter and loss and sadness.

I have grown as a parent and as a mama. I started out with the "I will never do that's" and "my child will never..(filll in the blank). I have realized I will and have done that and my child has or will do this. I have realized motherhood is hard, tiring and crazy but also fulfilling and wonderful!

I have changed my parenting style as my wisdom has grown. I have learned to pick my battles and choose my priorities.

I now smile sweetly at those mama's who have a screaming baby in their arms or the baby screaming in his car seat in the grocery store. I understand. I've been there. I pass no judgment. Instead I hope to offer love and comfort.

I have learned to leave the motherhood contests behind. I am no longer willing to join in the game. Aren't we all just trying to do our best and love them? These blessings Father gave us to raise.  

As our children get older we realize how little those things matter. What we are left with is how much we loved them.. How much time we gave them and the quality of those moments.

My advice to new mama's? Love your children! Hug them! Snuggle them! Listen to them. Really hear what they say. Involve yourself in their life. Slow down and value each moment. Those babies that you can't imagine as a 22 year old will grow up and one day leave your home. It happens so quickly.

Don't forget to breathe! And smile! Oh and laugh too! Laugh a lot! Dance with your children!
Sing with them! Make memories together!

As Ann Voskamp says in One Thousand Gifts: Life is not an emergency!

 Allow yourself the room to change and grow. Don't root your feet to the ground unwilling to move. We evolve as parents and as women. Father teaches and we become new...