Homemaking on the Homestead

My original plan was to take last week off of blogging to spend time with my grandson and it's been wonderful :).   It's been wonderful and busy! :D I thought I'd share a few pictures... Having fun with Legos and some cousin fun time.. He helped Grandpa pull some weeds and earned a little money (to buy more Legos :D ) And he's enjoyed spending time at his cousins house.... He also likes to cook and has helped me in the kitchen, and we've played card games, worked together on home things (helping me prep for family coming), and gone on walks. All in all the whole family is having a great time with him. ************ As for this update.. I have several family members arriving this week and a family get together planned for Saturday and a list of things to get done to prepare for it all. SO, I will be taking this week off as well. Most of my family will be leaving on Monday (except ...

Good Morning! It's been a whirlwind of busyness in the last couple of weeks for me.  My daughter Emily was due to have her baby on the 22nd of June and we figured she'd be late so we're thinking our trip down to see her would be more towards the end of June or beginning of July.   The biggest reason we all felt she would be late was because all my daughters that have had babies have been late just as I was with my babies.  My latest baby was 15 days late, Hannah's latest baby was born at 44 weeks.  A week to 2 weeks late seems to be the average that runs in the family.  Emily's first baby was 2 weeks late.   So when Emily called me bright an early on the16th of June and said she was in labor it was a big surprise.  I told my hubby as soon as he got home from work.  He got some sleep (he works nights) and when he got up we packed our suitcase and loaded up the car.  I was not able to be there in time for the birth as little...

Good Morning! Well our little grandson decided to come early! It was a surprise for sure as our family seems to always run late, sometimes very late. So we are currently in Sacramento helping her and hubby out and of course loving on our two little grandsons. I will be home soon with lots of updates! 

When my daughter Sierra was here a couple weeks ago we put up our Christmas tree.  She really wanted to do this while she was here and I was happy for the help and company.  It made us reflect on our long held family tree trimming tradition.  All my children remember it and what precious memories these things are for them to carry into their adult lives.  Family traditions... how do they start? I once said.. if you do something once with your kids.. it will be a tradition and every year after that they will say.. Remember mom.. when??... Traditions are like glue.. they hold families together. Christmas is a great time to reflect on family traditions. We had for many years a Christmas tree decorating tradition. I would make cheap store bought frozen pizza, have cocoa, eggnog, candy canes, Christmas cookies. Then we would decorate the tree. This tradition had its start very simply. One year, we had 5 or was it 6 little ones?? We went out and bought a t...

Wednesday Snap Shot is a quick peek into my week. If you'd like to join in on my Wednesday Snap Shot.. copy and paste my post, add your answers (you can also copy the pic..BUT Please download the picture to your computer first.. do not just directly copy and paste.. otherwise you are using my bandwidth..thank you! :) .. link your post to my blog and then come back and let me know you shared your week. I'll come and visit you and read about your homemaking week!! :)   So Far This Week I'm happy to report that this week I'm feeling much better. Everyday is a little better then the day before and I'm regaining my strength again. I'm very thankful. Recovering from blood loss anemia is a slow and steady process, I'm discovering. I've just taken it easy and my hubby and son have been wonderful at helping out with food and household chores. My son even decided to cook us a meal one night. He does great with simple things but wanted ...

Wednesday Snap Shot is a quick peek into my week. If you'd like to join in on my Wednesday Snap Shot.. copy and paste my post, add your answers (you can also copy the pic..BUT Please download the picture to your computer first.. do not just directly copy and paste.. otherwise you are using my bandwidth..thank you! :) .. link your post to my blog and then come back and let me know you shared your week. I'll come and visit you and read about your homemaking week!! :) So Far This Week I had a super nice week. It was quiet in some ways. My son left to go see his sister in Sacramento. He was accompanying my daughter Hannah and her children. And she was very thankful to have him join her. She was going to go on her own, as her hubby had to work. In the end she was so grateful for his help. A 12 hour road trip with 4 children is not easy, especially if you are on your own! :) While he was gone the house was quiet. It was just me and hubby. We enjoyed it but w...

Wednesday Snap Shot is a quick peek into my week. If you'd like to join in on my Wednesday Snap Shot.. copy and paste my post, add your answers (you can also copy the pic..BUT Please download the picture to your computer first.. do not just directly copy and paste.. otherwise you are using my bandwidth..thank you! :) .. link your post to my blog and then come back and let me know you shared your week. I'll come and visit you and read about your homemaking week!! :) So Far This Week It's so nice to back! It was a much needed break. Hubby and I enjoyed some vacation time as well. We headed south to the desert. Living in this waterlogged and cloudy part of the world we so enjoy just getting away and soaking up heat, sunshine and pool time. We also met up with friends of ours that are from England. We meet up with them yearly and always look forward to our visits. We stay in touch through the year with cards and phone calls, but in person visits can...

Father's Day is right around the corner.  I posted this last year in honor of all hard working, loving and caring dad's out there...   My hubby has been working very hard this spring on our homestead. He also works a full time job and commutes 45 minutes each way to work. His weeks are often very long. Last winter we had a huge tree fall during a storm. This spring he began to clean up the tree. The tree was so big it will provide all our firewood for this year and much of what we will need for next year. It has been a big project. He has just kept working at it day by day. Sawing the limbs off one by one, bringing the wood up closer to the house and then cutting it up and splitting it by hand. The other day he said to me that his hands were aching a bit and could I rub them. I of course did. And as I rubbed his hands I just started noticing them even more so. They feel rough and have cuts and callouses from the work he has been doing. I spent ...

~I wrote this post in 2013~ With all that I see in society today, I still have no regrets in the choices we made while raising our children.  Entitlement is the new buzz word, or at least I hear it a lot.  Young people who feel they are owed a job, a house, college loans paid for by someone else, free this and free that...  Is it even possible today to raise children that don't feel like the world (or someone) owes them this?  I believe it is.... My daughter Leanne met a nice older man during her time of ballroom dancing. He has since become a part of our family. We invite him for family parties, holidays and such. He has no family living close by. He is Chinese and I sense that because of the language barrier most people don’t have patiences to deal with communication issues. Our family however had no problem. When he came to our home last year for Thanksgiving dinner he told us this was his first Thanksgiving (after 20 years living in this c...

~ I wrote this post in 2011..  and it is still one of my favorites.  Raising children is a work of love, sacrifice and time..   All my children are grown up now, and yet those years, that I thought would go on forever, have flown by so fast.  Cherish each day mama ..  (in between the paragraphs of this article are a few random pics of my kids/family through the years).. Leanne left on Wednesday morning for Denmark to spend 3 weeks with Emily. To say I was stressed for those nearly 24 hours of flights and layovers is an understatement. She arrived safe and sound and is currently with Emily enjoying her time in Copenhagen. But it made me reflect a bit on raising children. I thought it was tough when they were young. I had to make sure that the home was safe, no sharp objects for them to get a hold of, make sure the cleaning supplies were out of reach, keep the baby gates in place, teach them to play nicely and not be rude, obey the...