I AM still alive!

Ah...its been a while, but lots has gone on - and what I really wanted to do was a pictoral guide to my excuses for not blogging...but since I have no patience for uploading on my slow speed 'net and I'm not sure how to link in pictures from any of my online albums, I guess I'll just be writing a bit...
So what HAVE I been doing with all the spare time I must have since I'm not blogging...

-Lorelei...besides the usual, feeding, diapering (and washing diapers) and carrying around - I've been playing piano with her, reading her books, tossing her around (she loves this, I think she's going to be an adrenaline junky!), having tickle time, enjoying bath time, and of course many miscellaneous adventures! She is almost 7 months old now, she can sit, does lots of rolling and wriggling around to get where she wants to go, and I'm sure she'll soon be crawling! She has two teeth now and loves to feed herself mum-mums.

-Garden...Well, truthfully, I haven't spent as much time on the garden as I should have, it ended up with a LOT more weeds in it then I had planned...but it has also produced well, so I can't complain...I have just a few carrots...they didn't germinate well; lots of lettuce and spinach...which I didn't use as much of as I had hoped/planned; a ton of beets...anyone want some? I can't eat THAT many red things!; Quite a fair number of beans...I just pulled out the plants and they're in the truck waiting for their trip to the horse pasture; a few peas...the most inefficient vegetable ever; a nice crop of onions; two very prolific zucchini plants; a very prolific spaghetti squash...it has over a dozen good sized fruit on it; a golden hubbard squash plant...not as prolific; some wonderful cucumbers; and last but not least a few lonely potatoes...I didn't have room for many...my garden was packed and planted too close together as it was! I did attempt to plant some in a strip of broken up ground across the yard, but the cow ate the tops off, and I think the competition from thistles and quack grass did them in. I am stil going to check and see if they happened to produce though!

-Canning & Freezing...Somewhat related to the above, but I have some pleasantly full shelves in the coldroom now and my freezers are filling up! I froze beans, peas, 20+ bags of raspberries, shredded zucchini and applesauce. I canned Apple Juice, apple butter, apple sauce, apple jelly, dill relish, zucchini relish, zucchini dill pickles, cucumber dills, sweet dilled cucumber slices and peach raspberry jam!

-Farm stuff...Milking the cow each morning (I've experimented with making some cheese, yogurt and cooking with lots of cream and milk!), tending to my declining flock of chickens...now down to 14.5 hens, and helping with fencing, checking cows and cleaning the barn.

-Projects...mostly of the sewing type of late...reparing diapers and mending clothes and making gifts.

-The Usual...of course there is the never-ending tasks such as laundry, cleaning, lawn mowing, dishes, cooking, grocery shopping and so on...but we find ways to make them at least bearable!

So, I guess thats my update for now, since LoLo is fussing and needs to have a nap! I'll be back...no telling when!

Life goes on!!

Yes, life goes on and it doesn't pause long enough for a person to blog about it sometimes...I just said to Trevor last night that I wish there were a couple more hours in the day for me to blog about my life...I'm constantly thinking of how I would write about the happenings of each day, from getting up in the morning to milk my cow and gather the eggs, putting in the garden, chasing cows, and of course, all of Lorelei's little antics. She is so big now - she'll be 4 months on friday, wow, how time flies!! She wants to sit and stand in our laps now, rather then being mostly in a laying down position, and when she's on the floor she wiggles herself around in circles and giggles and squeals in delight while pulling on the toys on her play-gym thing. She loves to crane her neck to see what is behind her and her other favorite game is looking in the mirror and laughing at our reflections. She is a menace in the bathtub now, kicking and splashing like a little duck! But, life doesn't leave me time to write about all the little things...I'll try to do better, but I'm not sure how that will work, especially since I plan to add "Trainig my 3 year old mare" to the list of daily tasks now that we have the round pen set up again! LoLo is fussing, saying its time for her nap, so I have to quit writing, I hope to go till my mother in law's garden while LoLo is sleeping this morning (yes I'm taking her with, don't worry :) It will be a nice surprise if I can get it done before my MIL gets home from town :) I hope you all are enjoying the begining of summer - its been so cold and wet here that I'm still waiting for my lilacs and irises to bloom - my peonies just started to bloom yesterday...ahh beautiful summer!

Long time Gone...

Its been a long time since I posted - and while I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, a lot has happened in the last few months!
The blessing of our daughter came into our life on the 19th of February at 12:40AM she weighed 8lbs 8ozs and it was a fairly easy and quick labour. I was induced, but everything went pretty well - I ended up taking an epidural because my blood pressure was going up too high with the pain. It was an amazing experience, but nothing prepared me for the changes in my life over the following few weeks. It really has been a difficult couple of months and we have had lots of growing and changing to do to keep up with the challenges.

It is very tempting to just put on a strong face and tell everyone that I'm doing wonderful and everything is great every day, but if I'm being truely honest I have definitely had some major struggles and am very thankful for the help that family and friends have extended to me. I have been learning many things about myself, about life and mostly about the Lord and His true care for me. The Lord is true to His word - "These things I have spoken unto you that in me ye might have a peace. In the wolrd ye SHALL have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." John 16:33

The Lord created us and gave us free will to make the decisions that we want to make- but He also provided us with a way of salvation because of His great Love by sending us His Son to die as a sacrifice for our sins. Even though we may take the free gift of salvation that He has provided for us - He still promises that we will have trouble - this is because of the evil that is in the world and the sin that is in each of us. Even though we have been saved from the eternal consequences of sin, we still must deal with it in our day to day lives because we are not yet perfected, but merely sinners who have been saved by grace. We look forward to the day when we will be perfected and will spend eternity with and like our Lord, but on this earth we must still face day to day life. We have a major advantage over those who have rejected or not yet accepted the truth of the Lord - we have His power in our lives to overcome the hardships day to day, we have the hope of His promises for eternal life and blessing and we have His presence and covering power available to us every day- "God is our refuce and strength, a very present help in trouble" Psalm 46:1

Even though I know the truth and the promises and wonderful Love that the Lord has for me - the sinner within me is easily distracted by the cares of this world, and I have to admit that I have definitely been dealing with the effects of this more since the birth of my daughter - it has made me more aware of the trouble that is present in this world, and unfortunately I have allowed myself to dwell too much on those things sometimes instead of looking at the hope the Lord has provided me. I am very thankful for His Word - I have often neglected the reading of my bible daily, but this is something that has been a very big encouragement to me in the last while.

I know that there is a reason for each thing that we go through, but it is hard to see that when we are going through the trouble - but I trust that the Lord will use this in my life, maybe it is my chance to be an encouragement to others who are going through this same difficulty someday or maybe it is just to teach me how to be a stronger person and encourage me to grow closer to the Lord.

I'm not saying that I've figured everything out and I'm on easy street now, but I feel like I have come a long way towards a better understanding and greater confidence in the Hope that He has given.

"The Lord is my light and my salvation: whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life: of whome shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even my enemies and my foes came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though an host should encamp against me, my heart will not fear, though war should rise against me, in this will I have confidence." Psalm 27:1-3

I am so thankful for the all-powerful and all-loving God who is my creator and my strength each day - I don't know how I could continue each day without Him.

I ask that you pray for me if you will and want you to know that I pray for as many of you as I know and remember each day - another privilege that we have - to support each other not only physically but also in prayer.

Lorelei Virginia - April 9, 2009

A new year

Wow, I can't believe I haven't posted yet this year - 6 weeks or so into 2009 already! Truthfully I was hoping I'd be posting baby news by now, but apparently that wasn't the Plan. Hopefully soon! To tide you all over until then, I've got a new belly picture and nursery pictures. I am a supremely spoiled sister these days - my sisters/aunts/etc went together and sent me a big box of baby stuff - a "Baby Shower in A Box" complete with video greetings from each of them and everything! I even got to see baby Luke and Sophie (my canine cousin). I'm nearly at the end of my second week of maternity leave now, and its been kind of nice to have some time to catch up on things around the house, be nice and lazy somedays and work on some hobbies (cross stitch, crochet and reading). I've also made several batches of bread, got sourdough starter working again and made lots of dinners - I think Trevor is enjoying coming home to supper rather then waiting for it to be made every night!



The baby's room is all set up and ready for baby - the only thing I have to do is put a sheet on the crib - I thought I had everything done the other day, but I realized there was a big spot on the sheet, looking up I saw a spot on the ceiling and thought "uh oh". We had 3 days of freezing rain and above freezing temperatures and I was worried that the roof was leaking - it seems that the high humidity caused a buildup of condensation in the attic and it just happened to leak through in that spot, we'll have to look into the attic venting once it gets a little warmer! So now, the sheet is waiting for its turn in the washer...maybe the baby knows that I'm not COMPLETELY ready so its holding of making its appearance...I better get that done today! Anyways, not a whole lot else to say - so enjoy some pictures!
....Or not...since I've just wasted and hour and a half trying desperately to make them upload...I knew this would likely happen...hence why I haven't posted in quite some time. Someday I'll get pictures up, for now check out Facebook if you have it- as they usually load easier on there then here...