Anniversary Party

We celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary this year! I can hardly believe it has been 10 years! It seems like just yesterday. God has blessed us so much in the last 10 years- 6 beautiful children and lots of wonderful family and friends. We decided to celebrate our anniversary by inviting some of those wonderful people over for a Mongolian bbq :) It was a great time of visiting and lots of water fun for the kids. We borrowed a big slide that hooked up to the hose- lots of splashing and laughing.

On a different note, our garden has been fruitful so far this year- LOTS of green beans, some peppers, snap peas, broccoli, and cabbage. The tomatoes are starting to ripen; I think I'll be making some tomato sauce today. I love to eat fresh food from the garden!! We were also able to pick and freeze strawberries and blueberries. The frozen blueberries are a great snack for hot days or great in a yogurt smoothie - mmmmm. I better get out to pick those tomatoes before it gets any warmer- it's supposed to be a HOT HOT HOT day!

4th of July

Happy 4th of July!! We enjoyed a great day- worship with the saints, time with family at Mom and Dad McFaddens, cake and presents for our firecracker boy, Isaac, who turned 4 on the 4th, and fireworks with friends at a friend's house. Our girls are away at Camp Grammy BB- a time of fun with cousins and Grammy and Poppy Barcheski. They are having a great time!!! We selfishly look forward to their return in a few days :) We all traveled out to Colorado in the RV a week and a half ago. We had a wonderful time. I really enjoyed visiting with my family and catching up with all of life's happenings. We got to be there for my brother-in-law's deployment party- Kyle is in the Marines and is married to Mary Jo and will be leaving on July 7th. Please pray for him as he is away for 6 months.

A Day Outside

We had a great day today- the kids played outside almost ALL day!!! That makes for some tired, but happy, kids!!! There were many injuries throughout the day- scraped hands, bloody feet, a FAT lip, and a rather large goose-egg on the head. There weren't any scraped knees- I guess they have to leave something for tomorrow. Despite the injuries, everyone soaked in the sunshine and had a blast. Rosy cheeked, filthy dirty kids came in at dinner time. After baths and teeth brusing, all went to bed, and I don't think it has been this quiet this early for a LONG time! Yay for SPRING!!!!

Funny- Isaac says at dinner, "I know what kind of chicken this is.... the hard to chew kind."

Cute- Brianna telling Peyton that she's help him ride Isaac's bike.

The picture was taken at our church Christmas program. The kids said some verses from the book of Luke and sang a song. They did such a great job! This was on December 20th and do you remember what else happened on Dec. 20th? Yes, Lydia made her entry into this world just a few hours after I took this picture. Crazy. But I was sooooo glad I could see the kids in the program. :)

Bread

Today was a full day of making bread (buttermilk and sourdough), school with the kids, and everyday activities (changing diapers, making Lydia laugh, fixing and cleaning up meals, laundry, remembering to slyly suggest a play activity to get a little peace and quiet in the kitchen). The sourdough bread was funny looking when finished. I read somewhere to put cuts in the top of the loaf right before putting the loaf in the oven so that it rises better while it bakes... well I put the slices in the loaf before the last 2 hours of rising... that makes for a funny looking loaf. It still tastes great! Although I must admit that I'm ready to try a new sourdough recipe- any suggestions? The buttermilk bread I made was o-so-yummy! With all the bread making I won't need to bake any for a few days. Nice.

Cute- Brianna watching the Buckeyes with her Daddy.

Funny- Peyton on his training potty reading books with his feet up on a stool. He was lounging- good thing he didn't really "go" cause it would've made a big mess.

The picture was taken last October at a local farm where we went on a hay ride, had cider, and picked apples. I like the picture :)

Back to Blogging

Well, hello blog readers. Life has been busy around here. School, piano lessons, and LOTS of learning going on for me- learning about baking bread, soaking flour and oats, using maple syrup or honey or stevia for sweetening things... I could go on and on. I must say that I am pleasantly surprised at how much I've enjoyed learning these health things, even though at certain moments I am very overwhelmed by how many changes we are making and can continue to make. I am most excited about being healthier and feeling healthier!! :)

Lydia is doing very well- she is sooooo sweet and such a good baby!!!! The transition to six little munchkins seems to have gone very well!

I'm very excited to have spring here- winter always seems soooo long here in Ohio. When the temp hits the 50s in early spring, it always feels sooooo warm :) and I'm always sooooo excited to sit in the sun. Such a contrast to sunny California!

My sweet Peyton boy turns two tomorrow - Happy Birthday Peyton!!! He is such a blessing! He loves to be with me in the kitchen each morning as I make breakfast and put away clean dishes. He loves to play with "choo-choos" and trucks/cars and toy animals. His latest favorite activity is riding a little scooter outside; he LOVES being outside.

Pictures of Lydia

Here are some pictures of Lydia. She's such a great baby!! All the kids love on her all the time. Well, except Peyton. When I'm holding her he likes to tell me, "Baby down!" Sometimes he wants to give her a kiss, but most of the time he wants her out of the way so he can have my full attention. Who can blame him?

Lydia Renee

She's here! We're sooooooo incredibly blessed!!!! Lydia Renee was born on Dec. 20th at 9:45pm, weighing 8lbs. 3oz, measuring 20in. She's so precious and we love her so much. Thank You Lord for another blessing!

Oh, and yes, all our babies were born with dark hair and lots of it :)