Happy Birthday Baby!

16 years ago today 

God gave us the amazing gift of a beautiful baby girl..... 

We are so thankful He chose us to be your parents!! 

Happy Birthday 16th birthday Poodle!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday to Me.....

Today I turn 36 years young!  Uh......that's about all I got.......LOL! 

In other news, sorta birthday related...I've decided not to cut my hair until my 40th birthday (if I even cut it then).  I'm not sure the last time scissors touched my hair, but it was in Montana so it's been close to 8 or 10 months.  That will basically be 5 years of growing my hair and I'm excited to see how long it will get.

This is a picture of my hair after taking it down for the day.  I wear it up all day long for work.  (Yup, I'm a working outside the home woman these days.  A blog about that will come soon.)  Anywho, I took it down last night before showering and had The Man take a picture of it.  I'll update it each year on my birthday so I can see how long it's getting.

I haven't used my homemade shampoo in a loooong time and I miss it.  I may start using it again soon......

Until next time.......may God Bless and keep you!

It's MY Birthday, but Somebody Else is The Winner!!

The Youngun is picking the lucky winner........and I have to tell you, that is Ellie's bowl we are using to draw the names, and she is sitting at The Youngun's feet patiently waiting for something good to come from that bowl!

It's Brenda!!

Brenda of Granny's Best is the winner of my birthday giveaway!!

Thank you all so much for your birthday wishes and for entering the giveaway and Brenda if you will email me your mailing information I'll get this package in the mail on Monday!

Thank you for being my blogger buddies, you are all the best!

God Bless.................

Someone's Got a Birthday, I Wonder Who??

Me, Me, It's meeeeeee!!!!!

On Sunday, I will be turning 34 years young!  What is the best thing to do for your birthday?  Give somebody else a gift of course!  And since you all are my favorite folks in the world, there is nobody I'd rather give a gift to!

So......what can I make you do to enter to win my birthday present??  Hmm........let's see........GOT IT!

Stand on your right foot, in a corner, with the middle finger of your left hand in your right ear and your right hand rubbing your tummy while you twirl around in a circle............

Huh?  What's that?  Too hard!?!!  Ok, ok, I guess all you have to do is leave me a comment then.  That should be good enough!

What's that?  Now you want to know what you are entering to win, just in case it's a piece of worthless trash?  Hmmm, awfully demanding aren't ya?  Oh well, I guess I'll tell ya anyway. 

The winner will receive this bundle of goodies......................a hand knit scarf and hat set; knitted up with lots of love and only a couple mistakes, this gem of a handmade duo could be yours, as well as this pretty little crock and a button doll made by my mama!

The giveaway starts today and will end on Saturday at 5 PM.

  The winner will be chosen at random Saturday evening and will be announced Sunday morning, January 30, 2011............MY BIRTHDAY!!

 

Thanks for reading my blog and helping me celebrate my b-day!

 

 

 

God Bless.................

 

 

The Birthday Report.............

The Youngun wanted a Redwall cake for her birthday so she drew me a picture and away I went.

First I baked and cooled the cake of course.  It's homemade chocolate fudge and is yummy!  Then made up some buttercream frosting and colored some blue and some green.  Then I frosted the sky and the grass......

I don't have any more progress pictures because I was too involved with decorating the cake.  Be kind........I did it all freehand with just that drawing to the left of the cake pan to go off of!

So without further ado.........here it is!

She loved it!

As you can see I added in some longer grass and some flowers.  My icing wasn't stiff enough to make proper roses so we just made flowers out of them. 

I really enjoy making these types of character cakes. 

Here is the cake from her 10th birthday.

I used a Wilton gumball machine pan and made a fish bowl out of it.  I think it turned out really cute.

I've made many over the years, but can't find pictures of them all. 

Today we went out for her movie matinee and birthday lunch.  The Youngun wanted to wait until today so that her cousin could come with us, and then they both went to stay with Granny Bob and Pop Pop for a few days. 

We saw the movie Tangled and it was really cute!  Then we went and had lunch at Arby's because that is where The Youngun wanted to go.  It was a very nice day and she had a good time which is all that matters to me. 

Christmas recap and other news coming soon!

God Bless.................. 

ps.........I want to thank all of you who extended birthday wishes to my girl.  Thank you so much, she loved hearing from all of you!  ;0)

Happy Birthday To Our Baby Girl............

It's so hard for me to believe my little girl is 12 years old.  When you are a kid, the adults all around you are constantly saying "Time goes by so quickly, don't rush it, you'll want the years back" and so on.  I don't think I ever understood that until my daughter was born.  It wasn't so bad until she got in school and then boy oh boy the time just flew by.  Looking at pictures of her as a baby and a toddler bring tears to my eyes.  It all went by so fast!!  I'm not one of those parents who wants her child to stay young forever, but I do at times wish I could have slowed things down. 

Here are some photo collages of her first year. 

Proud Daddy and proud Pop Pop minutes after she was born........

The first few months.  She's always wanted to be a puppy hence carrying the shoe around in her mouth, and fishing sure tires a girl out!

She's been a beauty since the day she was born.........

Always loved animals and Granny Bob made her a squirrel for her first Halloween.......

Her first birthday with the puppy cake I made her.  That's the back of my head and The Man laying down next to her.

Here is last year's post about her birthday if you are interested.  This year our movie matinee will be "Tangled" but we are waiting until next week to go because she wants her Darling Cousin to come and she lives 2 hours away so can't come on Christmas Eve.  Pop and Granny will be here and we plan to make Christmas cookies and candy all day, as well as her birthday cake.  For her birthday supper, The Youngun has requested Liver 'N Onions, mashed taters and gravy, peas, and fruit.  

God surely blessed us in choosing to send us this wonderful child.  I love her and best of all I'd love her even if she wasn't mine.  That is saying a lot because as some of you may remember, I'm not much of a kid person!  LOL!

God Bless on this lovely Christmas Eve.  I pray that you all are safe and snug in the bosom of the ones you love and that we will all remember to be thankful to the One who is the Reason for the Season!  

God Bless................... 





 



Happy Birthday to My Sister...........



Sisters

Author: Gina Lauchner

If sisters were flowers, I'd still pick you.

I'd let the sun shine so you'd never be blue.

I'd show the world how beautifully you grew,

with bright bold colors and strength through & through.

If sisters were flowers, I'd pick you right away.

Because you cheer me up and bring smiles each day.

If sisters were flowers, for what it's worth.

I'd always pick you ... the best sister on earth.

You were always looking out for me........

At least 'till I got big enough to sit on you.........

Always ready with a comforting arm..........

Funny how sweet and innocent you look in this picture, and I look like pure evil......

Here we are exactly 31 years ago today on your 5th birthday......my goodness how time flies!  I had to think about that for a long time..........31 years, that can't possibly be right!





Happy birthday to my beautiful big sister!  I love you so very much and am thankful that God chose us to be sisters!





God Bless..............

14 years.........

14 Years ago today, I became a wife.  Before God I stood up and declared from this moment on, just as the Bible says in Genesis; chapter 2, verse 24, I would be one flesh with this man.  Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.  There are so many places in the Bible that refer to marriage and how it should be, but this is the first one.  Marriage is important and I take it very seriously.  It is important enough that woman is created in verse 22 and the first Biblical law regarding marriage is mentioned in verse 24.  When I talk to The Youngun about marriage, we talk about this verse.  I tell her.......If you don't love the man enough to leave your Daddy and me, then he just isn't the right one to be marryin'!  Marriage is forever and you need to choose your partner very wisely.  I pray for her future husband all the time.  I pray that she will have the good sense to wait until God sends her the right man, and not to get married just because. 

Anywho, 14 years ago today I became Mrs. Man and they've been 14 good, good years.  What's that?  You want to hear the story of how this all came about?  Well pull up a chair, getcha some tea, and here we go!

Our story begins way back in June of 1995.  I had just graduated high school and my dad decided for me that I needed to get a job........as in he came in the living room one morning and said GET A JOB......TODAY!  LOL!  So I waltzed into the IGA store an unemployed high school graduate, fresh faced and eager, and waltzed out an 18 year old with a full time job, complete with benefits!  Have you figured out yet that God had a hand in this from the beginning? 

I worked in the deli there at the IGA with a lot of really fun older (than me) ladies.  The meat department manager was a guy named Mike, and let me tell you he was a BEAR!  The other ladies didn't like dealing with him, so they decided to send the new meat back there to get the chicken each day.  I would bounce back there all perky and happy and just let his grouchiness bounce right off me.  After all, I grew up with the grouchiest person on the planet (DAD)!  There was this other fella that worked in the meat department, and he was younger, cuter, and not near as grouchy, but it was a little while before I really noticed him. 

About a month after I started working there, I developed this crush on the produce guy, a kid of about 19 named Casey.  I was trying everything I knew to get Casey to like me, but he just wasn't bitin', not at all.  We would talk and that sort of thing, but he wasn't interested in me romantically.  I spent alot of time in the produce room, which was adjacent to the meat room and at that time, just happened to be where everybody went for smoke breaks.  I didn't smoke, but I wanted to be wherever Casey was so I was back there a lot. 

Then this little blond meat guy started coming up to the deli every morning as soon as he got to work to buy a fountain Mt. Dew.  My ever so helpful older co-workers always made sure that I rang him out.  Me being the friendly sort asked him his name and then every morning I would say Hi! ----!  He would blush a little, and grin, and say hi back.  This went on for several months, until we were into winter time. 

In late December, Casey had a birthday.  I was still trying so hard to get him to like me (poor thing), so on my day off, I baked him a spice cake, and set off in a blizzard to bring it to him.  Every day at work, I wore my IGA polo, with a ball cap on and my ponytail through the back.  So this day I got myself all dolled up, hair curled, make-up on, the whole nine yards just so Casey could see how good I cleaned up.  I took that cake back in the back and said Happy Birthday.  He wouldn't even eat a piece of it.  As a matter of fact, he told me to lose 40 lbs and come back.  Nice fella huh??  Well The Man happened to be sitting back there smokin' a cigarette and he came over to see the cake.  When Casey said he wouldn't eat it, The Man said......I'll eat it!!  And he proceeded to eat about half of it.  After that we started talking pretty regularly, and he was trying to get Casey to take an interest in me.  Meanwhile, one of the older meat guys stopped me one day as I was walking past the meat case.  He said........We sure do tease him about you!  I said........Why?  And he said........Cause he's got a really jealous girlfriend who'd kill him for talking to you.  I was horrified!  I said..........Well I'll quit talking to him then!  I don't want to cause him any trouble!  And Mac said.........Don't you dare!  He'd kill us if you quit talking to him.  It makes his day!

Along about the end of December '95, first of January '96 The Man and I started talking about deeper stuff.  Hopes, dreams, life goals, morals.  We talked about the relationship he was in and how it wasn't good.  I asked him.........Don't you want to get married?  His reply........Not to her.  Don't you want kids?  Not with her.  That made me unbearably sad and I asked him why he didn't end the relationship.  He said Cause I buy a dog when it's a puppy and I keep it till it dies.......That may sound corny to you, but that spoke of a deep commitment to relationships to me and again made me very sad for him. 

Mid January 1996, I was talking about my birthday coming up.  The Man came to work one day and said, You wanna go out for your birthday?  Me being the ever so sophisticated one said suspiciously.......With who?   See I knew he had a little brother and thought he was trying to fix me up with him.  He said.....With me.   To which I tartly replied....Not as long as you are living with that girl! 

The Man came to work the next day and told me he moved out of his house and would I go out with him on January 30 (my 19th birthday).  I said yes. 

Meanwhile he had a time getting her to move out and accept that things were finally really over this time.  It took 3 days and he had to stay at his folks the whole entire time.  Unbeknownst to me at the time, he had already went and bought an engagement ring during those three days, before we ever went on our first date.

January 25, 1996 The Man asked me if I would like to spend our day off together and go visit his grandparents.  I said sure, at this time still thinking this is just a casual date.  We spent the day together and had our first kiss on the way home that afternoon.  That evening when he took me home he told me he loved me.  I said.......excuse me?  He said he loved me and I told him he was 7 kinds of crazy.  He said.....no I'm not, I love you.  I thought he was nuttier than a pet coon!  Good gracious, who says I love you before you've ever even had a real date??  I also thought he only wanted in my pants and I told him so.  He said.........no, I love you.  I said.......What if I don't say it back?  He said........That's ok, I'll wait till you do. 

I fell in love with that crazy 23 year old boy right then and there.  I loved him because he loved me first and that is a beautiful thing. 

January 30, 1996 I had to work in the morning and got a dozen roses delivered to the deli that morning.  After I got off work, I went home, cleaned up, packed a bag and informed my mama that I wasn't coming home.  She was so wonderful about it.  She said to me, I knew when it happened for you it was gonna happen fast and I'm so happy for you.  The Man picked me up, we had a flat tire, went to Steak n Shake, went back to his house and snuggled on the couch together.  From that moment on, in 14 years, we've never spent a night apart.  I'd also like to say (even thought it totally falls under the category of TMI), that we did not consumate our relationship until our wedding night.  Remaining a virgin until marriage was always a huge priority to me and The Man knew and respected that.  We got married on March 30, 1996 exactly 2 months after our first date, but in my heart I was his wife the first night I spent in his arms. 

Our marriage is rock solid because we put God first.  We look to Him for guidance in every thing.  I strive to be a good wife, a wife that is a loving helpmate, supportive, kind, and generous.  The Man is exactly the husband the Bible says he should be, a good provider, the head of our household, and he cherishes me.  He doesn't use flowery words, or expensive gifts, instead he shows his love in the ways that really matter, never leaving the house without kissing me and saying I love you, showing me respect when I'm with him and even when I'm not.  He would never be out with the guys and discuss another woman, or flirt with a waitress.  He even gets teased about that from the other guys.  We are completely open and vulnerable with each other, we have no secrets from each other.  We don't believe in "girls night" or "boys night out".  We married each other because we love each other and love being together.  We are apart for the 12-14 hours a day that he works, and that's enough!!

I lost a friendship with a woman who simply couldn't respect my marriage.  It bothered her no end that we did everything together.  She liked to tell me I needed a life of my own.  As I stated in the beginning of this post.........when I married The Man we became One Flesh.  I can't have a "life of my own" because without him, I'm half a person.  I joined my life with his and we became one life and that's the way I like it and the way I want it.  I don't force my views on others........you can have whatever kind of marriage you want and I'll respect it.  I may not understand it, I may not agree with it, but I'll respect it.  All I ask is that people respect my marriage as well.

It's been an amazing 14 years!  I love The Man so much that I can't even put it into words.  He is my lover, my husband, my brother, my best friend in the world.  When something exciting/scary/funny/great happens he is the first person I want to tell and I thank God every day for sending us to each other.   I could go on and on, but since you've probably already fallen asleep at the computer, I'd better stop for now. 

Till next time...........GOD BLESS

Happy Birthday to Meeeee.........

Today is my 33rd birthday!  Yaaaaayy, happy birthday to meeee, happy birthday to meeeee, happy biirrrrthdaaaayy tooooo Gooooooodwiiiiiiife, happy birthdaaaay to meeeee!  Tee hee hee! 

I just have to say that I'm thankful for every single one of the 12053 days that I've been blest to be alive on this gorgeous earth that Our Heavenly Father created for us.  God is good, He takes such wonderful care of me and my family and I cannot express how thankful I am for His Love and Guidance every single day.  I thank Him in His everlasting wisdom for allowing me to be born into the family that I was born into, and for leading The Man and I to find each other 14 years ago.  I'm also so very thankful that He chose to bless us with The Youngun 11 years ago, and I'm thankful that He chose us to be her parents.  I'm thankful for this place that He has allowed us to live on, with land for our goats, rabbits, chickens, horse and gardens, thereby allowing us to grow and preserve the food that He so generously provides for us!  So many many things to be thankful for each and every day.........the gift of life is simply that...........a gift and one I'm thankful for indeed! 

Till next time..................GOD BLESS FROM GOODWIFE FARM!

My New Toy.........

My birthday is next week so today while we were running errands I bought myself a birthday present.

I’ve never been able to sew to save my life which has been a great disappointment to my mom, who is the queen of all seamstresses! She pieces all my quilt tops and makes me pretty much anything that I want her to, which is a pretty nice gig if ya think about it. My friend Darlin’ Deb has been on me about learning how to piece my own tops and how to sew. I’ve wanted to, just never had any luck with sewing machines. Sewing machines and I don’t get along. However I bought myself this little number today, came home and proceeded to make this apron!

I didn’t have a pattern, just my apron that my mom made me a thousand years ago. I laid newspaper over it, cut out a pattern, and just went to town. I had a great time and can’t wait to make more stuff with my birthday present!

Till next time………….GOD BLESS FROM GOODWIFE FARM!

Getting set for CHRISTmas and the 11th Birthday of The Paintiff Child!

Things are good around the ole homestead. The tree is up, shopping is all done, packages are ready and waiting! The Youngun had the good fortune to be born on Christmas Eve so we always have alot of fun around here. Every December 24th my folks come down and the three of us take her to a movie matinee and then dinner at Ponderosa. This year we are going to see Alvin and the Chipmunks the Squeakquel. The Man seldom gets to join us on this little journey because he has to work. The next time that he will be able to go is for her 13th birthday! Anyway, after the movie and dinner we will come home and wait for him to get off work. The Youngun, Granny Bob, and I will play games while Pop Pop usually plays on the computer or snoozes! When The Man gets home we will have supper. This year The Youngun asked for hamburger roast, brown gravy, and peas with cream cheese brownies instead of birthday cake. Then she will open her birthday presents and we'll play more games till bedtime. Gotta hit the hay early so the fat man in the red suit can come!!

When our daughter was born, the very first night that we brought her home I was laying in bed saying my prayers as usual. I remember thanking God for blessing us with a beautiful healthy child. I told God that I was giving her back to Him that very minute. She wasn't ours, she was His, but we would do our very best to raise her up to be someone that would bring Glory to His Name. She has been a treasure every single day of her life! She knows Jesus and God and strives to follow Him in every way. I still pray for my baby girl every day, praying that she will never forsake Him, and will look to Him for guidance and leadership her whole life long. I also pray for her future husband (if it's God's will that she marry) that God will be with him, wherever he may be. I pray that she will have the good sense to wait for the man that God chooses for her, and that the young man will be a child of God. Life is alot more bearable when a husband and wife both walk hand in hand with the Savior. I'm very thankful that my husband and I both do, and I know the reason our marriage is so rock solid and strong, is because we have God at the head of our household. The Man is on one side of Him, holding on, and I'm on the other and it's a good good thing!

On a different note, we butchered nine rabbits on Sunday. My folks took 5 home and we kept 4. We boned most of our meat out, and then packaged up the bones to boil down for BBQ. I got 5 lbs of boneless meat out of 4 rabbits, so I was happy with that. Not sure how much meat boiled down off the bones, but I already pressure cooked 2 of them and got enough BBQ rabbit for supper Sunday evening, The Youngun had it for supper again last night, AND she took it to school for lunch today! That girl loves her BBQ bunny!! There is still enough in the bowl for at least a couple sandwiches as well.

Well I hope that your Christmas preparations are going well. May you keep the love of Christ in your hearts and on your minds not only during this time of year, but in every season, every month, every second of every day!

Till next time..........GOD BLESS FROM GOODWIFE FARM!

Garden update, hubby's birthday, and a nice day trip!

This is a picture of our rooster Mr. Cackles with two of his hens patrolling the property for bugs, worms, larva, and other yummy chicken delicacies! That's our sweet corn crop in the foreground, it's disappointingly short this year as we have had a LOT of rain and it is also planted in newly broken ground. This fall we'll put lots of good horse, goat, and chicken poop on it and till it under, then next spring I'm going to plant my cool weather crops in that patch because it is in partial shade. It should be a great location for my lettuce, spinach, beets, peas, cabbage, and other cool crops. I'm not going to have enough corn to can this summer, but we will have lots of corn on the cob to eat fresh. Next year I plan to plant twice as much corn and hopefully the weather will cooperate. God knows what He's doing though and I'm not complaining. The rain and cooler temps have been wonderful for my onions, peas, and lettuce crops! I've canned beans three times for a total of about 36 pints. I've got lots more to do of course. Green beans are just about the only green veggie my hub-unit will eat so we have them almost every night! I need LOTS of pints of green beans!

This is a picture that my daughter took of myself and my husband on July 3 (his 36th birthday). We got him two shop lights with bulbs for his shop, and a new tow strap cause he already broke the one that we bought him for Christmas! He was pulling stumps out of the fence row and pop, broke it the first time he used it! lol. After he opened his birthday presents we went catfishing again, but didn't catch anything this time. :( We still had a nice time enjoying the beauty of God's world and being together as a family!














Here a picture of The Youngun and her daddy on his birthday!


















This is a picture of The Youngun with a Bald Eagle at the Bald Eagle exhibit at Dixon Mounds in Lewistown IL. Saturday was rainy, rainy, rainy so since we couldn't do anything outside, we decided to take a day trip to the mounds. We are very interested (as an entire family) in the history of our wonderful world. It's really exciting when you have wonderful historical elements right in your own state! Cahokia Mounds is very close to where we live and we've been there a few times, but had never been to Dixon Mounds.

It was a long drive but well worth the trip. We enjoyed perusing the artifacts from Illinois' prehistory. We love to imagine what our state looked like before power lines, litter, and modern buildings. I think it would have been amazing to have walked our state when it was pristine and unsoiled. That said, there is something for living in our modern times as the average age for a woman in the Mississipian culture was 35.........that leaves me 3 years to go! We finished our day trip with a wonderful supper at a diner in Central Illinois. Then it was on to home to get Tulip milked, eggs gathered and rabbits fed and watered!



Our town's Independence Day celebration was postponed due to rain so we went and watched fireworks on Sunday evening. EJ and I reflected on how so many people call it "4th of July" when it is and should be called Independence Day. That is the day that we celebrate our Independence..........an Independence that is slowly but surely being taken away from us. But that is a whole nother can of worms, isn't it!

Till next time................GOD BLESS FROM GOODWIFE FARM!