Hello!!

Hey everyone!! Hope you are all doing good. Thought I would just pop in and let you know we are all alive and kicking well. My truck isn't, Page's leg was almost broke. But really life is good. I've had serious issues with my internet lately so I don't do much at all except get on and pay some bills, a few other things (like downloading a new preschool pirate pack from Dawn at Our Little Monkeys). Hopefully in like October we will have internet up and running good again, until then, I may continue my little siesta from blogging, until then.
Anyways here is a fun new picture of our newest babies.

The lambs are KaDee and Daisy (they follow Daisy and Page Everywhere, the Bull is named The Black Bull, he's just a little guy right now, but next year he'll be huge!
:) Have a great summer!!

We've Been

Up to no good!!!
Hope you are having a great Spring!

Living like no one else.

"Live like no one else, so later you can live like no one else."
Have you heard this before?
Yes it is a Dave Ramsey saying.
It's my motto to finances.
So as you probably know we are only down to owing on our land, which we would have to sell 114 steers to pay it off as of today. Seeing how we only have 30 cows on the place and only about half are at reproducing age, that number is a little disheartening.  But really I can't complain, we have a 160 acres that we got at a BARGAIN price, seriously you can get about 5 acres for the price we paid, (ya we are lucky).
Anyways onto the post.
So since we are so debt disgusted right now (thanks to watching others make stupid mistakes). We have decided we are going to super pay our land off and then save to build our house (I'm estimating at about 300k), when should this all be completed...in about 5 years!!!
I'm so EXCITED!!!
I can handle this little POS house I live in (I may actually miss it) for the chance to build my dream house with cash, for that long.
I can handle Koda working the job he works for that long.
I will make do with the vehicles we have for that long.
Especially if we can be living in our custom built house, debt free, on our farm by the time I'm 30.
Now you may call me crazy and that this is an unrealistic venture.
But that's ok, cause it's me who will be smiling in the end. :)
Oh and yes, if I have to extend this timeline out to 10 years, I'm still doing it.
Wish me luck!

Our Life in Pictures...Well Mostly Melody.

Hows life been here?
Crazy fun with all the drama you can imagine from a household with three little girls.
They have all started into a fighting/biting each other stage.
I have no idea how to deal with this.
Some exciting news, we have paid off all our extra loans. We now only have the land loan! So happy.
Anyways Melody is fighting me for the computer so I'm going to get off.
Enjoy the pictures of our life lately.

I've started Digi Scrapping, I Love it!! This is one of my first speed scraps.

She is becoming quite the comedian!

Sorry you have to tilt your head, but I've finally got one of my can shelves up and rollin' (hehe) one more to go!

A new favorite place to play.

These guys are starting to show up. Ya!! Spring is here!!

Horsey Ride.

Melody's new favorite activity, turning the main power off to the computer.

Who says I don't live in a small town???
Bonus points if you know who's cows they are.

Climbing Trees

Blasting flying orange objects.
Have to boast here. I haven't ever shot a shotgun, I haven't shot anything in over a year and a half.
On this day I got two of my four shots.
I stopped while ahead and went and cooked lunch. :)

Exciting News

I'm so excited!!! I have one solid floor in my kitchen!!!
I've been living with three different floors since July.

The "new" floor, the grand canyon, and then the old floor.
But not anymore.
Loving my kitchen remodel!









Hey life is going good here, crazy but good.
Sorry for the lack of posting, maybe sometime in the future I'll have more energy and memory when I do sit down at the computer, so I can type out some more posts!

Hope all ya'll are doing well!!


PS I know you were all excited that I was going to tell you baby # 4 was on its way....hahaha, not yet.

Child Labor Regulations Proposal

Lately there has been a lot of press about the proposed child labor laws that the Department of Labor is trying to implement. These will affect farm families immensely! Please read this article Will My Children Be Allowed to Farm. Watch the YouTube Video. Please inform the Department of Labor that we want this proposal stopped!!

Lunch Time

So today has been a rare day.
(besides the planting weather we've had in February....it's odd!)
So today Koda actually was able to come home for lunch!
So I thought I'd so something different for us and have chicken salad sandwiches.
I like them.
Plus I needed to make sure my recipe tastes good for Erica's bridal shower.
Well, it was a total flop!!
The food was great! I loved it.
The other three people in my house...not so much.
Melody is on my side (hey I'm #1 in her eyes right now)
So I made them some chicken quesadilla's.
I ate some too.
Delicious!!!!
It was approved by the other three....go figure....

12 things about Farming

I came across this article called 12 Most Notable Things You Didn't Know About Farming
You should check it out!! He is a crop producer from Indiana. He writes the truth, for he is a farmer!!!
Interesting facts I liked from the article.
2% of the US is involved in production agriculture.
An average American farmer feeds 155 people!!
50 years ago the average farmer fed 25 people!
Farmers are really helping to keep the world go round.
Please share!!

Out of the sewing cave

Look at what I busted out in a weeks time of mostly sewing.

zebra nursing cover

Poka -dot nursing cover

Car seat cover

Car seat Cover

  

elastic back

diaper bag

new quilt (i'm farther then this pic shows, but i cant give it away.)

Oh and I made an awesome purse/church bag out of the extra pink zebra stuff. Do I have a pic though, haha no way. So imagine it, until I get a pic. ;)

Guess What??

I am alive.
My kids are alive.
My husband is alive.
We are all doing great.
Just been not on the computer as much!!
I think I should invest in a Ipad just so I can sit in my bed and do a quick post.
Who agrees?
Anyways.
Here's some awesome pics of our life lately.

Tramp Jumping in January...what the heck?

A Sunday afternoon photo shoot

A small peek into the colors of a new quilt!

She informed me she was going to school. 

working on that crawling techique

Uncle Carson's Skiing Hat

First taste of an Oreo.
Oh yes...I'm that awesome of a mom. 

A stolen Pizza from her sister

New Pantry.
:)

Never to young to learn solitare

She thinks this is her new jungle gym.

See our life has been busy and lots of fun!!!
Hopefully we get some more moisture before summer hits.

The plan behind the maddness

So to continue with my goals, here is how I plan on accomplishing some of them and what my end goal needs to be.

• Paying off School Loans. I figure I should be able to have these paid for by April 2011. I owe approx 7 steers. -Note on my loans. I am not sorry at all that I have them. I do wish I would've done more at getting scholarships ect., but really I'm glad that I finished college and that I paid for it all. My parents DID NOT pay for it (many people think this, I have no idea why). This is also a part of why I don't feel I should save for my children's future education, I feel they should do it....okay, that's a completely different post...
• Paying off Living Scriptures Loan. This should be paid for by May 2011. I owe approx 2 steers.

• Eat more home cooked lunches. So far I'm failing at this, I really have a hard time cooking a nice lunch when it is just me and the kids. Breakfast and dinner, no problem! Its lunch time or dinner (when Koda is on nights) that really suffer. But each day is a new day, So each day it is a new goal. One day I'll accomplish it!!
• Walk/run Vigorously for 15 mins a day. I made this goal (which somedays I accomplish it others I don't, each day is a new day right?), so I made this goal a goal, for I am terrified that if I end up in a situation that I have to pack my children and all our stuff, out of this hole and up into higher country on my back, I want to be able to do it. Plus it's healthier right?
• Attending the Temple once a month. I'm off onto the right track with this. Got my recommend renewed the first of January. I plan on accomplishing this goal by attending the temple each month on our ward temple day. I'm going to go whether Koda can come with me or not, and then on the days he can attend with me, all the better!
• Regular FHE, Like I said, each day is a new day.
• Study the Book of Mormon. Last year I read it cover to cover for the first time (that I know of). I was going to study gospel principles this year, but I am teaching four 10 year old boys about the Book of Mormon this year, so I'm going to follow along with the lesson plans and study. Already onto lesson 3 and I've learned something new! Crazy.
• Read Pride and Prejudice. So this is kind of a crazy one, but I have started this book multiple times, never finished it. I love the movie. So this is just a I can do it goal, just because I can. I have the book downloaded on my phone, so I can read it wherever I'm at. I don't know about you, but I get somewhere and I don't have anything to read, that usually becomes the longest 20 min wait ever! Well now I don't have that excuse! And guess what I'm already on Chapter 8. :)
• This quilt is quite the project, but that's ok. It's mine and I'm going to make it perfect! I'd like to have the center finished. Well to this date I'm about 1/3rd of the way through step one of sewing all the strips together. Only 46 strips left. 
• Organize sewing space, we are getting there. I've been slowly de-cluttering my sewing and crafting stuff. Looking at all sorts of ideas for storing said stuff. :) I'm excited!
• Organize storage unit and food storage. I have a C-container just behind my house that I use as a storage unit. Right now it is full of wedding gifts, stuff from our childhood, food storage, clutter that others have given us, ect. Well I believe you should have a food storage (I want an ample one!) Oh yes, I have two deep freezes. One is chock-full of meat. The other one is filled with meat and lots of veggies. I feel I need to do better in my canned food area. But in order to do this I need a much more streamlined organized approach to my storage unit. Therefore Step one DECLUTTER!!!! and that means, all the crap that I may use in the future, is going. I've decided I'm going to let it go and bless somebody else who will use it now. If I need help in the future because I can't afford it, I figure my good deed today will, come back in the form of good karma, and I will get the help I need. Seriously HUGE breakthrough for me. Right now I need organized food storage, so that is the goal I'm working towards! (oh Flylady would be so proud of me :D)
• Control Journal (another flylady thing). Pretty much just a more streamlined approach to cleaning. I really recommend getting the daily emails from Flylady. She sends a ton, and I wouldn't read them all, (unless you want too!) but the Daily Missions is the important thing! They really help you to stay ontop of your crazy house, and guess what, only 15 mins a day!!! That is what I like about Flylady, also I'm glad I already had many of the babysteps in place or at least taught to me (thanks mom) even though she didn't know she does them. The missions are just like a little more help...okay enough. 
• 72 hour kits assembled. Pretty self explanatory. Really I have almost everything, I just need to put them together. 

I hope all is going well and on course in your goals this year!! 

Time for new goals

2012
A new year.
A new clean slate to start anew.
Haha I wish some days!
But I am going to be making some goals.
I have quite the list.
Hopefully I can get them done!!!
Last year I succeeded in getting three of the four goals I actually wrote down accomplished.
(That's more then I thought, Go ME!)
Here is what I wrote last year.
Here is what I'm striving for this year.

Finances:

• Pay off School Loans
• Pay off Living Scriptures Loan (don't ask, I'm really ticked about this one!)

Health/Body:

• Eat more home cooked/prepared Lunch meals
• Walk/run (vigorously for 15 mins a day)

Spiritual

• Temple once a month
• Regular FHE
• Study Book of Mormon

Personal

• Read Pride and Prejudice
• Finish top center of MY quilt

Organization

• Sewing/craft space
• Food Storage/storage unit
• Control Journal
• 72 hour kits assembled

Now that I have an idea of what goals I'm going to do, I need to create them into SMART goals, like a professor in college taught me.

I can't remember the what the acronym SMART stands for exactly but I do remember that the goals need to have a specific date, purpose, and person to achieve these goals.

Well, I guess I'd better get to getting the specifics figured out on my goals to make them SMART!

What your New Years Resolutions?