Blessings

Wanna be farmers!

         Giving thanks for all our blessings! Thankful to God for helping us through a REALLY long, hard weekend! LOTS of work was done! Picking veg, butchering, freezing, processing, smoking bacon, along with all the normal chores.


       We are VERY thankful for all our produce/animals, that help us raise our kids, as healthy as we can! We try to do everything as natural as we can. We are just so thankful to be able to do that! Even if it is exhausting!

           A big thanks to Dad Brunink for his help this weekend!! He stayed and helped us butcher Friday! We butchered  6 pigs.



        I am not going to lie... I was on the brink of tears Friday with all the work! I might have dropped some pretty bad words, in front of my kids!(Idid)! :( Sorry kids!!
                         (I am not known for my good language!)  

Thankful!

Canning Applesauce

This weekend Chewy, Anna, Elijah and I, picked, made, and canned over 20 quarts of applesauce!  We have 2 apple trees on our property. We are very blessed to have them! I have about the same amount to do this weekend. We were all tired, but we did it!!!!!!!!!While we were canning, Sam and Jeremy, were cutting and splitting wood.We also finished building our smoke house, moved a shed, along with all the chores that come along with having chickens, and ducks, dogs, 4 kids, homework, cleaning coops, cleaning the house... But we are sooo grateful for all our blessings!!! And nothing says fall like apples!

Girl Meets Carpenter

      This post comes from the bottom of my heart!!!! I have a sister-in-law/friend, that is the most caring person ever!!! She came over last week, and blogged about me, and our home. This is her site girlmeetscarpenter.blogspot.com I could not see through my tears! She was way too kind, and loving!!!!!!

    She is incredible!  I really look up to her ( even though she is 6 years younger than me), I try to be the kind of sister/friend/wife/mother that she is. She also has 4 amazing kids, Natalie, Ruby, Charlie, and little Emmy. She is married to my amazing brother Jordan!

   

     I have been so blessed, to have had God bring her in my life.( so don't screw it up Jordan) (I know you won't ;). I am not as good with words as Lindsey, but I just wanted her to know that I love her soooo much, she has helped me in rough times, she inspires me, she is so great, and such a good friend!  I love you!!!!!

Barkel art work

  Some of the cute art work from Lindsey and Jordans kiddos!

A picture of our pigs from Natalie, a minion and my dogs from Ruby, a fish from Charlie, and a artistic design by Emmy! 

First Day of School

Ever have a day like this...

Warning: this post includes the word puke. You have been warned!!!!!!

I have 4 kids, 2 teens, and 2 pre-teens. I am a stay at home mom. I love them, but I have been planning for their first day back to school, all summer. My plan was... to eat chocolate, watch a movie, and take a shower with no one yelling "mom", while I was in it. Being a mom is tough work. Keeping them safe, not screwing them up to much... So, I was feeling selfish, and wanted a afternoon to myself. So, movie and chocolate, that's my plan. I know, I dream big!!!! But this is what happened...

Wake up late
Eat potato salad for breakfast. This is where it starts going a little off course.
Start watching a movie.
Start feeling a little yucky.
My lovely sister-in-law Lindsey calls. (This is where it goes way of course!)
Try to act normal on the phone with Lindsey, because I am feeling NOT GOOD!!!!!!
Puke
Puke
Puke
Puke, and get a HUGE bruise on my arm, trying to get to the bathroom.( It did not end well).
Start a load of laundry. Washer breaks.
Sam(15) gets home and throws his gym clothes in the broken washer,(if you have boys, you know what a BAD thing that is)
Take a picture of the kids and post it to instagram,  like nothing ever happened.(things happened today!)

                      If this was your dream day, dream no more. It happened! It happened BAD!!!!
                                             

    

Pizza Sauce

 

 

Pizza Sauce

1 lb. Roma tomatoes
1 1/2 t. Italian seasoning
1 t. minced garlic
salt to taste
1/4 c. minced onion

Blend all ingredients in blender. Simmer in a sauce pot for 20 minutes. Easy and good!

New Chicken Coop

Jeremy, Anna and I made a new coop and yard, for our youngest chickens and ducks. They had outgrown their other coop, as we have added to our flock. So now we have it in the barn. Yay!!! No more frozen water and heat lamps (hopefully). It was so funny when we were catching them last night. I manned the door of the coop while the rest of the fam caught and put them in the new coop. They were making so much noise! But they love their new home!