November in Alabama…you’re blowing my mind. We had a taste of you two years ago, when we camped in the bus for the month of November. With your endless days of sun and gentle warmth, I felt like I won a vacation to a tropical location. This year we came by you honestly–we survived June,…
Continue ReadingHarvest Season (a pictoral update)
I have so few words this week. Mostly pictures. We are working like crazy to be good stewards of the bountiful fruit harvest God blessed us with this year. The branches in the orchard are literally snapping under the weight of our largest harvest yet. We’ve been blessed by friends willing to come labor with…
Continue ReadingAn Interview with Beth Learn of Fit2B Studio
Since finding Fit2B Online fitness studio in January 2013, I’ve been working out more consistently than I ever have in my life. I started to actually have fitness-related questions pop into an area in my mind that used to just have dust and silence. Then, in spring 2013, I got pregnant, and though her site is all…
Continue ReadingWe survived ski season!
I must shout it from the top of some place very high: “I survived ski season!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” I don’t usually blog about my husband’s absences till after he’s home (that’s wise, dontcha think?) but now that ski season is officially over for us, I can tell you what the last 8 weekends have been like for…
Continue ReadingTinsel, Truth, and a Real Live Manger {How the Kids are Celebrating Advent}
I’m in the mood to give y’all a glimpse of how we’re celebrating Christmas around here with a 2, 4, and 6 year old. Do you mind? Great…here we go. Our new tradition this year is doing the Truth in the Tinsel Advent activity eBook. (affliate link–woot!) The kids adore their daily Christmas craft, and…
Continue ReadingThe Art of The Family Portrait
First, find a nice background and gather a few props. Insert human into frame to get the focus and settings right. Summon more humans. Encourage young humans to smile at small, flashing light… …then wait, and wait, and wait for self timer to work… Holden Family, May 2012 Jeremy, Trina, Jesse (5 1/2), Claire (3…
Continue ReadingWhile We Wait for Life to ‘Load’
I watch the blue, pixel stream surge along its banks as my email loads, and remember the days of dial up. Back then I’d set the computer to do a task and go off and busy myself so I didn’t waste precious moments waiting for the page to load. Sometimes it was 3 paragraphs in…
Continue ReadingIn which we enjoy our spring bike rides…with a side of milk
I did a crazy thing the other day. We were just getting the bikes hooked up for a family bike ride, when I remembered we were out of milk. I looked at the clock–there wouldn’t be time to fetch it before a ride, nor after. We would have to do both simultaneously. Jeremy gave me…
Continue ReadingOn Top Of the World
Six Years ago today, Jeremy and I tied the knot… (no, I did not scrape my name into the seat of the ferris wheel with my diamond – I just found my name and posed next to it!) These photos of our family riding a ferris wheel last month aptly describe how…
Continue ReadingLetters From Home, Volume 1
Letters from Home is my new format to stay personally connected with my readers even as I endeavor to fulfill my vision of maturing my blog into a resource for a growing audience. So, whenever I have home news to share, I’ll do it under that heading, kind of like the letters I wrote my…
Continue ReadingSeth’s Birth Story
So, here, for those of you who’ve asked or wondered, and even for those who haven’t – the first in a series! {TMI Alert} This is Seth’s birth story as written in my journal after he was born. I have edited it for the blog, but it may still be Too Much for you. You…
Continue ReadingA Little Birthday
Today we celebrate the day Seth Franklin came to live with us. Pardon me if I cry while I write this post? These pictures are just so sweet, and I can’t believe how blessed I am… Seth was born at home…welcomed warmly by his adoring big brother and sister. I called him my little California…
Continue ReadingGo jump in a lake!
If it seems a bit quiet on the blog, it’s ’cause we’re out on the lake and you can’t hear us yelling from where you are!We’ve gone into summertime mode – making the most out of the few weeks out of the year that the lakes are actually warm enough to swim in – Whoop!…
Continue ReadingStrawberries, a Wedding, and a Camping Trip
I’m trying to fit in little moments like these in between a very busy month. We’re celebrating a close friend’s wedding this weekend then headed for Creation Fest Northeast next week. I am making freezer meals to take us through the busy weekend and onto our camping trip and trying not to get stressed. Jeremy…
Continue ReadingBloggers Unite, Part Second: At Toughannock Falls
Last week we had some very special house guests – special for many reasons! They were the first to use our new guest room (we moved into our new bedroom finally!) They were our first out-of-state, overnight company in our home They were the first to take me up on my open invitation to my…
Continue ReadingPicnic In the Orchard
Whenever I pack them a picnic lunch, Jesse makes a beeline for the pear tree, calling his sister to keep up with him, all the way out back to the orchard. He spreads the blanket, then the napkin, and carefully dolls out the cheese tortillas to him and his sister. He even keeps an eye…
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