The Joys Of Family and Hearth

While folding laundry today.. I asked my older son if he had outgrown a sweatshirt, he said yes, it can be passed down to son #2. It reminded me of how much I wanted an older brother when I was younger. I was raised an only child. While in school they would send home flyers to adopt an older child, and I would BEG my mom to adopt me an older brother.. I think I was around 10 years old at the time. I longed to feel that security of an "older" sibling. I longed to be comforted by a male. Now as I watch my oldest daughter, relate to the next in line Her brother...It's funny how God gave me her first, but with him second..and growing as much as he has this past year, He is about even height with his sister, and outweighs her! All this to say, while we were out one night.. My daughter complained she was cold and her younger brother..offered her his hoodie. It made me smile! Among the common sibling rivilery is the bond of siblings. Blessings Carrie

Wow, what a wonderful night of fellowship~Will Graham gave a great message. The floor soon crowded with people who gave thier life to the Lord. It was amazing. I love watching all the people flood the floor. Tears streaming down their faces, arms raised up to the Lord. If I had to guess I'd say maybe around 200 people, became family that night. The Lord is so good, he watches over us..even in the midst of our trials, he is there even when we don't "feel" him. He is our constant. I am so grateful for him. The concert was amazing!!! Newsboys were fantastic, and full of energy!! Flame was cool too, it was youth night and he is a christian rapper, but I loved it! :) Matthew West-didn't sing much on our night..but fantastic as always. My daughter and I were both counselers, but were not needed. More counselors then souls being saved that night. But that is good as well. That means a lot of Christians stepped up to help support Will Graham and this journey! Blessings C...

Thanks to my daughter Ashley, who is our resident photographer, and a mighty great one at that!!! :)

I can't think of an appropriate name for what to call my little parcel of land that we have. Other then a postage stamp. It's small. Very small... A sacrifice of living by the Ocean. While that has many benefits in it's own right, when you are trying to have a self sufficient garden for 7, it's not enough land. So we do what we can, with what we have. So each winter I read: Mel Barthlowmuel's Sqare Foot Gardening. Excellent book, that gives you all the info you need to square foot/container garden on a small parcel of land. I use old whiskey barrels, and containers in the front yard. That is where we get the most sun. Last night after Daddy came home, we got the rototiller started and then proceeded to rototill. Then we started to plant. So far what we have planted is, tomatoes, zucchini, cabbage, green beans, mint, eggplant, basil and rosemary..and a cute container of snap dragons. After planting we sat outside and enjoyed some chicken corn chowder for supper, then...

So we are taking a healthy life challange. Not anything that is already out there, just Daddy and I sitting down and discussing a new plan for eating, exercising, and mental health. :) My job is to get the best possible food at the best possible price. We are elminating all boxed/processed foods. Now I've got to be honest we don't use much boxed/processed as it is. SO this will be a challenge for me. Last night, I made a delicious meal of roasted chicken with asparagus and cherry tomatoes!! It was soooo good. Thank You Jamie Oliver!!! :) I got a huge bunch of asparagus from Top Tomatoe for 2.49, a box of cherry tomatoes 1.99 and the chicken breast we had. A little olive oil in the bottom of a aluminum tin, put in asparagus, tomatoes, salt and pepper, rosemary. Mix it all up, Lay chicken breasts on top. A little more olive oil, a twig of rosemary, a splash of white wine. Because I made 8 Chicken breasts it took about an hour for it to be done. You could probably do these in foi...

So after reading Chas' blog post this morning I was inspiried to share my spinach salad recipe. http://apps.facebook.com/blognetworks/blog/heritage_acres_homestead So here goes.... Bag of fresh, clean spinach leaves. 1/2 lb bacon fried, red onion diced, and tomatoes. Dressing: 1/2 C Mayo 1/4 C Milk 1/4 C sugar 2 T Terrogan or salad vineger Mix Up and Enjoy!!! I named this Amy's yummy Salad to give credit to Amy from O'Canada who passed it down to my friend Christine, whom in turn shared it with me, who in turn is sharing it with you all! :)

Mother's Day each year gets a little easier to celebrate, but it does come with a hint of sadness. 16 years ago, my grandmother passed away on Mother's Day. She was a sweet, sweet woman, who would feed anyone who showed up, let your rest your head on her lap while she stroked your hair and you could just talk to her about anything. She sang like an angel, and was short and cute! She is missed greatly by all of her grandchildren, and her children as well. Some years we head to church and do something afterwards, some years we camp, so years we just stay home and relax. This year, we stayed home from church and had a relaxed morning. I needed I was struggling with missing my grammie. And it was a most beautiful day out. Dh and I sat out in the backyard with our coffee, just enjoying the beauty of the day. Our little girls played quietly on the swings, our bigger ones were doing their thing, but it was quite. No tv, no radio, just peace, and nice talk. By Mid-morning the kids were...