Busy Little Housewife: October 2010

Sweet love...

Last week I got the honor of taking my sweet grandparents pics at the park. I have wanted to take them for awhile, but we never could find a good time. Wednesday afternoon my grandpa was having a good day, so we decided to go to the park. I was so happy I finally got to take them. Once I started taking pics, I got a little teary eyed. Just watching my grandparents interact with each other after all these years makes me so happy. They have been such an amazing example for me. These two people are the most precious people. My grandma is the SWEETEST person you will ever meet. She is so giving! She will do anything for anyone. My grandpa is the biggest teddy bear. I can just sit and talk to him for hours. He has had such an amazing life. He is 95 years old! Isn't that crazy! He looks so good!

I love them so much! They are such a gift to me and my family. They have shown me what love is truly about. I hope you enjoy these precious pictures of them. They make me smile...

This is my favorite! I just love their sweet faces.

Love this sweet pic of them laughing.

Gram and papaw with my crazy kiddo's. I love that Sam and my papaw have the same baby blue eyes.

56 years together! I love this pic so much!

I love their sweet hands.

LOVE!

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Love NEVER fails. 1 Corinthians 13:8

Blessings...

Like mother, like daughter...

This afternoon while Sam was taking a late afternoon nap and the girls were playing quietly in their room, I quickly went outside in the back yard, put my feet up on a chair and started reading my new book I got from the library today. The girls didn't notice I was outside for about fifteen minutes. It was bliss! I was enjoying this beautiful fall day and excited to start my new book. I saw Aubrey peek outside, then she came back with her little book and her princess chair and parked it right next to me. She dragged another chair to put her little feet on and started reading like mama. It was so darling. Sometimes I forget how much my kid's watch every little thing I do. They see the good, the bad, and the ugly. I need to always keep that in mind.

I love the special time I get to spend with my kids. They are just growing up WAY to fast. We had a fun afternoon just playing outside. I didn't get a thing done, but I was blessed with fun times with my babies. It was a good day.

My heart is full...

Miss Aubrey reading like mama

Sweetness

The girls checking out a cocoon Taylor found

My happy princess

My beautiful brown eyed girl

I hope you found happiness today!

Adventures at the pumpkin patch...

Fall happens to be my favorite time of the year. I love the cooler weather, changing colors of the trees, OU football, and of course, the pumpkin patch. There are so many reasons we love taking our family to there. Pony rides, feeding animals, hay rides, the corn maze, and picking out our cute little pumpkins, are a few of our favorite things to do. There are several different pumpkin patches going on during the month of October. We went to Chester's in Piedmont. It's out there, but well worth the drive. We also love going to the Parkhurst family farm in Arcadia. We are going there soon. We went this year with some great friends and their awesome kiddo's. Sam really enjoyed his first of many adventures to the pumpkin patch. Here are a few pics of our visit this year. Super fun times!

Pony rides!

There are really fun animals there too.

Cute pic of all the kiddo's

Taylor with her "future hubby" Luke. I love this little guy.

Miss Aub's on a really cool old tractor

I just love this pic of Sam! So fun...

My sweet little pumpkin #1 (thanks for their cute shirts mom).

Sweet little pumpkin #2

Sweet little pumpkin #3

Taylor showing mama her pumpkin she picked out

Aubrey's choice

My sweet little man had so much fun at his 1st pumpkin patch

Happy fall everyone! Many more adventures to come...

Probiotics are your friend!

With cold and flu season just around the corner, I thought I might share some things that I do with my family to help prevent getting sick or help the symptoms to be manageable. I'm writing this because about three years ago my girls were getting sick all the time. It seemed like we were in the Dr's office way to much. I was getting so frustrated! My bff had been telling me about something called probiotics for a long time. Probiotics are "friendly germs" that help maintain the health of the intestinal tract and aid in digestion. They also keep potentially harmful organisms in the gut under control. They help boost the immune system. Probiotics can be taken as capsules, powders, yogurts, and in other food.

One day I just gave in and thought I might give them a try.  Once I did, my world changed! My girls were no longer getting sick. If they did get sick it was not a big deal at all. They would only be sick 2 to 3 days instead of 5 days.  We went from going to the Dr's office quite frequently, to not at all. They have not gone to a sick visit in two and a half years.  Our pediatrician is aware that we give this to our kids. She thinks it's great.  Our whole family takes them, even our baby boy. We just put it in his bottle. It's safe for all ages. The girls call it their "powder". They know that it helps their bodies stay strong and healthy. We take them every day and take extra when we are sick or around someone that is sick. I get our probiotics at Akins natural food store. This is good stuff people! I hope you try it!

Another thing we use is Omega 3 fish oil.  It is called "the miracle food of the 21st century". Research shows that the right kind can help prevent heart disease, maintain optimum blood pressure and cholesterol levels and give almost immediate relief from joint pain, migraines, depression, autoimmune disorders and improving brain development and memory functioning from conception to birth. Very good stuff!

Vitamin D3 is amazing as well. It's called the "sunshine vitamin". If you think about it, we don't get as sick when we are around sunshine. When we are indoors and cooped up is when we usually get sick. Other benefits that vitamin D3 supports are the absorption of calcium for building strong bones and teeth, the maintenance of joint and muscle comfort, the support of breast, colon, and prostate health, as well as the maintenance of a healthy mood. We also take multivitamins daily too. This helps us get all our daily vitamins for the day.

If you are having issues with your allergies, raw honey can help.  Honey is a "powerful booster to the immune system". It's a naturally delicious alternative to white sugar. One daily spoonful in your tea or spread on you toast is all you need. You can also put it on cuts, burns and scrapes to help with the healing process. The antiseptic property of honey will clean wounds and inhibit bacterial growth.   If you have a sore throat, you can also take a teaspoon and it helps your throat to feel better. Very, very cool stuff!

The bible even tells you to eat honey. "My son, eat thou honey, because it is good; and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste". Proverbs 24:13.

We get our probiotics at Akins natural foods, and our fish oil, vitamin D3, and multivitamins at Vitacost.com

Children's Fish oil, Vitacost.com

Children's Vitamins D3, Vitacost.com

Multivitamins, Vitacost.com

We get our raw honey from a friend that makes his own on a farm outside of Edmond. Make sure you get raw honey that is near your home. You can find honey at your local Farmers Market or you can check out LocalHarvest.org

If you want to learn more about these subjects, please refer to aspiringearthmama.blogspot.com for excellent information.

Probiotics are your friend! Have a blessed day...

Oregon family vacation

We just got back from our awesome family vacation to Oceanside, Oregon. We stayed seven nights in the cutest little beach house. It was a darling four bedroom house with two living areas. It had an awesome deck with a stunning view! The little town of Oceanside has two restaurants and a coffee shop.  So cute! Just what we needed. We wanted to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. It was perfect. We had breakfast, lunch and dinner out on the deck. We made all our meals at the house and only went out to eat twice the whole time we were there. It was great! My sweet hubby prepared most of the meals so I could get a break. I even got to read a book in two days. We had a lot of time to relax. Jeff and I would switch off with the girls at the beach. One of us would stay at the house with Sam and the other would be with the girls. It was wonderful! The girls and Sam had a blast. They were so good!

My sister and her hubby even got to come stay with us for a night. We had a fun cookout on the beach and had hot dogs and marshmallow's. It was so fun! I haven't seen my sister since Thanksgiving of last year. It's been way to long. She lives in Seattle, so it's very exciting when I get to spend time with her. She got to meet my precious Sam for the first time. He just loved her. I felt very blessed to have her with me.

We also went to the Tillamook cheese factory in town. It was very cool!  They have a free viewing area of the factory, so you can see how they make their cheese. They have the most wonderful ice cream too.  It was so yummy! It was really cool to show the girls that this was where our Tillamook cheese comes from.

Then we went to the beautiful, quaint town of Cannon Beach. This is the beach that I grew up going to with my mama and my sisters. It's VERY special to me.  We went shopping in town, had a wonderful lunch and spent some time out on the beach. It was a very fun day. My girls got to finally see the place that I always talk about.

We also went to a really cool lookout at Cape Mears. It wasn't to far from the beach house. It was so beautiful! It has the most gorgeous views of the Oregon coast. It's also where sea lions and whales hang out. We didn't get to see any on our adventure because they are usually there in the spring. It was very cool! We loved it.

Other than that, we just hung out at the beach and the beach house. Jeff and the girls went exploring and found some really cool treasures while Sam took his little naps. That gave me some time to relax and read. It was really great to just have time with my little family.  We made a lot of memories that I will never forget. It has been a dream of mine to take my family to the Oregon coast.

I hope you enjoy a few pics of our time together.