It's Nice to Meet You ~ Mrs. Meyer!

Have you met Mrs. Meyer? I have...and boy, am I glad! (Truth be told...I didn't actually meet Mrs. Meyer...just her cleaning products! ;) This is *not* an official review...Mrs. Meyer's company did not send me cleaners or anything to review. I am just sharing this because I *want* to! :)

After reading, about how Deb and Jewels each use them in their homes, on their blogs....I took a look into the site. I am not a believer in man-made global warming....but I *do* think we are to be good stewards of this beautiful earth that God has given us. Mrs. Meyer's products are earth-friendly, have natural ingredients and are bio-degradable and *safe*! You can read more about their ingredients HERE.

So...I looked online for the closest store to me that sells Mrs. Meyer's cleaning products. I found a store in the next town over. I called to see what time they were open till and made sure they carried the products I was looking for. The lady at the store informed me that they were having a store anniversary sale (1 day a year thing) and that the Mrs. Meyer's cleaning products were 40% off!!! Oh my gosh....I was thrilled! So I drove over...and although I wanted to completely stock up...I only had limited funds at that moment...so I tried to buy smart! I got dish soap (in lavender and geranium scents), counter spray, toilet bowl cleaner, surface scrub and a large bottle of All Purpose cleaner.

Of course, when I got home...I immediately started cleaning! They are fantastic! I love the scents as well as their cleaning abilities! :) Do you use Mrs. Meyer's cleaning products? What do you think of them? What is your favorite scent?

I know many of you will be spring cleaning...and I highly recommend these cleaners! (Although try to find a store that carries them around you...if you order them online...the shipping can get super expensive!) Thanks for visiting me! I enjoy reading your comments and thoughts! It's a beautiful day here and I have clothes to get hung out on the line! :) 'Til next time..... ;)

*Amish* X

Last evening, Xavier came down as I was making supper dressed differently than he had been dressed the rest of the day. I asked him why he changed. He was grinning ear-to-ear as he explained to me that he wanted to look just like an Amish boy! It completely melted this mama's heart! I think he looks so handsome! :)

For supper, last evening, I made some pasta with meat sauce...along with some crusty white bread, which we had leftover to enjoy for breakfast this morning! I'm looking to find some good bread recipes for other types of bread too. I found some that sounded so delicious, on allrecipes.com...however, they are all for bread machines! :( I didn't take too long to look though...so I will be searching more recipes for different breads, hopefully this week!

I am so happy to say that spring has definitely sprung around here! (Although...yesterday it *did* get quite cold...even snowing a bit! Ack!) I am loving all the flowers blooming around my home! I found THIS article while browsing Lehman's blog the other day. It details how to plant an old-fashioned cottage garden! You know the ones, don't you? Flowers beautifully covering the landscape around a quaint country cottage...right? I have always envisioned doing that around my home someday....so maybe this article will help! :)

My boys, the other day, picked me those beautiful daffodils pictured below. Placing them and some water in a simple mason jar is the perfect enhancement to my kitchen counters! :)


**Notice my kitchen windows...which were here when we moved in, 9 years ago. They are double paned and the fog/condensation on them is *between* the panes! It drives me bonkers because I simply do *not* know how (or if it is even possible) to clean between the panes. I suppose we will just have to replace them...at some point. I have some older windows upstairs that need replaced first, though. Just wondering if anyone else has that problem with double paned windows!?!

The kids and I planted some flower seeds together in these wee little pots last week......

The kids (and I must admit, I am included) love watching them grow! Each day, they are a little taller! From the moment they first started peeking through the dirt till now, we "ooh" and "ahh" over them! Wait till the flowers actually bloom! Oh the joy that will fill my home! :) I'm sure kids will be squealing and jumping up and down....maybe *mama* will be too! ;) I love watching things grow! Don't you?

It looks like a beautiful weekend! I have clothes that need to be hung out on the line and housework that needs tending to! :) I hope you all enjoy your weekend! Thank you *so* much for visiting me!

“The LORD lives!
Blessed be my Rock!
Let God be exalted,
The Rock of my salvation!"
~2 Samuel 22:47

**OK...admit it...who, after reading this verse, started singing "The Lord liveth and blessed be the Rock! Let the God of my salvation be exalt-ed!"...I know, I did! ;)

Raised Bed Gardening

I haven't posted much about the *girls* lately....so I thought I would post a few pics of them. They are finally back to producing eggs, after a long winter strike. Some chickens still lay in the winter...even if it is less than normal. Not ours. They go on a full-fledged strike! They can be little *stink-pots*. ;)


The other day....when Madelyn was wearing her *prairie-girl* dress (as she calls it)...she took water to the chickens and I couldn't help snapping a picture! It is such a sweet picture to me! :) I love how simple it looks.

Chris and Stu....

My inlaws live right down the road from us. We are blessed to be so close to them. We do our gardening on their land. We have a super huge garden that we haven't started planting in yet...but we *have* started planting in our raised bed. My mother in law, Chris, the kids and I all worked at doing it together. We share the costs of the seeds and all work together at working the land. :) We planted onions, lettuce, carrots, radishes, and peas.

The kids like to help.....

Next to the raised bed...we have also been building a small greenhouse! It will be a great place to get some seeds started! :)

Pa (Chris' dad) had been out on the tractor...and when he came over...gave the kids permission to look through his binoculars! They had a lot of fun with that! :)


If you want to know the benefits and how to make your own raised bed garden...check out THIS link. We will be planting potatoes, squash, cucumbers, green beans, beets, corn and pumpkins in our bigger garden at some point, as well! :)

I know many of you who read my blog have the same interests as me...so I thought I would share some links I enjoy, with you!

♥ I love Mary Jane's Farm magazine, books, and site! Have you seen the virtual picture tour of her farm? Beautiful!!! And...if you need some cute desktop wallpaper...she has some beautiful ones HERE.

♥ And HERE is a link to the Homestead Blessings DVDs! Oh how I would love to get these someday! I have heard that they are fantastic! :) Have you seen them? What do you think about them?

♥ If you knit...HERE is a fantastic place full of fun dishcloth patterns (free!). If you have a desire to learn to knit...Knitting Help is the place I used to teach myself to knit! Her videos are so helpful and you can glean so much from the site! Of course, you can email me with any questions as well...link on the left sidebar! :)

♥ If you have never looked through a Lehman's catalog before...you gotta check it out HERE. They even have a blog! :)

♥ Finally...if you homeschool...or are considering it...DonnaYoung.org is full of help and printables!

Thanks so much for stopping by to visit. I get so many kind emails and comments from so many of you and I read and appreciate every one! :) On my last post...Andy asked how Stu got his name. Well....it's due to my husband's sense of humor! He was naming him "stew" as in "Lamb Stew"....but I spell it like Stu because he will *not* be made into "stew". :)

Hope you are each having a great week. Enjoy your days, enjoy your minutes, enjoy the weather, enjoy your family. Count your blessings and always be thankful. Warm wishes to each of you! :)

Lamb *Stu*

If you read my post introducing you to Stu....you will know that we got a lamb! :) He is so cute and we are totally enjoying him! He is such a character! His *baa-ing* is sooo sweet! I was so thrilled to have gotten the picture I took, above. Doesn't it look like he is smiling at me??

Oh how Stu loves to eat! His little tail starts wagging and he drinks down the bottle in a matter of seconds! We all love taking turns feeding him! He is bottle fed because something happened to his mother (I am not sure what though. I'm not sure if she died during birth or what. We got him from the owner and he was already being bottle fed.)

After feeding Stu, I headed back to the house...and my sweet Ruthie was quite jealous! ;) She was jumping and yipping in circles for my attention! It's great to be loved...by not only my family...but by our pets too! :)

Let's Go Fly A Kite.....

...Up to the highest height.....

...Let's go fly a kite and send it soaring......

....Up through the atmosphere......

...Up where the air is clear.....

Oh...lets go...fly a kite!!! :)

"The God Who created,

....names and numbers the stars in the heavens also numbers the stars of my head. He pays attention to very big things and to very small ones. What matters to me matters to Him, and that changes my life."
~Elisabeth Elliot

I am reading the book "Let Me Be a Woman" by Elisabeth Elliot. It is a compilation of letters written to her daughter, Valerie, who was engaged at the time. I am enjoying reading it. :) So far though...my favorite thing about the book is the quote that was in the beginning.....

"In order to learn what it means to be a woman, we must start with the One who made her."
~Elisabeth Elliot

Isn't that beautiful and so absolutely true?

I hope you all had an enjoyable Easter. We did! We were busy with our church's Easter Passion Play...which went well...and I pray that it touched many hearts!

Earlier this week...the kids and I dyed some Easter Eggs. :) The kids did a great job, taking turns and such. They were each anxious to dye as many eggs as they could but still did well waiting, as patiently as they could, for their turn to dye an egg! It went well and we dyed quite a few beautiful eggs!


A few cracked when I had hard boiled them....so the kids were happy to peel and eat those ones!

Saturday we had a delicious Easter lunch at my parents' home before we had to go and get ready for the last night of our Easter Passion Play. We had grilled chicken with my mom's fantastic BBQ sauce, baked corn, devilled eggs, baked potatoes and more! Oh it was yummy! The kids also got to do a super-fun scavenger hunt! My sister and her husband, Cory, set it all up for them....thinking up and writing out clues and hiding them....

Notice...Jaxson and Madelyn are wearing matching shirts....that was Madelyn's idea! :) I think it is cute!

The kids even had to climb a tree to find their eggs-with-clues-in-them!

Since Xavier is a beginner reader and Jaxson *can't* read yet....we had to help read their clues to them. Daddy helped X and my sister helped Jaxson. I was going to help the boys...but I was so busy chasing each of them to snap pictures! They each had different clues and were going different directions so I had to go this way and that to make sure I got pics of each of the children!


At the last clue...each child got a *prize*. Devon and Cory had gotten them each a gift!

Look at this skirt my sister made for Madelyn....isn't it cute??


We had a lovely time with absolutely gorgeous weather! :)

Yesterday, after church, we had a lunch of egg salad sandwiches (made from the eggs we dyed), then took a nap. Then we went to my inlaws' home for supper. I took some homemade mac and cheese...and we also enjoyed ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, salad, rolls and dessert. Unfortunately for me, I was too full to have any dessert....and it all sure looked wonderful! :)

Now, here we are at Monday, again. Laundry is washing and housework has been started. The kids are working on their responsibilities. We will do schooling in a bit. I will be making some homemade noodles today for a supper of hamburger stroganoff over noodles! *YUM!*

I also need to get to the store to get our sweet new baby, Stu (the lamb) some feed. We are bottle feeding but still need to start him on some pellets and hay. :) The only bad thing is that I am either allergic to Stu, himself, or the hay. I broke out in hives on my face and neck at one point. I'm not too concerned though.

Well...I better get going. I just heard the laundry stop and it needs switched. I need to check what the weather is going to do today because I would like to hang some clothes out on the line if I can. :) Thank you so much for visiting. I hope you had a wonderful Easter with friends and family, remembering the blessed reason we can celebrate this holy-day!

Answer The Door! He's Knocking!

Hello! It's Good Friday! :) I hope you are enjoying your day! As you go through your day...remember...this is the day our Jesus suffered and died for *us*! His love for us....in that while we were still sinners, He died for us...is so amazing and selfless! And He didn't just die...he suffered. The pain He endured...from no fault of His own...is such a hard realization. I am so thankful that God loved me so much that He would send Jesus to save flawed, selfish, insignificant to most, imperfect me. I don't deserve it...but because of His love, His mercy, His grace....I will be eternally grateful! I pray that you know Jesus and what He did for you, each of you, individually.

"He died not for men, but for each man. If each man had been the only man made, He would have done no less."
~ C.S. Lewis

He died so that all may have the chance to be saved....but for *you* individually, as well. He knew you and loved you, and that is why He came. I can't even fathom the love He has for each of us. It makes me sad to know that there *are* those who refuse or reject that love. Hear Him knocking...

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
~ Revelation 3:20

"There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, in the end, "Thy will be done." All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. Those who knock it is opened. "
~ C.S. Lewis (The Great Divorce)

This past Wednesday evening, the kids and I attended an Egg Hunt and Cookout with other children from our church! Our Children's Council Leader, Erin, had it all planned out and managed well! After some hotdog cookin' and egg hunting, Erin had the kids gather together and talked with them about how when we go to a store and purchase something...we get a receipt. The receipt shows that we paid for our purchases....so she went around and, with a red marker, wrote PAID on each of the children's hands and told them that Jesus paid the price for sins. It was such a great message and simple enough for the children to understand. :)

Then the kids each got to ice and decorate (and then of course, eat) a cupcake!!! :) It was a great time.....and the weather was beautiful! We were so relieved as we were hoping to be able to keep the egg hunt outside....as others from the church were inside the building partaking in a meal and foot-washing time.


We still have a couple more nights of our Easter Passion Play at church, then I hope to be able to share about it with you! :) I enjoy each night, being in charge of the nursery. Holding babies is so wonderful, as mine are seeming to grow so quickly! ;)

**OH~and it *is* official....Stu will be coming home with us Saturday night after the play!!! :) And, I forgot to tell you....he is bottle-fed!!! Oh how I am going to love caring for this sweet little lamb. How appropriate that our family is getting a lamb on Easter weekend!

Today...I planned a day-off from schooling for the kids and I! It's beautiful out and we will spend the day outside, playing, laughing, and dying eggs! (I'll maybe try to fit some housework in there at some point too!) I hope you have an absolutely wonderful Good Friday! Thanks for stopping by!