Trying Simple Life in Taiwan

I know, I know. I just blogged about being pregnant, right? But it's on my mind lately.

I read up on the differences between false labor and true labor, and found this helpful sentence:

"If you have contractions five minutes apart, lasting at least 60 seconds for one hour (or they continue to get longer or stronger), call your midwife or head to the hospital."

I laughed. The last time I had contractions for an hour, I was holding my Elijah about 20 minutes later. Everyone is different. So far, I have appreciated my fast, intense labors. I'm a fast, intense type of person.

Don't confuse that with painless labor. But if you were to ask me if I wanted 12 hours of easier labor or 7 hours of more intense - I'd say "Let's get it over with!"

Here I am:

It's so much easier to smile at my boys or my Jonathan than a mirror!

Frankly, I don't feel all that different from about a month ago, when this picture was taken:

The scale assures me I'm growing, but I don't really "feel" it. I'm on pins and needles waiting the heavy feeling that will clue me in that I'm close to the end. I do feel "heavier" when I'm fighting gravity to get out of a chair, or when I awaken in the middle of the night to feel my husband's hand gently nudging me back onto my side because I'm on my back like a giant turtle.

Other than that, life goes on, really. I'm pregnant right now, but it won't last. Hopefully, being "un-pregnant" won't last, either.

Yes, I can't help it. I'm weird. I can't help but think about being pregnant again. It's not so much that pregnancy is so incredibly wonderful . . . the akwardness bending over, the decrease in stamina, the inability to get everything done that I want to accomplish . . . the babies at the end of the pregnancies are so incredible.

It's like, why climb a mountain? For the skinned up knees, the bruises, the sore feet? There is something that you want. To see the sunrise, or have the accomplishment of it.

And so I move steadily forward in my journey to meet this next little person. My Little-One-With-Active-Hands. I wonder if this one is a thumb sucker? I tell you, baby must have touched the top of his/her head the other day and that made me JUMP. I'd never felt a hand *there* before!

What memories . . . .

I hope everyone is having a blessed week!

~Ashley~

At farmers market I was talking to one of the gardeners about growing stevia. He said he grew stevia once. And that it would take a lot of stevia to be able to fill the bottles to sell. I told him that I wanted to sell what I grew but learn really fast that I would have to grow a lot more in order to do that and that I didn't have the space for it. That it was just best for me to buy bulk and sell that for now. He agreed. Anyway since I make tea it doesn't take that much stevia to fill the tea bags. So I will use the plots I have at Edens for tea only. So I can a least say I grew the tea myself. As far as the bottles I will continue to order in bulk. If I can bring in some money with this I hope to one day get a place where I can grow all the stevia I sell.

(my first growth of stevia from cuttings)

Today or tommorow I plan to get out to my plot and do some weeding.

Yes, I've been at it this am. I worked out and folded the dry laundry and put that away. Then I got busy w/the woolite rug stick. It really doesnt' do a half bad job. My spots are 'old' so it's taking a few applications (making me glad that I bought the big can!), but they are either gone or faded for the most part. I'm debating on trying them on the kitchen chairs. Then I vacuumed the basement (we picked it up yesterday afternoon) and vacuumed upstairs. THEN I made the sausage casseroles and my sister gave me the recipe for the apple turnover so those are in the frig and ready to bake in the morning. I also gathered up alot of other things that I need to pack in the morning. Mat's got school done (for the most part--he needs to work on a project) and they are outside playing in the barn (the wind is wicked here). I'm also bound and determined to get this dishwasher issue cleared up. I can't find anything to 'clean' so I'm just running several empty loads. Yea, not good for the electric, but I don't care at this point. SOMETHING has got to give or I'm calling the repairman.

I finally managed to get a shower in.........LOL

But the best news is that I KNEW I hadn't gotten a paycheck from my 'job' (I use this term loosely as I"m a decoy mail agent and make $50/quarter!LOL). So I emailed them. They responded today that not only had I not gotten paid for the summer quarter, but that I also had not gotten paid for spring!LOL But the best part is that I"m to get the check in the next 10 days! This should be PLENTY of money for my Cricut that I want to get on Black Friday!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hadn't figured out how to fund it (even tho this is my Christmas!LOL) and this is how! I can buy the carryig case and a cartridge or 2 for Christmas.

We got our very first egg from our hens this morning!!!!  We are sooo egg-cited!

I've been working on some Christmas cards and thought I'd post what I've come up with.  The snowman is quilled.  I learned how to quill in the Keepers class at homeschool group (thank you, Cindy!) It's a fun and simple craft, though a bit time consuming.  Still, I think I'll have all my cards done in time to send out for Christmas, and they only cost me about 20 cents a card to make!

Sorry, the image is fuzzy, but you get the idea.

Happy Trails!

Stevia Gardens at farmers Market

These are some of my products the above is stevia in glass bottle, oatmeal dry mix and angle ornament gift set.

 Healthful living journey week by week day by day living healthier ; home, body and heart.

Home- I will be working on the kitchen some more and having my daughter help out with the kitchen. She is working extra for me to get my lab top. Eventually it will be hers.  I also will be spending much of my time on the laundry and the laundry room. This week will be much about the laundry. I also want to move some things around in some bedrooms. So I will a least work on one bed room a bit.

I really need to get some kind of routine going so I will be sure to do a little bit each day. I will see if this works

5:00am-bible study (instead of 6:00)

8:30- Do dishes

10:00- Do dishes and give 14 month old lunch

11:00-son goes down for nap and I get busy with house work (30 min)

5:00-wash dishes cook dinner

6:00-mon-sat. dinner (4:00 on sunday)

7:00-fix bath for 7 year old and put baby down for bed then work on house for (15 min)

8:00-7 year old goes to bed I work on house another (15 min)

9:00-study and then go to sleep

My goal now is to work an hour instead of two for now.

Body- I will continue to work on drinking more water also will be trying to get back to menu planning we eat better when menu are made

Heart-Keep working on scripture study where it becomes a regular routine. Read at 5:00am  and before I go to sleep

Jonathan is nudging me to begin getting things together for the birth. The man has it together, I tell you! He was the one who noticed I was low on iron at twenty weeks (and prompted me to take it) and he has reminded me of several things this time around. Now he’s asking me to get ready for labor and delivery. Huh? That’s still a long ways away . . . right? Right?

Well, Elijah arrived about three weeks from now, so if I want to leisurely gather stuff, I probably should start now. Wow. Where did the time go? I don’t feel big enough to be starting the eighth month!

<<<<<<<<<<

Samuel continues to astound me. He can put together 24-piece puzzles. By himself. His vocabulary, which seemed non-existent up until the age of two, is crazy. The other day me and Jonathan looked at each other and were like “Can you believe we have a child that speaks in sentences now?”

Not really.

Words that have been garbled are finally becoming clearer, like “milk” and “air plane”.

We have decided that he will probably be a football playing - golfer- that rabidly loves basketball – and baseball – while flying airplanes – riding horses, and conducting trains.

Amazing how you can predict such things, huh? *wink*

It’s wonderful to have a growing boy in the house. This morning I was making blender pancakes, and I turned the blender on and ran out to the garage, where we have a second refrigerator, for a dozen eggs. I was out there closing the garage door, thinking to myself that the blender probably needed to be turned off, and the timer was going to be beeping at me . . .

And I walked into a quiet house. Samuel had heard the timer, and turned off the blender for me! We often make these together, so he knows what the timer means and how to turn off the blender . . . I was just so tickled that he’d heard it from the other room and ran in to do it for me. What a big help! I was turning pancakes and he wandered into the kitchen, looked around, and said “Help Mommy!” and took both our containers of syrup into the table. And forks, which he gets out of the drawer himself. Without being asked.

I love my helper!

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Elijah is something else. He has a temper, that’s for sure. But at the same time, he is surprisingly obedient. I think it has a bit to do with the fact that A) we started earlier B) we have more confidence when it comes to teaching him C) his temperament.

For quite a while, he would throw a perfect fit until breakfast was placed before him. Finally, a few weeks ago, I started having him sit on his tush in the kitchen while I cooked – if he was going to scream and cry and cling to me. It only took a few days before he would watch me quietly, and now he plays in the kitchen or living room while I cook. Trust me, I’m not fixing a gourmet meal here! It takes less than  10-15 minutes to get a typical breakfast on the table. Maybe half an hour. And a last, Elijah seems to realize that breakfast doesn’t have to be instant in order for him to survive. I’m still getting used to the difference!

It’s so interesting to me . . . I heard someone ask the other day when they would be able to stop chasing their 1yo around the house. I said I had no idea – I had taught my 1yo to come to me. And later I thought about all the other stuff my 13 month old does . . . how he stops what he’s doing when he hears the word “no” . . . and he sits down when I ask him too, and recently I’ve started asking him to “go to the table” and meet me there as I put a meal on the table. It always surprises me; how much he actually understands! Most of the stuff he’s learned hasn’t needed to be “taught” to the degree it took for Samuel to catch on. I typically just decide to see if he understands something . . . and when he does  . . . I start requiring it! And again, that’s probably because we got a later start with Samuel . . . not necessarily Samuel. Or it could be. Who really cares? They are two different boys. *shrugs*

<<<<<<<<<<

I wonder about this baby. It doesn’t seem really real. Another baby? Can we really be so blessed? On the one hand I’m insanely happy that we’re going to be a family of five. On the other hand it’s a bit surreal. Not too long ago at all, I was the one dragging my feet about babies. I thought they would ruin our idyllic life. And now . . . .

My wonderful, blessed husband will have had one child at 24yo, two at 25yo, and three at 26yo. How cool is that? I watch him sometimes – he’s such a “young” daddy to me. My own dad was 37yo when I was born. Sometimes I just watch him play with his boys and marvel at how young he is . . . able to play hard, work hard.

I’m sure that as we get older, things will change. But I’m confident that he will be a good “old” daddy, too, just as one day he’ll be a good grandfather. Different doesn’t always mean bad; and I’m certain that no matter what ages we have children, they will be so blessed to know their father, even if he’s a little less silly or something. Although it’s really hard to imagine us “less” silly!

These have got to be some of the most bestest days of my life!!!!!

~Ashley~

I saw this tutorial at a new blog that I just discovered & thought to myself "why didn't I ever think of this?' 

I have a few jumpers in my closet that I don't particularly like.  It's not the jumper itself that's the problem but more my body shape.  Jumpers don't flatter me AT ALL!  I just have an odd body shape, I guess.  Bigger on the top than in the middle or on the bottom so jumpers make me look fatter than I am.  Who wants that?  NOT ME! 

Here is the one of the jumpers:

See it's not a bad jumper.  Actually it has a pretty design on it but it's just too short for my taste.  See how it comes to the middle of the bottom of my legs?  I hate that length.  I like them to be longer down to my feet!

So here is what I did:

I took the jumper and cut the top of it off just below the arm holes.

 Then I took it over to the serger & serged the edge where I just cut it.

Turned down that part of the material to the inside of the skirt to make a casing for some elastic. 

And now I have a nice skirt that reaches my feet! 

Ignore my ballerina slippers!  It's feels like winter here already even though it's still fall & my feet get cold!

Saturday was my DH's birthday.  He turned 39! 

Saturday was also the day that every man who hunts has been waiting all year for.....

GUN SEASON!!!

Their favorite saying now is BROWN DOWN!!

So Dh & his brother, Lewis, went out hunting all day.

Here are some pictures of their "harvest":

Dh-Mike

Dh's younger brother-Lewis

As you can see they both posed with the same deer.  Who shot what?  Dh shot both of these that are pictured & his brother shot a small buck but they had already given it away before coming home with their harvest so that one isn't pictured.  In the end both deer went home with Lewis.  That gives Dh another chance in the woods, (where he is right now), waiting ever so patiently for the "Big One" to come through!  ~Smile~

HAPPY HUNTING!!

" They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb.... they did not love their lives so much as to shirk from death. "  Revelation 12:11

Are we willing to compete for God's best, with the knoweldge that the best things are always achieved by the most difficult paths?  We must endure steep mountains, dense forests, and the Enemy's chariots of iron, since hardship is the  price of the victor's coronation.  Arches of triumph are made not  of rose blossoms and strands of silk but of hard blows and bloody scars. The very hardships you are enduring in your life today have been given to you by the Master, for the express purpose of enabling  you to win the crown.

Therefore do not always look ahead to your tomorrows for some ideal situation, exotic difficulty or faraway emergency in which to shine. Rise today to face circumstances in which the providence of God has placed you.  Your crown of glory is hidden in the heart of these things -- the hardships and trials pressing in on you this very hour, week and month of your life. Yet the most difficult things are not those seens and known by the world but those deep in your soul, unseen and unknown by anyone except Jesus.  It is in this secret place that you expierence a little trial that you would never dare to mention to anyone else and that is more difficut for you to bear than martyrdom. 

Beloved, your crown lies there. May God help you to overcome and wear it.

               It matters not how the battle goes,                 

               The day how long;

               Faint Not! Fight on!

               Tomorrow comes the song.

~~ L.B. Cowman, Streams in the Desert  pg. 427-428 ~~