We were blessed with a wonderful 16-hour visit from some friends of ours from Iowa and Canada! I didn't take a single picture, but our guests let me copy from their memory cards... all 275 photos that were taken!! I'll be doing a big photo post later this evening. :)

In this picture my friend Abigail, Yehoshua's beloved "Auntie Abby", is letting him use her camera. He had so much fun with her... I think he would have liked to go home with her!! :)

Ruth and I had fun playing with my sister Bonnie's webcam (in her laptop) last evening. :)

It was 9pm, and the boys were asleep... but little Ruth (6 months) thought it was playtime!

Taking pictures was fun! Posing was tricky though. I had never used a webcam before. :)

Though fuzzy, it's the best of the dozen or so pictures I tried to take of all three children one afternoon. :) At least it captures Yehoshua's infectious grin, Eliyahu's big-boy mannerisms, and Ruth's chubby baby-doll look. ;) (A few more...)

Our weather has been hot and sunny... perfect for doing lots of laundry and playing outside! The boys seemingly never tire of being out in the fresh air, and they've been blessed with many second-hand outdoor toys (including tricycles!) to make it even more fun. :)

Here was Ruth today, watching me take down and fold my laundry. :) She just looked so cute to me, I had to run back in the house for my camera!

Babies are such a blessing! (Sadly, not everyone feels that way.)

Kelly asked if I would share about the quilt which has ended up in many of my photos of Ruth. Ruth's quilt is easily the most beautiful and treasured fabric item I've ever owned, so of course I'd love to share about it! :) Read more...

You all must love babies! Not many of my posts here get 37 comments! ;) Thanks for all the kind words. :) I have a few more pictures of Ruth from the past few weeks, if you want more. :)

This morning, I brushed my hair and put it into one big braid rather than the usual pony tail. Yes, I'm that stylish!

Yehoshua watched me as I braided my hair, and I asked him, "Do you know what this is, Yehoshua?"

He said, "Yes. A braid. Grandma does that. It's just like challah!" :)

Ruth Patience is our sweet smiling sunshine girl! She's such a precious blessing. It's been a while since I shared pictures of her, so here are a few! :) (Read more...)

I love blogging, but the really good part is taking things into "real life".

A hundred recipes on a website don't really do any good if my family is eating PBJ for dinner. A motivating post about homemaking is useless if I spend all my time and energy staring at a computer screen thinking about doing things instead of actually doing them.

And while I love sharing bits of our life here in my blog, it's even more exciting to sit down and actually spend time with folks... in "real life". :)

About 6 months ago, I was blessed to meet a local blog reader. Living in a somewhat rural area in NW Ohio, in a (relatively) small town, I think we were both shocked to discover that we lived in the same town! :) We've made good use of living in close proximity, with lots of visits and meals between our families. :)

It's fun to have a local friend who's passionate about many of the same things as I am. :) I'm passing along my love for receiving blanket diapers and homemade cloth wipes, and she's introducing my boys to goats and chickens. Oh, and I swapped some of my excess asparagus for some farm-fresh eggs. I know, I know... I got the good end of that deal! :)

This morning, she and I headed out to some garage sales in a nearby town. Have my regular readers caught on to my budding garage sale addiction this year? It's Joshua's fault for encouraging it, along with the fact that my children keep outgrowing their clothes... ;)

When we got home, it was lunch time. I had some crock pot pizza ready, and warmed up leftover creamed asparagus over pasta, along with some veggies.

Yes, I serve leftovers to guests. Sometimes. Let's just say that the focus was on garage sales, not food. ;) Or, starve your guests and when you finally feed them, they'll rave about anything. Something like that. ;)

Here's what Ruth thought about it all. By the time lunch was over, she was exhausted. :) She's sucking her thumb in this picture -- something she's really fond of doing. She must take after her mommy (I sucked my thumb until 3rd grade).

Our children were given a toy camera, and The Camera has now replaced The Saw as Yehoshua's carry-around-everywhere favorite toy. He "takes pictures" of everything, including... food. Hmmm... wonder where he got that idea? ;)

This was Yehoshua's plate of nachos (without the chips) -- just beans, taco meat, cheese sauce, and some sour cream. Asparagus was served on the side. :)