My little home on the prairie

2011-06-20T21:58:00.001-07:00

Been awhile since I have been on here and VERY excited for the possibilities that God has been presenting in our lives. I find it so interesting that our plans are NEVER as good as the ones our Lord has for us, and so humbling! What a mighty Savior! May I always remember to be thankful and live each day as best I can in knowing that they are such a precious gift.

Life has been so busy (3 children in 3 years will do that! lol) and full. Crazy, delightful, tiring, invigorating, like a whirlwind! What joys and struggles come with parenting! Things you never expect when you get into this. I just love the quote (thanks Mark) "Parenting is at least half for the parents!" Really puts it into perspective that the Lord uses all things in our lives to shape and mold us into what he wants us to be and boy OH boy does parenting work on that! We have the fruits of the spirit posted all over the house and EVERYone in the family can look at that as we live together and learn and love.

Hope your summers are warming and delightful!!!!

pics of jane :)

2010-07-30T14:51:00.001-07:00

Jane and I the morning she was born.
at home, 3 days old and so very sweet :)

2010-07-30T11:20:00.001-07:00

my sexy hubby posing :) and the crew playing in my parent's backyard :)
Me with Jane in belly... days before she was born :)
The boys, post bath time, having their movie time before bed :)

Jane Elise Black

2010-07-30T09:41:00.000-07:00

Well, Jane came about 5 days after her due date predicted (July 23rd, 2010)... and she was a lovely chubby 8 lbs. 6 oz. and 20 inches long. The boys and I had been staying in Wenatchee since July 1st, wanting to make sure we were close to the hospital and all... my parents were re-modeling their upstairs floors when we got there :) crazy for a little while!!! We went on walks every morning and enjoyed our time with gramma and grandpa immensely :) in the end, we were glad we were close since we labored less than 3 hours and were only at the hospital for maybe 2 of those 3! (Much better than being in the car and worrying about making it! :) goodness!) We had a midwife who delivers at the hospital this time and it was incredible. She was so wonderful and knowledgeable as well as helpful! Made the whole experience better! Jane arrived a healthy gorgeous little girl and we are SOOOO blessed by her addition to our family! She is such a sweet baby and at 1 week old is already in compliance with a sleeping schedule! Praise Jesus for His abundance on our family! We are soooo blessed and thankful! I can't say enough about how different it is to have a girl, and how much I am loving it... it even makes me love the boys more. I am just a lovey mess apparently :) We are so glad to be home and together as a family.

New baby and wintertime :)

2010-01-30T15:55:00.000-08:00

us in disney world... at least we are all looking at the camera!
oh how they love mickey mouse!
my baby and honey :)

Well, we are officially over 4 months along with this little apple in my belly... and it is SO much work! :) I have to remind myself that I have 2 crazy little boys and that is one of the main reasons I am SO tired... yep tired :)
Denver is working nights right now- a big deal for us. Why is it that daytime is so much easier with kiddos and when evening comes it's a ton more effort? goodness knows we will be glad when he is back on a day schedule. But, we are VERY thankful that the Lord is blessing us with all of these things, a healthy new baby come summer, work that provides for us, and our salvation most importantly! What a blessed Redeemer we have, how tenderly He cares for us even when we are stinky whiners!
Hope all of your winters are going well, I will be glad to go out and play in the dirt come spring! :)

The quest for frugality!

2009-08-29T14:24:00.000-07:00

My lastest and favorite homemade cleaning supplies right now are the all-purpose cleaner and the window cleaner I found... the recipes are from Mary Jane Farms magazine.

The all purpose cleaner is WONDERFUL! you can create the smell you want by trying different scents of liquid castile soap in the mixture... I currently am using a lemon/almond scent and I am LOVING it! (personally I think this stuff works as well as 409 or fantastic and it only costs 30 cents to make 12-16 oz!!!!)

1 TBS WHITE VINEGAR
1 TBS LEMON JUICE
1 TBS LIQUID CASTILE SOAP
1 TBS BORAX
1 CUP DISTILLED H2O
(ESSENTIAL OILS - OPTIONAL)

(MIX AND PUT IN SPRAY BOTTLE)

The window cleaner is also really nice, the small bit of liquid castile soap makes a glass conditioner of sorts (the old windows at the ranch are thankful for sure!) It cleans like a dream and sort of revives the glass itself! (Currently I am using a peppermint castile soap and it helps cut the vinegar smell,plus it costs 5 cents for 16 oz!)

1/4 tsp -1/2 tsp LIQUID CASTILE SOAP
3 TBS WHITE VINEGAR
2 CUPS DISTILLED WATER

(MIX AND PUT IN SPRAY BOTTLE... SHAKE GENTLY BEFORE USE)

so, hope some of you try these and enjoy them! I am having such fun! and saving money while getting a fabulous, natural product... how great!

Sweet Summer

2009-08-13T12:38:00.000-07:00

Some summer sweets and funnies...

Boaz my sweet with his head bandage... he took a nasty spill into the corner of a wall! learning to walk is treacherous!
We laughed for a good 20 minutes at gabriel my busy bee after Denver encouraged him to get "really dirty" in the field one night. he was rolling and laying in the dust, this picture is AFTER we blew him off with the air hose. I practically had to deep clean the bath tub after he got out!!! :)
This is a regular face from Boaz... especially if tickled or if Gabriel does something funny :)
The harvest line up complete with the working men :) Daddy (Denver) and Poppy (Monty)

Harvest has gone well this year, the crops are not good for anyone, but we are still very thankful to our Lord and Savior for keeping us afloat! His tender mercies and abundant blessings are the RICHES in our lives! We are truly thankful and blessed.

Being a Frugal and Fullfilled homemaker... (proverbs 31 woman!)

2009-07-09T17:58:00.000-07:00

Hello all! I told some of you that I would post some information on making your own laundry soap... I was fortunate enough to get this recipe from a friend and fellow homemaker who is VERY inspiring in her frugal endeavors... :) not only is this recipe incredibly HYPOALLERGENIC it has almost NO smell so you can add essential oils or just use the dryer sheets you like for what smell you would like :)

IN A LARGE POT (ONE YOU ONLY USE FOR SOAP/CLEANER MAKING PREFERABLY)

4 QT WATER
(MEDIUM HEAT ON BURNER)
ADD- 1/2 C 20 MULE TEAM BORAX (SODIUM BORATE)
1/2 C ARM & HAMMER WASHING SODA (SODIUM CARBONATE)
STIR AND ADD 1/3 TO 1/2 C GRATED UP BAR OF FELS-NAPTHA

STIR UNTIL DISSOLVED... POUR INTO A 5 GALLON BUCKET AND ADDWATER TILL YOU REACH THE 3 GAL MARK.
AFTER IT COOLS YOU CAN POUR IT INTO OLD LAUNDRY CONTAINERS OR GALLON JUGS AND FILL MOST OF THE WAY UP WITH WATER (SORTA UNTIL IT'S THE CONSISTENCY YOU WANT)

IT WILL WANT TO GEL UP SO YOU CAN EASILY SHAKE IT WHEN YOU USE THESE KINDS OF CONTAINERS.

IT'S SORT OF A CAN'T MESS IT UP THING... IF IT'S A BIT RUNNY JUST USE MORE WHEN YOU DO YOUR LAUNDRY... USUALLY A 1/3 TO 1/2 C PER LOAD IS JUST RIGHT.
SUPPLIES:
LARGE PAN FOR COOKING
LARGE SPOON
5 GAL BUCKET
FUNNEL
OLD LAUNDRY CONTAINERS OR GALLON JUGS
ARM & HAMMER WASHING SODA
GRATED FELS NAPTHA BARS
20 MULE TEAM BORAX

Oh and I almost forgot... I just cleaned my washing machine to sparkling clean by running a hot load with 2 cups of white vinegar. AMAZING :)

THANKFULNESS

2009-06-29T22:34:00.001-07:00

Just thinking about being thankful for where we are lately. God is so faithful and we are once again nearing harvest... I always think about the blessing of being able to stay at home and how we are cared for by our Heavenly Father when this season comes around :) I guess it is sort of exciting even though we are EXHAUSTED when we are done! The garden is growing well and I have decided that I DO NOT kill every plant I touch :) I actually have been able to grow things this year (but the hubby is SOOOOO much better at it... and he LOVES it) The boys are growing like crazy... BOAZ has been crawling since 6 1/2 months and Gabriel has been walking around saying "incredible" and throwing his arms in the air... (can you guess his current favorite movie?) We are happy and blessed to "TRUST IN THE LORD AND DO GOOD, DWELL IN THE LAND AND FEED ON HIS FAITHFULNESS" PSALM 37:3

2009-05-12T15:35:00.000-07:00

Denver and I at Austin Smoke's 2nd birthday

Just thought we should give a quick update of how life's been going in our cozy corner of the world... we've been hopping around like bunnies trying to get all the yard in order and keep up with the boys at the same time! Gabriel will be 2 this month and Boaz is a week from 6 months! I still can't believe that they are so grown up already! We have been so enjoying watching them grow and begin to play together- Boaz just loves to watch Gabriel and vise versa :) What a delightful blessing from our Lord and Savior! We are so thankful for our home, family and friends! Hope all of your spring times are going beautifully!

Gabriel at Austin's birthday party
me, gabe, and gramma (my mom Aleta)
Gabriel playing in his bedroom
me and gabe in sandpoint, idaho on our 3 day family vacation :)
Boaz ... he's getting SOOOO tall!
such a delightful little man!

Boaz growing and growing...

2009-02-03T18:39:00.000-08:00

So, Boaz is growing like a weed! On our home scale he was 15.5 lb a couple days ago (2 1/2 mo. old) He so far is in the 75-90 percentile for both height and weight! (with a cute little head!) He is a jolly joy in our lives and he LOVES watching his older brother gabriel. Oh boy, surely soon they will be running around together getting into all kinds of mischief! We have been so enjoying all the busy times. Oh, and Boaz is amazing at sleep! For at least 3 weeks now he sleeps 8 hours straight at night! (Mom is loving that!)

Christmas and the holidays

2009-01-08T22:52:00.000-08:00

Christmas was so much fun... as usual we had our Christmas celebration over 2 days... Christmas eve with Denver's family and Christmas day with Amber's. (unfortunately we forgot our camera with both- so we stole these from our families... haven't got the ones from Amber's family yet)

Amber and auntie shy

mommy and gabriel
Daddy and Gabe
Gabriel playing with his new toys :) so excited!
Boaz hanging out with us :) what a good baby he is!

2008-11-28T11:38:00.000-08:00

So, he's here! Whoo hoo! It was a long process and completely worth it. Boaz Eleazar Black is a wonderful and delightful baby boy! We decided (mostly me, I was 2 days overdue and impatient) to induce this time again... and boy were we all wrong about him coming early- even the induction took forever -17hours! Boaz likes to take his time, what can I say? The meds they gave me were different than those with Gabe's induction and so they must have responded more slowly or something. I still didn't have to have pitocin! hurray. so it was natural labor once again for me (minus one dose of the narcotic pain killer after 16 hours.) Labor was intense like Gabe's but I had more time between contractions so I lasted longer with more energy. My labor with Gabriel had a 10 hour chunk of 1 min. on 1 min. off contractions. These hurt the same but I had 3-4 min. btw for most of the time! So much easier to catch your breath! and once again at the end I went from a 7 to 10 to pushing him out in like 30 min. 10 min. of pushing total- no tears, episiotomies or anything. What a thrill. I practically recovered overnight. It was amazing. A total blessing.
Gabriel is doing really well with Boaz too! It helped that we were in Wenatchee with my folks for a good chunk of time and he got lots of extra attention.He loves to sit and wave and say "hi" to his little brother...and hover and practically sit on him he gets so excited. But, it's a good thing. Just gotta watch close. Plus my amazing mom came up to our home after Boaz was born for like 6 days and spring cleaned my house for me, plus helped me get christmas baking done and put thanksgiving together. What a godsend. She is wonderful and a blessing to our family.

So, pretty much we are doing wonderfully and feel so very blessed to have our family and friends. This birth was a wonderful redirection to our Lord and Savior Jesus in being thankful and pressing near at all times to Him! We are so thrilled and cared for by His sweet mercy, grace, and peace! hope all of you are well. All our love, Amber denver gabriel and boaz

He's here!

2008-11-20T09:41:00.000-08:00

And so, our new baby boy has arrived! He is a SLOW mover and took his sweet time in his arrival- 2 days overdue and we ended up with an induction. But, even though it was a VERY long labor (17 hours) which was 5 hours longer than his older brother took in an induction as well, it was much easier on mom! And, I pushed him out in 10 min. no tearing or nothing! so, we are now in the adjustment to being a family of four and it is an amazing blessing and delightful and filled with no sleep! But, praise God for His faithfulness, mercy and strength. Without Him we would be destitute! Can't wait for everyone to meet him... we'll have pictures soon!

BABY UPDATE

2008-10-24T13:45:00.000-07:00

Well, Boaz is not here yet but we are thinking he will be arriving early :) our estimate is the first week of November considering that I am already dialated, effaced 1/2 way and his head is between my knees - haha

We are so excited for his arrival and all the joys that come with it! We appreciate all of your prayers and will keep everyone updated as to his birth, etc. May the Lord God Almighty hold you over the next few months of thankfulness and reflection.

2008-09-23T15:51:00.000-07:00

here's a not so great but current pic of my preggerness :)
our adults only dinner with our great friends Tim and Cara :)

2008-09-23T15:48:00.001-07:00

My boys at Olivia's tink birthday... it was 104 degrees that day! (August)

2008-09-12T12:09:00.000-07:00

here's a small assortment of photos... me and Gabe at my gramma's

trying to get a family photo
in disneyworld- gabe is 6 months
disneyworld again
disneyworld again :)

2008-09-12T12:07:00.000-07:00

our wonderful ham- Gabriel Zechariah

a hearty hello

2008-09-12T11:51:00.000-07:00

hey all-

This is our official family blog... hello and hurray! Thought it would make it easier for all of you to keep up with us if we had something like this:)
we are just into our fall season now- ahhh, it's like taking a very long wonderful breath of air after having to hold it awhile! We are very excited about Boaz's arrival and can't wait to meet him- a bit less than 9 weeks till that! Praying that Gabriel does good in the adjustment. He is such an attention getter and a super super super busy kid. We LoVE all of his little antics, but I want him to be excited about his new brother... I know it will just take a little time. (and he's young! they will be about 17 months apart!) Anyways, we are feeling very blessed, excited and can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for us this year... what a blessing to be cared for by such a merciful and almighty savior!