hairstyles on E

My daughter was blessed with gorgeous, full hair.  I love to follow "recipes" from other mom's blogs.  One of my favorites is http://www.cutegirlshairstyles.com/.  Not only does she have great hair styles but her directions are super simple to follow.  Check it out!

Here are a couple of MY original hairstyles that I've done on E.Rose.

Saw this on one of my friends girls, changed it to  two braids, circled around and joined them up into the original pony.

wish I had taken 2 pictures!  This is two separate  dutch french braids going in opposite directions.
I think I joined them at the bottom for one single braid.

side view of the cross-over french braid

cross over french braid

found this one on Pinterest . . side view

Pinterest gets the credit ... 3 ponies into buns!

Pizza on the Barbie

Why haven't I done this before?  Because I didn't have Pinterest before - that's why!!  Found these INSTRUCTIONS on the blog, Our Best Bites.  There were a lot of other instructions that I found on Pinterest, but I liked this one so I stuck with it!  I mentioned in my last post that I made my pizza dough last night from the Pioneer Woman.  Used only half of the dough and put the other half in the freezer for another BBQ pizza night.

The verdict?  Delicious!  Try it out - you'll love it!

Some days I'm just more productive than others

I feel like I've been in an unproductive rut for the past couple of weeks.  I'll do really good for awhile and then I get in a slump, after today though, I feel like I'm coming out of the slump.

I ran 4 miles.  I juiced fruit and veggies for us for breakfast.  I made laundry detergent (and then washed 3 loads).  Made toothpaste and put them in individual containers to help us not spread germs from one to another.  Made pizza dough from the Pioneer Woman Cookbook and stuck it in the fridge for tomorrow nights dinner.  Made ricotta cheese.  Took the whey from the cheese and used it in this RECIPE for lemonade. I was able to fit a nap into the day as well!

Oh and I got to watch my friends absolutely adorable 3 year old daughter who needed kisses every time she got hurt and said please and thank you more than any other child I know!

Garden Beginnings

This is our third year doing a garden.

Last year it was a jungle.  We let everything grow everywhere and along with everything ... grass and weeds in between plants, tomatillos getting tangled up with the cantelope.  It worked for awhile but then the weeds became too much.  Oh and I didn't mention that we planted in clay.  Yep, our soil is hard-packed clay.  Horrible for planting in!

This year we have a plan, at least my husband has a plan.  We are doing raised beds with a mixture of dirt (which we have in a huge pile sitting in our driveway out front - a HUGE pile, my huz accidently ordered WAY more than we need), homegrown compost, free horse manure, bunny droppings and a mixture of stuff from the nursery.  He knows what he's doing ... I'm just along for the ride!

started indoor for most of them

one bed planted, one to go

working on the beds in the back

Ellie, happy to be helping!

Josiah getting ready to help w/ the transplant!

Since these pictures was taken and this post was written we now have the two big planters full, 5 smaller boxes in the back, a bunch of stuff planted along the side of our yard and the corn has sprouted and is ready to be planted in yet another section!  I'll have to take pictures again once EVERYTHING is planted - oh and we still have that pile of dirt in our driveway ...

4/17/13 nature hike

While sitting on Tarantula Hill, across from our house, reading "Educating the Wholehearted Child" I got to watch Ellie and Josiah interact with nature.

On the way up we got hot, met another hiker and Ellie saw a snake slither away into the brush.

Ellie and Josiah brought their bug book and their bug catching tools.  Josiah caught a fly but when he opened his bottle to show me, it flew away!  After perusing their bug book for a bit they settled into playing soldiers until we made the trek back down the hill.

Look at this mom!

There is some more stuff growing right here - take my picture with it!

"Look, isn't it pretty?!"

Another beautiful display of God's creation

checking out the bugs

Arial view

"I'm digging for dinosaur bones."
(He was hitting an old pen with a rock)

organizing the troops

more troops in formation

playing together on the hill!

Art closet!

Overheard from the closet: Ellie to Josiah, "Now we can have some privacy. Mom will still be able to hear us if we scream tho."

Farmers Market

This past Thursday we met my friend, Amy, at the local farmers market. We had fun sampling different foods and brought home a little bit of good stuff to eat.
Chris had dropped us off so the best part of the outing was the walk home. We had a huge hill to walk up that I made a big deal about and the kids buckled down and made like it was just an easy jaunt home!