Spring is for gardening!

 With the warm weather that we have had this Spring gardening has been very much on our minds. Our typical frost free date is after Memorial day so we have been hesitant to do too much gardening yet but we have worked on some things.

We like to keep our gardening as economical as possible so we have been working to use what we have or what we can get cheaply. Here are some of the things that we have been doing so far:

• My Dad had an apple tree that he had grafted on as well as some cherry trees that had come up from the roots (so it is a true tree) of his big one, he generously offered to share so now we are one apple tree and 2 cherry trees richer at our house. We settled them into their new spot with lots of compost and manure and have been giving them lots of water.

• I decided that this year I would break done and get black plastic for around my tomatoes and peppers. I have liked to use newspapers as mulch but last year was so chilly I decided it would be advantageous to get something that heated up the ground. I mentioned my plan to my mom and she reminded me that my brother Luke can get used tarps from the lumberyard where he works (they throw them away) and they are black on one side. So yea! I have free black "plastic" for my garden.

• I mentioned this before but we got two loads of aged manure from my parents which is a great addition to our garden. Most owners of animals would be glad to give this to you if you are willing to scoop and haul it.

• We started seeds inside. With the quantity that we plant each year buying all the plants we need would be quite costly. It isn't that hard (and it is rather fun when you have the gardening itch anyway) to start plants inside.

I use all sorts of recycled containers to start them in. The only expense was some potting soil and seeds.

I am guessing a lot of you have gardens that are way farther along, I would love to hear what you are doing with your gardens right now!

Parenting with less stress {Before they arrived, Pregnancy and Preparation}

When Ken and I got married we decided that we weren't going to do anything to prevent children from arriving, so... 9 months and 11 days after our wedding, Maranatha, our first child arrived.

 After I found out I was pregnant we of course wanted to do things to prepare. There were maternity clothes needed as well as Baby gear and clothes. I also had not previously given much thought to childbirth and I needed to study all the options and chose the method I thought was best.

 This was a busy time for us, we were both going to Bible College full time as well as working part-time jobs. Money was pretty limited. It was a very fun time too, and I have no regrets with getting married while we were still young and in school and having children right away.

 I love to read and so that was a big part of my getting ready for this new venture in our lives. My mom gave me the book Husband-Coached Childbirth by Dr. Robert Bradley. I found this book fascinating! For one that had never really thought about childbirth before this really got me interested (along with the fact that I was going to have to go through it!). I read it very carefully and then shared things with Ken (who wasn't really interested in reading it himself). Dr. Bradley advocates natural childbirth with learning how to relax and using deep breathing. He also recommends having the husband very involved in the process as the coach. I greatly recommend this book! I think I read it over a couple of times before Mara arrived and then I read it before each of my other babies too.

 Another book I enjoyed was Your Pregnancy Week by Week by Glade B. Curtis M.D. This book just basically tells your what is going on in your body and how your baby is growing. I especially enjoyed the pencil drawings of the baby in the womb.

I was very blessed with very easy pregnancies for the most part. I had some nauseousness but actually only threw up once because of it and that was the extent of throwing up for all 4 pregnancies. I know. I was very, very blessed! With the first pregnancy I did have one hard thing to deal with and that was getting kidney stones. That did cause throwing up and all sorts of pain and I figured I must be losing the baby. We were very thankful to find out I wasn't but I did have to be hospitalized for a while. With the next pregnancy the challenge I had was migraine headaches. With my hormones all out of wac they came on very strong. One lasted for a week and I was afraid I might go crazy but God was there and I was so very thankful when that went away! Other than that I dealt with being big and uncomfortable, pinched nerves in my legs but really I just enjoyed the new life that God was creating inside of me.

Here is a picture of my sister Anna and I. We were both expecting our 3 child in this picture. They arrived less than 2 weeks apart. It was fun to share that pregnancy time and it has been fun to have children close in age. With my last pregnancy I got to share that time with my sister Martha who gave birth to a son less than a month after Megan was born.

 With maternity clothes I was blessed to never have to spend much money. I was loaned some and then an older lady from my home church made me some (That was a ministry of hers for many years: sewing maternity clothes) and then I found some inexpensively and I made some and then just made do with what I had. I remember confiscating some of Ken's old t-shirts. :-)

 As far as getting ready for the baby I found it amazing how I really didn't have to buy much of anything. We found a few things (Stroller, highchair) at garage sales but with the first baby I was given 4 baby showers (One at each of our home churches in MN and NV, one in IA where we were and then one at my work) and then people gave us hand-me-downs too. We were overflowing with stuff! If you are at all short on money I would say to just get the minimum and then do a wait and see approach. There is so much baby stuff available and most people get way too much and then babies hardly wear it.

One book that Ken and I read together (well I read out loud) was To Train Up a Child by Micheal and Debi Pearl. We took a long trip together and this was our entertainment for that trip. :-) This is another book that I really recommend reading during pregnancy (or before). This book has tons of great practical, biblical advice on raising children. What was really nice about reading it together was the opportunity for Ken and I to discuss what we read. We were blessed to both come from christian homes and had a very similar background in many ways but reading this together and discussing it really helped us to come up with a plan for how we would raise our children. One of the things we think it very important in raising kids is that the parents be unified in discipline and training. Having this opportunity to really discuss it really has helped us to be united.

Other thoughts on pregnancy... Keep active! (As long as you are physically able.) Being active helps you to feel better and aids in an easier delivery. I worked (full time in the summer) during my whole pregnancy and I had lots of fun doing it. It was fun to have the older ladies at work (I was a designer in a florist shop) chide me for climbing up to get things and stuff like that. I lived just about 5 blocks or so from work and so I would walk there each day (and to home and back for lunch as well) which helped to add to the exercise. They day I went into labor I was at work and having some back pain. My supervisor thought maybe I should just go home but I didn't feel like just sitting it out there so I did go home and take a nap and then went back.

Eat well! I don't know that I did so well on this my first time but I did work on it with the later pregnancies. Drink lots of water too! And well we are thinking about eating I greatly recommend making ahead meals and freezing them for the days right after that baby arrives. My grandma did this for me the first time and then I tried to do this for the next pregnancies.

So.. what worked for me?

• Starting a family right away.
• Reading "Husband coached Childbirth" and pursuing natural childbirth.
• Not spending much money on stuff for me or baby.
• Ken and I reading and discussing "To Train Up a Child".
• Keeping active.
• Pursuing a healthy lifestyle.
• Soaking in a cold tub of water in 114 degree weather with no air conditioning.

I would love to hear about your pregnancies and what you think is the best way to prepare for a baby. Please share!

"For Thou didst form my inward parts;
Thou didst weave me in my mother's womb.
I will give thanks to Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Thy works, and my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from Thee, when I was made in secret,
and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth.
Thine eyes have seen my unformed substance;
and in Thy book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me,
when as yet there was not one of them."
Psalm 139:13-14

A new crocheted sweater

I have been having fun going through my stash of yarn lately. This yarn was some leftover from a sweater I made for my mom years ago. Megan was quite excited to get a new sweater.

I like the little flower on the side.

And now for a confession.... this wasn't supposed to fit a 4 year old, it was supposed to be a baby sweater and I was thinking about giving it to a niece. However as usual I didn't check the gauge and so now Megan got a new sweater.

I have more yarn projects I am working on and I am looking forward to sharing them with you!

What have you been working on lately?

For lots more neat projects visit A Soft Place to Land.

We give thanks....

"We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks, For your name is near; Men declare Your wondrous works." Psalm 75:1

God is so Good! He shows His love to us each and every day. Here are just a few things that I am thanking Him for:

#577 An apple tree growing ...and a boy too!

#578 Phlox blooming beautifully in our flower bed.

#579 Joined by some hardy Vinca

#580 Fun times with Ken and others, discussing politics

#581 Loosening up with balloons at the convention.

#582 A good driver for all the trips we take. I am very thankful that Ken likes to drive and does a good job. I have a tendancy to get sleepy so this is very appreciated!

#583 Fun companions for a trip.

#584 Yummy things to eat. I have been wanting a dilly bar and so we got one on the trip.

#585 The wonderful smell and looks of lilacs!

#586 Fun projects to keep my hands busy.

#587 A sweet little "Laura and Mary" that are staying with us.

#589 God's care and love!

Unity

"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!" Psalm 133:1

Unity has been on my mind lately. It started while I was at the Republican convention. When we went we were going to endorse a candidate to run on the Republican ticket for governor.  There were several running with two front runners and many of us going had some pretty strong opinions about who we thought would do best as our next governor. Obviously though only one was going to win, and if we were going to be a united party the supporters of the candidates that didn't win were going to need to get behind the the one that did win. That is a little easier said than done however.

On Friday of the convention we came and found most everybody decked out with t-shirts or buttons supporting their candidate (we had our buttons on too) and then the voting began. The way it is done at the convention 60% of the vote is needed in order to win. After the first vote 3 of the candidates received less than 5% of the vote and so they weren't able to be on the ballot the next time. The other two candidates had both received a lot of votes and one was a bit ahead but still a ways from 60%. Two of the candidates that were removed from the ballot got up and asked all of their supporters to please support our candidate (who was in 2nd place). A 2nd vote was taken, still neither one got 60% but the one with the most votes had gained more than our candidate who was in 2nd place.

 It was at this time, after some thought, that the candidate that we were supporting (Marty Seifert) asked to speak. He did something that was very admirable and a great example in a way to promote unity. We could have gone on taking ballets probably for many hours, he had some strong support and they weren't interested in backing down, but he realized that wouldn't be the best for party unity- it would do more to divide us than to bring us together. Marty Seifert got up and gave an incredibly supportive speech (I tried to find a link but couldn't) for the other candidate, Tom Emmer. He expressed his desire to work hard for Tom's race and asked all of us to get our Seifert stickers off and our Emmer stickers on and work hard too. It is hard to explain just how gracious he was in defeat.

This has made me think a lot about Christians. Though I obviously consider politics important, it is nothing compared to our job as Christians. God has given us a mission and that is to tell the world about Jesus, ("Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned." Mark 16:15 & 16) if we aren't working together, united, we aren't going to be able to get the job done nearly as effectively. We need to work together!

That was Jesus prayer: "I do not ask on behalf of these along, but for those also who believe in Me through their word: that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent me," John 17:20 & 21 Jesus wants us to be one. That doesn't happen if we are fighting, concentrated on doing our own thing and not working together. We can't all have our own agenda, we need to simplify and just concentrate on following God's word just as it is.

I am really thankful for this example of unity that I have witnessed and I am encouraged to seek unity more in my Christian life too. I want to really work on working together, not be so sidetracked by my own plans. I hope you will seek for unity too!

A quick hello!

I thought I would pop in here quickly to say hello as I have been absent a couple of days.
We just got back from the Twin Cities. Ken and I attended the MN state GOP convention. It was a fun, interesting and actually emotional (I didn't really expect that in politics) time. I probably will write more on it later as there were a few things that I was really stuck by there.

While we were at the convention my kids stayed with my sister and her family. Today when we came home we did a little trading (temporarily!) of kids and so I have two of hers and 2 of mine here. The cousins are having fun being together.

Well I think it is high time I checked out my own bed so Good night!