Invite us to your lake house...

if you are lucky we will bring a nasty stomach virus.


Some friends of ours invited us to join them and another family for a fun filled weekend.


It was a fun filled until Saturday night when the nasty began.


They wanted us to leave a note in their guest book before we left.  This is what we said...

"We came, we saw, we played, we puked, we pooped."

That lake house may never be the same.


EJ and I got the virus upon our return home and are still recovering today.


NASTY.


P.S.  Big thanks to the Grammy and Grandma for taking turns caring for us today.  What a blessing!


(Also, I want to cry when I think about the kindness the women at the lake house showed us.  They stepped right in cleaning up messes no one wants to clean up.  I am SO thankful.)

"Look Mom! We made your bed!"

While I was in the shower this morning, the older two cowboys got an idea.  (The little one was still asleep)They found flashlights and took up residence in our bed.  They were having such a good time shinning the light under the blankets.  Our bed was a mess but I didn't mind.  They were having fun and I was getting that much needed shower.

When I came out of the bathroom they proudly presented their hard work.

They had made the bed.

Never mind that the sheets were all scrunched up somewhere at the bottom.

Never mind that the bedspread is on sideways.

I kissed them and thanked them for making my bed.

There will be plenty of time for learning about proper bed making techniques.

This isn't that time.

Today we celebrated...

Mommy's first time to drive since the wreck.

We ran one errand.

Then I was hungry and tired.

So we went to lunch.

'cause that's how we roll.

Do you want to be a bandit?

At lunch the other day, Wubba (4) took some food off Bubba (5)'s plate. 

Bubba did not appreciate this one bit.

Bubba: "Wubba!  Do NOT take food.  If you steal food you will be a bandit!  Do you want to be a bandit when you grow up?"

Wubba: "No!"

Apparently, snitching some food off your brother's plate is a serious offense!

"Hey Mom, Where is Target?"

goddess weekend

There are five of us.

Five women who have been friends for a long time.

Four of us went to high school together and we adopted the fifth member in college.

The "goddesses" got their name from an inside joke many years ago.

So far we have four husbands in the mix (and one serious boyfriend).

They are all generous enough to give us up for one weekend a year.

We do something different every year.

We always try to include a massage and at least one fun activity.

This year we went to an awesome local business (owned by a gal who went to our high school).

She let us pick out a special painting and then she taught us how to paint it.

It was fun to see how each one of our paintings came out.

Unique just like each of us.

We spend our time together talking, laughing, crying, praying and laughing some more.

These are beautiful women and I love every one of them.

Post-Crash Report

Q has been drowning his sorrows in yogurt.

Wubba has been showing off his crash wound.

Bubba has been showing off his bruised eye.

He has also been telling all who will listen,

"I got to talk to a real fireman!"

I have a scratch on my forehead and some bruises on my right side and my neck hurts. 

Oh man, does my neck hurt.

I have been replaying the accident over and over in my mind.  I finally told EJ that something really bothers me.  Once we were hit and began to spin I was no longer holding the wheel.  I keep questioning where I was when it was all happening.  I told EJ that I don't think I was ever unconscious.  I really feel like I was there but have no recollection of where.  When EJ went to collect a few last things from the car today he came back with some answers for me.

He said, "Honey, the back of your chair was broken.  The impact of the crash sent you back so hard the chair was laying down.  You were on your back probably looking up at the roof of the car.  Do you remember having to crawl back up to put your hands on the wheel and your foot on the brake?"

Me: "YES!  I felt so far away from my driving position."

All I have to say is NO STINKIN' WONDER my body hurts so bad.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow

The Cowboys and I had a fun morning.  Bubba and Wubba (and their cousins Superman and Spiderman) had their last tumbling class for the month.  After that we went to Aunt Rock Star's house to hang out a little before lunch.

EJ called and asked us if we wanted to meet for lunch.  We decided he would pick up some lunch and meet us at home.  So, the Cowboys and I happily headed home.  We went north on one road and then needed to turn east (or right) onto another road.

I put my blinker on, slowed down at our turn and...

That is when it happened. 

The person traveling behind us apparently never saw our turn signal or our brake lights.  What they were looking at I have no idea.  A witness said they kept going full speed ahead when they hit us.

It happened so fast.

The back of our car was bashed in. 

Then we started spinning through the intersection.

We hit something (I think it was the stop sign).

Then we finally rested in the ditch on the north east side of the road.

The boys were screaming.

I just remember thinking (in slow motion of course), "We must have been hit by a car."

I pulled myself together long enough to mash on the brake and put the car in park.

My flip flops had flown off my feet.

My phone was nowhere to be seen.

I couldn't get my door open.

I found my shoes and climbed into the back of the car.

I tried to calm the boys down.

A darling young gal came running up to us with a phone to her ear.  Already on the line with 911.

She helped shove one of the doors open and we got the boys out.

I couldn't find my cell phone anywhere.

I needed to call EJ and tell him what happened.

A sweet older couple showed up to check on us and they found my phone behind my car.

It had flown out of the smashed back window of our car.

I called EJ and he headed our way.

Pretty soon, there were sirens and lots of emergency vehicles.

We all got a quick look over by the EMS workers.

I think the first deep breath I took was when I saw EJ arrive on the scene.

The boys and I sat in the Fire Captain's vehicle while we answered questions and filled out paperwork.

EJ made some calls and word spread through the Four Sisters Farm Family.

I'm not going to lie.  I made a hysterical call to Pop from that vehicle.  (I guess a girl doesn't stop needing her Daddy in a crisis). 

EJ took us to the closest Emergency Room and we got more thorough examinations.

Grammy and Pretty Princess met us there with food for the boys.

I hit my head on something.  I hit my elbow pretty hard too.  My whole right side and my neck hurt like crazy.

Bubba has a cut on his eye and a cut on his head.

Wubba has terrible marks from the seat belt.

Q couldn't tell us what hurt but he was pretty shaken by the whole thing.

All in all we are incredibly blessed.

I went to the van one last time before we left for the hospital.  I looked inside and thought about what could have happened.

I sang praises to God from deep in my soul,

"Praise God from whom all blessings flow. 

Praise him all creatures here below. 

Praise him above ye heavenly hosts. 

Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. 

Amen."

P.S. I don't know much about the other vehicle but I understand they are all okay. 

Praise God for that!

The Growing Table

Why The Growing Table?

There are so many stories to tell you.  I have written for a long time at Four Sisters Farm so if you want to know all the answers now, feel free to read the archives.  I am Farm Chick (at heart).

The short answer:

We are a growing family.

We have three little boys who have blessed our world beyond belief:

Bubba (5), Wubba (4) & Q (19 months)

We are praying for more children.

I have always dreamed of a big table to gather my family for meals.

When EJ, that's my husband, and I would dream about our someday home it always included a huge table.

When we chose our home EJ and I decided it was time for that dream table.

So...we met with a local carpenter and shared our vision.

He got to work making it a reality.

Here are some photos when EJ visited the table being made... 

 This is the space in our home that was waiting for the table...

These are our precious boys celebrating the base of the table being delivered...

And here she is in all her glory...meet The Growing Table...

As the table was delivered and set up I couldn't help but feel overcome with emotions.

I could see the future.