SoRrY tO LeAvE YoU HaNgInG!!! Catching you all up through pics cause its faster and tells more

All my babies at the park

  Sweet BryleeAnne almost 3 months already!!!
Our vacation last week to Welk Resort San Diego!
Been getting a few new peircings including my nose as you can barely see in this photoBeen tending to our Garden :)

Reading this trashy deliciousness, just finished and book 2 will be here any day! Ohhh yea
been fishing!


been swimming lots
My lil men at the creek
My Divas at the creek
been diggin in the dirt LOTSHe's sexy and he knows it bwahahaha!
Been BBQing and making smores:)Been taking pics pics pics, enjying every last ounce of baby and toddler as the big kids head nearly into teen years :OBeen cooking lots of amazing food, especially from our garden, still eating Paleo and loving it. So healthy!
Love the 4th of July:)
Been busy taking all these photos and feeling complete gratitude for the vasectomy and freedom and world of possibilities its bringing to our lives with our perfect family of 4 and 4 :) Lucky.Blessed.Happy.Free.Healthy.Growing.Nurturing........most of all BUSY :)tata for now, will update more when I can:) Til then, know that I havent dropped off the planet, quite the opposite, I have dropped off the net a lot and into life!

Large Family Dynamics

Its interesting to think about how different the dynamics of a large family are in a very religious home vs a non-religious one. Many of the Xtian books I was reading were all about training my daughters to be good little caregivers and house cleaners. My boys have always done plenty of chores too, but mostly outdoors or garbage related as suggested in books like "Created for Work." I realized this summer after we had been living without religion for a bit that this was clearly the wrong way to look at things. Why couldn't Everett bake cookies if he wanted to? I had previously told him this was too girly. Shame on me. Why can't Kayla take the trash out and water the dogs while Wyatt does dishes and Tanner scrubs the toilets? This is cross-gendered training according to several Xtian books. What is really is though, is hogwash! So back to the summer, I decided, the kids had to be rotating through ALL chores whether previously assigned "boy" or "girl." Everything has become gender neutral when it comes to chores in our home. Things like baking and knitting are no longer off limits to the boys if they should choose to try them. Kayla is free to ride dirt bikes and play in the wash for hours catching frogs with her brothers. I never told her she couldn't but I placed imaginary pressure probably to be non supportive of such things.

 I am seeing how ridiculous most of the anti-feminism garbage, really is. They claim it ruins the family unit and causes societal problems. I think its quite the opposite. What if I kept Kayla inside all the time helping with household chores and acting as a mother in training? She would grow up burned out and angry and resentful towards me. She would likely not want any of her own children because she would have felt she already raised a brood. Now this is not to say she doesn't have to help out with babies or small kids or clean on occasion, of course she does. It does mean though that the boys help equally with those same responsibilities and I can guarantee you one thing, if they have kids, they will be great, hands-on dads who KNOW how to change a diaper and hold a newborns head up. They will know how to make a bottle and fold laundry. These skills are valuable to all the kids regardless of whether they are boy or girl. They will all grow up well rounded people with many skills and talents, some that never could have developed if they were shoved behind the fundamentalist label of Xtianity.

I'm proud of the way our family is evolving and the funnest part of our lives right now with the kids having started school, is seeing how their unique styles(clothing and personality) are developing. Watching everything evolve rapidly as the kids(and me) get up to speed with mainstream life will be what I will be writing about next time.

The Beauty of my Life

Snow

New clothes

My NEW E350 super duty econoline

LOVE

Now we can get preggs again eventually, with no worries....space to spare

Wii with our neighbors

Go Rod, Go baby

Bald eagle at our local lake

Lil eskino MaeMae throwing a tantrum(love her strong lil will)

Barbie laying out while we fish in 40 degrees

The joy barbies bring Kenna and Kayla making them clothing

Our snow filled street

Our street the other way

Kayla enjoying the pouring snow

My heart, my soulmate, my love forever.....in the snow, in the rain, in the happiness and in the pain....you walk with me everyday through everything.

You Know Your Snowpeople are Jealous of our Snowpeople

Our snow family and a few breath taking views from our street

Enjoying Winters Simple Pleasures-Umm Trying

Nate's car burried andthe front steps leaving our house

Anyone wanna BBQ? ehehe

Dog food and water bowl and bucket, ummmm I am thinking they will have to eat indoors all winter

View from lower side porch of our yard

The trees are breath takingly beautiful, like postcards

Jaxxon 13.6 lbs at 2.5 months!! yes he's a BRUISER:) I love it

lil man watching TV( I really only sat him in here for a pic I promise, I know he is too young) I just thought he looked so cute in it!

We are truly trying to enjoy all winter has to offer in the mountains because our lease is over halfways over and we definately want to get moving off the mountain when it ends. Don't get me wrong, we have met some amazing people up here along with some not so amazing people. We LOVE the snow, but hate it when its weeks before it melts off our road which is REALLY steep and the trash truck with chains can't even get up here to collect our trash. We are trying to have fun making snowmen, throwing snowballs and sledding as well as sliding out and hitting snowburms while driving: NOT. We are getting our fill of one of Southern California's coldest places topping out many days at 20 with a crazy wind chill, only to remember that next year we will only VISIT the mountains and when that wind chill picks up, we will go home where its 95% of the time all year round, nice and sunny 50+ degrees. Who knew 45 could feel like t-shirt weather! I will say though what really has killed us most about our winter wonderland.....our horses! I am finally able to ride(not preggo anymore) and can't because there is simply no way to even get them out of their corrals with the steep snowy terrain. They are depressed, mine in particular is losing weight from depression and cold. We blanket them, they have beautiful shelters and feed very heavy, but my Jersey is just so depressed she is barely eating. We are waiting/praying for a break in the weather to try and get a trailer up here and get her off the mountain and board her where its warmer. I am praying God will open a door somewhere some way so we can get our family back to our small town at the mountain's foothills. So please if you have a second to add our family to your prayers we would appreciate it. We are praying a housing situation with room for horses will open up at an affordable price, praying his job will eventually take him back off the mountain and praying for our horse who is severely depressed. Nate and I miss our weekly horseback rides(so good for our marriage) and without family nearby and good weather, that just doesn't happen for us. Praying to go home to the same lil small town we grew up in near all our family. I know some opportunity will open up soon, I have faith that it is not the will of our Father for our animals to live this way through another winter. I know deep down something amazing will come up and we will be able to reunite with our small town.