Portia~an answer to prayer

Doesn't she have such a distinct look?  Sweet Portia, my 4th child.  A baby I thought I would never have.

I started having my children when I was 18.  I had always wanted to be a young mom.

My goal was to have all my kids by the time I was 25 so I would still be young when they were old. 

 I thought that was a brilliant plan.

And I did, I had my 3rd child, Lauren, when I was 24.  I wanted more kids, but hubby didn't and he wanted me to get my tubes tied.

So I did.  That was in 1996, the year my mom passed away.

It was very agonizing for me to do, I should have known that was God telling me not to do it.

But I really didn't talk back to my hubby back then, we had only been married 3 years.

Ha ha, boy how things have changed :)

So I did it because I thought well what more could I ask for I have the daughter I've always wanted and I am almost 25.  But after a few years I had such remorse over it I would just sob.

I couldn't believe I did that and I couldn't take it back. 

So I started praying.

I prayed for a couple years, Lord please let me have another baby! 

 Well one summer, it was 1999,  I got a phone call.

  It was from a lady from my church.  I knew who she was and had said hi to her maybe once, but I didn't know her.

She called and said I have something to tell you, but your going to think  it's wierd and I'm really scared to tell you this.

I was thinking what in the world???

So after hemming and hawing she said:

God told me to give you a maternity dress.

I still get chills and tears to my eyes when I say that.  I think I said something like

Shut up!  Really?  and then I said well when do you think I'm going to have this baby????  Of course she didn't know.

This photo was just days after we moved to Oregon.  Portia was just 6 months old.

So that marked the beginning of an exciting time for me.  I thought well  how is God going to accomplish this?  I wanted it to just miraculously happen.

It didn't.  

 So, I started researching tubal reversals online.

I was so sad that they were so expensive, I knew I would never be able to get one.

But why would God give me that maternity dress then?

I found a dr. in Texas whose mission it was to help women who wanted reversals.  His fees were way below other dr.'s.  After much begging and tears to my hubby, he sold one of his cars and gave me the money.

Here's the crazy part.  In the spring of 2000 I flew to Texas ALL BY MYSELF to get this surgery.

I flew in, had it done, and I got a fever after the surgery and I was distraught.  I knew I couldn't afford another night in the hospital, but they let me stay at no extra charge. 

The nurses were like mothers to me, they prayed for me on the way into the operating room because I was scared and crying.  They took care of me like I was their daughter.

So the dr. said well you really had those tubes fixed good to not have any more kids!  They had been cut and burned and there was just a little bit of tube left by the time they reattatched them.  But he gave me a 70% chance of success.  It didn't matter to me what he said, because I know what God had promised me!

When they released me I took a taxi back to my hotel, and hobbled around, I hurt, I was sick and alone.

  The next day I flew home.  It was exhausting, I still can't believe I did that alone.  But when I go after something I want, honey watch out!

It took almost a year and I will confess I did doubt, but fnally the night before mothers day in 2001 I took a test and it was positive!

Hubby was shocked, he didn't think it was really gonna work!  It was a good pregnancy.

I cherished it.  I didn't find out if it was a boy or a girl, I wanted to be suprised.  But I had been praying for another girl.

Portia is just the sweetest little girl, she is so quiet and shy, well she was when she was little. 

Now she can talk up a storm.  At times I have to say, Honey it is time to stop talking now.

Portia loves mermaids and wants to be one when she grows up.

She loves to be like her big sister.

Portia is so tender hearted.  She cried for days when we came home from Hawaii because she missed her grandparents and uncle.  She writes letters to her cousins in Minnesota all the time. 

She loves washing dishes by hand.

Feeding the sheep.

.

She love going on date night with her daddy.

Portia is a good big sister to Sophie,  playing with her and taking care of her.

Portia is silly.

She loves the beach, building sand castles and boogie boarding.

I love her with all my heart. 

And she is truly a miracle.

I won a Giveaway!

I don't remember how I stumbled upon Deborah's blog, called Art & Soul by Deborah.

But I did and she is such a sweet lady and talented too!

I love her watercolors.

And this is what I won!

A watercolor print all matted.  I chose the sunflower because my girls are always planting

sunflowers!

Thank you Deborah!

Yummiest cookie bars EVER!

I have reconnected with an old friend on Facebook.  She lives in Hawaii now, so I don't get to see her.  BUT.... we send recipes back and forth.  She is a health nut like me only she is way healthier than me.

Her blog is Essentially Free.  And her name is Free, which I love.  This is the latest recipe, which by the way are divine, scrumptious, I can't stop eating them!

Coconut Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Bars

1 1/4 C butter (to make them healthier use Coconut oil)

I used 1 C coconut oil

2 C sugar ( I used 1 C honey)

1/2 t salt

2 t vanilla

2 eggs

Mix above together and then add:

2 C whole wheat pastry flour

4 C oats

1 1/2 t baking soda

2 C chocolate chips

1 C coconut

If it seems to thick, add a splash of milk

it should be difficult to spread out, I used my fingers to spread it out.

Put in greased 12 x 17 pan for bars

Bake @ 375 for 15 min.

I only had an 11 x 16 pan, so I added 5 min to the baking time.

I couldn't wait till they cooled.

And I burnt myself on the melted chocolate chips.

The girls were all giggly watching me.

I have not let Sophie have one, I know technically coconut is a seed, but anything with the word nut makes me hesitant to give her.  Although I did rub coconut oil on her skin to see if a hive developed.  Which it did not. 

And if you want to get real technical, peanuts are really legumes.  Which explains why she got hives when she ate split pea soup one day.  So really nuts should be ok.  But I am just not willing to risk another episode of anaphylactic shock which could kill her quickly this time.  PHEW

Let me know if you try these bars and what you think of them!!

My Photo Walls

So I ended up hanging the pictures today.  And here is how it turned out.

This is the side with my vintage pictures.

And here is the kids/family side.

I took some close-ups for you.  Description of photo is below picture.

This is my mom!  Wasn't she cute?  I am not sure if my parents were married at this time.  Lovin' that top.  My dad raced motorcycles, they were at a race.

This is my husband's grandma's sister.  I don't even know her name.

My parent's wedding picture.

My dad on Santa's lap.

Hubby on Santa's lap.

The first "nice" picture I got of my children.  Nic was 2 and Josh was 5.  They are 16 & 19 now.

This is Sophie at 18 months.  Nancy Gowins  took this photo.

These pictures make me cry.  Top one is my dad with his first two grandchildren.  Josh is on the left and his cousin Ryan is on the right.  Bottom picture is when the boys were 16 with my dad. They are even bigger now!

Another Nancy Gowins photo.  My girls all in their tutus, vintage of course!  Lauren was 12, Sophie was 1 and Portia was 6.

Sophie is 3 months here.  Another Nancy Gowins photo.

When the cousins came out, jumpin' in the pool!

Josh was 6, Nic was 3 and Lauren was 1.

We had this done right when we moved out to Oregon.  It will be 8 years in August.

Portia was 8 months, Lauren was 6, Nic was 8 and Josh was 11.

I hope these didn't bore you, I had fun remembering these photos.  I love to see pictures of people I know, or am aquainted with, from before I knew them.  I think it is fascinating to see their past and then see where they are now!

Have a great weekend!

Before and After photos

Well I only got the hallway and 1/2 bath painted.  I am kicking myself, wondering why I painted the 1/2 bath limesickle, when it in NO WAY AT ALL goes with the floor, cabinets or counter???

Why didn't I do bavarian cream in there?  Well the reason I bought paint at all was because we had mold in the ceiling of that bathroom and just had it repaired.  So there was that big white patch.  So I really just needed to repaint the bathroom.  But it turned into painting the majority of the house.

Okay see the white patch on the ceiling?  Sorry, toilets never look pretty in a picture.

And here's the after... I really think I will repaint, someday, I am so sick of painting right now!

Before hallway, with Lauren taping for me..

By flowers

So long floral

After hallway, what a difference huh?

I had the walls filled with pictures, but I'm not sure how may I will put back up.  Well probably most of them, but I want all of them to be in black frames.

They were family pictures, a couple of my dad on Santa's lap when he was little, my parents on their wedding day.  My kids, you know....

This is the family room leading into the hallway, they are the same colors even though the front walls look

darker.

And here is my messy kitchen, I want to paint the same limesickle as the rest.  There are not many walls, but it is still not fun.  Lots of trim work and squeezing up above the cabinets by the fridge.  Why did we not extend those to the ceiling???

Lauren's room and my room will have to wait.  There is only so much painting I can do at one time. 

Now I have to clean my bathroom.

I am painting

painting

painting

painting

I am painting the hallway , over my flowers.  I loved my flowers but it has been that awful gold background for 7 years.  (see photo under "home" label and post)

Next I'm painting the 1/2 bath

After that I'm painting Lauren's room

Then I am painting the kitchen

And last I would like to paint my bedroom

I love to watch Real Housewives of New York, and on there Ramona keeps talking about renewing herself. 

She got a new haircut

She's renewing her vows

I think she's not as wierd as last season, but maybe not....

She says everythings new in my life!

I want that, I want a fresh start.  We don't have to keep living in the past do we?  It's better not to.

I have some health issues that have been nagging at me for years, and I finally went to a specialist today!

I feel good that I am hopefully going to get some answers, another fresh start.

I've been going out doing event's all by myself, something I've always been afraid to do, fresh start.

We've lived on the farm for 7 years, the longest I've ever lived in one house during my married life.

I think 7 years with the same decor means it is time for change.

After all I am not the same person I was when I moved here. 

Actually I've had every room in the house many different colors, but this will be the first time I will have a majority of the house one color and it is......................

limesickle by Benjamin Moore.

My family room and dining room are already that color and I love it.  So I'm just bringing it all around.

I would like to do Bavarian Cream in my bedroom, it looked so CREAMY and yummy, like heavy cream or 1/2 and 1/2.

Lauren picked sea foam for her room.

I'll post pictures when were all done!

Sheep are Sheared

There's our little black sheep after he was sheared.  He is sooooooooo cute!

And here's the little white one, you know the girls name all the cows and sheep and goats, but I just don't remember the names anymore.  I used to know every one.  The sheep started out as Scratch and Sniff, and then changed to Jamal and Jemima, and now I think they have new names again!

The very first cow we had was named Julio, a black and white cow that reminded my hubby of the horse he had when he was young.  His dad lived on a ranch in Hawaii for a little while.

That was a sad day when Julio went on a field trip and came back in the freezer.  

 And then we got Big Bertha, she was the biggest, meanest cow on earth!  She would jump any fence, no matter how high, if she knew she was getting an injection!  And she was MEAN!   And ORNRY! 

Finally hubby said I gotta get rid of her, she's dangerous.  So he took her to the auction.  After she sold, he talked to the cattle rancher who bought her.  The rancher said, you know why I bought her?  Hubby said no, why?  And rancher said, cuz I looked in her eyes and knew she was the nicest animal.... Funny huh?  that is true!  I cracked up when hubby told me that!

Sophie helped daddy out on the farm this morning.

This is what came off the sheep.  The sheep shearer said it is worthless, cuz it's so dirty.  Yes I did think maybe I should learn how to spin yarn.

One of the cows.  Who knows her name probably Mocha, or Latte, I tend to name them after coffees.

These are old street sweepers.  When the city gets rid of them, you can buy them for cheap.  And the cows love to scratch on them.  It saves you alot of fence repair.

Happy Thursday!