We have the BEST news!!!

Well, Saturday was an AMAZING day!!!

Our daughter, Addie Mae, and her boyfriend, Scottie got engaged to be married!!!!

I literally have a sob in my throat as I think of this beautiful season of our lives, you all!!

TWO weddings!!

Scottie had Kayla in on his engagement plans!

They got engaged in a greenhouse, and Kayla hid in the owners office and got these amazing photos through a window in the door!!


Wedding plans are being made for July!!

One year to the exact weekend of when they officially starting dating – how sweet is that??!!

Rejoice with us!!

We could not be happier for Addie Mae and Scottie – the Lord has brought them perfectly together and we are just praising Him for His kindness!!

Wedding season – LET’S DO THIS!!!

A Time of Rest

The last few weeks of January were such a wonderful, cozy, quiet time of rest for my trio and I.

It is hard to believe that the last huge snow storm we had was over three weeks ago now!

After some dangerously freezing cold weather, that snow is almost all gone now because our temperatures this last week have been more like spring.

It is currently 48 degrees and the children are running around outside this afternoon in just sweatshirts!

After our birthday celebrations at the beginning of January were over and the cold weather arrived, Lane, Tate, Eliza and I hunkered down and enjoyed our days at home.

We filled our days with school work, chores, and things that interested each of us.

It was so needed for myself in particular, and I truly believe that the Lord is finally showing me some new ways to manage this incredibly busy life that will be so much better for my health and well being!

Please notice my trio outside in those last two photos.

They played outside endlessly sledding in all that snow when the temperatures allowed it and before it all melted!

Now we are back to playing soccer on the deck because of all the mud.


I have not gone back to Instagram, which means I do not have near as many photos as I usually do.

Posting on Instagram stories all day long had me taking photos all day long – and I just don’t do that now!

I had a lot of fun in the kitchen these last few weeks – as always – and I wish I would have taken more photos of all of that – but I do have some!


Those pickles I fermented are FANTASTIC!!

I only added garlic and peppercorns this time.

Next time I plan to buy some fresh dill for them!


I tried to make some dairy free coconut yogurt from scratch.

I have tried this a couple of times before over the years!

This recipe and method was different, and I really thought it would work.

It didn’t not set up.

Someday I am going to figure this out!

Store bought coconut yogurt is expensive!


Tate made us another meal.

We licked our plates.

I am keeping here at home forever, but don’t tell him that, ha, ha!!


Would you all call it a “full circle moment” when your oldest daughter starts influencing you in the way you should run and manage your home??

Well, I am calling it that, with tears in my eyes!!

Of course Blake and my goal with our children was to have them all turn out better than us – so there’s that!!

Kayla is WISE in this whole “filling many bellies all day long” thing! (and a million other things too!)

So I am literally following her lead and doing what she does and I LOVE IT.

If I never go to the grocery store in town at the crack of dawn on a Friday morning to purchase two carts of food all by myself again – I AM GREAT WITH THAT.

I seriously am having a “boycott Woodman’s” mantra running through my head!

My new goal is to SIMPIFY meals and get everything we need to do that through a once a month (or up to six weeks, hopefully) grocery run to Costco and then ordering the rest of what we need from a bulk whole food company called Azure that has a once a month local drop off.

I have done both of those things once now and it was super fun!!

Kayla, Addie, Saige and I made our Costco run one Saturday two weeks ago when the weather finally broke.

Mind you, so did EVERYONE else in the entire city of Madison – so that was something!

It was CRAZY there!

But we did it.

Addie almost had to ride on the roof on the way home, ha, ha, but we got it all in!!

Here is my cart – and then both mine and Kayla’s stuff in the van.

Next time we are taking Kayla’s bus!!


I wish I would have grabbed some photos of my Azure pick up!

I basically got 25 pound bags of flour, large bulk quantities of potatoes, onions, garlic, apples and carrots, a 5 gallon bucket of coconut oil, and a few other odds and ends.

What a huge blessing!!

We also have lights on a timer in our Lil Red Barn to keep our hens laying eggs during these short winter days.

So we are still getting plenty of eggs!!

Because of the spring like temperatures this past weekend, we cleaned out the barn and gave the goats and hens a fresh new place to be.

It felt so good to get that cleaned out.


Speaking of cleaning out – I have been deep cleaning and purging each day.

My goal was to go through absolutely everything in our home.

I keep thinking “I did it!” and then I see more that I haven’t touched yet.

Hopefully I will finish before spring!

I have gotten rid of SO MUCH STUFF.

I know we have a lot of people living here, but good grief, it is embarrassing how out of hand this gets!

I found two drawers full of all that is in that tote in the first photo.

We also got a new rug downstairs during this deep cleaning time.

I love it!!


When I was deep cleaning the master closet I found ice on the edge of the wall.

It was during the time that it was so dangerously cold outside and that is a north facing outside wall.

Thankfully we solved the problem easily!!


We did have a few outings during our quieter weeks, of course.

We LOVE to be with our favorites.

One afternoon we headed to Kay’s after rest time for the grands to hang out with them.

Kayla was smart and used our most techy guy to set up a shipping label printer for one of her businesses!

Lane can never leave home either.

Just saying.

Did you know that Saige has Briar’s eyes??

They are SO big and beautiful!!


We also went bowling one night!

It was really fun!!

I could not hold a bowling ball because of my failing right hand – but Lane told me to just use both hands and throw it from between my legs.

I did! And got a score of 90!!


We had some colds run through the house.

SO thankful that only four got sick, and each of them were only sick for one day each.

After our illness at Christmas time of 2022, any illness is WAY better than that!


Blake and I had a date Friday night!!

We did some house project shopping and then came home, told the kids to stay downstairs, and made a nice big meal for ourselves.

We watched a movie while we ate.

IT WAS FANTASTIC!

My only complaint in life is that I never have enough time with my man!

Ok, maybe not my only complaint….but it is my biggest one!


I grabbed this photo after my crew helped Addie and I set up for our monthly women’s event at church.

They are a fast, efficient, strong, and joyful crew – and I love them!!


The snow brought some cardinals to our restaurant.

Only six this year so far.

We had up to twelve red cardinals at one time last year – so I am hoping for that again!

This weather is not helping my cause!

It was so majestic feeling though, and I just felt like the Lord was watching us enjoy the number of those beautiful birds and smiling down on us.


This weather though, you all!

I am not complaining!!

I sit outside in the afternoon with no coat on!!

Fresh air is awesome!

Sunshine is too!

Blake always is texting me asking if I have been outside yet!!


Even when it was cold I would find a sunny window to sit in front of each afternoon!!

Did you know the sunshine charges your batteries?!!


Are you ready for some sky photos???

I have not taken as many of those either – but I have some!

My love of the sky lives on.

Literally my favorite thing.


What a great couple of weeks it has been.

I never opened my planner.

I never made a list of things that need done.

I didn’t even follow a menu plan!

I got up each morning when I woke up on my own.

I put absolutely no pressure on myself about what I think other people are expecting from me.

And now you think an imposter is writing this post!

Nope, it’s me.

I have been walking slowly and intentionally through a book in the early mornings (sometimes in the afternoons).

It is teaching me a lot not only about external factors in regards to health, but also internal factors and my health.

So much I could say about it all.

Maybe someday.

It’s a big deal – so just know that for now.

It’s changing me.

I hope for the better!

Looking forward to seeing what the Lord has for us for this month ahead!!

I hope each of you are enjoying winter and all the Lord has for you where ever you are!!

Happy February, friends!!

The First Half of January and a Huge Snow Storm

We FINALLY have snow!!!

And we are SO excited about that!!!

I honestly have tears in my eyes – this beautiful snow means so much to me – I just love looking out the windows and seeing it there.

It just makes our winters here up north so amazingly beautiful!

It also brings the red cardinals to our bird restaurant!

We were already up to six at one time over the weekend!

We had two very large snowstorms last week and now have over two feet of snow on the ground.

Both storms had very high winds, so our snow is blown into drifts all over the place!


We got to spend the Saturday morning a week ago with THE GROOM TO BE doing some wedding stuff!

The guys all got fitted for their suits for the wedding, and then we all had lunch together!

It was so very fun!!

We were just missing Chad who was out of town that day – but had been fitted for his suit the day before!


The first weekend of January we had a little birthday celebration during our normal Sunday family lunch that we have every week after church.

It was super fun to celebrate Blake, Kamryn (who shares a birthday with Blake!) and Aspen!

Aspen turned three years old on Tuesday!

The food was delicious!!

David smoked some beef roasts and I made some roasted yams and carrots, a huge salad, and some freshly baked English muffins.

We had an ice cream bar for dessert that Addie made, with some chocolate brownies and roasted bananas!

There were gifts too!!

It was such a FUN day!!!


I spied in one of those photos above two little thumbs that made their way into the photo I was taking!

Do you see them there behind the couch??

Ha, ha, Clydey – you are SO cute!!!

Can you believe how big Saige looks in that last photo?

She is growing and changing so much!

Do you want to know how you have THE BEST SUNDAYS EVER??

Just look at this next photo – couldn’t be anything better than every dish in your kitchen needing washed because your HOUSE WAS FULL.

Be still my heart, dreams do come true!!


Starting at the beginning of the year, I decided to take a break from Instagram.

Instagram has many, many good things – but let’s be honest – it has just as many bad things.

It is time consuming, can make you miss out on life right in front of you, can make you compare yourself to others easily…the list goes on.

I will say, as of right now, I do NOT miss it.

My brain feels so much lighter, for one thing!

I have been enjoying the beginning of our long months of winter SO much, and not being on social media is just making it all the sweeter!

I look forward to the slow months after the holidays when we are snowed in and freezing cold here in Wisconsin!

It gives us time to slow down, enjoy the cozy things of home life, and pour into each other and others around us.

It also allows plenty of time to pursue our favorite things!

For me that has been cooking and baking!

Just look at all the fun I have had in the kitchen the last two weeks!!


The sauerkraut I fermented turned out so good!

I started some new ferments last week during one of the snow storms – some crisp garlic pickles, and some carrots.

We cannot wait to try them!

Thank you for taking this photo, Eliza Claire!


Kay’s headed out on a trip to Kentucky over this past weekend and Addie Mae went with them to help them!

Since it was so snowy and all, my plans of going over to help Kay clean and pack were ruined.

So I decided to make them some food instead!

I have really been enjoying making English muffins, so I made them some and also made them some sourdough blueberry waffles.

Then I tried some cinnamon raisin English muffins for my crew here and they loved them!

David, Kay and their crew got home last night.

I was in a cooking mood yesterday too, so I made them some chicken pot pie to take home when they dropped Addie off so they would have something to eat as they arrived home.

It was SUPER FUN to cook and bake for them!!!!


We watched Kay’s dog Juni for them while they were away.

She is a SWEETIE.

All three dogs got along great!

We even had friends in Saturday evening who Juni became fast friends with!

We miss Juniper this morning!!


What else have we been up to while it has been so snowy and below zero temperatures outside?

We like to read, the youngest two like to do crafts, and I specifically do a lot of deep cleaning and purging while we are stuck inside!

Of course there are still our normal chores and school work to do as well!


The sun is shining today, and we will take it, even though it is dangerously cold out there!

Nineteen below zero currently, crazy Wisconsin!

I have a really neat photo to share – one that Addie stopped and took on her way to work this morning.

We had a sundog!!

It was AMAZING!!

I could see it from our windows, but could not get a good photo because of where it was.

Isn’t God so creative and kind to give us things like this???


It is just such a beautiful day here today!

The snow mixed with the sunshine gives us a sparkly bright blessing!


Now we just need it to warm up enough so we can play in all of that beautiful snow!

I hope the beginning of 2024 has been good and beautiful for you all too!!

Happy winter, friends!!

An Incredible Evening Celebrating My Guy

My hubby had a birthday!!!

We love a reason to celebrate around here, and getting older is a good one!

Friday night it was our turn for a date night where David and Kay had Tate and Eliza for our date night swap.

Kay invited them to spend the night and they were THRILLED!

Friday afternoon Blake and I were still trying to figure out what to do.

I offered that we should make a fancy meal at home for Blake’s birthday, since the house would be empty and all!

An empty house doesn’t sound divine to you guys??

Well.

Just saying!

Blake texted me back and said, “Or we could go out to eat at the Charmant!”

I squealed and wrote him right back asking, “Do you really think I can eat there???”

He did.

We got a reservation for 7 p.m.

We went.

IT WAS FANTASTIC.


When I told the waitress I needed a gluten, dairy and grain free meal, she said “I will be right back to tell you which options from the menu they can make for you that way.”

WOW!!

We had a roasted squash appetizer, and then I had roasted root veggies with an incredible roasted chicken.

Blake had steak, fingerling potatoes and broccolini.

We elevated our water order to sparkling water with a lime wedge – since we were being so fancy and all!


It all was delicious!

Like so incredibly flavorful and yummy.

I refrained from licking my plate, but I was close by how hard I scraped it with my fork, ha, ha!

Then all of the sudden the chef shows up at our table to introduce himself!

I was a little star struck, as I couldn’t WAIT to tell Tate I met the chef!!

Well, he was working on creating gluten and dairy free dessert options for their menu, because they didn’t have any.

He had made one that day, and wondered if we would like to be his taste testers, on the house!

It was grain free too!

Of course we said yes!!

He brought us the most delicious, decadent, rich chocolate dessert with a orange glaze on it.

It was out of this world!

By the way, I asked that chef what made him want to be a chef?

Do you know what he said???

“Because I was always in the kitchen with my Mom.”

Cue all the tears.


We ordered a French press coffee to go with our dessert and sat for a long time enjoying each other’s company.

Blake and I like our busy life full of family and all the things!!!

But on Friday night we both said there could be just a little bit more of that.

Time together, not rushed, or just running errands.

It was SO relaxing. So rejuvenating.

It filled my love language cup of quality time with my hubby to overflowing.

Do I need to mention the food again??

Happy Birthday to my incredible husband!

You truly are one in a million, sweetheart, and I cannot believe you are mine!

I am so glad we got to celebrate you again with the whole fun, loud, fam bam a few days after this meal out together!!

Happy, happy birthday, Mr. Blake Moschel!!

I LOVE YOU MOST!!!