Sweet Lemon Acres

Well this was a very different vacation than our camping trip to the peaceful Black Hills (and way more expensive too)!!!  Key West is the party capital of the United States, I think. James and I spent 5 wonderful days in the southernmost city of the U.S. This was our first real vacation without kids since Rylee was born 6 years ago. We've had some long weekend trips, but nothing like this. first evening in Key West How we chose Key West James had been wanting to go to a Caribbean Island and I just wasn't ready to leave the country without my babies. There's too many crazy stories out there about people being detained in foreign countries and I just couldn't go there. So, I told him I would go as far south as we could get without leaving the U.S. Thus, Key West. It turned out to be a good thing we didn't leave the country, because James lost his ID sometime after we used it to go through security in the Des Moines airport. I can't imagine how hard it wo...

Last night, as I was scrolling through Pinterest, I saw this: I tried to answer the question, but found myself having many thoughts on this. Having been a stay-at-home mom for 4+ years and then working this past year, I found that both have their pros and cons. For me, the decision to stay home with my first child was made solely because I didn't really like my job that much. Also, the thought of having a stranger take care of my baby all day made me nervous and sad. As my maternity leave was nearing an end though, my plan to quit my job and stay home turned into going back just part-time. I missed working and having some place to be. I worked just two days a week and we found a sitter near my office who we felt very comfortable with. Two years later when I got pregnant with Wyatt, I decided to go ahead and stay home full time. I quit work 6 months before he was born, so that I could spend some quality time with Rylee before her only-child status ended. I very much enjoyed...

The leaves are rustling and birds are chirping. Several yards away, I hear sticks breaking under the feet of the woodland creatures. The sky to the west is a hue of purple and gold as the sun is setting behind the land. Our farm cat's soft fur gently rests against my toes. "Life is better on the porch" -unknown, but I couldn't agree more. I've been spending a lot of time on my front porch. Generally, I spend about 30 minutes in the morning drinking my coffee and reading my book. Then in the evening, after kids are tucked in and hundreds of hugs and kisses have been given to their little faces, I slip back out to the porch with my book and a mason jar of water. Watching the sun set from this spot is an extra perk. When we were looking for our current house (actually we were planning to build again), one of my "must haves" was a large, covered front porch. I don't know what it is about porches, but I've always been so drawn to them. A beautif...

I know this isn't the first time I've written about my super picky eaters, but it just feels like it is getting worse instead of better in our house and I want to talk about. I've seen several others on Facebook talk about how their kids just want to snack all the time or do not want to eat what is being served for supper, so I know we aren't the only ones in this boat. I also understand that we created this issue ourselves (probably mostly me). PBJ, cheese taco, hot dog (only cooked int he microwave-- don't even think about grilling it), chicken nuggets. These are the only meals my kids will eat. Oh, and occasionally cheese pizza...if it's the right kind...you know...not spicy, no "green things" in it (seasonings) and the right color of cheese....and by the way, make sure the cheese doesn't have any brown on it (the heated spots from the oven). We make a lot of meals that we know they won't like, and on those nights, I really don't m...

Happy Friday! It's that time of year again...decluttering! One of my summer goals was to go through every single nook and cranny of the house to get rid of things we aren't using. I'm about 80% done and have taken one load to Goodwill and have five boxes of garage sale items. More than likely those five boxes will actually end up at Goodwill too, because keeping them around for too long just makes me want to get rid of them as fast as I can. Anyway, I wanted to talk about closets...clothes closets. Specifically, mine. Several times a year, I go through my clothes and get rid of anything that doesn't fit or I no longer like. Another thing I always do is keep the things that I still like and "will wear someday", but sure can't remember the last time I did wear them. So this time I decided to do something different. I took EVERYTHING OUT of my closet and put back ONLY what I have actually worn since February-ish. It was probably about a third of the clot...

Outdoor More, Worry Less. These are words I saw on a t-shirt during our trip to the Black Hills. After spending seven full days in the forest, I have to say I couldn't agree more. Last fall, my dad asked if we would like to go to the Black Hills with him this spring. This is one of my fondest vacations from my childhood and one that was on my bucket list to do with my children. As we had just purchased our camper a few months prior, we didn't even hesitate to say "yes" to the trip. Last week, we packed up the camper with plenty of food, clothes and linens for our trip and headed west. We did the entire trip in one day. Mapquest will tell you it is a 9 hour drive, but with 2 young kids and a truck getting 7 mpg as it pulls the trailer uphill, the drive is actually 12 hours long. I have to say though, I was super impressed with the kids!!!  I don't think Rylee ever complained at all, and Wyatt only a couple times. Luckily his restlessness always coincided with o...