Our little garden

I am just going to just going to jump back into blogging.... after another 2 years of silence! ha! 

I am thrilled with my gardens this year. I have 3 raised beds and another huge garden. It keeps me pretty busy, but I am just thankful my body can handle the hard work. And it's nice when the kids come out to help me!

Here are a few pics from a few weeks ago:




The "big" garden



Bush beans with cucumbers on the end (we have since put up a trellis)

Zucchini, sqush, strawberries and lots of different herbs) There is garlic and chives growning in the blue bucket and Rosemary in the silver bucket

Lots of different tomatoes, peppers, and more herbs in this container

I took this picture a few days ago. Shelby is weeding all my squash plants while Micah is working on the okra. Tyler was out there too but I couldn't get him in the picture. He was working on the pepper plants. I built those trellisis all by myself! I just hope they don't fall over when the cucumbers start growing on them! :)

I hope you have enjoyed seeing a little bit of our homestead. I hope I can be a little more consistant in posting more often.

Work for your dinner

Yesterday the kids and I spend most of the afternoon outside picking up sticks, trimming tree branches, clearing brush, and raking leaves. You know, yard work. I worked them most of the afternoon. Yes, it was cold. Yes, it was hard work. But yes, it needed to be done. We made a huge pile of stuff and set it on fire.

And then since I am such a nice, loving mother, I made them fix their own dinner by the burn pile. I know, mother of the year!


Roasted hot dogs and potato chips. I mean, who doesn't love that???

They loved it so much they want to do it again! :)

The Park

So a few weeks ago, (when it was actually nice enough to play outside) I took the kids down the road to our local state park. We planned to go hiking. The older boys had some of their friends with them so once we got the the park and everyone got out of the truck, those boys were GONE. They took off thru the woods and I didnt see them again for 2 hours. So it was just Shelby, Tyler, Micah and I. We had a good time just goofing off in the forrest. I was able to capture a few of those moments.

This first picture I asked the kids to sit next to eachother on a bench so I could take their picture. You would have thought I had asked them to eat brussel sprouts or something. Oh the protests I got! Anyway, they finally forced a smile on their faces:



















This is what they really wanted to do to eachother:

Then they decided to gang up on me and tickle me to death for making them pretend to love eachother. I am sure I scared all the animals away with my hysterical, crazy-woman laugh.

After our romp in the woods, we went over to a clearing that has a HUGE hill that is perfect for rolling down. After doing that a million times, we just layed in the grass, looking up at the beautiful sky. I was silently thanking God for such a wonderful day, and for happy days like this.

St. Jude 2010

I've got so much I need to be doing right now instead of sitting at the computer, attempting to blog. But I dont feel like doing any of that other stuff right now. I am almost frozen with fear of all that I need to be doing. Its paralizing. Instead of doing what needs to be done. I'm going to do what I do best and procrastinate. My list of all the things I need to get done before my parents come for the holidays can wait. I'm just gonna tell ya'll about my weekend.

Friday afternoon I rode up to Memphis with Yonea to get ready to run the St. Jude half marathon. Chandler rode with us and we met his mamaw and papaw at the welcome center. He is getting to spend the week with them. I know he is so excited, he hasnt seen them in a year! Anyway, we dropped him off and then we headed to the expo to meet some of our other running friends and to pick up our race packets. After that we headed to Grace Chapel church for the annual spaghetti supper they provide for all the runners. I love that church and all those folks. We ate a bunch, laughed a bunch, talked a bunch, and then Julie, Yonea and I went to a freind of Yonea's to spend the night. I think we were in bed asleep by 10:00. Then it was time to get up and run. We met up with some other running pals and waited in their hotel lobby for the start of the race. I dont know what was different about this race but usually I am a nervous wreck before the start. But not this time. I was so calm. I dont know if it was because I was surrounded by friends or what but it was nice to not feel nervous. The race it self was not what I had hoped for. My asthma had been giving me fits the week leading up to the race and it decided to trouble me some more the entire race. I wanted to run it in 2:15:00 or less but I fininshed in 2:17:40. It's frustrating and encouraging all at the same time.

After the race, we drove back home, back to reality. My kiddos and husband we glad I was home. They cleaned the house and did a ton of yard work while I was gone. It was a nice suprise.

Sunday, we went to church, then came home and I took a nap. Then my hubs took me out to eat at Peking (the best chinese food ever). I know, I know, I have such an exciting life.

That about sums up the weekend. Now it's Tuesday. It's cold outside and I need to get groceries. But I have a headache and I dont feel like getting dressed so I guess we will just starve. :)

Hopefully tomorrow I can produce a much more entertaining post. It's hard to think when you are cold and have a headache. I might just post some pictures too if blogger will cooperate with me.

I'm gonna try this again.....

I know its been 3 whole years since I have updated my blog. WOW! Crazy, I know. A lot has happened in the last three years and if I tried to update you all on all that has gone on, it would take forever. So instead of updating, I'm just going to jump right back in. Maybe when I have more time I will start some sort of 3 year flash-back or something. Anyway, I'm back and here it goes.....

I'm getting ready to run another half marathon this weekend with some friends of mine. I signed up to do the full, and had every intention of doing so, but my body just didnt want to cooperate with me so, I doing "Just the half". I am still sick (asthma stinks) and a little nervous at how this is all going to play out. Hopefully I dont make myself sicker.

We had a great Thanksgiving last week. We got together with my JM's parents and sister's family. Here are a few pictures from turkey day:

Well, as usual, my internet is giving me problems uploading pictures and I've got to get dinner started. I dont have time for this! Ugh. I will try again later.

10 things I've done this week:

1. I've washed 14 loads of laundry.
2. I have cooked dinner in my crockpot every night this week (except Wed. when I made a quick run thru McD's). I've had one for the last 12 years and I've just discovered how much I love that appliance. It's made my life easier.
3. I spent 3 days straight at my sister-in-laws doing my own version of the show "Clean Sweep" while they are out of town. I would love to post before/after pics but I don't think she would like that too much. But let me just say that her house looks AWESOME now.
4. I've gotten only about 4 hours of sleep each night (and I can't take it any more!!)I don't fall asleep until 1 or 2 in the morning and then I toss and turn all night but then I have to get back up at 8 and I am seriously dragging butt all day.
5. I have drank (or is it drunk?) at least a pot of coffee every morning with the hopes that it will get me moving. It works for about 2 hours and then I crash and burn. (I don't have any caffeine after lunch so, no, that's not what's keeping my up all night.)
6. I've watched a total of 6 soccer games in the last 4 days. Brooks and Chandler won their first game ever on Tuesday and then they turned around and did it again on Thursday. They were thrilled and so was their coach. Shelby scored a few goals during her games and Tyler is just happy to be wearing a uniform. Who cares if he has NO CLUE as to what's going on during the game, he just loves being out there.
7. I've praised the Lord that Rachael's surgery went as planned and that she is doing well.
8. I've talked to Micah and Blake at least 10 times a day and miss them even more after I hang up the phone. I'm ready for them to come home. (13 more days!!!UGH!)
9. I've had to take the Suburban back to Toby the mechanic. It was making a loud knocking noise. They think it's just something that wasn't put back right when they replaced the transmission so hopefully it won't cost a dime.
10. I've started packing. We're going out of town (again) this weekend. We're just taking an over night trip to Memphis. Got some things we need to take care of. Hopefully it will be a blessing to us and not make things worse. (I know none of that made sense to ya'll, but it's a bit personal and I just don't feel like talking about it right now.....maybe I'll share later.)

If I could think of a title, it would go here.

Sorry for the disappearing act. But I'm back for good now. I promise! Not only were we having a hard time with our internet connection, but with all that has been going on around here, it was just plain impossible to sit down and write a blog. All that has been fixed and everything has sorta settled down some what (or as much as it can with 6 kids in the house). And now for one of the longest updates you have ever read.........

First off, let me just give a big THANK YOU for all of the comments and emails I have gotten about Chandler and my sister. We appreciate your prayers so much and need them daily.

We went to court on Aug. 21 and Jamee told the judge it would be best to let Chandler stay with us until she got the help she needed. It went a lot easier than I expected and I'm very thankful Jamee was so cooperative. Jamee has to meet all of the requirement set forth my DHS and we go back in 6 months for another hearing. The following few weeks consisted of talking back and forth with DHS, answering a million questions,bringing Chandler to some dr. appointments, having a home study done and jumping thru a few more hoops. But now we are official foster parents! Not only can we keep Chandler, but we can also keep other foster kids if the need/desire should arise. But I'm not sure we're ready for that just yet. Six kids is enough for us right now.


We had a very close call with Shelby. It involved a tree branch, her eye and a trip to the E.R. Doesn't sound very good does it? Well, it wasn't. I have pictures to prove it but I will spare you all the gore and just tell you what happened. Here is the condensed version. She was outside picking berries from a tree and walked into a broken off tree branch. It poked her in the eye. Fortunately she closed her eye just in time and it only ripped her eyelid but not the inside of her eye. They called in a plastic surgeon and he stitched her eyelid up. Just like that. Well, not just like that but this is the condensed version so I'm not going into all the details. That girl was so BRAVE! She never shed a tear. Not a single tear. She was more worried about missing soccer practice than she was about what the dr. was doing to her eye. She got 5 stitches and a pink teddy bear out of the whole deal. The stitches are now out and she looks great. You can hardly tell what had happened.

This last picture of her eye was taken about 4 days after the accident.







We also celebrated a few birthdays in September. Blake turned 11 and Brooks turned 9. This is the first year ever that the boys had separate birthday parties. Blake had a spend the night party with about 5 other boys and Brooks chose the have his birthday party at the skating rink. (I'm going to post pictures as soon as I get them loaded onto the computer.) I think the boys had good birthdays. Among other things (like a ton of money), they both got a pair of Heely's. I tried Blake's on just to see what all the hoop-la was all about. I didn't get it. I couldn't figure out how to make myself go.
Anyway, mom came down for a visit around the 16th (Sept.), stayed a few days and then headed back to IN. She took Blake and Micah back with her. They will be staying with her until I go up there to run the Louisville Marathon which isn't until October 21st. Yep, they will be gone almost 4 weeks. It's been nice only having 4 kids but I still feel like somethings missing. Well, Duh. That would be my kids. I'm ready for them to come home. I miss them so much I'm going to cry if I don't stop talking about them. Moving along....

Did I mention that I have 4 kids playing soccer this year? Yep. JM is coaching Brooks and Chandler's U10 team, Shelby is playing on the girls U8 team and this is Tyler's first year playing. That is why Blake and Micah are the ones that went back to IN with mom-they were the only ones who didn't have soccer games for the next 2 months. So we are out at the soccer fields every Mon, Tues, and Thurs. night for games and sometimes we even have practices on Weds. and Sunday afternoons. Can anyone say "we love soccer!" ? I say that to myself several times a day while gritting my teeth, looking for lost soccer socks, lacing up cleats, strapping on shin guards, and just generally trying to get everyone to where they need to be at the right time, with the right uniform on. Fun, fun, fun. No seriously. We do love it and I do look forward to watching their games. If it's wasn't fun, I seriously would not put myself thru that much stress. So far it's been good, but once the weather starts getting colder, I might change my tone.

That's about all I got on us. That just about brings you up to date on everything that's gone on here. I think I left out a few other minor details out. For example: our trip to the Space and Rocket Center, getting different living room furniture (notice I didn't say "new"), having a garage sale with a friend of mine, my husband joining the church again-without telling me until later (the same one we left b/c there were some issues), the power streering going out and locking up while I'm driving the Suburban, the transmission going out on the Suburban (not at the same time as the power steering but again, while I was driving), and me getting an earache so bad that I went to the doctor and she told me I had a bulging ear drum and fluid in both my middle and inner ear. But I'm fine now and so is the Suburban, in case you were wondering.

By the way, I would like to ask that you all pray for my niece Rachael and her family. Rachael has been diagnosed with a rare brain disorder called Chiari Malformation. She is having brain surgery tomorrow morning. They flew all the way to North Carolina to have the surgery done. You can read about her story here.






*Edited to add a few random pictures that were already on my computer.......

The Hatfield Crew (along with MawMaw Hatfield) at the Space and Rocket Center:




This one cracks me up. My mom is wearing Micah's size 3t Spiderman shirt! She somehow squeezed into it when Micah asked her if she wanted to be twins with him:


Chandler and his sister Hannah spending some time together:


Speak no Evil, See no Evil and Hear no Evil (a.k.a. Blake, Brooks and Chandler):


And last of all, me doing what I love to do, but never seem to have enough time to do it:

It's been an entire month since I've had a chance to blog and what a month it's been! Instead of trying to think back on all that has happened, I will just give you an update on what's going on right now.

We have had some phone/internet problems and hopefully that is all fixed so I can get back to regularly blogging. I've sure missed it!

Anyway, back a few months ago I wrote about my sister Jamee and my nephew Chandler. I was concerned about the both of them. I love my sister but she has a lot of problems and I was worried about Chandler's safety and care. With out going into a lot of detail, I will say that my prayers have been answered and Chandler is now in my care and custody. It took CPS and the cops getting involved but now he's in a safer place. He has been back with us for almost a week now and it looks like he will be with us for a while. That poor boy has been through and seen so much. (If you know us personally, please just email me if you have any questions.)

I need to get off now but please keep us in your prayers!

Let the fun begin!

We are here! We got to my parents house Saturday afternoon tired, worn out from a long trip, but very excited to see them. Our trip didn't start off like we had planned. We were supposed to leave around 7:00 Friday morning, stop in Murray, Ky to measure some windows for JM's job, then drive on to my parents. We didn't leave the house until 7:00 Friday NIGHT due to some unexpected problems with the hitch on the van. It was late when we got on the road, and even later when we got to KY (like 11:30 late) and we still had another 3 hours of driving. My parents live in Eastern time zone so it would have been 4 in the morning when would finally arrive at their house. We decided to just stay in Murray. Now we're here and everyone's happy. Except poor JM who is driving all over the great U.S. of A. measuring windows in a car with no a/c. I miss you, honey!



Yesterday (Sunday) we went to the Louisville Science Center. It was very cool, as usual. We spent the entire day (from 12:30-5:30) playing and learning (well, I hope they learned something!). We also watched an IMAX movie "The Living Water" which was about ocean life. Very neat.



After we got home we did the usual. Play, dinner, baths, etc. Brooks keeps asking to walk around the neighborhood. When asked why he wants to go, he'll say it's because he likes to walk, which is a complete lie. I think he's spying on the cute girls that live a few doors down. :)I cannot believe the kids have been staying up past 11:00 every night. It doesn't get dark here until 9:30 and as Micah said last night, "We can't go to bed, it's not dark yet." He's right. It's hard to settle down and get ready for bed when the sun is still shining.



Here's what the rest of our week looks like:



Today: We are going to run some errands, get haircuts, go to the mall, stop at a HUGE goodwill store near the mall, and then go to Chuck E. Cheese.



Tuesday: Driving to Santa Clause, IN to go to Holiday World and Splashin' Safari. We were going to do Six Flags but this other place has more rides that my kids are interested in (smaller, not as scary). And their water park looks alot bigger. The kids are excited about going and so am I. I wanna go on some water slides!



Wednesday: We're headed to the Louisville Zoo. Tyler and Micah have never been to a zoo before so this should be alot fun for them.



Thursday: Huber Farm and Orchard. This is just down the road from my parents. It looks like alot of fun for not alot of money!

That's all we have planned so far but that could change at any given moment. (Remember, God's in control!) I have other places I would like to go but it my have to wait until we visit again.

Indiana....Here we come!

Yippieee!!! I am so excited!

We are leaving tomorrow morning to go visit my mom and dad in Indiana. And we'll be there for 2 weeks!!

This unexpected trip came about when JM landed a big contract with Dollar General and they want 40 of their stores tinted by the end of July. A good portion of the stores are in Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan so it just makes sense for us to go up and stay with my parents while the work gets done. The plan is for me to stay with my mom for a week and then help JM out the other week while my parents keep the kids. It's going to be a lot of work but the hard work will definitely pay off!

I am so excited. God has heard and answered my prayers. I needed to see my parents and we definitely needed the money. Getting this job has been a blessing in so many ways!

Anyway, I'm going to try and blog while at my mom's but I'm not going to promise anything. My mom has a ton of energy and never seems to slow down, so we will probably be on the go the entire time we're there. WOO HOO!! I CAN'T WAIT!