Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters...

Grilled cheese, tomato soup, peas, and apple slices for dinner.

First of all, if anyone can tell me the movie in which that verse was sung scores major brownie points with me. I'll give you a hint, it's one of my favorite Christmas movies ever and it stars Rosemary Clooney.

Secondly, one of my biggest wishes for my daughters is that they grow up being the best of friends. I want for them to do everything together, be each others support system, and I want them to talk on a daily basis...even when their grown and living apart. I know that they will more than likely go through some rough patches growing up, but I pray they overcome it and realize how fortunate they are to have one another.

Browsing at Lowes hand in hand.

This picture gives me a glimmer of hope that my wish just might come true. My heart just melted at this wonderful sight!

Don't you just love their 4th of July dresses? I got a great deal on them at Marshall's a couple weeks after my surgery when I just needed out of the house. It was my first visit and I loved the place. I was going to save them for the actual 4th of July, but I figured what's the point in buying them if you can't get your wear out of them.

Today's the start of our Memorial Day weekend. Daniel took today and Tuesday off  so he get's five full days with us. Tomorrow he and the girls are headed to Kentucky with other family members to put flowers on his Dad's grave. I'll be staying home baby-sit the darn dogs and enjoying the peace and quiet. Tuesday, I get to go to the dentist for the first time in forever. My Crohns issues has taken priority over other issues, including the broken molar that I have had since November. The pain these past two days has been out of control and has woke me up the past few nights. Now my jaw is starting to swell so I guess its time to get the issue addressed. Thank goodness I still have pain pills left over from before my surgery. I think I would have already sliced my throat had I not have had them.

Happy Memorial Day everyone! Be safe and eat lots of yummy food!!

Laura Ingalls Wilder at your service!

Farmer Dan in action!

The nice thing about our new house is that we have a lot of space in our side yard. We pretty much have no backyard, but the side yard is huge! We bought our first home in late 2006 and even though we had a decent sized backyard, it wasn't garden friendly. We had a small space by our shed that we always planted a few tomato plants, and a few pepper plants. I grew herbs in pots on the front porch and we had failed attempts and cantaloupe and pumpkins, mainly due to the lack of space.

This year we finally have the space to plant the garden that we've always dreamed of planting. It's huge and I must admit, we may not fill the entire thing with veggies or fruit because it's so big. Daniel borrowed a tiller from a friend at work and it took him just about one whole day to till up the space and get it ready for plants and seeds. We have bought a few thing so far, three tomato plants, sweet corn seeds that have taken up three rows so far, two different types of peppers that only Daniel will be eating, broccoli and cauliflower, two strawberry plants, and we have a blueberry and raspberry bush that are planted in big planters.

To say I am excited would be a dramatic understatement. I have high hopes for all the produce that should come forth from our garden and it couldn't come at a better time. I am no longer getting unemployment therefore I have no income coming in. Money is once again tight for us and our grocery bill continues to be outrageous. I love to cook meals each night, but have you checked out the price for fresh fruit and veggies? A few weeks ago I spent almost $8 on apples. I think I bought 5 or 6 of them and it cost me $8. I about had a heart attack at the price, but I insist on giving the girls fresh fruit every other day. On our off days they get canned fruit. Vegetables can be just as bad so I've been reduced to buying canned and frozen vegetables for the most part. Which honestly is probably just as good for them since they aren't big on eating veggies in their natural state.

Cadence helping plant the sweet corn!

Our goal for this garden is to grow enough produce that I can can and freeze enough to last us through until next spring or so. I really hope I'm not expecting more out of this garden than what it can handle, but something is better than nothing and right now...every little bit will help.

Secretly, I feel like Laura Ingalls Wilder when we're out there tending to it. I adore her books and I honestly think they are my all time favorite books to read. I couldn't tell you how many times I have read them. I spent over a $100 one year buying all of her books so that I would always have them on hand. I have had a real urge these past few days to re-read them but sadly they are sitting in our storage unit in Bellbrook. I asked Daniel the other day while he was creating the mounds in the garden if he could image how hard it was to grow gardens and crops back during her days? Back before they had tillers and fancy fertilizers and weed killers. What is even more amazing is how dependent they were on growing successful gardens. We aren't entirely dependent on this garden, but I remember one instance in her books when they had a hail storm that damaged not only their crops but their garden as well. I don't think I'm creative enough to make a pie out of green pumpkins like Mrs. Ingalls was. How disappointing it will be if we have the same experience, but it won't mean that we will run out of food during the winter like it would have meant for them.

A few of the veggies we've planted so far.

 I can't wait until it's fully planted and we start seeing the little buds turn into an actual fruit or vegetable. Most importantly...I am impatiently waiting for the tomatoes to start coming and to get my basil going!

Spring Fever

Prior to my surgery there is absolutely no way that I would have ever been able to take the girls outside by myself. You know in case I had to make a mad dash for the bathroom. Addison usually always puts up a fight when being forced to come in, I can handle carrying her in kicking and screaming but multiple that by two and there was no way I would have made it to the bathroom in time...lol. Even in the evenings if Daniel was outside to help with the girls, I often stayed inside because I was just so tired. Oh the joys of having Crohns disease.

Wednesday night instead of cleaning the kitchen after a dinner of taco salad, I went outside to watch the girls play while Daniel weeded and spruced up the flower beds. I'm still having trouble bending over so I supervised and made sure the weeds he was pulling weren't in fact flowers...haha. 

Outside playing Wednesday night. My little tree huggers!

Making herself comfy in the flower bed. Silly girl!

Sliding down like a big girl.

Anyway, now that I don't really have to worry about rushing to the bathroom I decided to take them out yesterday afternoon to play and get some vitamin D...all by myself I might add.

The weather was wonderful. Warm enough that we didn't need jackets, chilly enough that a light shirt and light pair of pants were needed, all with a lovely breeze in the air. It was perfect let's go outside and play weather.

Getty up horsey.

"So, where we headed Sissy?"

Doing her Great Poppy Tibbs walk. This is how Daniels grandfather used to walk. Both Cadence and Addie walk like this on occassion. The family gets a kick out of it.

Blowing bubbles.

I can't wait until this summer when we can get a pool up. Maybe for once in my life I'll have some sort of tan instead of this pasty white I've been sporting.

My confessions...

Megan over at Tales of the Trees did a post today on some of her confessions. I thought to myself, what a wonderful opportunity to share with the world some of my flaws as a wife, mother, whatever and to possibly give you a good chuckle!

1.) I hate folding laundry. HATE IT. Which is why we currently have baskets full of clean clothes waiting to be folded in the laundry room. I don't know where I get this from, my parents all folded our clothes right out of the dryer.

2.) I hate cleaning the kitchen right after I've made a big meal. I've gotten much better about this but last night I played outside with the girls and watched Daniel pull weeds out of our flower bed instead of cleaning the kitchen. So on days that the kitchen doesn't get cleaned after dinner, it gets cleaned when the girls go down for a nap the following day...only for it to be messed up in a few hours during dinner prep. It's a vicious cycle...kind of like laundry.

3.) I love children. I have always been drawn to babies. I now have two beautiful little girls of my own and I love them so much it's crazy sometimes. I have noticed though, since having my own, I really don't like other children. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my niece Ireland, and my nephew Dylan, and pretty much all of the kids in our families. But strange kids that don't belong to our families or close friends...chances are I'm not going to like them much! I would like to rephrase that last sentence, to not being able to tolerate them, not like them. And don't get me wrong, I would still play with them and talk to them and help them out if they needed help...but secretly I'm saying to myself "I'm glad you're not mine" HAHA. I feel like this statement has just earned myself a one way ticket to Hell.

4.) Since my surgery on April 18th, I have spent about 96% of my time in a t-shirt and scrub pants. Scrub pants that I may or may not have taken from the hospital. I think I have about four pairs of them. Normally I would feel guilty about taking them, but I can only imagine what that hospital bill is going to look like so I figure they can get over me taking a couple pairs of their pants. Seriously though, my stomach is still swollen and my ostomy areas are still tender. Not only are they tender but my one ostomy bag is right where the top of my pants would go. Needless to say when I do put on regular pants, they don't get zipped or buttoned because of this issue. I'm going to be wearing lots of dresses this summer.

5.) Speaking of bags, I hate mine. I know I'm only four weeks into this year long process but I hate them and am ready to be done with them. I'm still waiting for that moment when I don't mind them and am actually glad I have them.

6.) I can't bake. I tried making a homemade chocolate cake Tuesday, it was a major fail. Probably because instead of only putting in one and a half teaspoons of baking powder, I put in a tablespoon and a half. Typically this would be because of my impatience, but since my surgery my eyesight has gone down the toilet. Guess who will be getting glasses sometime in the near future??

7.) Since losing all of this weight, I feel the need to go out and buy all kinds of new clothes. It's a good thing we can't afford it right now. I'm supposed to be losing even more weight so it's best that I not buy to much right now anyway.

8.) Since my surgery my appetite has gone through the roof. Two weeks ago, I ate a whole bag of salted cashews all by myself over the course of two or three days. I also may or may not have added more sea salt to them. Also, pretty much every night since being home, I have eaten several of these bad boys. I'm addicted! Thankfully my appetite is starting to lessen.

9.) I'm a name brand girl. When I go to the grocery I tend to stay away from store brand items. This drives Daniel crazy. Anyway, since we're poor and needed groceries bad this past week and Meijer was having a great sale on a lot of their store brand items. Everything I purchased Tuesday was pretty much Meijer brand. I'm turning over a new leaf people...lol!

10.) I stopped taking my depression medicine a week ago due to a serious allergic reaction I had to it. Seriously you should my face, I'm still recovering from it. Not only can I tell I haven't had any, but so can Daniel. He informed me last night that I have been irritable these past two days. I will be put on another med at my next appointment in two weeks.

11.) Speaking of depression. My psychiatrist said I was so severely depressed, that she thought it would be best if I also started seeing a therapist. I feel like a nut...lol.

12.) I love the smell of lilac. I had a lilac bush at our old house and I miss that bush more than I will ever miss that house...lol. Meijer sells a candle that smells EXACTLY like lilacs and I burned through the thing in about a week. Since then I have had this overwhelming desire to go back and buy every last one they have.

13.) Lastly, we're getting ready to start the big girl bed process with Addison. I already know this is going to be a battle which makes me just want to keep her in a crib. Sending my daughter to college in a crib might be a problem huh??

There's a few of my confession, please tell me that there are others out there that might relate to this craziness? :)

My little ladybugs!

It's been awhile since I've taken good pictures of the girls so I thought we would head out today and snap a few. I wish I could have gotten more of them smiling, but with a one year old and a two year old, you take what you are given.

Is it just me or are these girls just adorable? God has blessed me so much!

Friends

I'm linking up with Kelly's Korner this week so for all of you visiting my little family blog for the very first time, I figured I would give a quick introduction of who I am.

1.) I'm Katie
2.) I'm 28 years old.
3.) I am married to my husband Daniel and we will be celebrating our 5th anniversary this coming Saturday.
4.) In 2005 I was diagnosed with Crohns disease. I have suffered horribly with it since then and recently had my first resection. A foot of my terminal ileum was removed and I was given two, yes two, ostomy bags. Both of which will hopefully be reversed in a year.
5.) After years of infertility, probably due to my Crohns, I gave birth to our first daughter, Addison Grace, in February 2010.
6.) Three months after Addison's birth, I conceived our second daughter, Cadence Leah. Cadence was born in February of 2011. Yes we have a set of Irish twins.
7.) Due to a layoff in 2010, I am now a stay at home Mommy. I firmly believe that everything happens for a reason. God gave me two daughters back to back like he did for a reason, and my layoff fell right there along with it for a reason. My health has been a major issue and being home has made things somewhat easier.
8.) I love to cook.
9.) I am a very family orientated person. I'm especially close with my Dad and his side of the family, as well as my mother in law Sue.
10.) I have been home bound for the past year or so. I have only left my home once, by myself, with
both girls. My Crohns has given me such anxiety issues that I was afraid to leave home with the girls without having another adult with me in the car. Now that I have had my surgery, I am looking forward to getting out of the house and doing things with the girls that I have wanted to do for the past two years.

This was us at Christmas this past year. I'm a little thinner, but my face is still nice and puffy from steroid use concerning my Crohns...don't judge...lol.

Thanks for stopping by!!