the yummiest tomato soup ever!

So, not only is it the most scrumptios tom soup you have ever tasted, it is also the fastest! I am only divulging this amazingly great soup because I think it would be considered sin to keep it from you :). I have made this on warm days and cold days, and we always seem to be excited to eat it...so here it is:

(below I mention "can" without a size because it doesn't matter what size you use as long as they are all the same size, all 16 oz, all 8 oz....whatever)
one can of stewed toms
on can of tom soup
one can of milk (plus a tad of half+half for extra delight)
warm it up in pot
plate up in large bowls
crumble at least 2 Tbs. of Gorgonzola on top of each serving
serve it with dried (or fresh) parsley sprinkled on top of each serving

suggested sides: salad and homemade bread (or the daily fresh french bread from safeway would be excellent too!)


This makes for a super yummy soup, I think the reason it is so good, is because it has the chunks of the canned tomatoes, they are sweet and really just make it seem fresh. It is not thick and yuck, like some middle school tomato soup (remember that and grilled cheese!) it is so different and yummy that you have to give it a try! I can my own tomatoes in the late summer, and this year I will be sure to do an extra bunch just to have this soup whenever I please next year.

a pea break

Here is the pea patch...a great place for a snack. Grandpa Marble (great grandpa to the boys)tells me that he does not plant sweet peas, "you know, those ones you eat the shell and all! We used to feed those to our cattle! I used to plant some for other people, but I don't do that anymore" says grandpa. We are fine with what he has, as the boys can both pull, peal and eat these well on their own. Oh, the sweetness of fresh peas...shhhh, don't tell grandpa, the boys eat the shells anyway, even though they are actually rough and not very yummy....oh well.

Last week we went to grandma and grandpa's lazy m ranch and had some good, quality pea time. It was great, the boys sat there for well over 40 min and just ate and ate and ate the peas. grandpa was pleased, he loved watching them chow down. we love going there, especially when the weather is nice so we can be outside!! They have tons of fun things to do and a creek to play in!!Among other things here is what we enjoy at the ranch: a super warm fire in the winter, cows to look at and talk to, raspberries by the ton (we can pick as many as we want !!), blackberries down by the creek, marble mountain....we hope to climb it soon :), a million yummy squash, tomatoes, cukes, and potatoes, beans, pole beans, and much more...we go for the day and enjoy it the whole way. Oh, the ranch...one of our favourite places in the world.

They have trucks too.

The face of inspiration- Nick Vujicic

What would inspiration look like in human form? Well, for sure Jesus and Apostle Paul, and Peter and the disciples, but what about today? This is one of the most inspiring things I have ever seen. A life that is not wasted, a man who does not let his problems get in his way, he makes a spectacle of them and triumphs to the glory of God. Blown away, I am blown away.




There a website Life Without Libs, on which you can find tons more info. I found the get media or the video page, and cannot stop watching them .Tons of videos in different countries, the effect he has on the people is just too much, and mostly I think what is the incredible part is his heart to not be a victim, not to lay under his circumstances but grabs them and shows people what can be done! Amazing.
Also on ABC:
a short clip and a news blurp

cardboard testimony

This shows the power of a testimony, the power of God to do things that we are not able to do on our own. The hurt and pain is something God takes and gives us beauty. This video is really good. We all have a cardboard testimony, What is yours?

oregon. aka: the most beautiful state in the union

I know there are plenty of worthy states out there for the beauty contest, oregon happens to be where I call home, and where the glory screams at me daily. It is also where on a seemingly sunny day you need to use a flash in the middle of the day! ha. Here is our hike on the other side of the old growth trail, it is another wide one that kids have no problem following. It is part of the OSU research zone, and is stunning. We walked, we checked out trees, weeds and slugs and then we ate. It was grand. seriously.

finger painting via brushstrokes

It is time for art, fun art. j and o love to paint with finger paints using brushes, fun to watch.

RIP- Ms. Whiny

Well, all dogs go to heaven right...so if dogs go chickens do too. Whiny took a turn for the worst a yesterday and died. She was really becoming a pet, she would just sit there like a parrot and let us pet her and perch on my lap or hand. May she Rest In Peace...she was a good chicken!

bright eyed and bushy tailed. GO WHINY!

She is eating and drinking on her own and is getting stronger and stronger! It was a very close call. The chicken experts from BYC say that is was a case of hypothermia and malabsorption of nutrients. IT was a VERY close call for her.
Oh, and so now she is bright eyed....and bushy tailed, except for her breed (Aracauna) is known as "rumpless" that is why she doesn't have tail feathers that are really long.

whiny whined for a reason (aka: the dead chicken comes back to life with a dropper of elecolytes and the prayer of an innocent)

Here is the story of Whiny, the bird who whined for reason: Whiny always whines, constantly. She squawks, and today she stopped. She stopped, and stopped at some point last night or early this morning. When I got up I found her dead. Well, what to any one would have been dead...I couldn't see her breathing, she was cold (and chickens in case you don't know should be about 106 degrees F or so). I was going to put her dead body in a plastic bag and tie it up and put her in the trash, but her beak moved, and again, and again....as if she were whining with no sound, yes...no, not funny.
I had no idea what to do, so I got online and posed the subject to my trusted Back Yard Chickens forum buddies, and they helped me figure it out all day long. It is a forum, where us crazy chicken folk collect ourselves, a fun time mostly, but always very helpful.
They told me that it was not a reflex that she was moving her mouth, and even though it seemed that there was no way this listless bird, who would let her head be limp, could possibly be still in the land of living birds....I tried it. I gave her electrolytes from a dropper, and sugar water and she lives on! She does, look down through the pictures and see her incredible recovery. At first I finally was able to see her breathe, FINALLY (I had been watching on and off for a whole-lotta-time), then I saw her move her beak more, then move her head, then she opened her eyes and sat up, and now drunkenly stumbles about with a confused look on her face. She keeps jumping at the heat lamp I put in there (another BYC suggestion) I think she may have seen the beauty of the white welcoming light and want to see who made it. Do chickens go to heaven? I know that today my little j prayed like no other for his little Whiny to come back, let's hear some bungaree speak:

Dear Jesus,
I would like Whiny to be better, help her not be sick, thank you for taking care of her, amen. -j

Sweetness it was, my fear was that he was praying for something that was not about to happen, as he was praying for a cold, breathless bird! However, it does say something about faith the size of mustard seed, and what about the faith of a child? So sincere...no let down, they trust, they know, they don't hold back in their hearts preparing themselves that their prayer may not be "God's Will"....let it ll hang out....a dead chicken came to life, I don't know the reason, but I do know that my little j believes that his God exploded life in her again, at least for now.

Here are the pics, the worst are first...WARNING: a listless chicken:










rock on whiny...maybe tomorrow you will whine again!

Oh, and she got sick because she was malnourished, meaning: she would eat and eat and her body did not learn to absorb nutrients (therefore starving), so she would get cold, and was always hungry...it is a chick disease, and should not follow her through to adult birdhood.

old growth trail (with bonus good rock throwing pond)

Sunday was the perfect hiking day. It was the perfect temp, and just right. We went with some friends to the Old Growth trail which is nice because it has tons of "kid stuff" to do on the way. It is pretty steep for a lot of it, so kids must hold hands...besides that it is completely kid friendly. (No nudes or anything -hahahaha~!!)

bridges are always a hit- especially if sticks or rocks are nearby.


dirt piles, we slide on for hours....

uuuuu, and ponds surrounded by rocks, a dream (this one can be missed if you don't know where it is so it is somewhat of a secret- which makes it even better!)

throwing, throwing, THROWING.



all of the kids made it pretty much the entire way, there was a little whining at the end, but it was over a mile of hiking and they were all excellent adventurers!