tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65738362024-03-17T22:03:39.205-05:00tamara ba little about parenting, my passions and my need for prayer...Tamara Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755725592971994313noreply@blogger.comBlogger1273125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6573836.post-87830000332527074672014-11-06T22:39:00.001-06:002014-11-06T22:39:08.591-06:00On a jet planeThere are two places i love to fly: Ethiopia and Fresno. One place was home to me for most of my childhood and the other place is a home away from home. At this moment I'm sitting in the airport of the mile-high city about to board another puddle jumper. I'm headed home. That place where winters are warmer, pan dulce is plentiful, Swedish horses decorate the town, and friends and family let Tamara Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755725592971994313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6573836.post-89665774908294737602014-03-31T22:50:00.001-05:002014-03-31T22:50:02.959-05:00Farm LifeIn the past several weeks, my love for agriculture, my innate connection to the land, and my appreciation for how this system was designed to co-exist continues to deepen.Spring is well on it's way, and plenty behind, in my book. I remember last year towards the end of February putting compost in the garden and being harassed by a guy we know for getting out there too early - before Tamara Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755725592971994313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6573836.post-73215658697273080152014-03-26T21:58:00.001-05:002014-03-26T21:58:34.820-05:00Grumpy CatDo you ever have those days when things don't go right and you're just flat out grumpy. I tend to have them more than I should. For me, the best medicine in those situations is to chat with my husband, or another trusted friend who will call me out on my grumpiness and remind me to look at the big picture. Today was one of those days. Only it was a bit reversed.
I called a friend andTamara Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755725592971994313noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6573836.post-45192744574849930552014-03-11T22:02:00.000-05:002014-03-11T22:01:45.140-05:00Enjoy WorkToday I attended the funeral of a co-worker's husband. He was a well known community member and the church was packed. There early so that our staff could sit together, Ihad 30 minutes to sit quietly and wait. For those who know me well, know that I don't do either of those things well for 30 minutes. I thought piddling on my phone might be disrespectful so Iread every Tamara Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755725592971994313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6573836.post-85817571767407880912013-12-10T19:12:00.001-06:002013-12-10T19:31:50.843-06:00Holy Day, not holidayHow many ways can I begin this post before deleting it all? How do I nicely say what I want to say? How do I make sure to convey to you my thoughts without appearing like I'm passing judgement?
...
I love Christmas. I love the biblical truth of a Savior coming to rescue us from sin. I don't like how Christmas is so consumer driven. How selfish Tamara Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755725592971994313noreply@blogger.com125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6573836.post-86705259154068148322013-09-06T18:36:00.002-05:002013-09-06T18:36:53.028-05:00A New Name????I think I should re-name my blog... something like "It's been a long time" because I feel like that's how I start every post lately. Here's a random, quick update in pictures:
Our friend, Ignacio, let me tag along on a quick flight around the area. It was really neat to see our home, our nearby town, and all the cropland in the area. Thanks to my honey for giving up his chanceTamara Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755725592971994313noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6573836.post-72204024572024176902013-08-07T23:35:00.003-05:002013-08-07T23:35:45.556-05:00Kids in TrainingWe headed to Grammy's for a visit today. Sitting on the back porch, Grammy mentioned that she was going to make a dessert but didn't have cream cheese. Dessert. That word is enough to turn my kids' heads. Bethany volunteered to get cream cheese from Grammy and Judah was slobbering along with her. Like any good mom, I suggested they go get it. In town, several Tamara Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755725592971994313noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6573836.post-19887071089692539162013-07-22T22:38:00.001-05:002013-07-22T22:38:10.893-05:00My View
Sunsets are beautiful from our view:
With a storm on the horizon, and things blowing around like crazy, I grabbed the camera and headed out to snap a few pictures. With the sun quickly disappearing on the horizon, flowers getting ready for bed, and lightning bugs in the foreground, this was my view:
Tamara Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755725592971994313noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6573836.post-48292282018716806912013-07-16T22:37:00.000-05:002013-07-16T22:37:01.746-05:00Simple Things
Taking a few minutes to be quiet before the Lord today with this beautiful view.
Asking the Lord to continue grow me, stretch me, and give me wisdom. I'm far from perfect and God has plenty to reveal to me, so inviting that in is a little scary. And necessary.
As is common with quiet times, I was easily distracted.
I'll take that. What mom wouldn't enjoy a Tamara Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755725592971994313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6573836.post-52645679601728942942013-07-13T20:04:00.001-05:002013-07-13T20:04:51.063-05:00Celebrating Scott
Our first born turns 8 tomorrow.
With a few friends and family over, we had a bit of old fashioned fun celebrating. We played baseball in the pasture,
Had an impromptu seed spitting contest:
Opened gifts
and ate a quick meal before we had cake and ice-cream:
Scott, earlier when Ryan dropped off Caleb and Michah, he said he could Tamara Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755725592971994313noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6573836.post-5788254601130949202013-07-10T22:49:00.001-05:002013-07-10T22:49:32.436-05:00Home is where the heart isThe last few months have been busy and overwhelming. This post is going back a few months because I want to share this time of refreshment with you and put it in writing for years to come.
In April, one of my best child-hood friends' mom died. I spent a lot of time with Becky's family. Her mom was like another mom to me, as was the case of many of my close friend's moms. Tamara Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755725592971994313noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6573836.post-64211875464966614412013-04-16T23:59:00.000-05:002013-04-16T23:59:07.056-05:00Living LifeSuch emotions lately. Naughty kids are rough to parent. Yes, I may be dealing with kid issues, but there have been those moments that are fresh in my mind a week later. I am so thankful to be living in the moment. Some moments are sweet victories simply because I have felt like I'm failing as a parent. We try to teach our kids hard work, selfless-ness, and some Tamara Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755725592971994313noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6573836.post-73766696218147653292013-04-09T18:56:00.000-05:002013-04-09T18:56:02.786-05:00Catching Up
I keep thinking that I really need to write a blog post. As you can see, that never happens and then I get so behind that I don't know where to begin. For some odd reason, I think I have to be up to date which is so not true. After all, when have I ever been up to date??? This can be evidenced by my wardrobe, hair color, etc. But this isn't confessions of a mom who needs Tamara Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755725592971994313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6573836.post-51147771047805130732013-02-18T09:41:00.000-06:002013-02-18T09:41:35.990-06:00Celebrate
There's not much snow hanging around us to play in, but we've been quite busy anyway. These three hulligans keep us hopping. Keeping up with school papers, snack calendars, AWANA studies, and the general up-bringing of three kids wears this momma out some days. The photo below was one of those moments where they were so precious but wouldn't calm down and stand still long Tamara Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755725592971994313noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6573836.post-60332854791817174632013-02-06T17:10:00.001-06:002013-02-06T17:10:34.808-06:00farm girlA note to a friend last week: <!-- @font-face {font-family:Calibri} @font-face {font-family:Kartika} p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {color:blue; text-decoration:underline} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:purple; text-decoration:Tamara Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755725592971994313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6573836.post-8546828583953186762013-01-29T19:00:00.001-06:002013-01-29T19:00:16.907-06:00RandomnessNothing super exciting going on here. Living life, which keeps us busy enough. Here's some random things you might see/hear if you were a fly on our wall:
Bethany is my mini me. Her hair was mostly straight this morning... until she got outside where it was foggy.
I canned 50-something quarts of tomatoes this summer. I'm slowly starting to use them up. &Tamara Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755725592971994313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6573836.post-51232308849582874912013-01-27T21:38:00.002-06:002013-01-27T21:44:25.788-06:00Necklaces For ShowDue to icy weather conditions, church was cancelled today. We were home as a family ALL day long. Even Ryan was home all day with us. It was a great day to catch up on a few things. Bethany and I enjoyed much of the day beading and crafting. I was able to get some necklaces uploaded to the necklace page. Check it out. Let me know if there's something Tamara Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755725592971994313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6573836.post-58014932082769845662013-01-26T20:50:00.001-06:002013-01-26T20:50:26.342-06:00Itchy JourneyIf you've been following my itchy journey, it's been a long and tiring journey. It was 2 1/2 weeks ago that I saw the allergist and almost 2 weeks ago that I saw the dermatologist. Those past few weeks were typically the down week for the itching. This is the week in my cycle that my itching starts to go crazy again. I have a little itching on my core body still but that'sTamara Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755725592971994313noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6573836.post-1586189608343013072013-01-19T17:24:00.001-06:002013-01-19T17:24:30.353-06:00Seeing Lots of ImprovementI shared with you about my long-lasting struggle with the rash and other skin issues. It's hard for me to complain when I know it could be so much worse. It's also hard for me to complain when I'd been reading a book this fall where I was reminded that the words/attitude that leave my mouth are a reflection of my heart, not my cicumstances. Ouch. It was a good book and I'dTamara Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755725592971994313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6573836.post-53769041553797298462013-01-14T21:21:00.001-06:002013-01-14T21:26:22.454-06:00In case You WonderedYes, I still itch.
Had a follow up with the dermatologist today. I shared what the allergist said and while she didn't respond with words, her reaction told me she didn't agree. Again, she didn't say anything so I'm not sure what her thoughts were. I got another shot of kenalog which should relieve the itching. It didn't work last time but I have my fingers crossed.
Tamara Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755725592971994313noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6573836.post-27407197950318038082013-01-11T16:01:00.001-06:002013-01-11T16:01:42.145-06:00Not NormalI've written a little about it on my blog, but not much. Mostly because I like to share the whole story but the WHOLE story includes some personal stuff that doesn't need to be on the internet.
This summer I was put on a medicine. I reacted to it. Itchy skin and a rash all over. A band-aid of benadryl and claritin was recommended. I'd tried that with no Tamara Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755725592971994313noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6573836.post-11544017090862937652013-01-01T20:31:00.002-06:002013-01-01T20:31:14.608-06:00Fun with Visitors
It's great to have fun with visitors. Fun with family is that much sweeter.
I was busy hanging out, just being family and not carrying around a camera for the most part but I did take the camera out for a few slides down the hill. The year my kids found a little hill which they've decided they like much more because it means less walking back up. Smart kids.
I loveTamara Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755725592971994313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6573836.post-17924192074630724142012-12-27T22:30:00.001-06:002012-12-27T22:31:42.713-06:00Surprise
We've been avoiding her for a month.
Only a few people actually knew what was going on.
After all, it's Christmas and surprises are to be expected, right?
Christmas morning we were 3 hours away picking my dad up at the airport. My mom called my brother to wish him and his family a Merry Christmas. Mom asked to talk to one of her grandbabies but my brother was out and about Tamara Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755725592971994313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6573836.post-61993176395949026762012-12-23T22:33:00.000-06:002012-12-23T22:33:00.305-06:00Winter Wonderland
It may have only been nine degrees outside but we were warm and having fun.
I think the kids made it their goal to wipe each other out:
Bracing for the ramp:
J and I catch some air, his face is awesome!
This is just one of the reasons I'm so sore today:
Other reasons might include: I'm not 18 anymore but play like a kid, I caught my left leg in the brambles and Tamara Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755725592971994313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6573836.post-56243816578599510552012-12-11T21:45:00.000-06:002012-12-11T21:45:35.295-06:00Triple-Golden Birthday
'Round here, they celebrate Golden Birthdays. What's a Golden Birthday you ask? A golden birthday is when you're age matches the day of the month you were born on. Take me for example, my birthday falls on the 20th so my golden birthday was when I turned 20. The way the calendar fell that year, I thought it was a pretty special day. At that time I was in college andTamara Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17755725592971994313noreply@blogger.com0