More pictures of the boys from the farm

Both Jason and I took lots of pictures while on the farm last weekend and I couldn't decide on just a few.  I ended up going through the pictures and picking out 24 pictures so far that I want to share.  I know there are more!

Here are more pictures that I just had to share!!

We were just walking around the farm checking out the tractors, garden and such.  Grandma grows wonderful veggies for us to eat while we are there!  We were checking out the zucchini that Grandma grew!

More pictures to come on another post!

Weekend at the farm

I cannot believe how long it's been since I blogged last.  I apologize to my faithful readers that I haven't updated especially with pictures of the boys.

Last weekend we headed to the farm.  Jason's family farm.  We had plans to head to Iowa on Sunday for his moms family reunion.  We had a wonderful weekend!  The boys played outside as much as possible.  Nate went on many Mule (like a John Deere Gator) rides as did the twins.  We grilled out, went swimming (Jason and Nate) and just relaxed and had good conversation.  While daddy and Nate were swimming, the twins and I explored the farm.  I had fun getting pictures of them while we explored.

 Enjoy!!

Nate's stamp of approval with his brothers!

The other day I decided to let the boys finger paint with pudding.  That way the twins could join in and I wouldn't have to worry about keeping their fingers out of their mouths b/c of the paint.  This way, they could taste the 'paint' and be ok.  Nate had chocolate pudding and the twins had vanilla.  The twins just pretty much ate their pudding and didn't play with it.  Nate wasn't so sure about the whole thing but dove in with both hands and had a blast.  I think his favorite part was cleaning his fingers by licking them!!  Here are some pictures for you to enjoy.  I had them paint w/o their shirts to make clean up easier.

 

After everyone was cleaned up I sent them on their way to play so I could clean up the table.  As usual, they all headed to Nates room to destroy  play.  I took a break and went to sit in the living room for just a few moments and Jonathan and Riley come crawling into the room.  This is what I was met with:

 

Nate had found in his room a stamp that he had gotten when he played bingo at daddy's work back in December when they had Winter Wonderland.  I did a double take when I saw the boys and then cracked up laughing!!!   I guess Nate is cool with having his brothers now!  He gave his stamp of approval!

Hope you all have a great weekend! 

Happy 1st Birthday, Riley and Jonathan!!

A year ago this morning, my beautiful baby boys were born.  Riley at 11:11am and Jonathan at 11:12am.

Riley and Jonathan, you have been such a joy to our lives.  You make us laugh everyday!  It has been a wonderful year watching each of you grow and change.  I can not wait to see what this next year brings us!

 

 

I took the boys in for 1st birthday pictures today and I will share them as soon as I can.  When I get more time, I will have to add some other pictures of their first year.

Homemade Laundry Detergent

So tonight I finally took the time to make my own laundry soap.  I used this web site as my guide: 
http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/04/09/making-your-own-laundry-detergent-a-detailed-visual-guide/
I have read through this site before and had forgotten about it.  Jason and I did watch his tutorial on youtube about a year ago.  Here is the link to that:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfEJHb5lfds
I like this guy cause he is from IA so he must know what he is doing!!! :)

I did not use Borax as I have heard that it is harsh on clothes and not ok to have around kids.  I used Oxiclean instead.  For the bar of soap, I used Dr Bronners castile soap.  You can find it here:
http://www.drbronner.com/DBMS/OBPE05/PeppermintOrganicBarSoap.htm  Dr Bronners is pretty cool.  Looks to be a good go to site for some good soap!

It was a very easy process to making this detergent.  The only thing that took a bit was shaving the soap but I cut the time by using my food processor.  I had the water heating up while I shaved the soap.  Once the water was boiling, I added the soap.  I didn't do it little at a time like the guy said and I had a few clumps.  I just took my wire wisk to it and it broke up the clumps fairly easy.  In no time at all, the soap was dissolved.

I added 3 gallons of water to my "Homer" bucket by filling it up in the bathtub as my kitchen faucet has terrible water pressure.

I added 1 cup of Washing soda to the bucket and then poured in the soap that I had just dissolved.  I stirred that up really good.  I didn't have any lumps to break up.  I think it's because I had hot water in the bucket to begin with.  After that I added 1/2 cup Oxiclean to the bucket and gave it a good stir.  I put the lid on and had my wonderful husband take it to the basement for me.  I can't wait to give it a good stir tomorrow night and start using it!

I don't know how much this cost me as I bought the washing soda about a year ago and the Oxiclean from Sams club.  The Dr Bronners soap does cost a bit but I am happy that I am using something that is good and green!  I am hoping to find it cheaper on line and buy a few at a time.

I did take pictures and wanted to share but my husband went out to run some errands before I had him download the pictures. I will have to add pictures later.

A year gone by

Almost a year ago, my twins came into this world. This year has gone by very fast. It has been a blur but there have been some great memories made, wonderful pictures taken and lots of laughter in the Starbuck household!

It has been so fun watching the boys grow and change each day. It's been fun watching Nate interact with the boys as they grow. These days when you see Nate crawling up and down the hallway, you can be sure to see Jonathan right behind Nate crawling and right behind Jonathan is Riley doing the army crawl!!! They do everything they can to keep up with big brother. Nate gets a kick out of his brothers doing the same thing he does. I think all 3 boys are going to be buds as the years go by.

This year has been special but it has been difficult too. It has taught me to be more organized, flexible and to just sit and not worry about the house. I have taken the time to just sit on the floor and play with the boys. I am a stronger person now because of the last year. Raising twins is very difficult. I remember once saying that I wanted both boys but not at the same time. Now, I wouldn't change it. I am glad I have both at the same time. They have given me lots of laughs and to be honest, tears too. I can't imagine going through the day and not loving on them in some way. I am sure some day, all 3 will tell me "Enough kisses!!"

I will leave you with a picture of each of my babies.

 

 

Picture of my boys!

We were outside one day last week enjoying the beautiful weather and I decided to pull the twins around on the wagon. Nate of course hopped in for the ride. I pulled them under our magnolia tree and got a decent shot. Enjoy!