Learning to Can with Mamaw!

So I just figured since I was a wife of a farmer, I should learn how to can vegetables and fruits. Don't you think that should just be a given? People asked me all the time if I pickled our okra, so I decided I should go ahead and learn. Since my grandmother "Mamaw," who happens to be 92 years-old is a master at it, who better to teach me, my mom, and Aunt Jan than her?
I grew up eating my grandmas fresh canned beets, pickles, okra, peaches, green beans, and peas. It's really hard to beat come wintertime when you are making those yummy beef stews and okra gumbos, and you reach for a can of Mamaw's fresh stewed tomatoes......Nothing better!
On Sunday, mom, Mamaw and me and my girls canned pickles and pickled okra all day long. Yesterday, for about 8 hours or longer, me and Mamaw and my Aunt Jan, and my girls canned tomatoes and chow chow. We also had the pleasure of our cousins Betsy and Lyla visiting for a while and helping us peel the tomatoes:)
We finished the chow chow up at about 9:00 last night and lined everything up for a picture. I have to say, I felt so proud and accomplished! I really enjoyed it a lot, and thankfully so did my mom and aunt Jan. I think Mamaw past down a new hobby for us all. I love that we all have something that will bring us together every year and we can look forward to doing together. Next week, we are canning plum jam and peach jam. Jan said something about a peach/pecan amaretto jam.....mmmmm can't wait to test it out on a hot biscuit!

What's new with us????

Things are heating up here this summer, and we are super busy...so much so that we are finding it difficult to get things done for our homestudy. With Aaron farming in full throttle, he is rarely home and awake long enough for us to discuss what the next move is, and I am pulling my hair out trying to keep up with the house by myself, take care of the girls, focus on our adoption, and balance fun stuff for the girls this summer. It's a short season that we have to get through, and then we will be able to breathe again :) We haven't felt any reason to stop our process, so we are still moving foward little by little. Once we get into September, we will have more time to focus on everything. So on my list of to do's for the homestudy is...physical for both Aaron and myself, physicals and updated shot records for the girls, updated shots for Lucy, our dog, insurance, and writing individual autobiographies,and mounds of paperwork :) We hope to get all this finished up by the beginning of July. The girls have their appointments in place and I will be visiting the vet that comes to the Tractor Supply the first Saturday of every month to get Lucy's shots for half the price....gotta love that! In the meantime, enjoy some photos from our crazy summer thus far! They range from farming pics, to fun in the sun, to potty training!


The following pics of the farm and the family were taken by Jen Price..take a look at hers and her husband's ministry by clicking on the 10,000 homes button on my sidebar!Their vision is to build 10,000 homes for aids orphans in South Africa. They're home now on sabbatical....check it out!





Loaded truck to take to the farmer's market at the crack of dawn or sooner ;)

Alyssa seems to have gotten herself in a pickle .....hahahaha!

Splash park fun!


New Hope's "Epic" event definitely lived up to it's name...SO FUN!





And our little potty trainer...she really just only likes to "act" as though she is going! She has 1 lone sticker on her potty chart!

My Dad

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DAD
I love you because you are you, just the way you are, not because I have to ;)

ANOTHER WINNER!

Tonight we had our big drawing for Hollie's cross or picture frames, and we let Aubrey do the honors tonight.

And she picked.....

LISA SMITH!!!!

Lisa works in the children's ministry in our church and has a heart of gold. She has lovingly taken care of both of my girls, and I'm sure will one day in the near future be loving on our little man on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights when he comes home to live with us! Thank you Lisa for your sweet heart, and CONGRATULATIONS!
Also thank you so much to everyone who contributed towards our adoption through this raffle, and thank you sweet Hollie for donating your beautiful talent! It means so much to us, and because of you, we are $335.00 closer to bringing home our little man!

Scentsy!!!!!

Do you love Scentsy as much as I do????
I really and truly have become addicted to Scentsy products. They smell my whole entire house up...my favorites are "blueberry cheesecake" and "cutie pie cupcake."
Well today I was low on some scents so I stopped by to see my scentsy sales consultant, Raquel. Raquel is just as nice as they come! She asked me how our adoption was going and told me that she would like to donate commision towards our adoption on whatever we can sell. If you like Scentsy as much as I do, please check out and order some products from Raquel's page. If you haven't tried Scentsy....you are surely missing out! Go buy a Scentsy warmer and some scents....you will not be disappointed!!!!! They are flameless and smell so yummy!

Just go to www.raquelm.scentsy.us
Go to right side bar where it says "open parties" and order through Stacy and Aaron Reeves Ethiopian Adoption!

Also don't forget about my previous post on the raffle created by Hollie!!!!! Check out the below post for those details!!!!!!!!!!!

ANOTHER FUNDRAISER RAFFLE FOR OUR ADOPTION!

HEY YOU!!!!!

HELP TO.....

CHANGE A CHILD'S LIFE FOREVER.....

AND.........

WIN 2 AWESOME PRIZES!!!!!!!!!

YOU CAN CUSTOM ORDER IF YOU WIN!


I have an amazingly talented cousin, who has such a natural talent for de`cor and a knack for being able to turn any piece of junky looking garage sale furniture into something amazingly beautiful! Hollie has more talent and creativity in her little pinky than I have in my whole self! She really should own her own boutique somewhere, and I believe one day she will. Not only does she have a big talent, but she also has a big heart and has graciously donated a couple of her beautiful works of art in hopes of helping us raise the money we need for this next step in our adoption. As you may have already read, CHI responded to our application and our first big chunk of money is due now, along with the homestudy fee and the fee that comes after the homestudy fee....whewwww! Anyway, that is what we are working towards now. Please remember that 100% of what you donate goes straight towards helping us bring our little guy home! Adoption is so expensive, and we are trying everything we know to make this happen. We are so grateful to Hollie for helping us out, and we are thankful in advance for all of you who are going to participate in this raffle fundraiser! So here are the details......Hollie makes these amazingly cute picture frames, and she can custom make them with any de`cor or color or name (or words) that you want. She also makes these amazing crosses that can also be custom made to your liking! The winner of this raffle will get their choice of TWO ITEMS! You can choose 2 custom frames, or a frame and a cross, or 2 crosses....whichever you prefer. Ohhhh! It's so exciting! Remember, these make wonderful gifts for expecting moms or birthday gifts and are way too cute hanging in your little one's room! When I announce the winner, I will email you Hollie's email address and you can place your order with her....simple as that!
The raffles are $5.00 per 1 raffle or you can purchase 5 raffles for $20.00. To purchase a raffle just click on the "chip in" widget at the very top right-hand corner of my page on my side bar and donate the amount for the number of raffles you would like to purchase. The fundraiser starts now and will end Friday June 18th at 7:00 pm.

Check out Hollie's blogspot at www.gypsybelleboutique.blogspot.com or find her on facebook under "gypsy belle boutique"