Wood Stacking

Next winter's wood.  Getting it in the woodshed has been on my to-do list.  My husband helped for an hour or so yesterday, but there's a lot more to do.  Not so possible to do one handed. 

 I parked Anna-Kate outside this afternoon. It was breezy, so no bugs in the shade.  She certainly had a crew to keep her company. I got two wheelbarrows of wood during sibling entertainment time.

 Then it was discovered she really enjoyed watching the clothes move with the wind.  I got two wheelbarrows of wood in while she did this.

 And then she slept, so I got a few more wheelbarrow loads in that way.

 At the pace I'm going, it will take me the whole summer to get the wood in!  Stacking wood is probably the world's best hands on science activity with the critters we find (snake skin, mouse nest, centipedes, ant colonies, pregnant spiders, etc.), so it's just as well we will have multiples opportunities to throw wood at this pace. A little progress when I can will pay off.  Thankful I have this guy who probably did a thousand loads in his dumptruck today. I may not be exaggerating by much.

 I also have helmet girl (safety first!), who helps for 2-3 minute time spans before she declares herself 'snack girl' and goes and makes us a burdock salad (thanks...) or decides she's going to gather some chickens to be the audience watching the wood show, etc..  She provides the entertainment, which is necessary too!

I'll keep plugging away. Hope it will be finished before the snow flies.

This stinks.

There are things in life that stink and there are things in life that are really stinky.

There are days that stink. There are days that are even stinkier.

Today rates the stinkiest of them all.

11:30 pm and this fearless protector (or maybe curious fool) had a chance encounter with a skunk.  So a bath for her at 11:30 pm and a shower for me at 12:15am.

Now it's 12: 30 am and I never went through all those pictures I intended on going through because of that blasted skunk.

Because I'm a glass is half full type of girl, I need to remember those half full moments of the day so I don't wallow in the half empty feelings that are creeping up.

-Today I drank *almost* all my coffee when it was still hot.
-My husband, who is not a frequenter of wood stacking, committed an hour of his day to help me get some wood in.
-Kids who spent half the morning trying to take three goats for a walk to their "house" in the hedge.
-A baby girl who smiles broadly for "Peek a boo".
-Leftovers for all meals, which means I didn't cook or bake a thing today.
-A fantastic sewing meeting with our 4-H family.
-Line dried pajamas.
-I ate the last piece of cookie cake.
-At least the dog who needed to be de-skunked is our waterdog.

Although not funny now, someday the "Remember when" of tonight will be most comical.

Homemade: Wool Diaper Cover

My friend Cricket and her knitting needles at it again. She knitted Anna-Kate two wool diaper covers.

 Cute, functional and natural materials.

 Thank you very much, Cricket! We love a fluffy wool bottom!

Thrifted

Garage sale finds: Currier and Ives serving tray, Currier and Ives transferware bowl, more vintage transferware, one small and four large vintage milk jars, a brand new lamp shade, plus a rusty old loader (not pictured, it was in use at the time of the photo) and a watering can (also not in the photo as it was in use as well).  A whopping $10.  Score.

Home-Sweet-Classroom

It's another Monday and my kids will again dive into their home-sweet-classroom.

So thankful we made it another school year keeping them home, media free, outside for hours with opportunities to get dirty,with time to create and time to get lost in book after book. They have had so much hands on and real-life learning. Their knowledge from experience surprises me daily.

We may not always be able to keep them home, but so far, watching them grow on this farm has been nothing short of magical. 

So much love

Kiddo #3 with two big siblings = SOOOOOOO loved. 

 Sometimes I think she is lucky.

 Other times I look at her little face and think "You poor thing"!

 Anna-Kate is like a watched pot with these two. The second she is awake, she has all these eyes in her face squealing "Hi! You're awake!".  Or sometimes when she's sleeping she gets these kisses that are less than gentle kisses paired with these "I love yous" that are less than quiet "I love yous".  And whenever someone gets to hold her, the other one is so upset because they want a chance to hold her and they NEVER get a chance and the other one ALWAYS gets a chance.  Then someone is tugging her one way and the other is tugging the other way and all I want to do is rescue my tiny baby from all that love. Oh the drama.

 Sure, these two big ones squabble, but the one thing they both agree on is they are SO glad to Anna-Kate is here.  I definitely agree.

Summer planning...

For 6 years I used to walk/run by this old farmhouse and dream of what it would be like to come alive with the activity a family brings. I always thought this house/farm would be a perfect place for a child to grow up. Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would be my family.

Those are my baby's diapers on the line. Those are my kitchen chairs that I painted with a fresh coat of paint. That's the wood that I stacked. That's the barn with my animals. Those are my children with the garlic I planted that's nearly as tall as them.

This is my home sweet home that is mighty alive with all sorts of activity.  

Now we're getting into the summer sunset time. There seriously is no better time of year to be here than summer sunsets.

All of this is too good to keep to myself.  I'm starting to plan some summer community events, including our Country Kids party.  Stay posted, we hope you will be able to join us this summer!