Happy Father's Day 2017

Happy Birthday to the "Best Dad Ever"...which must be true, because the T shirt says.

 Adrian said "I love it best when you tuck me in at night."  Audra said "I love it when you kiss me and hug me and pick me up."  Since Anna-Kate didn't tell me her favorite part of having you as a dad, I just will have to show some highlights in pictures.

Happy Father's Day, Justin!

Nature Walks

Everytime I go to the Rachel Carson center for a nature walk, I tell myself I need to go more often. We all love it there, my neighbor too.  The highlight this time was watching the goose turn it's egg.  Must go more often!

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.