Goodbye 2013, Hello 2014

I can't believe it is already a new year. Just one day left of 2013.  Amazing how much has happened this last year.  We moved out of that horrid rental, we bought a house with acreage, we travelled, we gardened, I started a business, the kids grew like weeds, Bear started Kindergarten, Mia has become a little kid instead of a baby, Tom has grown to love his job even more if possible and has taken on even more responsibilities, and we've acquired several critters.  We've also gained an incredible number of friends in the last year.  I really can't say it enough.  This place feels like home and the people here are super nice. 

I keep wondering if this is the so-called honeymoon period.  I really hope not.  I feel like we have been truly blessed to find this place and these people here.  There is very little we dislike about here.  The wind can be tiresome and roads can be tough at times.  Still, pretty small potatoes in the grand scheme of things.  I guess I can say I don't really care for the rattlesnakes or the tornadoes either but so far neither has been a true bother for us.

I think I have what I would call goals instead of resolutions.  I need to get running again.  Our cold and crazy weather has had me hiding and not running.  I miss getting out and I'm seriously out of shape again.  I want to increase our entire family's vegetable consumption.  It would help if I actually cooked with more vegetables.  More fruits and vegetables for us.  Less butter and cheese.  We love these but I think we need to treat them more like special treats rather than an every day necessity.  For me, less bread.  Fresh bread is a weakness of mine.  If I bake less of it I'll eat less of it, and maybe there will be a bit less of me.  We need to eat a healthier diet across the board.  We all want to be around for as long as possible.  I want to include more organic food in our diet as well.  We have some pretty great access to organic foods from friends I've made at the farmer's market and I want to support them in addition to improving my family's diet.

While I'm on the food train of thought I want to put up enough food this fall to last us through until the fresh stuff is in the garden again.  We are already running low on things like whole tomatoes.  I'll take stock again in the spring and make a list for the garden and what I need to can more or less of.

In other goals I want to continue growing my little business.  I have lots of projects around the house that I want/need done.  I want to fix up my home office so it works a lot better for me.

I think that is the majority of it.  For the most part I'm very happy with how things are going here.  There is very little I want to change.  A few tweaks here and there to make things run more smoothly, to help money not be quite so tight, and that sort of thing but really that is it.

So, Happy New Year!  Hope yours is a good one.

Procrastination

I have a huge to-do list and it seems the longer that gets, the longer I procrastinate.  It doesn't seem to matter if it is for my household or for my yarn business.  I guess I am the epitome of a procrastinator with the slogan, "If it weren't for the last minute, I would never get anything done."  Thank goodness for those last minutes!

We've had some brutally cold weather.  The computer says it has warmed up to a balmy -10 F.  Which means it is still probably at least -15 at my house.  We seem to sit at a firm five degrees colder than the airport.  At least my south facing windows are getting lots of beautiful sunshine that is helping to heat the house today.  It was cold enough I even moved my chickens inside.  Dogs are certainly inside and even the cat has been allowed to come in and get warm.  She lives in the garage but since losing her brother we've felt badly that she has no one to curl up with for heat.  She doesn't stay in but she visits several times a day right now.  The kids and her love it.  The dogs and us adults aren't too sure.  We tolerate it.

We are all getting excited since Christmas is almost here.  Christmas vacation is much looked forward to here.  At least I am. :) I doubt Bear really is.  He does love being in school.  I am glad about that but it makes days that school is cancelled, or when he is sick, pretty tough.  We get visitors for Christmas this year. Yay! We don't have to travel and we still get to see family.  I am hunky-dory with that.  I just hope we get some decent weather for them to travel in.  I don't want snow storms right then.  After they get here is fine, but not when they need to be driving up from the Denver area.  We can get some yucky storms around here so I'd like to just hold off on those if we can.

Okay, I guess I'll quit procrastinating and get some stuff done.  I need a firecracker lit under me.

Articles and Comments

Nothing specific here just a musing on my part.  It is amazing to me the amount of debate some articles can induce.  Sometimes what seems to be a rather benign article is the one that incites the most commenting.  I wonder why that is?  Maybe the article seems a bit benign to me because it is about an every day common thing which would have the most reach-ability to the largest number of people. 

Something about kids would resonate with a lot more people than something political as there are more parents than people with an in depth knowledge of most politics.  I'm not saying people aren't interested in politics just not intimately familiar with them as they are with parenting.

I get a kick out of reading a lot of comments on articles just because people fascinate me.  The way they respond on the Internet with some resemblance of anonymity has to differ for most folks from their every day one-to-one response.  At least I hope so for some folks.  Some end up being not very nice when they can hide behind their computer.  I find it rather sad that people feel the need to do that.  I'd be willing to bet they aren't very happy.


So anyway, that is just my random mind wandering during our family quiet time.  It has been snowy and cold here which makes it perfect for working on knitting projects inside.  Along with a big ol' inside cleaning day.  It has been a while since we did a big clean and with Christmas coming everyone needs to sort and purge as we tend to accumulate stuff.  It doesn't seem to matter how hard we try not to, it accumulates.  So tomorrow will be a Goodwill trip.

Christmas gathering and Thanksgiving gathering is a perfect motivator to do the cleaning I avoid most of the time.  I love a clean house.  I just really dislike getting it there.

Thankful for Nebraska

Have I mentioned how much I love that we moved to Nebraska?  No?  My bad.  I know when we first moved here I complained about our rental a lot.  It was a horrible place to live.  But, it does not change the fact that we have truly felt accepted by this community.  It strangely feels like we've come home.  Odd since neither of us has family here or any other tie prior to moving here.

So what are some things I like about here?  People are so stinking nice.  Instead of, "Why did you move here?" we get, "Welcome to our community."  We have easily found babysitters for the kids.  And yes, that was correct.  Sitters, plural.  How cool is that?  We have found people to occasionally watch the animals too.  The kids have friends and play dates on a somewhat regular basis.  I feel very much a part of the farmer's market community and Tom is very much a part of the college community.

Although we enjoyed living in Missoula, we just never did feel quite settled there.  We do here.  We don't have to hurry, we don't have to be pushed, we can just be.  It is nice and quiet once you are out of town too.  The changing landscape of the farms tickle me to no end.  I love the ebb and flow of watching the land go from Winter brown, to black as they till, and then move into the green and lastly the gold of Fall harvest.

Sure there are things we don't particularly care for around here.  Crop dusting, the dust, and roads that turn to gumbo when they get wet and sometimes make it impossible to leave the house.  We don't like that we live far from family either.  These are really all small prices to pay to truly enjoy where you live though.  So all-in-all I am very thankful we moved to our little corner of Nebraska.  Who would have thought it?  Not I.

Morning

Fridays are my market prep days.  They can get a little crazy.  You would think by now I would have it streamlined.  I do to an extent but I am forever amazed at how different each market is.  Tomorrow is going to be an interesting test.  Tom is out of town for work so the kids will be joining me at market.  Market is also during nap time.  Hmmm. How big of a glutton for punishment am I?  I figure this will be a good test of doing summer market with Bear.  He has been talking about wanting to sell vegetables.  This is as good of a time as any I suppose.  I'll just have to make sure I have the entertainment goodies for little sister.  New crayons and new coloring book should do the trick.  I plan on keeping Bear busy helping me out at our stall.

So back to prepping.  Because of having the kids I need to be extra prepared.  No running back to the truck for a second.  At least with Bear there and since we're in the greenhouse, which means no vehicle traffic, I can send him across the greenhouse to buy us lunch.  One couple there makes the best pulled pork sandwiches.  Such wonderful smoky goodness.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.  I love that Bear is getting old enough to help out with stuff like this.  He is turning into such a nice young man.

Which reminds me.  He gets to be part of the "lunch bunch" today at school.  This means he gets to have lunch with his teacher and aide because he had what they call a "groovy day" at school.  Basically he was really good and they reward that.  He is pretty excited to be part of the lunch bunch.  The best was that it was Monday and he told me on the way to school that he was going to get a groovy day.  I said, "Uh-huh," and then didn't think anything about it until he got home full of the news that he had gotten his groovy day.  On the flip side though then he had a rough day yesterday.  When I picked him up first thing he did was to apologize for not having a good day.  He had apparently gotten in trouble a couple of times.  He was super tired since he had gotten up at 5 a.m. for some reason.  When he gets that tired he cannot behave.  Tom and I say his brain has fallen out because he acts like there is nothing between those cute little ears of his.  We know better, but when he is so tired nothing connects.

Well, I suppose I should actually do some of my prep work for market instead of procrastinating.  I have several new yarns to set and a ton of photos I need to upload to the computer and take a look at.  It has been ages since I did.  Long enough it will almost be like getting back that envelope of photos from the developer because I don't remember what pictures I took.

Public School and Home School

As Bear gets further along in school and I meet more and more people who home school it is something that I'm more and more interested in finding more information on.  I'm finding too that I quite enjoy Bear being in school.  It gives Mia and I some time by ourselves that we have never had before.  That being said, I can see the plus and minus side of things to both situations.

As I do not have any major issues with public school I don't see any reason to go crazy and pull Bear out.  Now, I do see the value in having some educational things happen here at home.  Especially during the summer.  In this way I think we can get the benefits of both without having so much work for Mom. 

The benefits of public school as I see them:  It teaches you to work with a large group of people every single day.  It teaches you to work for a boss/teacher.  Even if you don't care for that person.  You learn the finer points of navigating many personalities at all social levels.  It teaches you how to deal with things you don't necessarily want to do.  It expands your social network to people you may never come into contact with otherwise.  I think this is one of the biggest benefits in my mind.  You can teach all the other stuff with home school as well but I think coming into contact with people your parents would never introduce you  to is a good life lesson.  We as parents hope to teach our children how to maintain their own integrity and deal with all people with grace and dignity.  The true test of this, in my mind, is to deal with people that have different back grounds, social status, races, religions, creeds, ability levels, etc.

The draw backs to public school:  As a parent you lose a lot of control over what your child consumes.  Both physically at lunch, socially in interacting with kids and teachers, and visually with all the paraphernalia that goes with being in school.  Not to mention you may not always agree with a teaching style or content.  There are also the social drawbacks and pressures that go along with being in school.

The benefits to home school:  You, as a parent, have total control over your child's education.  Both social and book.  You don't have to deal with "that" teacher/administrator.  You don't have to worry about how to get your kid to school.  Your kid can set the pace of learning.  You can mold the curriculum to your kid and their learning style.

The draw backs to home school:  You never get a break.  You do the work of the teacher on top of your job as a parent.  Your child is sheltered from the world socially. I know this is up for debate but on the whole that I have seen this holds true whatever the reasoning behind it. You, as a parent, have total control over your child's education.  Yes, both a benefit and a draw back.  What benefits a parent doesn't always benefit the child.

There are lots more detailed things I could get into both on public and home school.  I see the appeal of both.  If we were further from the school I would probably seriously consider home school.  As it is I think we'll do a mix.  My kids will stick with traditional public school.  I will supplement that schooling with home education in the form of raising animals, a garden, reading voraciously, and helping them to explore whatever interests them at the time. 

Right now Bear seems very interested in having some sort of business venture with me doing the farmer's market.  We'll test the waters with this a little this weekend.  I'm going to have him join me and assist at market.  He is talking about wanting to grow some vegetables for a market stand.  We have an understanding.  He'll do the work of helping me plant, water, and weed while I front him the seed, the garden space, and a market table.  The sale of his vegetables will go to help pay for seeds and market but he will get to keep the majority of the profit.  I think I will require that he save a small portion of it but the rest he may take to purchase what he likes.

We shall see how this goes.  You never know.  I figure we're better off testing it with the vegetables.  He's also talked about wanting to do something with dairy goats too.  I think we'll start him small and see how his attention holds.  It will be fun to see how this develops.

Disclaimer:  I do not mean to step on any one's toes regarding their chosen method of education.  I feel like the method doesn't matter as much as actually getting an education.  I still love the quote (and I'm not sure who said it, although I think it has been attributed to Mark Twain) "Don't let your schoolin' get in the way of your education," or something to that effect.  My goal with my kids is to keep that desire to learn throughout their life.

A few interesting thoughts

Although the link I'm going to provide is a bit heavier on the preaching than I normally care for I quite enjoyed the sentiments of this particular post from Thy Hand Hath Provided.

http://www.thyhandhathprovided.com/2013/10/divide-or-unite.html

So very true on so many things.  I wonder what it is about us humans that always makes us compete, divide, argue, and so on.

~~~~~~~~~

Besides random blog readings, carving pumpkins, the kids watching Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin, and everyone having the first good sick of the school year there isn't a ton going on.  With both boys having been sick I'm all sorts of out of my routine and it looks like Miss Mia is joining the ranks of being sick since she is off her feed and running a fever this evening.  Always a bummer when the littles are sick.

We have a Halloween party tomorrow for Bear's class.  I'm a little worried about taking Mia now.  I hadn't even thought about that a few hours ago.  Rats.  We'll figure something out.  I still have to peel and chop carrots for that tonight.  Ugh.  I'll do it tonight though because I know I won't get to it in the morning.  Besides, I have celery etc. to take care of then.

Oops.  It got dark all of a sudden and I need to shut the chickens in.

Fall weather and winter preperations

We have had a beautiful October.  Yes we had close to 8 inches of snow at the beginning but that melted off and we've had some really nice 70 something degree days most of the month.  We've had frosts at night but that is to be expected.  It is October after all.  I have most of the garden, yard, and chickens ready for winter.  I can certainly do more work on the garden.  A garden is never done.  I think since it is predicted to be really nice today I'll do some playing out there and save the inside stuff for later this week when it is supposed to be cold and snowy.

Now that October is mostly over I'll switch to the winter market schedule.  That will be nice.  It will give me most weekends with my family and I'll only be at market the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of the month. 

My boys are sick. I hate when they both catch something.  Neither one can quit coughing.  They've been at it long enough that I may end up taking them to the doctor.  Knock on wood, but Mia and I are good so far.

Let's see, what else is going on?  It was my birthday yesterday so we had a nice little family get together.  Tom made dinner and baked a cake.  The kids got me some great presents.  Barrett had been very secretive for about two weeks.  He came up with a great coffee cup for me.  Mia apparently needed a little more help but she got me a yummy smelling candle.  They made my birthday cards too.  It made my day.  I can hardly wait to see what they do with Christmas.  They are both at a great age for Christmas.

Both kids are growing like weeds.  I don't think that stops until they are 20 something.  We measured the kids in July and we've had them stand next to their measurements a couple of times.  I bet Bear has grown two inches in four months.  Mia probably has done and inch and a half.  I'm excited to see where they are going to be at in January when we make the next mark.  Since the kids are six months apart on birthdays we figure it will be the perfect separation on the growth chart.

We had parent teacher conferences the other day.  It went well.  I was very proud of Bear.  He's apparently a good kid in school.  Also, his teacher thinks she'll have to give him and a couple of other boys some extra stuff to do so they don't get bored.  She said she'll be happy to make it to Christmas without it but kind of doubts she'll be able to.  I'm glad he has a teacher that recognizes that Bear will need more.  He and a couple of other boys are tired of counting by ones to 100 so they've been working on counting by 5s and 10s.  His teacher figures at the rate they are going they'll be working on counting by 2s before the year is up.  Not something they are generally able to get to in Kindergarten.  The best part is that it sounds like there are a couple of other kids right there with Bear so he won't be singled out.  He'll have a group to work with.  It makes me glad we didn't hold him out of Kindergarten for another year.  Because of his age we could have but he's been so ready to go we sent him.

Little things like when I kept him home for being sick the other day he was worried he was going to miss class work.  So I printed up a bunch of worksheets for him.  He worked on them for a little bit each day for about two days.  They are all done and he wants to take them back to his teacher.  He seemed to enjoy doing them so much that we may make that a weekend habit.  I'd like to keep it all fun stuff so he continues to enjoy it.

Well, I'd better get some of my Fall chores done before the snow flies.  With a nice day today I just might make it.

I thought Fall and ended up with 4-H.

I do love this time of the year.  The days are getting shorter and the nights are getting longer.  The mornings are crisp with the bite of Fall.  There is no better time.  I like the subtle (sometimes not so subtle) push of winter coming.  It reminds me to get things done.  Some things just can't be left undone before the snow flies.  Our first load of wood is next to the garage.  I'm sure we'll need another load at least.  We'll also need to get a chainsaw and an axe.  Despite the grumbles about hauling wood I have always enjoyed that Fall task of gathering wood.  We've yet to poke holes in our ceiling or roof yet but we have the hearth laid.  I should finish sealing the grout and tiles tomorrow.  Then we should be able to move the stove inside and work on taking measurements for the pipe.  Little by little we'll get there.

The garden is progressing toward a cool weather garden.  I still have parsley producing along with new lettuce, the carrots, and the parsnips.  I'm storing the potatoes, parsnips, and carrots in the ground.  We'll dig as needed.  I still have beets too that I'll store in situ.  Someday I'll build a small greenhouse with old windows and doors.  First I have to figure out where I want it.  Right now I can't even figure out where I want my clothesline.  I didn't like where it was.  I disliked the location enough that I ended up not using it a good portion of the time.  I need to get it closer to the house and easier to use.

We have lots of projects going all the time.  They are usually prolonged by lack of funding or lack of time.  Like all good projects.  At some point we'll get enough time, money, and motivation to at least get some sort of shelving or something in the garage and basement to make those storage areas work better too.  I'm sure Tom would appreciate not having to dodge a hundred pound bag of wool in order to get to the door.  I know I'll be happy when the stove is out of my way.

Besides indoor projects there are always the outdoor ones too.  All of our gutters leak.  A lot.  Our siding will need replaced before too long as well.  The siding isn't one I look forward to paying for.  I do look forward to some color besides white though.  The house is a very boring white ranch house.  We just did some seeding for the yard today. By "we" I mean Tom and the kids.  I was fixing supper so didn't get in on it too much.  The kids were great help though.  They each got their own seed bags (like farmers did in the old days) and they broadcast the seed by hand all through the yard.

That makes me think about something.  I think Bear will do 4-H next year.  He is old enough to be what is called a Clover Kid.  They are the kids who are younger than 8 years that still want to participate.  They can't qualify for the state fair but they can show at their local county fairs.  They have some pretty cool projects for them.  Bear is also talking about wanting to have goats or something.  He doesn't want to have anything butchered so we'll see what he ends up doing.  May not be much in the way of market animals.  His choice.  The only bummer is that if he doesn't do the market animal he was see a hefty chunk of change at the end of the year when it sells.  I understand not wanting your pet butchered though.  At least fiber and dairy animals wouldn't be sold off every year.  He may decide to do chickens or rabbits too.  I'm excited for him to participate.  Mia too when she gets old enough.  I loved 4-H.  I would have kept doing it except that I aged out at 19.  I think I started at 7 because I know I wasn't old enough to go to the state fair my first year even though I qualified by my placement.

For those that don't know 4-H is an agricultural education program.  Clubs are run through the year and that club's work culminates in the county fair and then the state fair competitions.  You can participate in something like 150 different categories.  Anything that could possibly pertain to farming/ranch/agriculture can be done.  The main focus is to teach the kids leadership skills, record keeping, and time management.  Every project has several requirements that must be met each year.  A record book kept by each kid for their individual project along with the club has its own responsibilities and officers (positions held by the club members not leaders).  Your local extension office is the best place for the information on what is available in your area. 

Okay, I'll get off my 4-H soapbox.  I'd probably have one for FFA too if I had done that for more than one year.  Not sure why I didn't as I always kind of wanted to.  Oh, and FFA is Future Farmers of America.  The four "H"s are your head, heart, hands, and health.  And in case you want to see what the choices for a Nebraska kid are: http://4h.unl.edu/web/4hcurriculum/pickyourproject

I think I'd better try to keep going on some of those projects I have going.

Cold and dreary

We went from beautiful Fall days to a cold and dreary day.  I know the land needs the water so I won't complain too much.  I am not thrilled about driving on the slick, slimy, gumbo mud that makes up our roads.  You sure don't take things too fast when the roads are soaked like this.

This weather makes my chickens not very happy too.  And of course it soaks their food.  That is frustrating since I just put out fresh food for them yesterday.  They don't eat fast enough when it is wet to not have it get moldy so usually after a day it gets tossed into the compost so they don't end up eating yucky food.

We now have enough wind to make the rain go sideways.  Days like this always make my motivation go.  Not sure where it goes but it means I sure don't have it.  These days make me want to curl up with a good book and a cup of hot chocolate and do nothing else.  Sadly I can't do that for long before something else needs done.

I have a little girl requesting that I go play so I'd better do that.  It sounds much more fun than the laundry I have been doing.

Beautiful Fall day

And yet I can't seem to get myself in gear.  It is one of those days that I just can't seem to wake up.  Yes, I've had coffee, eaten breakfast, and even had ginger and lemon water.  I just don't want to seem to get moving.

I'm sure part of it is that I've let everything go for too long.  I didn't do the few dishes last night so now I have a few from yesterday and today.  The bathrooms need cleaning, the garden needs dealt with, tile needs sealed, we need to vacuum, laundry (like always) needs done, and I still haven't gotten my little office/studio/bedroom to where I want it.  Of course there are always things like dusting and mopping that need done and please don't try to look out my windows. 

Somehow it all just runs away with a person.  You leave things for a day or two thinking you'll get back to something and it seems like it becomes some sort of monster in those couple of days. Growing to ridiculous proportions overnight.  Then along comes a day when you can't seem to light the fire and they seem even bigger.  Dumb.

A problem I have with it all is that I really don't like most house chores.  I think I cleaned a few too many hotel rooms to care for cleaning.  Not that anyone really enjoys cleaning but I think some people like the clean house enough to actually accomplish the cleaning.  I can live with some mess before it drives me crazy enough to clean.  Of course my definition of some mess according to some is a disaster and to others it isn't even a mess yet.  My brother thinks I'm a total slob.  More lazy than anything.  I have my pet projects and cleaning isn't one of them.

So, what else is going on this fine Fall day?  Bear is liking school and seems to be doing well.  We should be coming up on parent/teacher conferences.  Those are always interesting.  I'll find out just how much of a talker he is. :)  I know I was horrible about talking in school.  Poor kid came by it honestly at least.  Otherwise I don't think we'll have too much to worry about.  I hope not anyway.

Mia is an interesting kid.  She seems to just kind of go along in her own little make-believe world.  She loves the story.  Princesses are a fascination right now.  My semi-feminist beliefs make me think I should worry about that but at the same time my own girly side takes over and says let her enjoy dressing like a princess while it is adorable and she doesn't need to be practical.  At least she'll put on her frilliest dress and then go play in the dirt outside.  I can handle a princess that isn't afraid of getting dirty or being a tough girl.  Besides, being a princess she is completely involved in stories.  She can play with a doll house and little people and animals for hours.  Maybe we'll do something like that for Christmas for her.  Bear has never really been interested in stuff like that so we've never gotten around to getting some of that kind of stuff for the kids.

Bear is much more the science kid.  Bugs and animals and their habits seem to hold his interest longer.  Space and rockets are right up there as well.  Dinosaurs are cool but I really can't think of a five-year-old boy that doesn't think that.  I wonder why we don't do any sort of paleontology in middle school or high school science.  Plenty of kids I know would love to check out fossils and dinosaurs instead of dissecting worms or sheep eyes.

So we have our princess girl that loves sparkly stuff and wants to play in the sandbox and have her kitty around at all times, and then we have Bear that is ready to go explore and find bugs and learn as many big words as he can to stump Mom and Dad with.

We are working our way into the Fall season as well.  I'm mostly done canning (thank goodness).  I need to put the garden to bed and do some more winterizing.  We are installing a wood stove mostly as a just-in-case the power goes out source of heat and a way to cook.  My wool/yarn business has picked up and then slowed down as well but seems to remain somewhat steady so that keeps me always busy.  One of these days we'd like to re-paint a bunch of stuff in the house but that is going to have to wait until some of the other more important stuff gets done and paid for.

Well, despite me not wanting to do it I suppose I'd better get this load of laundry folded before the other piles get done washing and drying.  Maybe I'll bribe myself with something?

A bit of politics

Because I try not to post political stuff on most of my online stuff I'll post it here mostly because I think this is so well said.  Here is the link: https://medium.com/p/e3454354d692 

His experience with the SNAP (what I knew as Food Stamps) is very similar to mine except that it was his parents using it not him.  I've never known them to be a luxury by any stretch of the imagination.  I've used them twice in my life for about 6 months at each stretch.  Thank goodness they were there both times.  And guess what?  I had a full time job both times and still couldn't make ends meet.  Stunk to high heaven.  No, I didn't enjoy being on them.  Yes, sometimes I splurged with them and got a decent meal of a steak.  Ya know what?  That meant I ate a lot of things like rice and other cheap stuff the rest of the month because my allotment was blown. 

I just ran across a receipt from one of the 6 months the other day.  For two of us it was $139.00 a month.  Yes, that was supplemented by a part-time job and a full-time job so that wasn't all we were spending on groceries but pretty darn close.  There are still a lot of things you aren't allowed to buy with those.  Rightly so as they are a FOOD supplement.  Also, the food has to be food that you have to cook.  No deli type stuff.  But still that is not a lot of money to put food on the table.  To be honest we probably still qualify for them now that we have two kids.  We don't use them because we are just able to make things work if we are careful.

Yes, we could abuse the system and eat a little bit more comfortably or out a little more often but I see no reason to.  You see, I've paid my taxes that help to pay for programs like this since I was 14.  I've had at least a part-time job since before I was probably legal to work.  I understand people not wanting to pay for someone who doesn't need it.

My point is the same as this gentleman's that most people that use these kinds of programs don't really use them by choice.  They use them because they need a hand up or a stepping stone if you like your metaphors.  For whatever your reason is at that point in your life you can't make ends meet and you need a bit of help.  It sucks to ask for that help too and you do your best to get on your own two feet as fast as possible too.

So there is my little bit of a soap box moment for you.  I get frustrated with all politicians, most of whom appear to have never wanted for anything for a moment in their life telling us lowly folks how we are supposed to live.  I would have loved to have been able to afford their schools, lifestyle, cars, and all that.  I don't want their lives but I would love to afford them. I much prefer my life out in the sticks even if I'm a lot further down on the economic ladder than they are.

I'm going to bet that I know how to do a lot more than they do and I like that.  I like that my financial situation has required that I learn how to cook, bake, chop wood, can, raise animals, hunt, dress out at animal (whether hunted or purchased), and I can still go out to dinner at all the fancy places and hold my own in most conversations.  Sure a little more money would be nice, but I'm going to bet they say the same thing.  I heard a great analogy for that.  I think it was a family member that described it as a gold fish theory.  A gold fish grows to the size of their bowl, so do our spending habits.  We spend what we make.  Oh so true!

Been awhile

I can tell school is going and things have gotten a little hectic.  I'm not on here writing nearly as much.  School is going all right.  I'm ready for parent teacher conferences.  It is a bizarre way to get information when it is through the perspective of your 5 year-old.  Things are certainly skewed.  I'm hearing lots online all of a sudden about Common Core.  I haven't heard anything earlier and now all of a sudden there are lots of posts on Facebook against it.  I finally read an article on NPR that basically stated that some people are for it and some are against it.  Well, gee.  You don't say?  Isn't that the case with anything?

I'm trying to find a bit less biased information about it.  I want to talk to Bear's teacher and see what she knows about it and/or her opinions as a teacher that may have to implement it.  From what little I know it appears to be a way to try to get all the states on the same program so a kid moving from state to state doesn't have to go back a grade or jump a grade depending on the state they moved from.  That seems like a good idea but it will be interesting to see what the actual implementation involves.  Like I say though, I really don't know what it is.

I saw one comment (those always make for good entertainment) that basically said parents who didn't know about Common Core weren't involved in their children's education.  Hmmmm... I take issue with that.  I don't know what it is but that is because we are about 4 weeks into a 13-20 year stint of schooling.  Maybe we don't know as we've never heard of it before because we are new to the school system.  Ever think of that?  Oh, wait, or it is a NEW program by the looks of things.  Uh, with new things the word needs spread.  Just like with a new product of any kind there needs to be advertising.  Not all of us are glued to the t.v. 24/7.  A lot of us haven't seen a commercial in a very long time.  Or we see very limited numbers of commercials.  So maybe, just maybe the word needs to be spread in more than one way.  I like to think I'm involved in my kid's education but I haven't a clue what this is all about.

As you can see, I have issues with many random commenters online.  I think the simple fact that they can hide behind a computer screen makes them say things they wouldn't necessarily say otherwise.  I know it can be true for me.  I'm guilty too.  I'm sure not exempt from saying stupid things.  In fact I can be pretty good at it.

Anyway, what it boils down to is that I will be doing a bit more research.  I knew this education thing would be the hardest part of parenting for me.  Home school vs. public school.  Parent clubs, volunteering, and random competitiveness of other parents.  I don't really get it.  I didn't get it as a student let alone now as a parent.  As a public school product I see the value in public school.  I also see its many flaws.  Home schooling has its flaws too.  I think both sides of it need to implement things from the other.  I absolutely think public school needs supplemented by the parents.  Some districts/states more than others.  I also think that the home schooled kids need more exposure to the frustrations of working in large groups of people.  Some people do this better than others.  I think one of the best public school lessons is learning how to be your own person despite having them try to stuff you into a mold that they want you to fit in.  Conform and follow rules without losing yourself.  It is a tough lesson to learn.  No matter when it is learned.  Some of us are better at different parts of it than others too.

I'll get off my little rant here.  I hear that the laundry needs swapped and our weather is getting yuckier so I need to make sure things are battened down.  I don't think my poor chickens have even poked their heads out of the coop.  Windy, rainy, and cold.

UPDATE: Here is the actual Common Core link: http://www.corestandards.org/  I've just very quickly scanned it so far.  What I'm seeing is that it looks like any other school curriculum.  My guess is that the issues all come about in the implementation just like in any curriculum.  And it also answers why I haven't heard much about it.  I live in one of the five states that has not adopted it.  Interesting.

Winter Stores

Trying to figure out my schedule is a chore.  I've never been very good at setting my own schedules and sticking to them.  Ideas I have.  Execution not so much.  Especially when I have things like canning going.  I'm pretty over the canning right now.  There is so much to do yet.  I feel like have canned every day for a month now.  I know it hasn't been every day but it has been close to that.  Of course I have to remember that every little bit I can now is something I don't have to purchase this winter.  And when I say can, I also mean drying or freezing.  Basically just putting up food for the winter.  I have a pile of it.  It still probably won't last the winter with the four of us but it should at least help.

There is a blog I read called Throwback at Trapper Creek.  She had a post about estimating how much to can and using the number 52 for the 52 weeks of the year.  Now, she is producing a whole lot more of their own food than I am.  And probably more than I care to.  I don't think I'll ever get to the point of milking my own cow.  One, I'm not a huge fan of raw milk, and two I don't want to be tied to milking twice a day every day.  Can't do goat milk either.  No matter how hard I try I don't like the stuff.  Don't like goat cheese either.  Sheep I don't know.  Can't say I've ever had sheep's milk.  Now, I'm pretty sure feta cheese is sheep.  I like that.  Not enough to warrant keeping a dairy animal though.

Anyway, back to the canning stuff.  I have oodles of tomato sauce, salsa, and whole tomatoes.  Probably close to 52 jars of the stuff.  I have more to can too.  I have a few carrots canned and a few frozen.  We aren't huge carrot fans so we only put up a little of those.  I have one jar of pickled beets.  That is probably more than enough.  I like them at Thanksgiving or Christmas but that is it.  No one else really likes them around here.  Bear likes plain beets so I may put up some of those now that I have my pressure canner.

Mostly I just want my kitchen back.  Canning supplies take over the kitchen this time of year.  The actual canners are huge.  The stock pots for prepping the recipes are big and there are all sorts of accessories that lay around needing to always be at hand.  Ladles, jar lifter, funnel, food mill, rings, lids, jars, towels, and other basic kitchen utensils.  There are also always the baskets and bins of the produce.  Big baskets of tomatoes take up a lot of my counter space.  Ugh.

Can you tell this is what I'm putting off?  Canning more tomatoes.  I probably should actually do more salsa since I have a pile of peppers.  Well, never mind, I don't have any hot peppers.  Maybe I'll do a roasted pepper and tomato ketchup.  That might be good.  And it is pretty easy.  Easy is good at this point.

I suppose I should go swap my laundry around so I might make it through that stuff today too.  I'm seeing that in addition to the canning it is a good thing we are headed for Colorado in a couple of weeks.  We need a Costco run something fierce.  Peanut butter and olive oil are almost out.  Funny that those are the things we go through the most from there.  I also need to re-stock some things like aluminum foil, Ziplock type bags, and some of that type stuff that is so much cheaper in bulk.  Plus then I only have to worry about buying it once, maybe twice, a year.  That is my favorite aspect of Costco purchases.

Oh, and recently I say the food dehydrator I'm interested in on one of their ads.  I wonder if it is in any of the stores.  I'd like to actually physically look at them before buying one.  Okay, I'm off to swap laundry.

It is that time of year again.

We are certainly back in school.  I have a head cold.  Bear has some sniffles but seems to be kicking it pretty quickly.  Mia has a few sniffles that don't seem to phase her, and mine are making me feel like my head is going to explode.  Bear got quite the kick out of the fact that I told him I felt like there are a couple of little dudes in behind my eyes trying to push them out of my head.  Figures that I'm the one that gets the nasty part.  Maybe it isn't so bad.  I'm probably just being a wimp.  It has been awhile since getting sick so I'm feeling wimpy.

Of course Mom being sick does nothing to stop the rest of the world from moving on.  I wish it wouldn't do that.  I'm on a canning break though.  I just can't bring myself to do that right now.  Give it a few days and we'll be rolling again.

Mia has been particularly funny lately.  She has taken to saying that the toilet paper is screeching as it gets flushed.  It's a, "Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii'm going downnnnnnnnnn."  Of course it doesn't translate nearly so well into writing, but trust me that it is hilarious when she does this.  Today while we were running some errands in town she and I stopped by Goodwill.  I always check their basket selection for display stuff for my yarn business.  And I'm looking for old pots to do dye work in. Oddly they have very few pots.  Anyway, she and I were looking around and she found the purse section.  She found a little purse that was covered in silver sequins.  The girl loves her sparkly stuff and at $.50 I couldn't say no.  She loves her sparkly stuff shoes so much that she has worn the sparkles off of them in most places.

Bear is getting into being in school.  It is entertaining getting school news and goings on through a five year-old perspective. Things like the other day he and some other kids apparently had to go take some sort of test.  I'm dying to know what it really was since all he would tell us is that it had numbers on it and he did that instead of music class.  He did say it was fun though.  At least he is having fun.  Poor kid is like a walking zombie though.  With class being all day he doesn't get a nap and he just can't get to bed soon enough to sleep long enough to not be a zombie.  We try to help catch up on weekends and we try to push bed time earlier but it just hasn't worked out yet. 

We've had a wicked heat wave lately too.  We've been in the high 90s for the last week or so and it just hasn't cooled off at night.  This keeps up I will be more than ready for Fall and that first freeze which is due in the next couple of weeks.  I have a feeling this month's power bill is going to be a killer from running the ac even at night.  We've been able to open up the place at night until recently and not run the dang thing.  How sad is this?  It has been so hot I haven't even been hanging clothes on the line.  Too hot to be outside.  Ugh!

I'd better get this proof-read and get going on something to eat.  It is getting to be that time of day.  Looks like we've got a storm rolling in too.

School

You know how I know we are really back in school?  Bear woke up with a runny nose and scratchy throat and it feels like he has shared with me.  Oh goody.  This is the part I don't like about school.  We are better off than a lot of the kids too because we already went through the daycare years of building up our immunities.   Some good Cold Care tea, lots of garlic, lemon, honey, and ginger will help knock in the hind end.

Otherwise we seem to be getting this schedule figured out.  We all pile in the vehicle about 7:30 in the morning and head for school.  Mia and I come home and get to work.  She gets to watch her show without interference from Bear.  She's pretty funny about it.

I'm trying to convince myself to spin today and it just hasn't happened.  I don't feel great and I know this evening I'm getting a pile of food from our CSA so I know I'll be working at food processing.

I'd better get a little girl down for her nap before she completely melts down.  Or I do. :)

Settling in

We got the bus figured out.  There isn't one.  That simple.  We are the only people with kids out this way and it just doesn't make sense for the district to send a bus.  At least they reimburse for the gas.  They pay mileage.  Better than nothing but it still means I'm up every day and driving Bear to school.  Ugh.  And it means we pick him up too.  7.5 miles one way means 30 miles a day for school.  So be it.  I just would have preferred to have been on a bus route.

Otherwise though school is going alright.  Poor Bear is wiped out by the time he is done.  It is all day Kindergarten so he is there from 8a.m. to 3:30 p.m.  Poor kid.  He still likes naps so this is hard to get used to.  I can see his sister adjusting to this a lot better than he has.  He seems to like his teacher and seems to be making friends quickly.  I had no doubts there.  I like that he has computer classes, p.e. classes, and music classes.  I'll be interested to see what stuff he brings home as the year goes on.

We are all starting to get the hang of our new schedules.  Tom is in school, Bear is in school, and Mia and I are busy with canning.  Well, canning and my wool business.  Also, I'm starting a club of sorts for a bunch of us gals around here that are farm-ish types and need some friends to get together with.   In talking to others it can be tough when you live way out of town and have critters that depend on you.  There isn't a whole lot of time to meet up with friends or even to make friends.  So we're going to give it a go with what will hopefully become monthly meetings.

I love being this crazy busy.  It doesn't help my house get clean because what goes when I have other stuff I want to do?  My house cleaning.  In a heart beat.  I don't care for it and so it is the first thing to get pushed aside.  That and deciding what to cook.  The actual act of cooking is fine.  It is the planning and picking out what to cook that stinks.  Maybe I don't have enough focus or something.

I'm trying to nod off so I'd better get back up and check my canning.  I can't nap until that is done and I still have tomato sauce to put in the canner.  I should get some wool carded too so I can spin this evening.  Oh whoops.  We're going to a college volleyball game so I won't be spinning.  Maybe I'll wind wooly balls while I'm there.

So it begins.

And we are off!  We had Kindergarten orientation today.  I came home with an insane amount of paperwork.  And I can't get information about the bus from anyone!  Argh!  I talked to the school, another school, the district, and the bus guy.  No one has any information and everyone says to talk to the other.  I'm about to start jumping down throats and teetering on wishbones.  Grrrrrr. 

So there is my little vent.  It will get sorted.  I have another call into the district to someone who will hopefully be able to help.  It is just frustrating because all the routes here are in town routes.  This makes no sense to me.  I always had rural routes and the kids in town didn't have buses.  Now apparently if you're more than 4 miles out they don't really run a route.  What?!  How does this make sense?  Do the rural kids not go to school?  Actually I know a lot of them don't and are home schooled but still.  What about those that do?

So stinking frustrating.  I just have to have faith that it will all work out in the end.  The first week is always rough.  New job, new school, or whatever.  Once we get their system figured out we'll be a lot happier.

On a positive note.  Bear's teacher seems great and he has a cute old school.  The lunch kitchen is a total flashback to my own.  I walked in and all of a sudden I was somewhere between 1st and 5th grade.  Holy cow!  Pretty much the only major difference was that you needed to change which side of the gym the kitchen is on.  These guys eat in the gym instead of the stage.  We used the stage. 

Anyone notice that schools don't seem to have the wood floors in the gyms anymore?  The new building Bear was in last year had a weird composite floor of some kind and this school has linoleum.  Are the wood floors too expensive to maintain or something?  They don't even feel like a gym to me.  They don't smell right without the fumes from the polyurethane coats that have just been re-done for the start of the school year. 

Yes, I'm having weird existential crisis with Bear starting Kindergarten.  I'm excited for him but frustrated that all the things I thought I had figured out about school during my 12-13 years there don't apply here.  Why doesn't it make sense?  Like I said though.  It will even out after a couple of weeks into it I'm sure.  Mainly I think it is just weird to be on the parent end of things instead of the kid side.

Oh, and I discovered there are monthly snacks to be provided, parties to help with, other random supplies to bring in, and all sorts of stuff.  I am not sure how I feel about all the candy.  As a kid, which part of me still is, this sounds great.  As a parent that tries to feed healthy food I'm not thrilled.  I understand that kids need rewards.  What about stickers?  What about a seed kit?  Markers?  Crayons? Healthy snacks?  Whole wheat crackers instead of cheesy crackers?  What about apples instead of candy?  Carrot sticks?  Broccoli?  I know cost is certainly a factor but they are still asking us as parents to bring some of this stuff too so I know that they are on restricted budgets no matter what they are bringing in.

Also, don't misunderstand me in that I'm against the teacher.  I'm not.  By a long shot.  I know they are doing their best with the resources they have and those are very seldom even close to enough.  I know lots of times the teachers are footing a lot of the bills on their own.  Still.  Another idea for reward stuff: Cool pencils.  Fun erasers.  No candy!  Or only once in awhile.  I know.  School hasn't even started and I'm ranting.  I just may have to take some of this on.  People wonder why we have health issues.  Uh, gee I don't know.  Too much everything.

So I'm seeing I have my virtue being taxed already.  I will have to choose my battles carefully.  Little things can be done to help.  And I do mean to help.  I'll have to see what is in my gumption to do about any of this.  Apparently I feel a lot stronger about this stuff than I thought.  I will wait and see what needs addressed and address those issues at the time.  For now, I need to figure out the bus or lack thereof situation.

Procrastination

Ahhhh!! School starts tomorrow.  Well, the initial go see the school, the get pictures for the i.d., and pick up paperwork is tomorrow.  Then Wednesday is the real start.  Holy crap!  I'm putting off making tomatillo salsa today.  Mostly because my canning situation isn't great.  Stupid flat top stove.  I miss my stove from St. Iggy.  Someday I'll get money saved up and I'll replace this range with one that is good for canning.  In the mean time I will be testing the propane grill later today.  I tried a hot plate.  Stupid safety switches kept turning the thing off.  It wouldn't even boil the water.  Grrrrr.

Okay.  I gotta get a move on.

School

Who would think that this day would come so quickly?  I looked at my calendar and four days from now my son starts Kindergarten!  Kindergarten?!  How is that?  I really did just bring him home.  I know we didn't potty train that long ago.  Did we?  They tell you it goes fast.  The funny part of it is that everyone tells you to enjoy it.  Well, that is possible to a certain extent but when you are buried in diapers and the kid won't sleep, again, then it can be tough to enjoy it.  You just want to make it out alive.  The time to enjoy is afterwards.  Enjoy the memories.  The memory fog settles in and makes you forget just how damned tired you were.  Then all you remember are the snuggles, that smell of new baby, those coos, and those adorable little fingers and toes.

All those memories help on the tough days.  They do exist.  No matter what we tell ourselves or the social media world.  Lives are not perfect and orderly.  Life with little kids and pets and jobs is utter chaos.  It might be controlled chaos a lot of the time but there are days it is just chaos.  Who am I kidding?  Life is chaos.  With or without kids.  They just add to the crazy-mixed-up-ness of it all.

I'm excited for Bear to be starting Kindergarten is what it all boils down to.  I miss him being a little baby boy but I love the beginnings of new things.  The new school year has always been one of my favorite things in the world.  That smell of new crayons.  Nothing beats it.  The new beginnings.  One of the little joys in life is a box of new crayons, a new pencil box, and a new pink eraser.  I kind of wish I were the one starting school.  Ah, I'll let him enjoy it.

I'd better get his back pack fixed now that I think about it.  He requested I just repair his so I think I'll do that.

Must be Monday

It just is one of those days where you have ump-teen zillion things to do and you don't want to do a single one.  Doesn't matter though they have to get done.  I'm procrastinating.  I'm good at that.  I'm certainly one that the saying, "If it weren't for the last minute I'd never get anything done," holds true for.

For some reason this year I'm not really looking forward to my canning and preserving.  I want the stuff but I'm not too excited about hauling the supplies around or anything.  I'd better get over that though because I have a box of peaches due here in 3 days.  I have carrots, onions, and potatoes that need taken care of.  The collards have aphids and the tomatillos need made into salsa.  Tomatoes have grasshoppers and my spinning/wool business is hitting the ground running.  All these are good things I just need to figure out my timing.

I hear my laundry just quit and since I have a pile of stuff to get done I'd better get that folded and then see if I can convince myself to can/freeze some green beans.

Running frustration

Of course now that I have a race coming up at the end of the month I went and rolled my ankle the other day.  So frustrating!  Bodies are supposed to do what we tell them to, not bail out on us.  So I am in the middle of letting it heal, icing it, and trying to make myself not do too much.  Of course with two little kids, the chickens, and the garden that doesn't really work.  Also, now I'm doing the farmer's market with my yarn.  That keeps me busy for sure.  Here's an article that came out in today's paper about it.  I'm hoping the result will be lots of sales at the following markets.

http://www.starherald.com/news/local_news/mitchell-woman-turns-yarn-spinning-hobby-into-business/article_3fb4b384-009e-11e3-9eac-0019bb2963f4.html

You remember how I said Bear was at it again the other day?  Growing that is.  Eating me out of house and home and sleeping for hours.  Well, we had him stand up and measure where he is at.  In one month he has grown almost a full inch.  No wonder he's been so hungry and sleepy.  He's been putting it all toward stretching out. 

Mia is trying to keep up too.  I think she has been going through her own growth spurt but we didn't measure her.  She had shoes on so we decided to wait.

School starts in about a week and a half.  I guess I'd better pull that sewing machine out and repair the backpack that I promised I would.  That and some gym shoes and we'll be ready to go.  I think. :)  I think I'm probably more nervous than Bear.  He is more than ready to go back.  Such a social kid and he loves to learn things.  I'm also not looking forward to Mia's reaction about Bear being gone.  I've got some school stuff for her to do while he's at school.  Seems only fair that she gets to play school.  Especially since she loves to color and paint and draw.  The nice part is that I have several friends around here who home school and they provide links to free school materials on a regular basis.

I don't have the patience to home school myself but I see no reason not to supplement the public system.  Being a public school kid myself I see a lot of value in public school.  There are a lot of lessons about dealing with unpleasant people and situations that are well learned in public school.

Since market is tomorrow I'd better get rolling and make sure things are done around here.  My mornings are nice and early on market day.

Summer coming to a close.

I can't believe it is already August.  In just a couple of weeks Bear starts Kindergarten.  Tom starts school this week.  Well, not really school just yet but he is working at any rate.  The garden is starting to really put out some good produce.  We've gotten a couple of tomatoes out and the carrots have gone nuts.  Actually most of the vegetables have gone nuts in there.  Bear's kale patch is growing nicely despite the fact that almost every day he goes out and plops down for a snack.

Since it is the end of summer we have some cleaning projects to do.  Actually that is what I'm procrastinating at the moment.  I'm not looking forward to my floor scrubbing.  Somehow we have neglected them to the point they are driving us crazy.  It is time to dig out a big ol' scrub bucket and brush and go to work.  I do wish we had a lottery win or something so we could replace carpets.  The new puppy and Mia have completely trashed our carpets.  Ugh.

The carpet replacement won't come for awhile so I'll just have to deal with that.  We are putting in a wood stove this fall though.  That is exciting news.  It means that if the power goes out we'll still have heat and a way to make food and coffee.  This is the one place that being out of town is a bit of a disadvantage.  When we lose power we lose water (the well pump is electric), heat, and because of the water loss we always lose the use of our bathrooms as well. :(  None of this is really fun to have happen.  Because of this we keep a stock of water in the basement and the wood stove is going in.  So far we haven't had a power loss for long enough to really worry about needing water to flush the toilets with. 

To that end at the moment we have water in a rain barrel that can be scooped for flushing toilets.  One of these days I'll fill the stock tank we have too.  Otherwise we do have the advantage of no neighbors so we can just go outside to pee.  I think we'll have to consider an outhouse of some sort as well.  Not right away but at some point.

Now, off the subject of bathrooms.  I have floors to scrub and laundry to do.  Well, and wool to wash.  My yarn/spinning venture is picking up so I'm busy trying to keep up.  I also need to e-mail our market manager and work out a deal for the rest of the market season.  Since it is already August I suppose I should get some Christmas present kits together too.  After all, Christmas is fast approaching.

Running and other tid-bits

I can tell my momentum is lost.  Probably it has a lot to do with the heat.  It is no fun to run in 90+ degree weather.  We've been getting up early just so we can run when it is in the 70's.  Really that is still too hot for me but it is sure better than the alternative.

The scary part is that I actually have a race I'm registered for at the end of August.  A 5K Color Run.  I'm getting to see a friend/co-worker that I haven't seen in 12 years or so.  That will be a lot of fun.  I'm just hoping that the paint/color is nice and cold for during the run.

I'm finally up to running 30 minutes in a stretch.  I still usually fudge it and end up walking a little in there.  I will be very happy to have the weather turn in the fall when it comes to my running.

A little bit of what we've been up to:

Farmer's Market on Saturdays.  I've been selling my hand spun wool.  Well, at this point the more correct statement is that I have it for sale.  I've been selling the Wooly Balls though.  They take the place of dryer sheets and do the same job.

I've been volunteering at a co-op grocery store that is going to open soon.  That has been quite a bit of fun even if it is scrubbing shelves and building them up.

We've been enjoying just spending some good family time.  Tom has the rest of this week off and then he's back at school.  The international kids get there before everyone else and he is more or less in charge of getting them settled in.

Bear starts school mid-August.  Kindergarten!  We have most if not all of his school supplies ready to go.  He'll still need some shoes, especially for p.e. but that should be about it.  He wants to use his backpack from last year so I need to repair the bottom of it.

Mia is going to be broken-hearted when she can't go to school.  She won't even be old enough for pre-school this year.  She just doesn't make the cut-off.  And I probably won't put her in until she is 4 anyway.  No sense in spending that much money for a couple of years.  We'll just have to do some school time here at the house with her.

Although I don't know where I would put it I want to do a little kid table and chairs for the kids.  I think they would both love it.  My major issue is figuring out where to put it.  I'm trying to figure out some good storage for their rooms too.  We just put up a bunch of hooks in Bear's room which helped out a bunch.  Mia still needs something and the closets need another rod down at their level.

Oh, and one last thing we've been up to.  Canning/preserving.  We have oodles of food right now and I'm struggling to keep up with getting it all in the pantry.  No complaints by any means though.  Tomatoes should be ready soon.  That is what I'm most excited about.  That and we should start seeing peaches from Colorado soon.

He's at it again.

Bear must be growing again.  We've had several days of 4 hour naps and insane amounts of food.  When he grows like this the food just disappears in my house.  The other day breakfast was a banana, an apple (or peach can't remember which), and then 2 pancakes and 2 slices of bacon and a large glass of milk.  I can't eat that much.  Granted he then didn't eat much for lunch but ate a decent dinner too.

Today was fruit for breakfast and then a roll-up (tortilla with peanut butter and honey), a yogurt, applesauce, and 2 plums for lunch.  And he was still telling me that wasn't going to last the day.  I really do dread him becoming a teenager.  I know he is going to be the kid that comes home from school, eats two huge sandwiches and then asks me what is for dinner.

It is funny the difference between the kids too.  Mia goes through her spurts too but she just doesn't pack it away like he does.  She also seems to like to make her food last as long as possible where he scarfs.  He loves fruits and veggies and she is pretty indifferent to them for the most part.  She very much as her standard foods based on chocolate milk where Bear eats pretty much anything and everything he can lay his hands on.

It makes my grocery shopping nuts too.  This week we went shopping on Friday and it is now Tuesday.  We have been through 1 bunch of bananas, a 2.5 pound box of nectarines, almost through a 2.5 pound box of peaches, 6 plums, almost through a 3.5 pound bag of apples, a clam shell of blueberries, and most of a bag of cherries.  I didn't even get any of the blueberries.  Neither did Tom.  The kids sat and had the clam shell for breakfast.  This is just the fruit that is used on top of the vegetables we get with our CSA and from our garden.  That includes lettuce, carrots, herbs, zucchini, tomatoes, onions, garlic, greens, and peas. 

Thank goodness the kids like the veggies and the fruits.  It does get pricey in the winter though.  Summer isn't too bad since the stuff is in season.  I'm looking forward to the next month.  We should start seeing peaches come up from Colorado.  I'm determined to buy a large box and can peaches this year.  I will miss the prune and apple trees we had in Montana but I'm finding plenty of other goodies here too.

I'd better see if the zucchini bread is ready yet.  It should be getting close.

Last days until payday

I really don't like the day before payday.  We tend to be out of fruit more than anything.  And of course that is the day the kids pick to really want it.  They haven't really cared the whole month and the day before we get paid they really want fruit.  Go figure.  I was going to make graham crackers today too until I realized I'd forgotten to get whole wheat flour last time I went grocery shopping.  Guess that will have to wait until this weekend/tomorrow's grocery trip.

I just realized I go pick up our CSA tomorrow too.  I gotta get the last 3 zucchini processed before I do because I'm sure she'll have piles for us again.  I think I'll have to pick up some peppers or something so I can do up some sort of zucchini relish.  I have plenty of dried zucchini.  I will still build some more zucchini bread.  It is a great and handy thing to have around.

Thinking about our food storage and all has me also thinking about Costco.  I miss having a Costco close by.  It is funny the things you take for granted until they are gone.  Luckily this September we'll be headed to Colorado where there is a Costco.  Yay!  I can pick up some things.  Granted I will probably have to slim my list a little but it will be nice to do things like pick up pecans before the holiday season starts.

I also try to stock up on all my baking supplies during the holidays.  They all go on sale then so it works to pick them up then.  Last year I found flour at $.99 for a 5 pound bag.  Why I didn't buy more of it I don't know.  I think I was in a hurry or something and then of course the sale ended.  Dang!

It is funny I know folks who think they have a lot of butter when they have a couple of pounds in the fridge or freezer and I start getting really nervous when I get down to 4 pounds.  That is something I like to stockpile because it is normally pretty expensive so when I find it at a good price I stash it.  It keeps wonderfully in the freezer and then when I need to bake I just go to my freezer instead of the store.  I'm at that point right now of being way down on my butter.  That is what made me think about it.  I'm hoping butter goes on sale.  Unfortunately it isn't really a back to school item. :)

Speaking of back to school... Bear will be headed for school next month.  Holy cow!  Time sure flies.  Tomorrow we'll be doing the required physical and eye exam.  Then he'll be completely registered for kindergarten.  A few more school supplies and probably a new pair of shoes and we'll be good.  Oh, and a backpack repair.  Yes, he wants his repaired not replaced.  I asked.  He apparently really likes his from last year.  I'm good with that.  Much cheaper to pull out the sewing machine and put a new bottom in than to buy a whole new backpack.  I was prepared to buy a backpack though so if he changes his mind it isn't a big deal.

I'd better get off the computer and get checking on critters.  Now that we have chicks and kittens I've got to get it in gear faster in the morning.

Bring it on

I am adding more chores to my life.  I get chickens this week!  Well, chicks that will grow into chickens.  So now we will have lots of babies around here.  Yes, it means my carpets are toast.  It is a good thing they will be going away.  Between the occasional accident from Mia and now the new puppy, along with all the foot traffic from kids and dogs my carpets are gross.  I vacuum a lot and we have spot cleaner that we use a lot too, but I will be renting a shampooer again before too long.  I'm hoping next Fall's big project will be floors around here.  This year it will be the wood stove.

Along with having loads of babies around here it is officially harvest season.  I have zucchini everywhere!  I didn't even grow any thank goodness.  Our CSA share has been providing more than I know what to do with.  In fact that will be today's project.  Zucchini bread, shred and freeze zucchini, dry zucchini, and start some sauerkraut with the two heads of cabbage I have.  I also need to freeze my cilantro, parsley, and some garlic scape pesto.  I have a lot to do and my list just gets longer.

To be honest I couldn't be happier about that.  The kittens are pretty self-sufficient.  I just make sure there is food and water out for them and the litter box (which I hate) is clean.  I'm working on moving them outside so they will hopefully not be needing a litter box too much longer.  Kyra, the new puppy, is pretty good too.  She is quiet.  Almost to a fault.  Although she was a good dog yesterday, along with Buddy.  They alerted us to a great big bull snake in the yard.  At first from the hissing rattle sound it made at Buddy we thought it was a rattlesnake.  Tom was our protector and went to deal with the snake and then realized it was a bull snake which is basically a non-poisonous version of the rattlesnake.  They make a hiss/rattle sound that mimics the rattlesnake with their mouth somehow.  They are actually good snakes to have around since they usually run off the rattlesnakes.  They do still bite but at least they aren't poisonous.

We were glad the dogs did a good job of letting us know something was different.  This is one of the many reasons we have dogs.  Let's see, we have 2 kittens, 1 puppy, 1 dog, a 5 year-old, a 2 year-old, and soon will have 3 baby chicks.  Sounds kinda like Old McDonald's Farm around here. :)  I don't think we'll get too much crazier this year.  We'll get these babies grown up and then we'll see where we are at next spring.

I suppose I should start tackling my to-do list.  My chicks are here sometime in the next couple of days so I need to make sure their brooder gets to the right temp. (90-95 degrees F).  And then I'll take care of kitten chores and then start in on the veggies.  Somewhere in there too I'll have to do some laundry and the rest of the day-to-day stuff.

The things kids say...

Bear asked me this morning when he could have his own cell phone.  What?!  I would have sworn I wouldn't be hearing these questions for a couple of years yet.  I told him he could when he could pay for it.  I know all of the kids are starting things earlier and earlier but really?  Four days after your fifth birthday and I get asked about a cell phone.  Why?  Actually I do know if I really think about it.  We were talking about when his next birthday would be and having friends over for it.  I said something about by next year he'll hopefully know how to get a hold of his friends in the summer so we can have some over.  Then he hit me with the cell phone question.

It is amazing how fast this is all going.  I swear I just brought him home from the hospital and now he is going to kindergarten with his little sister catching him rather quickly.  He was just a little bitty baby with all the little baby rolls, wobbly head, and drooling.  Now there is just a tiny hint of the dimples on the hands, he is strong and coordinated, and wants to do things by himself (sometimes to the great fear of Mom).  He is a boy that is very full of it.  To the point that he can kinda drive me crazy some days.  Mostly I just need to figure out how to direct and focus that energy.  This can be tough for me since I don't always know how to get myself focused. 

Besides having amazing reserves of energy Bear is a pretty good kid.  I love that he takes his dishes to the kitchen, usually, and is a huge help with his sister.  He loves to read, watch t.v., ride bikes, play in the garden, and play with friends.  And he makes friends soooooo easily.  I wish I could make friends as easily as he does.  The other thing about Bear that I love is he loves fruits and vegetables.  This makes it easier to get Mia to eat them.  I think she would be pickier but because big brother loves the food she has to at least try it.  Peas, tomatoes, carrots, kale (I can barely keep this growing because he'll pick it way down), and salad are some of the favorites.  Apples, bananas, melon, grapes, apricots, plums, peaches, pears, and anything else fruit-wise he can get his hands on.  We do really need to figure out where we want our orchard because this kid can eat now and by the time he is a teenager I'd better be growing most of our food.  Otherwise we'll go broke.

I suppose I should go turn the water off.  I was a total slug yesterday.  I really didn't get much of anything done.  I didn't go for a run or do much of anything.  Not sure what happened.  Although I got up pretty grumpy this morning I'm feeling better.  I hate those days where you have no energy to do anything.  Today is much better so I'd better make use of it.

Summer Craziness

It never fails.  Just when you think you can take a breath and relax another pile of stuff comes up.  We were thinking we could kick back and relax for a minute and then realized a couple of things. Well, I realized them anyway.  Harvest is coming upon us very quickly from the garden.  My first farmer's market as a vendor is this Saturday, the yard needs mowing again, weeds grow like crazy, and school starts soon!  Ack!  It is barely over a month until school starts again.  How does that work?!

So I'm finding myself feeling behind on everything.  I need to get canning and drying the garden bounty.  I'm finding I have a lot since we are doing the half share in a CSA (community supported agriculture) farm on top of what my garden is putting out. 

This month we have swim lessons with the kids.  Bear needs a physical and an eye exam before school starts.  New puppy needs spayed.  Kittens both need spayed.  I need to find and get chickens.  I have a ton of wool to process.  I have farmer's markets to do.  We need to go school shopping for Bear since he'll actually be entering kindergarten this Fall.  I need to find out whether or not he'll have a bus ride or if we have to take him to school and pick him up.  Tom and I need to go to the eye doctor.  At least we have gotten both dogs basic vet visits done along with their shots.  Both kids and I are done with the dentist for awhile.  So, a few things are crossed off my list.

Of course a lot more would get done if I got off the computer. :)  I suppose I'll go do some of that.  I have beets that need pickling and spinning that needs done.  And dishes and basic house stuff.  Yuck.  At least the canning stuff is fun.  Oh, and I at least get a day or two break from laundry since the washer is leaking at the inlet.  It does this every so often so Tom has to fix it before I can do laundry again.  That doesn't break my heart but it does mean laundry will pile up.

Are you sure it isn't Monday?

Oh there are those days that no matter what day it really is it feels like a Monday.  I got up this morning hoping to let Tom sleep in.  We alternate weekend days to sleep in and not have to make breakfast, do potty duty, etc.  Didn't happen this morning.  I walked into Bear's room and discovered the new pup had pooped and peed all over his floor.  Of course this is before coffee!  Argh.  And at this time of the morning poop and pee are not my words of choice.  So I got Tom up to deal with that while I made coffee and got breakfast.  Then I didn't even get the coffee pot under the basket correctly so when it brewed coffee went all over the counter.

Our day has continued like that all day long.  No one has wanted to nap.  Bear hasn't been able to actually follow a single instruction all day.  Mia had an accident on her bedroom floor and the sump pump in the basement is giving us fits.  Ahhhhh!!

Okay, so my little vent is done.  It has just been one of those days.  Really things like Mia going potty on the floor was our fault because we didn't remind her to go use the bathroom.  We were absorbed in trying to fix the sump pump.  The pup is going to start sleeping outside.  This is good since we need bunny protection for the garden.  Maybe she'll learn to bark.  I haven't heard her whine or bark at all.  I wish she would let us know things like when she needs out or she's being stepped on.  Silly mutt. 

I stepped on her the other day when I was doing laundry.  I was hanging clothes and she was laying and watching me.  I felt something move under my foot and looked around to see what I was stepping on and it was Kyra's foot.  She was just squirming looking uncomfortable and not making a sound.  Poor dog.  Say something!

Through all of this craziness I am just glad we didn't go through and replace all the carpet or anything when we moved in here.  We knew there would be kids and dogs potty training.  Someday we hope to put hardwood in our kitchen and dining room and re-carpet the rest of the house.  Not soon.  One we can't afford it and two we can't afford to do it and have it ruined by kids and pets.

And the other stuff just happens once in awhile.  Coffee spills.  Sump pumps crap out.  Life goes on.  It can just make for a difficult day when it all goes at once.

Off to see about our dinner of cleaning out the refrigerator...

Running, summer, and critters

I'm having a bit of a tough time getting back on track with my running.  It has been hot! Mid-90s for the most part.  I know we are way cooler than a lot of the rest of the country but I'm not thrilled about running in the heat.  I did get a new pair of running shoes that makes it much better but my feet still get super hot.  I'm seriously considering doing some sort of an ice bath soak for me feet before I go for a run.  I want super cold feet to start with.  The dumb things are the thermostat for the rest of my body too.  If I didn't run on gravel roads I would seriously consider running barefoot.  At least then the heat could escape.

I might actually have a running buddy now too.  Tom's new pup seemed pretty happy to go for a run with me this morning.  We'll see how it works out.  Buddy liked to go at first but then I got to where I was going further and faster and now he thinks I'm nuts.  The clincher was a rainy day run where Buddy started to come with me and then realized it was raining.  He headed back to the house.  Not that I blame him.  After all his age translates into being 84-ish.  That is plenty old enough to enjoy sleeping at the house.

It is 4th of July today.  It is almost Bear's 5th birthday.  Where did the years go?  I can't believe he'll be in Kindergarten in the Fall.  It has been quite the ride.  I would say our lives are much better for having him in them.  He is a lot of fun most of the time.  He is a goofball that loves to get laughs and snuggle up and hang out.  I love watching him learn things.  It doesn't take him long to figure things out so long as he really wants too.  It is funny too that for as goofy as he can get he is the cautious kid.  He is usually a bit hesitant at first when trying something new.  Same with his basic nature.  I call him my shy, outgoing kid.  He can get shy at times but most of the time he is very outgoing.

Summer means Tom isn't working as much.  I love that he gets days off like today.  That sure didn't happen in the airlines.  Summer also means that we are busy in the garden, and hopefully if classes haven't filled up it will mean swim lessons.  Farmer's markets are going and the pools are open.  All fun things about summer.

We are also getting settled in with our new critters.  The kittens are warming up to people quite nicely although we have not introduced them to the dogs yet.  The new puppy is settling in well too.  We haven't heard her bark yet.  She did chew up a cardboard box last night so we know she's a puppy for sure now. :)  She has been so mellow we were beginning to wonder.  We also had an accident during the night too.  Otherwise though the transition has been pretty smooth.  We'll see how it goes when I add chickens.  I've got to get my coop secure for the wind but otherwise I'm ready for the girls.  I think I may have even found some pullets to get. 

I'd better get going on some of my chores.  I'm still trying to get caught up on laundry and I have a load that needs hung out on the line.

My other blog and a critter update

Here is a link to my other blog with pictures of the weeds we came home to.  http://lazymomgardener.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=851&action=edit&message=6&postpost=v2

My mom and her friend came and helped.  Thank goodness because I never would have gotten there between kids, new kittens, and now a new puppy.

So an update on that:  We got a shelter puppy yesterday.  She is about 6 months old and appears to be a lab mix of some sort.  She acts like she has Border Collie in her as well.  She is very mellow and is good with the kids so far.  Buddy seems pretty tolerant of her.  More like he keeps giving me looks like he's saying, "Really?  You are doing this to me now too?"  Her name is Kyra.  It was Carrie from the shelter but Bear kept calling her Kyra so that has stuck.  Here's a photo of her and Bear.

 

We also have two new kittens to hunt mice for us.  They are about 6-8 weeks old.  Bear named them Freddie and Leddie despite the fact they are both girls.  He likes the rhyming names.  Now we just need to get the fence fixed up so we can keep dogs and other critters out of the chicken area and we'll need chickens.  Oh, and I need to secure the coop.  We discovered that while we were gone we had a big wind that blew the coop over.  I can't imagine that would be a fun trip for the chickens.  I'm hoping we'll get to town today and go chicken supply shopping.  That includes a latch for the gate Tom built me, hardware cloth for the gates, hardware for another gate, a waterer, a feeder, and some shavings for bedding.  Then I get to find the chickens.

Besides our critter numbers greatly increasing we have the garden harvest starting.  I've got to get going on beets.  I've got peas in the freezer and need to harvest again.  We need to eat salad again before the lettuce bolts and I need to keep weeding so the tomatoes and everyone else can ripen.

Words on camping and travelling with the kids.

We are slowly getting back into the swing of things at home.  Bear keeps telling me he is glad to be home and that he likes living here.  This is despite the fact that all the way driving home both kids insisted they didn't want to go home.  They wanted to stay at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  Not that I blame them.  Vacation rules, late nights, loads of family around, lots of spoiling from grandparents, and so on.  It was a kid's dream come true.  Sadly the real world must come crashing in at some point.

We had to say goodbye to some friends who are moving this week.  We just met them as he worked at the same college Tom does.  He's moving on to another college.  He has a definite plan of certain numbers of years at certain colleges and universities.  He's a librarian.  It makes me glad that Tom isn't like that.  We are pretty darn sure we have found our forever spot.  Tom loves his job and I finally got my acreage.  I don't foresee us going anywhere anytime soon.

So let's see... I keep getting asked if we really camped out with the kids.  Maybe we are totally bonkers but yes, we really camped with the kids.  I got asked this again last night at the goodbye bbq for our friends.  They all have little kids too but I don't think they have camped at all with the kids.  I can see where people wouldn't want to but it was actually a lot of fun.  We sent the kids on the hunt for firewood at one camp site.  They loved traipsing around the woods.  We checked out all sorts of flowers and even found huckleberry bushes that will be ripe a bit later this summer.  We just put the kids to work in all reality.  Haul wood, haul water, feed the dog, sweep the tent, and eat s'mores.   They loved it.

Sure it is a pain to do the set-up and tear-down but you sure can't beat the price.  No eating out, no hotel bill, and the kids are just plain tired when they are all done.  Granted they don't sleep well because everything is so exciting but they eat well and get lots of good dirt everywhere.  Kids do get absolutely filthy when camping.  Their favorite thing was to plop down in the dirt and start playing.  Thank goodness for wet wipes.

I'm sitting here thinking that I would really like to do a camping trip with the kids where we could set up the tent and camp and leave it set up for a couple of days.  That would be lots more fun that doing set-up and tear-down every single night and morning.  Maybe we'll try to work that in later this summer or next summer.  Even if we camp in our back yard for this summer.

I'm off to try to get more trip laundry done, stuff put away, and my house cleaned up a bit since we have company coming tomorrow.

Vacation

Like a dough-head I didn't take my camera on vacation.  Duh!  Tom had his so once we get a bit more unpacked I might see if he'll let me steal a couple of photos.

So let's see, we drove a total of about 2400 miles there and back.  That's a lot of miles now that I look at the numbers.  That is roughly six days of driving in the car.  We crammed both kids and the dog into the back seat, all of our stuff in the back and took off.  Camping went surprisingly well.  I still really want to make a camp kitchen box that packs and unpacks easier than the big plastic container we had with us.  It worked but it was quite the puzzle to pack and unpack.  Unpacking wasn't too bad but in the morning the packing stunk.  Especially if I hadn't had coffee yet.

Besides the puzzle of a kitchen box though things went really well.  The kids were crazy excited about not only sleeping next to each other but to be sleeping in a tent and in the same area as Mom and Dad.  This meant most nights the kids weren't down before 10 p.m. when they are normally out by about 8-9.  It worked out as it prepped them for a couple of weeks of party time for their aunt's wedding.  They didn't usually get to bed until well after 11 p.m. most nights.  Oh well.  I suppose that is what vacation is for.

Let's see... We ended up buying an airbed for Tom and I.  Yep, we wimped out.  Thank goodness we did since most of our campgrounds didn't have the most comfortable spots to set up tents.  I think next go around we'll try to get some sort of pad or mattress for the kids too.  Maybe they'll sleep sooner if we do that.  So really we ended up with two big plastic tubs, the cooler, and the tent besides our clothing bags.  It was interesting packing us for camping, travelling, and a wedding and all the extras that go with a wedding.  It meant we had a ridiculous amount of clothing.  Otherwise though we ended up not really having much.

I do wish we would have gotten a couple of camp chairs for comfort sake but for space I'm glad we didn't have them.  Also, I should have thrown in an extra tarp.  With some of the rain we ran into we could have used it to cover our stuff in the truck. 

All in all we ended up camping 3 nights outdoors, 2 nights in our Montana house, and we spent 1 night in a motel.  That was on our way home, it was pouring rain, and we didn't want to pack and unpack a bunch of times so our first night was in a hotel around Post Falls.  We only paid for camping one night too.  Our other camp spot was a free one along the river in Columbus, MT.  A very nice spot that was well run by the city.  There were bathrooms, water, and even wood for the campfires if you wanted.  Not a bad way to go while travelling.

Overall thoughts for vacation:  We had a lot of fun.  We got to see lots of people we haven't seen in ages.  We met some really nice people.  And last but not least we are really happy to be home.  Our weeds have tried to overtake the backyard/garden especially but the mower is taking care of that today.  I have loads of peas to harvest, carrots to thin, and bunnies to chase off (I found their evidence around my tomatoes this morning). 

Now that we are home we are in the market for a puppy, two kittens to go mouse hunting, and 3 chickens.  Although we discovered we apparently had a pretty good wind storm that knocked the coop over so we'll have to find a good way to anchor that before we get chickens.

I'd better get going on some lunch for my sweet husband who has been mowing all morning.  I'll continue updating on our vacation as I get time.

2 days!

And then we are off on our summer adventure.  I think I'm mostly packed.  We have a few odds and ends to put together tomorrow.  Mostly the food for out camping expedition.  I need to pick up our first CSA veggies tomorrow and do a last load of laundry so we all have clean clothes to travel in.  I think the kids and I are all packed for clothes other than my running clothes from tomorrow that I'll wash.  Tom on the other hand isn't packed at all.  That's okay, he doesn't take long and he's a big kid that can take care of that himself.  I've got the rest done.

I'm amazed at the amount of stuff we have and yet what we don't have.  I read other camping lists and can't believe how much I cross off.  Don't need chairs or tables.  Use the ground, a stump, or the vehicle.  The bins we have other stuff in will work just fine for a table.  A couple of flashlights and you're good.  No reason to have flashlights and lanterns.  I plan on sleeping at night, not running around or even reading. 

Now, I do understand that a lot of the stuff on those lists are creature comforts.  It would be great to have them along if we were r.v. camping or something.  It just doesn't make sense though for a few nights of car camping.  It is okay to "rough it" for a few days.  Good for us even.  Makes us appreciate those creature comforts even more when we get back to them.

I sometimes wonder about our adventure as every time I say we are camping with the kids people look at us like we're crazy.  I don't expect the kids to sleep much.  They'll be too excited to be sleeping in a tent, in sleeping bags, and together in the same room.  Otherwise I'm not too worried about them.  They don't need a whole bunch of stuff.  They love to play with sticks and dirt and rocks and there is plenty of that camping.  Their hips don't hurt like crazy from sleeping on hard ground like mine do.  Shoot, they sleep on their floors all the time.  In fact that is Mia's preferred spot right now.  To the point that I wonder why we have a bed for her.

I'm a little envious of them camping.  Mom and Dad will set up camp, and beds, and cook, and everything else.  They just have to worry about playing and having a good time.  I don't even worry too much about the kids travelling for a lot of hours in the car.  They've always been good travellers.  They mostly sleep or color while in the car.  Sure, we have to stop and pee a lot but that just goes with having 5 bladders to coordinate. 

I don't know if we do anything all that differently from other people or if we do it exactly the same.  We keep snacks in the car along with some little cars, some crayons and an activity book and a couple of small toys and books.  That usually keeps them entertained just fine.  Now that they are getting a bit older we can start to play road games with at least Bear too.  Spotting letters of the alphabet is a good one.  That would keep him in practice on his letters too.

I am so ready to be on the road and doing the summer vacation thing.  Tom and I really haven't done this since just before we got married.  We still have that tent in fact. Best $100 we ever spent.  At the time the tent was ridiculously large for just us and Buddy.  Now it makes more sense since we have the kids.

I should go put finishing touches on my camp kitchen.