Time flies

I hadn't realized so much time had passed.  Lots to catch up on...

The boys are back in school.  Bear does love school.  Thank goodness.  He is doing well.  There are always the bad days too but overall he is well behaved.  We are coming up on parent teacher conferences already.  Man, time really does fly!  It will be interesting to see what his teacher has to say.  He says he really likes science, math, and reading.  Sounds about right.  He is very interested in the natural and real world.  For example if he sees a house fly it isn't just a fly but a "blue-bottle house fly."  How he remembers it all I don't know.  He loves to watch Wild Kratts and from that he learns all sorts of names of the critters.  Another good example of his desire to know more about the natural world was when we were picking raspberries at the u-pick farm and he wanted to know what the little white thing was that gets left behind when you pick a raspberry.  He asked the gal who ran the farm and she told him, calyx (maybe?  I don't remember for sure).  He asks lots of questions about the world.

Tom is super busy with school as well.  He has his class and he is helping to run the recruitment program for international students.

I am trying to catch up on a few things now that I am not running a farmers' market for the moment. My garden did not get attended to so it needs cleaned up.  The chickens will need their coop cleaned again before the weather turns.  Goats (yes, we got goats) will need more straw for their bedding, and I need to get their hay tarped better.  My current tarp is old and worn out and not big enough.

We got our firewood in and hay in.  Those costs are making this month a bit more difficult money-wise but should help in the long-run.  We also bought half of a hog so our grocery bill is down.  That is nice.

Mia is growing like a weed and learning at a rapid pace.  Big brother is a great teacher and she seems determined to keep up with him.  They love challenging each other with math problems and she is working on reading.  She has three-letter words down pretty well and she sounds the longer words out well.  The hardest part is remembering to read left to right not right to left.  In watching her I think we may have to come up with some extra school stuff for her.  She will be very happy to go to preschool next year.

As it is a young lady's quiet time I think I'll see if I can actually get her to nap.  She has decided that most days she'd rather not.  Mom would so love it if she kept naps for a while yet.

Summer vacation story and a little catching up.

It sure is busy this summer.  We have managed to cram a lot in but not nearly as much as we were hoping to.

We lost our old dog Buddy.  He quickly went from being a little better to much worse and we knew it was time to let him go.  He was too good of a dog to let suffer.  We could tell the last day or two that he just wasn't Buddy anymore.  The light in his eyes had gone, and my old friend was ready to move on to happier fields and a young body again.  I miss him dearly, but I am glad he doesn't have to try to survive another cold winter.  We spent some good moments in our front yard snuggled and talking about all the good/crazy times we've had through the years.  I will most likely get another pup/dog at some point but it will have to be the right one.

Although we gave 4-H a good try without a club we won't be doing fair this year.  We just didn't get it together enough on our own.  Not a huge deal this year.  At least now we know a few more of the details and can get our schedule worked out a bit better for next year.

The farmers' market is going well but I am going to be ready for winter.  Winter will be Tom's busy time and my "vacation."  I'll still do a few markets here and there but I am not going to run one.  Summer is plenty for me.

We did get to go on a bit of a vacation as a family up to South Dakota a week or so ago.  We had a lot of fun in spite of the crazy rain storms we got the first night that flooded us out of our tipi. At least it made for an adventure that we will all remember.

You want the story?

Okay, so the first night we had a campground reserved with a tipi as our tent.  We pulled in and everything looked great.  We unloaded our stuff and went to town for dinner and a look around and we road a train over an old mining spur route.  As we finished up with dinner, which was an adventure in itself, we saw some storm clouds.  Around here that isn't anything surprising after a warm day.  Storms build.  We got back to camp and built a fire to make s'mores on.  Right about the time I got the bedding laid out and Tom got the fire good and going the storm hit us.  No idea how much moisture it put down but our tipi was flooded and most of our stuff was good and damp if it wasn't soaked.  The storm backed off after a while and we managed to dry things out enough to go to bed.  No s'mores for us that night.  But then, as Tom and I were struggling to sleep in wet bedding and not sleeping well anyway, the thunder and lighting struck right over the top of us.  There was enough lightening that it looked more like daytime than night and we decided to bag it and move into the truck.  We quickly scooped stuff off the floor and threw the kids into the truck.  Right after we got the kids in the second storm of the night really hit and proceeded to drop about an inch of water in an hour or so.  The next morning with next to no sleep we managed to procure a cabin, take a nap, and continue on with our planned vacation in much more cushy accommodations.

We had a lot of fun after we got dried out.  Now we/I am just playing catch up from being out of town.  I see it is the kids' bedtime so I'd better go lay down the law...

Summer time

It is officially summer now and that means that we all get crazy busy.  I can't seem to get myself to all the places I want/need to be during the day.  I really am horrible at time management a good portion of the time. It is a good thing I can really crank stuff out if I need to.

So, where are we at?  The garden is a weedy jungle.  We've had a rough spring and my tomatoes aren't doing too well.  I must have something going on with something around here because my tomatoes outside and my avocado inside are doing the same thing.  Both have curling leaves that are not really growing.  They are still green though.  Not sure what is going on.  I haven't done any research yet so that will come later. One of the many things I need to get to.

Everything else seems to be doing all right.  I've been really bad about getting things in on time so I'm hoping I get a good crop.  At the very least potatoes and onions would be nice to have.  I know the rest I can get at the farmers' market if I really need to.

I have figured out a way to have our property bring in a little income.  I now have three yearling calves pastured here.  It isn't a ton of money but it will help pay for a bit of fencing here and there.  It is better than letting the pasture go to waste and it helps out my friends who own the calves.  It is nice too because I don't have to fork over $1500-$2500 per animal to have three animals on the place.  Beeves aren't cheap right now in this area.  Especially since last fall our area (just north of us) got hit with a freak early-season blizzard that killed a bunch of animals so there are several ranchers looking for replacement heifers (cows that haven't had a calf yet) this year.

Let's see, what else?  I lost a chicken to our new dog.  Dumb move on my part.  I am most bummed about the fact that it was my best layer and friendliest chicken.  We got a new kitten who is a holy terror.  He thinks he is Mr. Special and king of the place.

Our old dog, Buddy is on his downhill slide.  He has congenital heart failure.  It will be a very sad day when he goes.  He's been with us for 13 years.  The medicine the vet has him on seems to be helping him be more comfortable.  A week ago he wasn't fighting us at all about the meds and now we have a bit of fight.  This is good and bad.  Good because it means they are working, bad because we can't just stop giving them. Unfortunately the dog is smart enough to figure out that the extra treats contain the medicine.  We have had to resort to dissolving the pills in water and shooting them into his mouth with a syringe.  At least he gets most of them this way.  At this point it is just making him as comfortable as possible in his last while.  As far along as he is I'm kind of doubting he'll get to winter.  Who knows though?

Happier news:  The kids are doing well.  Bear is soon to turn six-years-old.  How in the heck?!  I know, I know.  Everyone tells you it will go fast but you don't really have any idea just how fast until you do it for yourself.  Both kids love books.  Bear is reading a lot and participating in our local library's summer reading program.  I'm trying to get the 4-H thing started with him too but I am horrible about getting that going.  Fair is frighteningly right around the corner.

Mia is doing her best to learn to read.  She has most of the letter sounds down and is starting to try to spell. She is also writing her name and most of her capital letters.  What a difference in kids.  Bear never cared about writing etc.  Still doesn't really.  Mia wants to read, write, and do math.  Her and Bear do simple addition math at the dinner table for fun.  Bear keeps trying to get her to go a lot past her abilities but that is probably why she is as good at all of this as she is.  Big brother is always pushing a little bit more and she wants to do everything he can do.  They both seem to love a good challenge.  I just try to encourage that.

Bear finally is napping.  Almost 6 and he still needs it.  Mia is pretty well over naps at 3.  That makes for a sad mom.  I love nap time.  I knew he needed one today when I was having to tell him everything 5 times and then having to yell to get him to actually hear and act.  He becomes a little zombie when he needs sleep.

I'd better take advantage of the peace and try to get the kitchen, pantry, and everything else ready to start processing food.  I have strawberries that need jammed.

Grab a drink and join me for an update.

Wow, life got busy all of a sudden.  Spring hits and so do all the end of school events for both boys.  It is of course also gardening time and time to get ready for the summer farmer's market.  I went and became the market manager so my time has been filled with lots of emails and organizing in preparation for market that starts in June.

Bear gets done with school next week.  So does Tom and that means there are music programs, field days, faculty meetings, summer school planning, and all sorts of craziness going on there.  I am trying to organize getting another kitten since one of our cats got killed last fall.  I have a 5K coming up on Saturday that I am not ready for at all because I haven't been able to run much.  Stinking spring blizzards.

Speaking of that.  Mother's Day we got almost a foot of fresh snow.  It snowed for 12+ hours straight.  At least the snow should have protected all the little shoots poking up when it froze last night.  I do wish it would melt and dry a bit though because we need to mow the lawn.  How goofy is that? So goes Spring in our weird weather area.

We haven't minded being trapped inside too much since we've all had colds too.  At least it means we don't feel bad about staying inside.  I would like to get out and get the garden planted though.  I know better than to rush it too much.

Let's see, what else do we have going on? Market prep, gardening, school...Snow, planning a family camping trip, and trying to figure out how to have animals.  Anyone want to sponsor a ton of fencing?  Fencing and hay are killers when trying to figure out having livestock of any kind.  For example: Hay.  Based on some really rough numbers for sheep, if I were to have 8 sheep that ate 4 small bales per week that averaged 80 pounds per bale I would end up needing about 5 ton of hay for 9 month.  For easy figuring let's say hay is priced at $200/ton that makes $1000 in hay alone for less than one year for a few critters.  Those numbers go way up if you have horses.  Middle of the road numbers for beef and probably less for goats.  And then you get to start figuring prices for fencing.  I have been too scared to really price it out.  I know fencing panels start at around $20/panel and go up from there.  Field fencing is cheaper, as is electric fencing.  Honestly I will probably go with some electric fencing since that will entail the least amount of money and work overall.  It will still require a lot of work and money but not as much as some of the methods.  I luckily already have good fence posts in place and have barbed wire fences.  That just won't hold goats or sheep.

So that has been my main dilemma.  In the back of my mind there is also the fact that I want to add bees to our orchard that we started.  I think for that I will see if I can work with our local bee man to see if I can even remain calm around a hive of bees.  That is a heck of a lot of bees in one place.  Bees would be wonderful to have though.  They would help the garden and orchard and I love honey so that would all be lovely.

Hmmmm... Family trip.  We hope to travel to South Dakota and do some camping.  The Black Hills and Mount Rushmore are only a few hours from us so it would be an easy weekend even if it ends up in the middle of the week.

Tom is teaching summer school again this year so although he is wrapping up one semester he is planning summer classes already.  He doesn't get much time off this year.

I have Bear in 4-H too for the summer.  As if we won't be busy enough.  He is old enough this year for the Clover Kids program.  That means he can't qualify for the state fair but he can enter our county fair with his project.

Mia is doing her best to be ready for Kindergarten.  She isn't even going to preschool yet.  We'll wait another year on that.  I don't want to do two years of preschool.  A couple of reasons there.  The cost and the fact that it is in another school in town, that is separate from where Bear goes.  Enough miles go on the vehicle taking Bear to school since we have no bus service.  But, back to Mia.  She knows her alphabet, is starting to write her letters, counts to 30 with very little if any help, and is starting to spell/read.  Her and Bear do addition and subtraction for fun when they are sitting at the table so she can add most of her numbers up to 10.  Bear is starting to teach her the concept of subtraction.  He is an incredible and natural teacher.

I think that about catches us up.  Spring is always busy and for some reason we insist on adding to the normal Spring busy.  We must be crazy.

Running Again

I'm finally almost back into the habit.  I pretty much took the winter off.  Running at -30 degrees didn't seem fun and since I refuse to pay for a gym and don't own a treadmill running was put on hold.  This week hasn't been easy since I've been trying to come down with some sort of creeping crud Bear brought home.  The actual running wasn't so bad but afterwards and just before were not great.


Someday I will get faster.  I am. very. slow.  At least I'm moving.  I'm determined to actually loose some weight this year too.  You would think that after 3 years I could get rid of some of the baby weight.  It is due time now.  The garden will help with that.  Both the act of gardening and the eating more vegetables.


I started my tomatoes today.  I'm already seeing piles of weeds too.  I'm going to need to dig beds again to kill all those little weed starts.  The chickens will hopefully help with some of it but three little ol' chickens aren't going to get it all.  I'll be hopefully getting my voice back enough tomorrow to call a gal that has sheep for sale.  I have no idea if I have enough money for them or decent fences.  I suspect not on both accounts. 


I'm off to finish off my horrible garlic, ginger, lemon, and apple cider vinegar concoction for my throat.  Tastes bad but seems to help.  And then I have children who think I'm starving them.

3 years

Three years ago yesterday my dad died.  Hard to believe.  I still can see something or think of something and almost pick up the phone to call him.  I miss our phone talks.  Well, I really miss everything.  In many ways I'm glad he went when he did but it doesn't make me miss him any less.  I really wish my kids could have gotten to know him better.  Bear did a little but Mia only met him once at about a month old.  She was only 3 months old when he died.


You know one thing I didn't realize until after he died?  I didn't realize I was such a "daddy's girl."  I wouldn't have called myself that but in many ways I am.  And as much as he and I could argue I think it was because we were more alike than either of us cared to admit.


One of the things I would love to ask Dad now is if he remembered exactly the day, the phone call, the feeling when he got the news about his dad dying.  Of course that isn't something I wanted to know when he was alive because it wasn't something I wondered about.  I'm assuming I will always remember those moments.  I remember those phone calls from the plane crashes and I remember the phone call about my dad.


Enough thinking about this.  I miss my dad, that is about all there is to it.  Most days are pretty dang wonderful but there are times it is harder without him.  Such as life after a death of a loved one.

Kids and Critters

Spring is a dangerous time for me.  There are so many cute babies around.  I want to bring them all home.  The kids love the animals.  Mia has no fear of any of them.  I worry about this a bit but I'm also glad she isn't afraid.  I want her to be careful but not fearful.  Bear is more worried but still loves the animals.  They can freak him out a bit though.  He doesn't like a fast moving chicken or a cat that scratches.  That is okay too.


I'm am sorely tempted to go get about three more chicks.  I would have to do some more modifications to the chicken area though and I just got done with a bunch.  I think I'll hold off until next spring.  I have to make myself. 


I'm surprised how much I've liked the chickens.  I've always kind of been grossed out by chickens.  Especially chicken meat.  I like to eat it but I hate to handle it.  I can butcher red meat but chicken meat is just gross.  Not sure why but it is just a yuck factor that I have to deal with.  The eggs don't bother me much though.  Well, unless they are just barely cooked.  Then the texture can get to me. 


One thing I like is that my kids are getting to know where their food comes from.  My kids know where eggs come from and where meat comes from.  I want them involved in the process so they know their food.  I want them to know how to raise their own food as adults and not feel like it is an impossible task.


Besides, it is pretty darn adorable when Miss Mia picks up a chicken and pets it and talks to it.  She does the same to her cat and I think she would to the dogs if they didn't outweigh her.  She does lay on the floor with them and talks to them while petting them.  Bear loves the animals too but is less lovey-dovey with them.  He and the cat like to snuggle in bed though.  He needs a new kitten since his got killed over the winter.  Good thing spring is here and the kittens will be born soon.


I've been cleaning up outside from the winter.  We moved the chickens to a different area to open up the yard so there is a lot of raking over there to do.  I need to put onions and maybe potatoes in.  I have all sorts of seeds I need to start.  Lots to do.


Yesterday I put lots of it off and did some inside paperwork clean-up.  Today I need to get outside and enjoy the sunshine.  It is supposed to be almost 70 degrees after all.  I should dig some beds too.  I think I'll sit out there and spin for an hour or so and then I'll dig some beds and rake.  I did get my grapes pruned yesterday.  Little-by-little it will get done.

Spring. At Least for Today.

We've had some nice temperatures the last couple of days and our snow is gone.  That leads to mud.  Lots of mud.  I got a little stuck in the driveway coming home yesterday.  I say only a little stuck because I never had to get out to push and we made it out just fine, but it did take some rocking back and forth.  Things like this never fail to entertain the kids.  We've had a couple of fun experiences getting up a big hill by our house too.  It has just the right amount of incline that with the right conditions it is impossible to get up it with our two-wheel drive.  Luckily we can go around if we need to but it takes more time and usually means being late.  It is one thing I do really like about farm country though.  Pretty much every road has two or four different ways you can go.  Everything is laid out in grids and everything connects for the most part.  About the only hang up is the river and there are multiple crossings but sometimes you have to go several miles to get to that other crossing.  Same with train tracks.  We do have a lot of train crossings.  When I go to the farmer's market the one direction I think I cross the tracks twice with a couple of blocks.  Each town is divided by the tracks and then two of the towns are divided by the river.


So, back to the mud and spring...  I know it isn't done being winter yet.  It never seems to let go easily or this early.  I am enjoying the warmer weather though.  I'll know it is spring when I see the crocus come up.  One field I drive by is starting to green.  I think they must have a wheat crop in.


I've been burning weeds.  The wet has helped to keep things under control but things are still dry.  Tumbleweeds are incredible flammable when you don't want them to be but won't burn when you do want them to.


While I burned yesterday the kids played in the mud.  We have one spot in the backyard/garden that is a hole from the kids and dogs and there gets to be quite the mud hole there.  The kids love it.  They were covered head to toe in the grey gunk.  Luckily it washes right out of the clothes if you get them rinsed and straight into the washer.  I don't dare leave them when the kids are that muddy.  It was even nice enough that the kids stripped down outside and they didn't freeze.


The chickens are loving the nice weather too.  I'm going to move them.  There is a shed that I am going to move them into.  Their coop will move too, but this way they'll have more protection from the wind.  I'm just hoping that by moving them they don't become dinner for some predator.  It is a bit further from the house but they need the protection from the weather and I need to be able to keep them more out of the garden during the growing season.  They are lovely right now in the garden but not so much when we have lush baby plants coming up.

Things I Never Thought I Would Say

I never thought I would be happy about a school break ending.  I am.  This points out one of the many, many reasons I don't home school.  I do not have the patience or level temperament.  Bear needs to be focused and going constantly.  I know even his teacher seems to have a tough time keeping him going. 


After five days of being home we were all a little stir-crazy.  This morning Bear came bounding into our room and 6:30 a.m. saying, "Mom, Dad, time to wake up.  I need to go to school."  All said as he's clapping to make more noise.  He happily got dressed and ate breakfast in record time.  He was very happy to be going back to school.


I have to hand it to the kid.  He is brave and very much his own person too.  A while back we actually got a decent amount of snow.  He has misplaced his black snow pants so I dug out a pair that Mia had gotten some time back that were his size.  Great! Now he can go play in the snow here at home.


Well, then he wanted to take them to school with him.  No problem except that they are pink.  Very pink.  I'm thinking the other kids will give him a hard time and I tell him it maybe isn't the best idea.  He was determined, so I let him take them with him.  Sure enough, a couple kids gave him a hard time.  They said something about being girly and his reply was, "I don't care.  I like them."  And he continued to wear them.  Then a day or so later one of the older kids that had given him a hard time told him that pink was also that kid's favorite color.  I was very proud of Bear.  He is such a confident kid and really doesn't seem to care what others think of him.  In fact, he seems to be the kid who is going to be the trend-setter because he is brave enough to wear whatever he wants.


In all this he reminds me very much of my dad.  My dad never changed who he was for anyone.  Much as we all would have liked him to sometimes.  My dad would never do what the crowd said needed to be done and he bucked every fad in the book.  I have a feeling this will be Bear as well.   I'm okay with that even if I might be mortified at times. 

Kid update

I've been lax about keeping up to date on the kids.  Funny how life gets in the way.  I am awful about remembering to take pictures too.  I get too busy just enjoying the moment to worry about the camera.  In fact, I've been trying to remember where on Earth my camera is.  I know it is here somewhere.


So about the kids.  Mia is now 37 inches tall and about 30 pounds.  Bear is right about 4 feet tall and edging toward 60 pounds.  I know I will be looking up at him before I know it.  I am hoping Mia gives me a few more years of being taller than she is but I know it is likely she will be quite tall as well.  That is what happens when everyone in the family, on both sides, is taller than you are.  My paternal grandmother is the only person who was around my height in the whole family.  I don't think any relations are even close to my height on Tom's side.  Not that can make a genetic difference at any rate.  I do have a step-grandma that I eventually got taller than, but she doesn't have any influence on the kids either.


Bear is doing really well in school and loving it.  He seems to truly enjoy the school atmosphere.  Both the learning new things and the social aspect of it.  He is now bringing reading homework home in the evenings and is just blowing through it.  I've been impressed by the speed that he is picking up how to read.  He seemed to take a while to really get interested in it but now that he is look out.  I'm enjoying watching him turn into quite the young man.  Many mornings now he happily lets the chickens out for me or he'll put them up for the night.  He is an incredible help with his little sister too.


Speaking of little sister.  She is quite the prankster.  The other night she got up for what seemed like the umpteenth time and Tom told her to go back to bed.  She said, "But Dad, I have to ask Mom a question."  So he let her come in the other room where I was and she grinned at me and said, "Did you know, I don't have a question?"  Cracked me up.  She knew she was asking me a question by saying "Did you know?" but she really didn't have anything specific to ask me.  Stinker.  She does that sort of thing quite a bit now.  Also, now that she has turned three anytime she would normally say "too" she says "three" thinking that "too" is "two."  That has turned into when she says "I love you" it is always with the person's age.  So Bear gets a "I love you five," and Tom and I get our ages and we are supposed to respond with "I love you three." 


They are funny kids.  They play well together.  This morning I have no idea how long they had been up before they came and got us at 6:30 a.m.  They said they were playing games in Bear's room.  Some made-up version of Angry Birds according to Bear.


We all have a lot of fun together.  With all the art supplies the kids got for Christmas many afternoons and evenings are spent painting, coloring, and stamping.  Or  we get out the board games and play after supper.  There are things that I really enjoy about Winter.  Bear is getting really good at Mancala.  I don't hold back playing him and only sometimes beat him by much.  Most of the time it is either really close or he wins.  He is really good at Set Jr. and Zingo.  Mia loves the Zingo game because she and Bear can easily play by themselves without needing Mom and Dad to help out.


I suppose I have put laundry off long enough.  It is a grey dreary day here.  We are supposed to get a bunch of snow.  We just got rain last night with just a skiff of snow.  At least it is some moisture.  We've been dry since just before Christmas.  Oh, I guess we have had one snow storm since then because Bear had the sled out that we bought around Christmas.  But that was it.  The moisture is welcome.

Said so well.

This gal over at The Prairie Homestead talks about the couponing issues so well that I'll just send you her way. http://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2011/05/why-i-dont-clip-coupons.html


I will say this, no I am not 35 miles from town, although I have lived that far.  I don't have a milk cow either despite considering it at times.  Otherwise my views are very similar to hers.

Growth

At Mia's birthday we measured both kids.  I try to do this at each of their birthdays since the birthdays are 6 months apart.  Almost 2 inches for both kids! No wonder I can't keep any groceries in this house.

Happy Birthday

I can't believe my youngest turns three today.  Here is a post from not long after she was born: http://mommech.blogspot.com/2011/02/some-pictures-from-last-week-or-so.html


She was so tiny. Especially compared to now.  I keep trying to add a photo of her yesterday and it isn't cooperating with me.  Not sure if it is my computer or Blogger.  Doesn't matter.






Three years sure has flown by.  When we moved she was only a year and a half, still in a crib, still in diapers, and barely talking.  Now she is totally potty trained, been in a big kid bed since right after our move, talks non-stop, and talks about going to school.  She is dying to go to school like her big brother.  Because he is a great teacher she knows her alphabet song, counts to 10, and tries to do everything he does.  I think with just a little time put in she'll be writing before long.  I am not sending her to pre-school until she is four.  Mostly because of two things.  I don't want to pay for it and I don't want to have to drive to a second school just yet.  Plus, she is going to need more shots etc. in order to enroll in school.  I'm not ready to do all that yet.  We still haven't found a family doctor we like. We will but I am not in any big rush to put her in school.  I like our quiet days together.






I just thought about it... I call her Mia because that is what her brother always has called her.  She insists upon being called Amelia.  Not Millie, Mia, or anything else. Oh, I do get away with calling her Whistling Pete when she whistles a lot.  She taught herself to whistle and she walks around whistling tunes all day.  She has a crazy sense of humor too.  She loves a good knock-knock joke and right now is sure into the poop, fart, and toilet jokes.  Not thrilled about that but it will pass.  I hope.


She is very into the pink and princess stuff.  And sparkles.  She loves her sparkles.  Makeup and fingernail paint.  Dresses and purses.  At least despite loving all that she has no qualms about dressing up as pretty as she can and going to visit the chickens or playing in the sandbox.  I'm not sure how I ended up with a girl that is so girly but I did.  I love that she is girly but tough.  She does a great Hulk impression too.






Yep, love my kiddo with her crazy personality.  I am so glad that I get to stay home with the kids now.  I get to see all these little quirks and fun games.

Thursday that I thought was Wednesday

I have a love hate relationship with morning.  I love the dawn of a new day, the light on the hills, the world waking up.  I just hate waking up to take part.  I like the being up just not getting up.  At least this morning because Tom and to be up and out early the coffee was already on when I got up.  I do like those mornings he makes coffee.


My morning chores these days consist of helping Mia on the potty, letting dogs out (the cat usually sneaks in at this point), and letting the chickens out.  Once all that is done then I can build coffee, build a fire, and get the kiddos breakfast so we can get Bear to school by 7:50.  Luckily these days Bear dresses himself and Miss Mia usually ends up just putting shoes and a coat on with her jammies to take Bear to school.  There are always a few days here and there where Bear decides to dawdle and take forever to get dressed but overall mornings aren't particularly stressful until we actually go to walk out the door.  Then Mia usually decides at the last minute that she forgot her purse or something and doesn't want to leave.  I would do a lot better with it if I were maybe more of a morning person but I am just not.  My poor kids.  Bear will often tell me I need to drink more coffee because I'm being a grump.  From a five-year-old no less.  He's right, but it doesn't make it any better.


I keep looking over our property during morning and evening chores and marveling at the fact that we have it.  We are losing the property in Montana today.  No one would buy it and we just can't pay two mortgages.  I hate that and our credit will take a serious hit but now we can focus on building our credit back up.  I do miss our little house in Montana.  I love that my babies were babies there.  They learned to crawl, walk, and talk there.  We became a family in that house.  I hope someone else gets to enjoy that little house as much as we did.  I don't miss it when the wind blows though.  We would have the house easily drop 10 degrees as soon as the wind would start.  I am loving a well insulated house.  So, as much as I miss the house in Montana I am very glad we are where we are.  We have a great chunk of property, we don't live in town, Tom has a good job that he loves, and we feel like we are a part of the community.  That is worth a lot.


I think since I am mostly ready for my farmer's market on Saturday I will lay seeds out today and see what I have and what I need.  Before I know it I'll have starts all over the house.  I figure late February or early March I'll start my seeds. If I can find my celery I'll probably start that sooner but I can't seem to keep track of that seed packet.  I suppose I'll have to decide how much of a market garden we are going to put in this year.  I'm thinking at least herbs will need to go to market.  I see very few herbs there.  I guess I'll see what I have room for.