A Day Away

On Saturday the kids and I went down to Joel & Kirsten’s for a fun day at the farm, which turned into an overnight stay when Kirsten twisted my arm (for the record, she is amazing – she found pajamas (and church clothes!!)  for me and all five of my kids, fed us all a delicious breakfast, and even washed our clothes so we would have clean things to wear home! ) Peter stayed home to get some much needed projects done around the house (I have hot water for my washing machine again! And even a second washer in the basement – wahoo!)

Anyway, it was a fun-filled weekend, complete with

A) Trying out their vintage cream separator (did I mention Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Jon were there, too?)

 

B) Riding tractors

 

C) Horseback Riding

D) Wresting Uncle Joel

And of course E) meeting their new baby goats!!!

(not pictured: playing Bible Scattergories, sleeping in the camper, chasing away tresspassers, checking out their 50 baby chicks, Evin’s birthday party, fixing my incubator, making homemade belgian waffles with strawberries, REAL whipped cream (which we had just gotten the day before with the cream separator!) and maple syrup (from Mabel’s Maple, fresh made just a few weeks ago!), and driving home with a wheelbarrow strapped to the top of the van)

LOST: HALF A DOG

LAST SEEN BLOWING AROUND OUR BACK YARD.

IF FOUND, PLEASE DON’T CALL US – WE DON’T WANT IT BACK!!!

(In other words, Shaggy (now NS² once again) got his annual spring haircut on Friday)

Our Last Phy Ed Class

Today was our last phy ed class for this year. Debbie, our usual babysitter, had an appointment today, so I took all of the kids along (instead of just the oldest two, like I normally do).

I have never been so grateful for Debbie in all my life.

While Sam and Hannah played pool noodle hockey* with the other kids and Naomi goofed around by herself, I spent the hour and a half chasing Josiah and Elaina around the gym. I honestly think I got a better workout than the kids. No sooner would I get Josiah away from the dangers of being run down by the kids playing hockey than I would have to run to the other side of the gym to get Elaina away from the bubbler. For the last half hour I just ended up carrying Josiah as I chased Elaina (by this time he was tired out from running, and also ready for nap time – as was his mom!)

*In case you’ve never seen pool noodle hockey, here’s a pic from last time:

(sorry it’s kind of fuzzy; I took it with my cel phone)

Reply to Kirsten

I can’t add photos in the comments, so I had to make a new post. Here’s what I thought of for you, Kirsten:

It’s basically a six-passenger ATV with a bed in the back – perfect for driving through the mink yards, checking on pregnant cattle, hauling a deer back from the woods, or just toodling around the yard. And it even has a winch, for pulling the Town & Country out of the ditch, and a plow for the driveway in winter (so that the Town & Country doesn’t end up in the ditch in the first place!). Only for about $12,000! What a bargain!

(PS – If you want to test drive it, I have a friend who just bought a used one for driving trails on his acreage. It really is fun!)

Our new truck

On Thursday, we found our new family vehicle:

It’s a 03,  04 and 05 custom-made suburban/pickup combination with a duromax diesel engine; it seats 7 – everything you could want, for only $40,000. We figured we could either buy this, or a small second home.

And while we’re in dreamland, we decided we should also buy this one, for trips when Peter and I go out without the kids:

It’s the same color as the truck, so we figured we’d get the matched set. It even goes with Peter’s motorcycle. It’s like fate!

(No, we didn’t really buy them, Mom; we figured the kids probably should go to college . . .)

Spring Has Sprung

Yup, it’s spring, and, as usual, the change of seasons caught me before I was ready. But I’m doing my best to keep up. So far, we have spring babies (of the puppy as well as nephew kind, with hopefully some of the chicken kind arriving within the next month) spring flowers:

(Yes, those are dandelions surrounding my lovely little crocus. Can’t they lay off at least until Memorial Day???)

And of course, the spring windowsill-full-of-seedlings:

(So far I’ve started 12 tomatoes (two different varieties), a basil, a marjoram, and 6 ground cherries (I’ve never had these before; I’m excited to try them), in addition to the thyme, oregano, and rosemary that have been living on my windowsill all winter)

And, last but not least, the spring children-covered-in-dirt:

(the girls are hunting for worms in my half-dug potato bed (and also making up some pretty strange stories about being meerkats making poison pies to kill the jackals that have taken them prisoner . . .)

For the record, I finished double-digging that bed this afternoon, and so one of my prospective three new beds of potatoes (and carrots) is planted, as well as double rows of peas, spinach, broccoli, and nasturtiums. Now I just have to sow the lettuce and beets and another row of peas and . . .

I’m getting tired just thinking about it. Time for bed!

A Perfect Day

Sam at breakfast this morning:

“This is going to be the be perfect day! We got to go to the Downing’s (our friends who have a big farm with ducks and geese, which we are taking care of while they’re on vacation. Peter and the older kids go over before breakfast and after supper to take care of the animals) we’re having waffles for breakfast (actually belgian waffles, with strawberries and whipped cream, skimmed from our raw milk!) our cousins are coming (Joel, Kirsten, and their kids are coming for the afternoon) and we get to go to Mabel’s Maple (our friends’ family maple syrup open house is this weekend)

We’ll see how perfect it ends up, but it does sound pretty great!