An official farm girl!

I butchered my first rooster today, and now I really feel like an official farm girl. I can now raise my own meat from babies, and put them in the stew pot too! My dad came over to help - I wanted to make sure I was doing it correctly. It took me about two hours from start to finish, but I think once I have more practice, it won't take as long. I still have 4 or 5 roosters that need to be added to the stew pot, so over the next week I'm going to be busy! This is the rooster before the butchering. I will spare you all the photos of the rest of the job - it certainly wasn't super pretty!

Mother's Day

I have to say, this year was probably by far one of my best Mother's Days. And I think it was because it was so laid back. We had celebrated with my family, my mom, the day before, so today was all for me. And my husband outdid himself in making sure I enjoyed it. No, there was no fancy restaurant - we tried that last year for brunch and all I can say is "what in the world was I thinking???" Lots of people, my kids were whiny, and it just wasn't fun. But this year, I got to sleep in (cue angel music here), I got served breakfast in bed (Raisin Bran and coffee, and it was perfect!) and then we went to church. I got to watch my kids sing on stage in their oh-so-cute way, and then viewed their artwork on display in the lobby. The message was great, the music was great, and I was teary throughout. Once we got home, my hubby sent me outside to play ball with the kids while he fried up enough bacon to feed the whole neighborhood, and made us all BLT's for lunch. We then spent the rest of the afternoon doing gardening work, which is what I had told him days ago was the way I wanted to spend Mother's Day. We got two maple trees planted, a gardening bed made, flowers planted, and plans made for more projects. Hubby again made dinner - grilled pork, pasta and veggies - and cleaned up the kitchen all along the way. It was such a nice and relaxing day for me! At bedtime all the kids gave me giant hugs and kisses, said Happy Mother's Day and I Love You Soooo Much, and went to sleep. I have photos, and once I get them all edited properly (meaning sized so they don't take three days to upload from here in the woods where we live!) I will post them. But suffice to say, it will be a Mother's Day I will remember for a long time!!

Saturday Fun

I first heard the kids start to stir at 6 am on Saturday morning. Really? Really! The one day we can sleep in during the whole entire week, and they have to get up early. I can't wait until they are teenagers, so I can wake them up early just for the heck of it! The good thing is they stayed relatively quiet for that first hour, and then you could tell they were just itching to get up and really play. So at 7 am I went to their rooms to give them the ok to get up, and by 7:17 am, this is what they came out to the living room in:

So this was the kick start to our day. We spent the rest of the morning getting some last minute preparations done for going out to my parents house. The kids and James sent me to my craft room for a little bit so they could work on some Mother's Day cards, and I gathered the supplies for the kids to make my mom a Mother's Day painting. This is what they did (photo courtesy of Daniel!):

I was so happy with how it turned out. Now I need to have them make me one for my wall! We had a nice BBQ late lunch/early dinner at my parents house. Hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, and I made angel food cake with strawberries for dessert. The kids had fun presenting me with their treasures they had made in school - my absolute favorite kind of gifts!

Austin was too busy playing with Auntie Melissa's new goat to come over and have his picture taken with me! Oh well, cute picture of Austin and the goat! He had fun with her!

All of my kiddos and I - just love it! 

Gardening Ideas

I have found some gardening ideas this year that I really want to try. I wonder how many I can actually get done?

Planter Wall

Square Foot Gardening

This is going to be my happy spot this summer! And when it comes to planting veggies, this will be how I start: Top Six Veggies

Good Friday - in lots of ways!

Today is Good Friday, and it is also the last full day of Spring Break for the kids. Auntie Brenda decided to treat the kids to a special day with her for a combined birthday present. After James and I dropped off the kids at her house, we went to enjoy a nice lunch at Hunters Restaurant and do some shopping. Brenda took the kids to a bounce house for a lot of jumping and running, then to Dairy Queen for ice cream treats, and then took them to a park for lots of exploration and fun. It was a great day for the kids and James and I got to spend some time together just the two of us. Thanks Auntie Brenda - you are the best!

Snow Mud Day

Today was a beautiful day! Finally saw lots of sunshine after a mostly dreary and cold and windy week. After a morning in church, playing basketball at the YMCA, and catching a movie (Big Miracle) we came home for some Sunday relaxation. The kids decided to go outside and play - and their choice of outfits made me laugh! Shorts, rainboots, stocking cap and baseball cap. But heck, they had fun!

Batman and Hearts

I got a day away today to sew with my quilting friends. I left the house at 8:30 and didn't return home until 3:45. I got quite a bit accomplished, too, and had a good time chatting with all my quilting friends. James stayed home most of the day with the kids, but then had to take them all to a birthday party in the afternoon. Quite an accomplishment for him, since he hates crowds and especially hates going into social situations where he doesn't know anyone. But the party was a great success, and the kids got their faces painted. Austin chose not to have his done, but of course Gretchen and Daniel did.

My little ballerina

Gretchen has been taking another ballet class at the YMCA during February, and she loves it! She's more focused this year than last, so she has actually remembered the moves and positions. I think this might be something she is going to want to stick with for a while!

My new hairdo

Happy Leap Day! Did you do something fun to celebrate this rare holiday?

I got my hair colored red today. It was time to hide the nasty gray hairs that kept sprouting up overnight! A hairdresser from church was offering half off reds this month, so I took advantage of it. And she did a fabulous job. I can't believe how long my hair is getting. I'm liking the long locks lately!

Our new little chicks

The chicks arrived at Big R last week, and I decided to let the kids each have two brand new baby chicks. They were only 3 days old when we bought them, and now they are a little over a week old. They each got a yellow chick, which will turn red, and a black chick. Right now they are living in my craft room, keeping warm under swing arm lamps and my space heater. They are doing well, and since the weather is getting better, they will be able to move outdoors when they reach about 6 weeks old, hopefully sooner!

Little House in the Woods

It snowed again, and it coated our property in the prettiest snow. I took advantage of the setting sun tonight and took some pictures outside. I loved how this one turned out - our nice warm house nestled in the snow surrounded by trees. Home sweet home!

It's Santa Time!

For the first year ever, Gretchen likes Santa! She has been excited to see Santa, and at three different places, sat on Santa's lap and talked to him. It's so fun to see her finally get over her fear of Santa. I of course didn't have my camera with me to capture her first successful visit with Santa, but I did get photos of the second two Santas.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We spent the day at my Mom and Dad's for Thanksgiving. Very small affair - just them, our 5, and my sister and her daughter. It was a nice afternoon, and except for the pumpkin pie, it was full of yummy food! We had a lot to be thankful for - the previous weekend my dad had been in the hospital having two more stents placed in his heart after having some very high blood pressure and pains on Thursday night. So we were all extremely thankful to have him there at the table with us.

I hope that you found lots to be grateful for this Thanksgiving. I know God has truly blessed my life with gifts beyond measure!

Beautiful Eyes

The challenge on I Heart Faces this week is Beautiful Eyes. I had a few different photos that I wanted to enter, but I finally chose this one of Gretchen. We had gone camping one weekend this summer, and in a little town near our camping area they were having a festival. We drove in for it, and I found a great little fairy headband for her that perfectly matched her shirt. I took this photo as we sat to have some lunch along the river. I love her beautiful blue eyes, and the sparkle in them when she smiles!

Please click on photo to see it larger.



See more photos of beautiful eyes at I Heart Faces.

Happy Birthday Dad/Grandpa!

We celebrated Dad's birthday today. The kids painted a birdhouse village for him, and it turned out really cute! Dad loved it.

Water Play

We have not done as much water play this year as last year. The weather has not been cooperative for us! But we did find a nice little wading pool in our new town. It's in the main city park, and is right next to the big pool. But this one is perfect for the kids to just get wet - at the most, it goes up to their knees. The kids were very excited to discover it recently.

Daniel

Austin

Gretchen

My three musketeers!

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July from our family to yours! Here is how we celebrated the day.