We finally got our tree up last night. It was strange decorating the tree with the air conditioning on, but that's Alabama for you. A cold front is coming through today and by tonight it will down in the 30's. No wonder my sinuses are going crazy.

While decorating I came across the picture of Matthew when he was the age James is now.  Its like I had twins seven years apart.  Do ya'll see those freckles across this nose and cheeks?  Oh my goodness, I could just eat him up.

We have a saying at our house, "Its not Christmas until somebody cries." (I think it is from one of the Shrek movies) and we had our first meltdown last night.  Its usually me that meltdowns when all the tiredness hits me, but last night it was James.  He cried because, well, I don't remember, but it was something about lights and ornaments and things just generally not going his way.

Putting the star on the tree. He's happy again.

And all decked out.  The big boys helped decorate, but they kept putting the ornaments on wrong just to aggravate me so I sent them to do the supper dishes.  The tree is a little ornament-heavy for my tastes, but Abbie says this is the tree she has always dreamed of and that it is perfect.  So, it stays like it is.

Today Abbie will be baking cookies for our Heritage Girl Mother/Daughter Cookie Exchange.  And I'll be vacuuming up the needles from where the tree fell over as Abbie and I were trying to position it just right. 

What are you doing today?

This & That...

 Abbie-girl getting ready to go on her big trip this week.  Love this girl.

 Matt built a new gate for the goat fences.  He pretty much did it on his own start to finish.  Mark provided some direction, and Matt just ran with it. 

 Goats need lots of fencing.  Because they really like to get out of the fencing you already have.  Every new fence provides them with hours of entertainment and challenges.  And as my dad says, "They have absolutely nothing else to do but to figure out how to get out of that fence."  And he's right.

Blackberries from last night.  We would have had twice that many if Moose The Goat had not gotten out of the fence last week while I was at Rebekah's house.  I was gone for about six hours and they just had a field day eating our fruit.  And stomping in the garden.  And making themselves sick.  We still are having a good harvest of berries though and jam-making should commence next week. 

At Home Happiness....

 The first "hanging out" of the year.  Happy Happy!

 

 Matt and I spent the afternoon transplanting tomatoes from their small containers to their larger ones.  Today we start hardening them off and getting them ready to move to the garden.  Happy Happy!

Signs of Spring....

Even though Easter Day itself was not very springy around here we have been seeing little signs of spring here and there.  A couple of days this week were delightful, but then a couple of days of the same week were so cold I thought I was going to have to go back into hibernation with my electric throw and pjs.  Well, I do that anyway every night, but I have been making myself get dressed during the day.  Cold or not.  Except for Thursday when I had some kind of bug and I stayed on the couch and froze all day and felt bad.  And then Friday-I was fine.  Maybe I just needed the sleep.

But oh my stinkin goodness I sound like I am 82 years old telling you about my sciatica. 

Sorry.

Anyhoos.....

Spring is springing slowly but surely here in Alabama...

 I don't know who took this picture, but I found it this morning and love it.  Its Matt trying his best to finish his math book so he can be released for the summer.  Spring is hard for a 13 year old outside boy.  He has to do it, but the outside is calling.  And no, he does not have a vision problem, we have had it checked.  This is just how he works.  And yes, all that mess around him-just keeping it real for all you internet peeps.  We live in this house all day long and it shows.

 We got Scruffy the Wonder Cat this time last spring.  She is all grown up now, but still the most sweetest little thing ever.  Seriously, Abbie and I are a little ga-ga over the cat.  We might even pretend its the grandbaby every once in awhile and pass it back and forth.  And coo and talk to it like its a baby.  And say, "Go back to Mama now, or Go Back to Grandmama now."  But we haven't told anyone else about it.  Its our little secret--that we like the cat so much.  And the girl above, I really like her.  And her hair.  She has dream-hair. Sigh...

 Matt found baby birds in our goat barn this past week. 

 Here you can see the nest tucked behind that green bowl on the shelf.  See those calf feeders?  Maybe one day?

 Abbie got busy Saturday night doing this tablescape for us.  I can't wait to see her home when she is grown.  She is so colorful and creative.  And yes, the frugal side of me had a hard time letting go of the eggs to be used for decoration.  "Its only once a year, its only once a year." Repeat and repeat.

 MamaHen and her growing chicks.  I love this picture, especially of Matthew.  First of all, he has his arm around me.  Very rare.  He is not a touchy-feely person.  At all.  Even as a baby.  He just wanted you to put him down and leave him alone and he was happy.  But he has his arm around me and he is smiling.  And something about his smile reminds me of my daddy so much. And he wore the shirt Nana! 

 Matt and Pappa Rooster built these strawberry bed gutter things this weekend. Mark saw it online somewhere and they got busy and got it done.  We (and I mean Matthew by we), transplanted shoots from our old bed into another raised bed, and then we ordered 25 more plants for the gutters.  If they all make it we should have strawberries running out of our happy happy ears!  So thankful for a smart husband who like to create and make neat things for our family.

Beatrice and Moose are begging for attention here.  They get offended if you are out in the yard and don't give them their proper dues and respect.  They can sure make a racket when they don't get what they want. It's like having a perpetual 15 month old who knows what they want but can't say the words yet.  And all they know to do is cry and whine.  And they are spoiled rotten also.  Just saying.

Ta-Da!....

Guess what?

I completed a domestic project.

I am the queen of having an idea and starting it. I get these crazy ideas to paint a room or learn to sew (cause of all the free time I have, you know?) and after a couple of days things just sorta never happen. But man, if I had some drones to execute all the ideas I come up with...

Anyway, I had this huge blank wall behind our couch. It has been like that since we moved in seven years ago. I tried a couple of different pictures, but nothing worked because the space was so big. So, I would sit and stare at the blank wall.

Well, I finally decided to do something about it, oh, about three months ago. And now it is done. Only three months, you say... Remember, I've got four kiddos here with me ALL DAY long. Crowd control is priority around here, not interior decorating.

Anyway, on someone's blog a long time, (I think it was Nester, but I can't be positive) I saw a coffee filter wreath and I knew that was going to be my starting point. The idea was to fill the space with things I love and things that are cheap. I made the wreath! I made a craft that looks good! Woo-Hoo!

I couldn't find any light brown coffee filters like I wanted so I actually dyed the white filters with tea. Yes, I did. And then I laid them out to dry and it took much longer than I thought it would. Strange. Some of them even got a little musty, I would have to say.

Anyways... I took a Styrofoam wreath and then just proceeded to bend the filters like I wanted and pinned them in place with stick pins. I thought about hot gluing them, but that would have involved finding the glue gun and then finding the glue sticks, and I would still be staring at the blank wall today. Actually I am glad I did it with pins because I could then take them out and rearrange them like I wanted.

I would have liked for it to be a little darker for this wall, so I plan to make another one and put this one in our bedroom. I bought the frames at the thrift store and was gifted the crosses. The wagon picture came from the thrift store. The framed quilt piece was from a quilt my great-grandmother made. It was falling to pieces so I salvaged a piece with no tears or rips and framed it. The children are courtesy of Mark and I, thank you very much.

And yes, I am well aware the items on the wall are crooked. Everything in my house is. This house is very old and it is saggy in a little places. I can straighten a picture one day and then next morning it is crooked again. There is actually a place in the house where Mark and I can stand and I am almost as tall as he is. We call it our smooching spot.

There are still a few little things I want to add to it. My mom had some wooden butterflies that used to hang in her kitchen. I am on the lookout for something like that to add to the top.

This is an old post that I am putting in The Farmhouse Style Blog Hop today.  Thanks Green Eggs and Goats!  

I still love my coffee filter wreath and am trying to figure out exactly where I want it since the painting fiasco.  Fiasco in that the walls are painted, but I still haven't hung anything on the walls.  Well, I did try to hang a cute little coat holder thingy and it kept falling and scraped the new paint.  So it is back in the pile of things to hang later....

Paint and Me Huddled In The Corner Crying "Mercy!"....

This is a whiny and venting post so if you have a few minutes to spare with absolutely nothing else to do this is the place for you.

In a 24 hour period I am picking out new flooring and new paint for our family room/kitchen room combo.  I was told at Lowe's yesterday that would be called a great room. Hmmmm????  Since both the kitchen and family area are a total of about 210 square feet I am not sure that the greatness would correspond to size.  But I think it is a great room because its where my family lives.  90 % of our lives are spent in these two rooms so it will forevermore be called the Great Room. :)

Anyways,  I picked out the new floor and hopefully they will come measure today or tomorrow because than I will know more about when they will actually put the floor down.  And in about an hour period I made the decision to paint before I get the new floor and realized that picking out paint is 379% harder than picking out floors.  Heaven forbid that I ever have to pick out wallpaper.

Rebekah and Mark said I just need to get over it and pick out some colors and stop trying to make it perfect and all that,blah, blah, blah, but ya'll-it makes my chest hurt when I look at all the colors.  They are all so pretty!  And there are so many of them!  And what if I paint the whole great room and then I hate it?  And I have to look at it and regret it and when people come over I feel the need to explain how I "almost" choose the right color, but I made a quick decision and I'm sorry they are having to sit in my great room and look at this awful color.

Oh ya'll.  And right before Christmas.  Because that is perfectly logical, right?  Its my fault because I have hemmed and hawed for six months about what kind of floor I want.  Yesterday my mother-in-law took me to Lowes and basically said in a very nice sweet, but assertive way, "Wendy Clark-pick out some floor-now!"

So, my question to you is-do you just know what you want or does the thought of picking out paint colors make you sick to your stomach?  And if, you are one of those people who just knows how to decorate and how to pick out colors, will you come do it for me?

Goat Barns and Other Happenings...

Mark and the boys worked all last weekend to get the old workshop converted to a goat barn. It is getting colder at night and we wanted to have a warmer place for them to sleep.They worked really hard and were able to get the workshop cleaned out and the holding/sleeping area all done with a lot of muscle and absolutely no money spent.  They used what we already had and were very clever with what they did.

I sent Abbie out to take some pictures for me and I thought her pictures were fun.  Her perspective was very different than what mine would have been.  With me, you would have gotten pictures of hinges and wire.  With her pictures you get cute little animals-much better!

I did want to show off their hard work.  Next up is a feeding trough and waterer in here for them.  This will also be the barn where Bea will be milked.

Moose says Hey!

James and Beatrice.  Her little horns are just a-growing, and they hurt when she butts her head up.  I guess that's what they are supposed to do though :)

Scruffy thinks she is a dog and follows us everywhere around here.  She stays up with the goats a lot and I think she thinks they are her pets.  She has to know exactly what is going on with them all the time.

Rosita is our only hen still laying right now.  One egg every other day is not cutting it for us.  We think the others must be in a molt-or either too old to be producing.  Or either too lazy one.  :)

Matt is training Buddy to walk on a leash.  He doesn't like it.  But he goes along with it because he knows if he gets it done he can go back in the pen where the sweet feed is.

The quail are all nestled in for the cold weather.

The rabbits are just hanging around enjoying the cooler weather.  They do better in cooler weather than hot.  I guess I would too with all that fur.

Other than that we have just been here at home having school and running the kids here and there.  James is back to his full self after his sickness and it was evident by the dramatics last night. He decided to build a dam with every book from his bookshelf and block the way into the kitchen.  Oh my goodness, you should have heard the wails and carrying-ons when he was told to put all the books back up.  He got it done, but it was a long and painful process for both of us.  Child-Raising-its not for the weak of heart.

linked up at Farm Girl Friday

A Little Meltdown....

Last week I dealt with some sickness all week and on top of that we had school, a field trip, an allergist's visit, which was really a consult which said to come back in two weeks and spend $50 more dollars, a spend the night, a Fall Festival that has turned into Fall Festival Week and a myriad of other this and thats which left me Saturday morning in meltdown cry mode when I could not find the shirt that Abbie needed for her dress up and beg for candy at Tanneyhill time.  By the way, I had to pay $9 to get in and we didn't even get out of the car it was so crowded.  That did not help my feelings on top of the meltdown.  Mark says I really just need to let it go... Oh, and church and another fall festival and again, I wonder why I do this to myself and then I go to bed and here it is Monday morning and I am bound and determined to stay home this week and get some things done.

School is our priority.  Has to be done, no excuses.  And it will be.  And this week it is going to be done well, by cracky.

Then laundry and ironing.  Monday is ironing day. No excuses.  Believe me, it will be better for everyone if the ironing gets done all on one day.

Then, the Great Clothes Switchout and making a list of who needs what.  Cause they keep growing.  And growing.  And throwing the temper-tantrum in Abbie's room Saturday morning revealed that I got to get busy in that closet.

And I suppose I will cook some meals here and there.  And pay some bills as payday is this week.  Oh, and groceries.  And I have this grand scheme in my head to do some garden research to see how we can better implement year-round gardening.  And I want to make these cute little pumpkin letter cards for James and oh my goodness, it is almost November and I remember making the cutest little feather headdresses and Pilgrim hats for the big kids when they were James' age...

Or I could just go back to Pinterest and look at all the people who have already done all this things.

Hmmm.....

Thank you Aunt Sister Jill for the poodle skirt.  She was adorable.

A mighty Ninga was he.

Friends before we left for the non-happening Fall Festival at Tanneyhill.  We did go for frozen yogurt to try to make it up to them and then Kelli and I left the kids with Mark and went out for an early Mexican supper.  It was hard work deciding not to do the festival and deal with the fall-out, you know?????  Thank you Mark!

But then I see pictures like this and I am able to get up after a good night's sleep and after Mark reassures me for the 5, 925 time that I am not the worst mother in the world, and I get back at it again.  Because those little smiles-they do my heart good.

A List....

Source: iwastesomuchtime.com via Wendy on Pinterest

Is this true for anyone else out there?

So today's list includes:
~Jelly-making from Mark's Concord grapes.  This is our first year for them to bear so I am very interested to taste the jelly.
~Snap about 3 gallons of green beans and freeze them.  Tyler has said he is bored here lately so now he has something to do today!
~Mop.  My flip-flops are sticking to the floor.  That is a clear indication I need to mop or we just need to move.  Its too hot to move so I'll just mop. 
~Try not to wither away from the heat.  It just makes me limp to walk outside.  So I don't.  I stay in or sit in the shade on my swing. I have a new hobby now.  Our chickens have discovered they can get out and as I like to watch them I don't make them go back in.  So I watch them waddle around the yard.  And it makes my heart happy. Chicken-watching-its fun, cheap, and relaxing.  Who knew?  The perfect pasttime!
~Charge my camera battery bc I found the memory card and if I get both in the camera at the same time I can take some pictures.
~Three meals for the children.  They keep asking for them, you know?
~Walk some more.  I did five laps last night (I think that is the most I have ever done).  Even after the sun goes down it is really really hot out there and I think I got a little overheated last night.  The chest pounding and my eardrums feeling like they were going to burst was a good sign it was time to stop.
~Water the garden after the sun goes down.  Actually I might water this morning and this afternoon bc of the heat. Well, the boys might water.  I supervise from the back door.
~I want to do something with my back porch.  We are back-porch people in that hardly anyone comes to our front door.  So I want it to look nice, or at least decent.  Decently nice I guess you could say.  Maybe if I can get the camera thing down I'll take some pictures and all you decorating gurus can give me some advice.

Oh Janet-about the green beans.  I am very hesitant to give canning/freezing advice because I still don't feel super-confident about things.  I would hate to be the reason good food is ruined.  Get the Ball Blue Book in the canning section at Walmart and it tells you everything and anything you could ever want to know about canning and freezing.  Well worth the $7.00.

Friday Morning...

Source: Uploaded by user via Will on Pinteres

Found this on Pinterest and it could not be more true. Especially the girl wearing the shorts and flip-flops while the snow is coming down. We get it so rarely we have to run out in it no matter what we are wearing. It doesn't last long around here.

The forecast says no snow, but Alabama has the potential for some pretty bad stormy weather today. We have had our share of bad tornado weather this past year and now it really puts me on edge when the weather starts to feel this way. So, I will spend this morning cleaning house. Because that makes a lot of sense you know. Clean up before the big storm comes. I guess that is my way of dealing with the stress of it all.

Did you know I ALWAYS have to make up my bed before I leave to go anywhere? Because if the house catches on fire while I am away I want the fireman to see I cared enough about the house to make the bed. I know, I probably need to talk to someone about these issues....

Workin Hard...

Saturday was a beautiful day here so in true Mark Clark Spirit he got the children to work. I'm not sure how he does it, but somehow they just get out there and do it. Very little whining and complaining or excuses. Me on the other hand? Everyone gets a headache or has to go to the bathroom for an extended amount of time whenever I start to mention a project that needs to be done. Anyway....

Abbie hard at work planting raspberries. If you can grow anything at your place I would say go for berries. Once they are planted there is little to no work and the rewards are wonderful. Kids seem to love to go pick berries and then you get to make this Blueberry Cake.


The girls hard at work. Egg production is back up and we have more than we know what to do with. I guess I"ll have to make another cake!

Doesn't Matt look so excited to be out clearing the plum thicket in the pasture? Their father is paying them an enormous amount of money (I think anyway) to get this job done. I told Mark I would go clear it out for the money myself. He looked at me and shook his head. You see, me clearing it out would only cost him more money. Those trips to the ER ain't cheap.

Mark has started giving James little jobs to do around the yard. He mostly plays and gets in the way though. But that's part of learning too. He thinks he is as big as the big boys when he is handing his dad the tools or carrying buckets around the place. It makes my heart happy. He gets very distracted by swings hanging from trees though. I can't say anything. I get distracted by my hammock a lot.


Oh, looks like Abbie got distracted by the swings too.


The rabbits working hard looking cute. They are still available for Easter morning. Just think of the wonderful look of delight on your children's faces as they wake up to a bunny! A real-life bunny!!!!!

Remember: A bunny a day keeps the grumps away.

Okay, its Leap Day. Who thinks this day should just be an off day?

Me!! Me!!!

What are you doing on this Leap Day?

Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real....

Around the house lately we have had lots of pretty, funny, happy, and real. I think I am going to have to change the name of my blog-the days don't seem so long now, they are just flying by.

James catching his favorite chicken "Mystery Solver." We have no idea why he choose this name, but it has stuck. Mystery Solver is almost as big as he is.


Sylvester the cat has made up with us. He was so mad for the longest time about the eye drops.


Abbie and James working in their rocket ship (courtesy of Aunt Jill, whom I will never be able to thank enough for the huge contraption which involved moving my furniture to make room for)
James playing in the mud and giving Mark the Scout Sign. Why in the world he is trying to hold up his pants at this time is beyond me. Its a little late for that.

Matt doing muck work. Cleaning out the rabbit cages is not his favorite thing.


Abbie playing while her brother is hard at work. I'll say it again, how did she get so big?

I have another wonderful handsome delightful son who avoids the camera like the plague. You can trust me that he is alive and well. He stays under the radar here lately.

Today I am linking up at Like Mother, Like Daughter.

Oh, don't forget you can go here to enter to win a cookbook.

Around Our Little House This Week....

~Mark and the big boys were busy this weekend. Matt and Mark finished up another rabbit hutch. It was a necessity. You see, we thought we had all the males and females properly separated.We didn't. Mark didn't think they were mature enough to make babies anyway so we weren't too worried about it. Well, well, well. How can I put this delicately? ........ They are mature enough. So, Saturday Matt spent the day building another hutch. I guess we will find out in 28 days about bunnies. Ya'll, please take a bunny--perfect for Easter pictures and I don't care what you do with them after the picture, if you get my drift....

~Tyler cleared a big tree place in our pasture. Mark and the boys worked on it all last weekend and Tyler was able to finish it up yesterday. It was a really big job. He also cleaned up an old barn area and the place where we have our burning barrel. He is making room for the raspberries and new grapes Mark got yesterday. Just as soon as our yard isn't mud soup anymore he can get them planted. Mark loves growing fruit and I enjoy making jams and jellies so it works out perfectly. And having four pickers isn't bad either!

~Sadie, the puppy, is growing ninety to nothing. She is already bigger than the full-grown fat cats. She likes puppy chew sticks, pulling on our socks, and getting right under your feet whenever you move to go in any direction. She hates baths and when the cats get in her line of vision. She is trying hard to be the dominate animal here at the Ole Clark Homestead and the cats are having none of it. MamaHen is eagerly awaiting the day when Sadie can move into the goat pen--with the goats!

~We are all ready for the goats and now we are just waiting on warmer weather. We are pretty sure we want to get a doe with a baby or about to have a baby and then one other doe. It suddenly hit me on the way home from church today that if we get a full-grown goat she may already have a name. Naming them is half the fun!

~I will be ordering some new chicks the spring. I'm going to wait until April or May. Our layers are about two years old and we need to start replacing the ones that will stop laying soon. I really like looking at all the chicken catalogs that come in. Right now I am leaning towards more Buff Orphingtons and some Wyndottes.

~I sat on my swing awhile this weekend and tried to get excited about the coming garden. Couldn't do it. I've learned you can't muster it up. You have to just let the bug hit you. And then you start to plan and make little charts and pour over the seed catalogs. And begin to think about black plastic versus newspaper and how many rows of corn do you need and is there any way in the world to keep the morning glories from taking over your garden in one night??????

So, whats going on at your little house this week?

Today I am linking up at Homestead Revival.

Will wonders never cease?....

You may remember the other day I saw a cow in a farm trailer going down the interstate giving birth? It was memorable to say the least.

I thought it would hard to top that.

Well, well, well. I had a little surprise yesterday in my own home. And my eyes still aren't sure they saw what they saw and my brain is still processing. But, I have to believe it really happened. All the evidence is there.

As I was putting the groceries away I handed James the 12 pack of toilet paper and told him to go put it away. Later I went in to the bathroom fully expecting to see the pack of paper laying on the floor. Because to five year old James putting it away means taking it to the correct room and throwing it in as far and as hard as he can.

I walked in and looked around in disbelief. I rubbed my eyes and declared again I really needed new contacts.

He had:

1. Opened the package
2. Put all 12 rolls in the basket beside the toilet where the extra rolls go.
3. And wonder of wonders, PUT THE EMPTY PACKAGE INTO THE TRASHCAN, and did not leave it laying on the floor.

Tears welled in a brimming pool in my eyes as my heart sang with joy at the sight before me.

And in the still quiet background I thought I heard the Avett Brothers begin to sing "Just A Closer Walk With Thee."

Not that they, or this song, has anything to do with what happened, but lately the Avett Brothers and their music is in my head a lot.

(Did you know they are coming to Birmingham March 7? I would love to go but won't for two very important reasons~~ 1) It cost money to buy tickets and the three meals a day thing is pretty important to Mark and me right now and 2) I am pretty sure I would be oldest woman there and I wouldn't know how to act. You know the last concert I went to was Micheal Bolton in 1990, don't you?)

Follow along if you dare...

Something is crazy up with our computer. It is working under Mark's log in name, but mine is all kinds of messed up. Mark was able to save all our pictures (which we should have done anyway) and the blog, along with a family recipe book that Mrs. Jennifer and I have been working on for, oh, about 13 years now. Seriously. I started it before Tyler was born. Mrs. Jennifer took over after I had three kids in four years and the thought of finishing a recipe book was the last thing on my mind. Then she had FavCousin and it all got sort of forgotten about. I am happy to say that with Mark's help and me hunkering down about two years ago it got completed. Now it might only take me two more years to actually go and get it printed. I know. Sad, isn't it? But won't the family be happy and surprised when they actually get it? I only told them 13 years ago to be on the look out for it...

The bunnies are growing like crazy and are still adorable. I have lots of pictures but I am afraid to do anything with them until Mark gets all the kinks worked out on the computer. They will be ready to go to their new homes the week of Christmas. Hows that for timing? If you are local and would love a bunny for Christmas let me know. I'll even deliver!

We got our tree up Monday and got it decorated last night. Again, I have pictures, but I'll just let you imagine the chaos. And then we did Christmas card photos after the tree was up. We attempted it anyway. James is a little ham and the big kids were not too happy about having to sit for pictures for so long. Oh well. They'll bounce back.

BFF Rebekah is due any day now. I am sitting on ready to get to the hospital. Rebekah, Friday would be good. Mark will be home and I will have childcare. Just sayin. Saturday and Sunday are going to be really busy for me so you might need to wait until Monday if Friday doesn't work out :). You know I'm kidding girl. But Saturday is not a good day at all.... :)

Speaking of Friday, its the last day of school for the year! Momma and Teacher needs a good break. I said at one time I was actually liking fractions now. I changed my mind. I tend to do that on a regular basis. Except for history. Love me some history. We just finished the War for Independence and that will be a good stopping place for the semester. We will pick back up with the Constitution in the new year.

Okay, I feel like I have wasted a good amount of your morning. So sorry. We just aren't very exciting around here at all.

Jill, I have your camera in my purse and we give it to Momma on Friday when I see her. Is that okay?

Musings on Alice, the Wonder-Fridge, and other non-important stuff...

Friday! And co-op day at that! Its like a free school day for me. My kids are learning, getting to see new people and do new stuff, and all I have to do is deliver them there! I do some child management in Abbie's class and then eat lunch with a bunch of great ladies. And then home again :)

Unfortunately, I am think I am going to have to admit defeat and say I am sick. I have been feeling bad since Wednesday and trying to plow on like normal. I can't say exactly what is making me feel so bad, I am just achy and tired. No fever, but just feeling achy like when you have a fever. Wednesday I did clean the very dusty ceiling fans and wash the very dusty curtains in my room which activated the old dust allergies, but I was pretty much over that by that night. So, basically to sum it up I am sick, but can't tell you how I am sick.

I am happy to report that Alice, the Wonder-Fridge is doing wonderfully. She is living up to all my grand expectations and all my grand money and I love her. I still haven't put anything up on the outside of her because I am loving the newness of her. She is delightful to say the least.

I heard from Eric, Rebekah's hubby, that appliances like to grieve over each other. If one dies the others will start to grieve themselves to death also. So I have been trying to keep Mildred the stove, Janice the oven, and Angel, the dishwasher, happy and busy this week. I figure if they are busy they won't have time to notice what is going on over on the other side of the kitchen. By the way, the dishwasher is named Angel because she is my Angel of Mercy. As in "Mercy Goodness, how many loads of dishes can we go through in one day?!?!?!"''

So, to sum it up, we are off to Co-op this morning and then home to a weekend full of nothing planned. I looked at my calendar and this is the only weekend until Thanksgiving that the boys do not have Scout trips or Abbie does not have choir rehearsals. So I am planning on getting out the old quilts and enjoying these beautiful couple fall days. I am willing myself to get better right now. There.

Nope, didn't work.

What are you doing this weekend?

Around Here Lately...

~We are eagerly awaiting the delivery of Sue's little bunnies. We think it will be late this weekend or early next week. After losing the last bunnies I have no idea what to expect, but hopefully Sue will be more experienced this time and know what to do.


~Laundry Boot Camp went well yesterday. We had a family meeting about the laundry, which was as exciting as it sounds, and laid down the rules very clearly. They will get one reminder/warning and then any infractions will be dealt with by them having to do the laundry for the whole family for a week. They are 13, 12, and 10 so I don't think this is too harsh. Is it? But even James, the four year old, was so proud to come and tell me he had taken his socks off but he made sure they were the right way before he put them in the hamper. I praised him and he walked off with a very smug look on his face. He'll show the big kids :).



~I caught these two snuggling on the couch watching a nature show yesterday. And my heart melted a little bit more. James is following Matt in the morning as he does his animal chores and it is the sweetest thing. Once James is a little older we hope he can take over the feeding of the chickens in the morning. Matt is showing him what to do each day and James is taking it very seriously. James also feeds the cats every morning and the seriousness of that has already worn off. When I remind him to do his job he tells me they can just "catch some mice for breakfast."

~My parents and some of their friends went to the mountains last week and my mom brought me back 1/2 bushel of apples. We have been eating lots of them as snacks and for the last two days Abbie and I have made applesauce in the crockpot. The house has smelled so good and our supper has had a little extra something. Oh man, it is good.

~I told Abbie last week how Jill and I used to make dollhouses/Barbie-houses out of boxes and books and decorated them by cutting out pictures from magazines. She decided to make her own and ya'll, you won't believe how much time she has spent making and playing with this dollhouse. I love to walk by and see her playing and imagining. She has a "baby room" that is filled with babies and she just talks to them. So sweet. ( I just noticed all the Rescue Hero figures. I guess she has a rescue operation going on also).

~Today will be filled with school this morning and then guitar and violen lessons. We also have a couple of errands to do and haircuts for the boys. They are looking a little shaggy to say the least.