Hand Made

After settling on the idea of hand quilting this quilt, I'm really enjoying it.

Well, as much as I can enjoy life in slow motion.  At my current pace, it should be done by Thanksgiving.

Next Thanksgiving!

My Favorite Assistant

She's cheerful, energetic, and wears her apron well. Who wouldn't want an assistant like that?

Enjoying the Little Things

Finally, after five months of waiting, our hens are laying. These eggs may be small, but you'd never know from the delight on my boys' faces! Caiden, in particular, walks on clouds each afternoon after he finds another treasure in the nest boxes.
Tiny eggs, tiny radishes, tiny carrots, tiny potatoes. Big joy.

So I Remember Later, Take Two:

This morning of the summer, wake up to four goats in my backyard. After shooing them back into the pasture, turn around to see daughter, who'd crawled out of her new big girl bed and snuck out of her bedroom through the supposedly locked bathroom door, wandering through the house. Sigh, already missing the confines of her crib. Curse self for giving birth to children who like to sneak out, wander the house, and steal blueberry pints to eat while hiding in the closet. All before 6 a.m. Wish all my children were calm, quiet, and liked to stay put.

Send her back to her room, and turn around, to be greeted by four goats in the side yard. Threaten them with bodily violence while shooing them back. Have son stack logs against the fence to keep them from pushing under again. While stacking logs, turn around to see goats in the other side yard. Shoo them back, wishing goat meat sounded tasty, and stack more logs. Am shown large spider by back door and reassure everybody it's not poisonous. Hope that's true.

Realize the heat index today is going to be 110. Lug fan to barn to set up, hoping to keep chicken from cooking in their feathers today. Turn around to see son pointing, horrified, at 4 foot long snake climbing up fence a few feet from him. Run to house to photograph. Call husband in panic. Am advised to hold snake down and chop off head. Explain that's not likely. Look up poisonous snakes on Internet while discussing with husband that he married a woman, not a man, and women generally don't hold down snakes and chop off their heads. Generally. Realize he's in a staff meeting and others are amused by the snake situation. Am not amused. Am told to run back to snake and take another picture of the head. Explain that the snake has slithered down the fence and headed out to pasture. Am told to track snake. Explain that's never going to happen. Quake in pajamas and Crocs at thought of encountering snake in pasture. Hang up. Decide never to step foot outside again.

Call back, relieved to see on Internet that 4 foot long snake is juvenile rat snake. Harmless, except, of course, to rats. Am by now sweating in pajamas and Crocs. Decide to take a shower. Stop in shock to realize it's only 10 a.m.

Summer days are long. Some days, that's good. Today, it might not be.

Finish post to sound of child hollering through house, "The goats are out again!" Cry.

So I Remember Later:

we've spent our summer so far swimming, eating popsicles, watering the garden, watching snakes and frogs, babying the hot chickens, chasing the goats out of the garden, eating lots of ice cream, planning for the fall school year, visiting with my parents, complaining about the heat, hanging out at the lake, going on Kid Day outings, eating more popsicles, (and then more ice cream), taking walks in the morning, reading books, sucking up the air conditioning at the library, working on the house, and watching Gilligan's Island. And eating a few more popsicles.

Nice!

Kid Day

When I was growing up, my mom took us kids on an outing once each week, every week of the summer.  We dubbed it "Kid Day," and we loved it.  There was only one rule:  nobody except the four of us.  No friends, boyfriends, girlfriends, relatives, pets.  It was one day each week that we spent together, doing something we didn't get to do during the school year.  Our very first one was at the grounds of a local estate.  We had a picnic and fed the fish in the koi pond.  When that was relatively successful, my mom felt brave enough to venture further out.  Over the years we went to Indian villages, the beach of a local lake, and other places that have faded into my memory.  We'd load up in the morning, drive to the location, and spend all day there.  Then we'd pile into the van again and come home happy and tired.  No wonder my mom loved it.

I tried to start Kid Day with our three the summer Addie turned 1, but it was too hard to lug the double stroller everywhere.  Grayson was only 2, and he's not a big fan of walking, so I'd have to push that gigantic thing, loaded down with two diaper bags, and it just wasn't worth it.  Now we're a lot more mobile--everybody walks, and the umbrella stroller is only brought for when somebody needs to be restrained.  Typically that's Addie.  So this year seems like a good year to start.

Yesterday, after an impromptu walk because it was only 80 degrees (In June!  In Texas!  A miracle!!), I felt brave.  "C'mon, guys, let's go on an outing!"  We drove to Cabela's, a gigantic outdoor/hunting/fishing place, and started off with lunch in their cafe.  We plotted on a napkin what we'd like to do for future Kid Days, and after lunch we walked around, looking at all the dead wildlife.  The boys thought it was awesome, although Addie was terrified of the buffalo head.  Then we went through the "Big Country"wildlife museum , followed by the museum of elephants, zebras, lions, and the like.  Addie didn't love that one, either, but the boys sure did.  They walked around with their pop guns, shooting the dead animals.  Nice.  Then we saw a polar bear, some kind of yak-type animal, and wolves up close, and finished it off with spending about 30 minutes in the aquarium.  The kids were so mesmerized by the turtles that the aquarium manager came out and gave them a quick lesson on turtles.  After buying life jackets and new Crocs, we went home.  The kids were happy and exhausted, and I chalk that up as a success.

They don't know it yet, but we're having double Kid Days for the next two weeks--later this week I'm taking them to see my parents at their lakehouse, and I think it's safe to say that'll be their favorite Kid Day of the summer.  Next week I'm taking them to our church's camp to spend the day while Pace speaks to the youth, and then we'll have another shorter outing later on.

My favorite part about Kid Day is not even spending the entire day doing something out of the ordinary and fun, but knowing that when my kids grow up and have children, there's a good chance they'll carry on the tradition.  My own memories of Kid Day are so sweet, and I hope my three feel the same way.  It makes all the work worth it.

Summer Dreaming

Summer is fully upon us, and with ten weeks to go, I'm soaking up the knowledge that my house will be:

A. Fully organized,

B. With all necessary curtains sewn,

C.  The school room redone and ready for school,

D. Including the Closet of Terrors that holds school stuff and too many toys,

E. And I'll have knit a cardigan,

F. Quilted a quilt,

G. Sewn pajamas,

H. Cleaned the house to sparkling,

I.  Taken the children on weekly, meaningful outings,

J.  And scheduled a weekly time to write my grandmothers letters.

I wish.

That would require a personality change, and it's not likely to happen.  So instead, I'm hoping to:

A.  Clean the Closet of Terrors (hereafter COT)

B.  And write a letter to each of my grandmothers.

There.  Much more attainable.

Think how lousy I'm going to feel if I don't at least accomplish that.

No, don't think about that.

Because it might not happen.  The COT is pretty terrible.

Maybe if I make it through the summer without melting in this heat, I should just chalk that up as a major accomplishment,

And call it a day.

Backyard Follies

Stubborn is as stubborn does. My bet's on the boy.Francine takes the spot of "Favorite Chicken" since Princess Sweet Pea is no longer with us.  Lucky Francine.  
Like I said, lucky.  Not too many chickens get to swing on the tire swing with a 7 year old.  Not that many probably want to.  But she's not chicken.
My guess is, he's pondering which pet can be the next swing guinea pig.
And she doesn't care what they do, as long as they push her high and fast.  She's an adrenaline junky.  Like Francine.

Seasonal Depression

I think most people get this in the gray of winter, but mine hits sometime mid-June or so. The thought of facing long weeks of 100+ temperatures, day in and day out, gets me downright blue. I'm already dreaming of fall, which is indicative that I'm a self-abuser, because "fall" doesn't arrive until well into October. Or November, some years. That's a long way off.

I'm combating the heat wave this year with a three-pronged approach:

1. Don't go outside between the hours of 7 a.m. and 11 p.m.
2. Don't wear shoes unless absolutely necessary. By following #1 above, shoes aren't very necessary.
3. Stand staring into the refrigerator multiple times during the day, pretending I'm thinking about what to cook, so the kids don't catch on and suck up all the cold air.

I think I can make it until October. Only 74 more days to go.

Terms for the Dictionary

Some items to add to our personal family dictionary:

A. Reappearing Cat Syndrome--adj. Term used to describe a cat that fully disappears into thin air, only to reappear nearly a week later, after being appropriately mourned. You know that song, "The Cat Came Back"? Well, she did. Five days after our cat "got eaten by a raccoon," she mysteriously reappeared under our deck. Grayson, nonchalant as always, gestured toward the deck and said, with utterly no fanfare, "Hey, look. It's the cat." As if it weren't a miracle, and as if it hadn't been five days with no sign of her. We were all relieved, greatly, especially since that means O.C. was probably not raccoon kibble either, but is rather living it up in a neighbor's house. We can also now face at church the family who gave her to us.

B. Crazy Lab Syndrome-adj. Term used to describe the two different types of labradors, i.e. "Regular Labs," who calm down after 2 or 3 years and become nice, normal pets, and "Crazy Labs," who never calm down and always remain insane, chewing, jumping, hyper disasters. Shadow was officially diagnosed with CLS by my vet, although it wasn't much of a shock. Hooray for me. Ironically, he's not the one with thunderstorm anxiety.

C. Thunderstorm Anxiety-adj. Term used to describe a 90 pound golden retriever who tries to hide in the smallest possible space upon the merest hint of rain. Favorite spots are: inside the children's bathtub, achieved only after slicing custom bath curtain to shreds; inside the front-loading washer, achieved only after chewing out the rubber gasket; my closet, achieved only after destroying the lower shelving in an effort to hide inside my shoe. Solution: daily doses of melatonin to chill him out, and larger doses of anti-anxiety drugs if clouds happen to pass in the horizon.

Well, at least I can say my life is educational.

Serene

I told Bridget Wednesday afternoon that I was going to live a new, serene life. I think she laughed hysterically at me, and I wondered if I'd get struck by lightning for claiming such a thing.

And I was, so to speak--a couple hours later a tornado passed through the area and our electricity was out for over 24 hours. And we had a house guest. From D.C., where they don't have tornadoes. And it's June in Texas, which means it's too hot for no electricity. The next morning, on my way to Bible study, I got drenched to the skin from my waist down running through the thunderstorm that lasted 18 hours unabated. That afternoon, I took both dogs (170 pounds total) and the three kids to the vet to discuss Crazy Lab Syndrome (my vet's actual words) and Thunderstorm Anxiety. $400 poorer, and suffering from noise fatigue from the kids, I drove back home to my hot house with no light and defrosting refrigerators. So much for serene.

But today? Today it's Saturday, and the air is cranked down to a very expensively low number, and the dogs are drugged for the next round of thunderstorms which are supposed to arrive tonight. I've spent the afternoon sewing, clearing a path in my sewing room (Does anybody else stack projects on every possible surface?), and eating oatmeal cookies. Today is much better. Much serener, if you will. But I won't--won't say the "s" word, actually, just in case lightning strikes twice.

Afternoon Shadows

Everything is always prettier in the afternoon shadows!

Fried Green Tomatoes, Anyone?

This tomato may be tiny, but it holds serious power--Caiden is mesmerized with our tomato plants, enough that he ferreted the camera during naptime for a covert tomato photo shoot.  

There are about 20 of them growing in our garden, in every size from beefsteak for me and Gray to eat with nothing but salt and a fork, to oblong Romas, perfect for homemade salsa. Funny thing is, Caiden doesn't even like tomatoes.

Beauty on the Bench

This is my first experience growing purple sweet potato vine, and I'm in love with it already.

Caiden Saves a Turtle

The other day I drove over a turtle, and in the rearview mirror I noticed a little head sticking up, wondering what went by.  I turned the car around and asked Caiden if he'd like to be somebody's hero.  He happily rescued the turtle, who was the size of a tea plate, and we all crouched by the road, bestowing on it good wishes for a happy (and roadless) future.  We were right in time; just as he moved the turtle off the road, several cars came flying by.  Lucky turtle.

Yesterday I sewed a skirt for myself, in honor of "our" turtle:

Lucky me!

A Little Shed

Here it is, before:

And with one slight improvement:

Plans are brewing in my head for shutters, window boxes, curtains.  All I need are some paint chip samples and free labor (my children), and by next week we'll have not a little shed, but a little playhouse.  I hope.

Happenings

A lot has gone on around here, considering we're on "vacation."  We went to Canton Sunday afternoon--Texans know what Canton is, and the rest are missing out!  Largest flea market in the U.S., with fantastic corn dogs to boot.  My husband, who preached this weekend with the stomach flu, decided on a whim that we should go right after services let out.  (No wonder I love him deeply.)  By the end of the afternoon, he was ready for Cuban food for dinner.  That man has a stomach of steel.  We found lots of things for the boys' bedroom, which has remained undecorated and uninspiring since our move last year.

On Wednesday I went out for an afternoon by myself and drove straight to a quilting store, followed by a yarn store with so much yarn I walked around with my mouth open, looking completely ridiculous.  I came home with bags of fabric and a couple knitting projects (How did that happen?  I only went in to look!).  I'm making the boys matching Bento Box quilts for their beds, and I also saw some George Washington fabric to make Grayson pajama shorts from.  He has a thing for the Revolution.  Now his nighttime attire can match.

Yesterday we realized our new cat is missing, and after doing some detective work, we've come to the realization that a raccoon is hunting our cats.  O.C., rest in peace.  So Pace has a friend bringing us a raccoon trap, and that should be interesting.  I try not to think about a 30 pound night creature carrying off my cats.  Seeing the food chain in action makes me want to give up meat.  Except that I really like hamburgers.

So today is Friday, with not much on the list except to buy something to make for dinner (Yes, I'll post that pasta recipe really soon!), and do some laundry.  And maybe sew a little.  Or a lot, if I can convince Addie to take a really long nap!  My quilt is almost fully pieced, and I'm toying with the idea of hand quilting it.  I know it'll take me forever to finish it, but do I really want to hurry, just so it's finished?  I can't decide.  If you hand quilt, what do you think?  And then there's fabric for a few skirts, and summer pajamas for the kids, and . . .  My project list is overwhelming.  

Speaking of projects, we have a little shed used to store Christmas decor, and I want to paint it and convert it into a playhouse.  I asked the kids what color I should paint it, and the majority voted for barn red, although Addie's request was pink.  She got booed by the boys, poor thing.  I'm going to start on it next week, in my spare time (When I'm sleeping?  Bathing?  Eating?  When, I have no idea.).  It's a small shed, so I hope to have it done by week's end.  I have images of shutters, window boxes, curtains.  I'm my own worst enemy!  But it sure will be cute when it's done.  :)

So that's what's going on around here.  A little of this, a little of that.  Happy times.

Vacation

Pace is off much of this week, so we're in full-vacation mode:

• A crepes bar for breakfast, which earned me Domestic Diva status in Caiden's eyes

• A lazy morning with thunderstorms, pajamas, and coffee

• An afternoon movie with the kids

• Maybe some sewing, if I can sneak upstairs unnoticed

I'd planned on getting lots done this week, since it's officially June and not Mellow May anymore.  Looks like I'm going to be mellow for one week more.  Oh, well. Productivity might be overrated :)

Best Ever Muffins

I'm working myself into the habit of a Saturday baking day.  (Thank you, Home Comforts.)  One of the fastest ways to make everyone in the house happy is to serve homemade muffins for breakfast.  Each Saturday, I make three different kinds, two dozen each, then freeze them.  We don't go through that many in a week, so I have a stockpile building up.

This week I made these, and they've won the prize of "Best Ever Muffins" in our house:

Gingerbread Muffins

(Makes about 3 dozen muffins)

3 eggs

1 c. molasses*

1 c. brown sugar**

3 1/2 c. flour

1 T. baking soda

1 T. ground cloves

1 T. ground ginger

2 sticks unsalted butter, melted

1 c. hot water

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients and mix well with a wooden spoon.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.  

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease muffin tins, then spoon batter into muffin cups.  Bake for 20-25 min.  Let cool a few minutes, then serve warm.

I read that these are from a 1930s recipe for "convenience foods."  The batter keeps for weeks in the fridge, or you can, like I did, make all three dozen at once and freeze portions for later.  Bring them to room temperature before serving.

This would also make a delicious quick bread; pour into a greased loaf pan and up the cooking time to around an hour or so.  Enjoy!

*I ran out, so I used maple syrup in addition to the molasses.

**I used turbinado sugar ("Sugar in the Raw") instead of brown sugar.

Saturday

A friend called today to ask me if I thought she was crazy for bringing home turkeys from the feed store to raise.  I told her I'm no judge on crazy; we got a new cat yesterday.  She's hiding out in the barn, probably trying to figure out what goats and chickens are, but I think she'll make a good addition to the family.  Caiden has missed O.C. terribly, and in our opinion, families are nicer with cats in them.  Thankfully I'm married to a man who agrees, and who doesn't bat an eyelash when he comes home from work and I say, offhandedly, "Oh, by the way, we got a cat today."  

Today is a happy, slow one.  I finally called to get our icemaker repaired--it's been broken for at least 9 months.  I'm very excited to finally have ice again.  Caiden mucked out the barn this morning, which means my compost pile is happy, too.  I made some gingerbread muffins to store for the week, and the kids are spending the hottest part of the day snuggled up on the family room floor together, watching the original "Incredibly Journey."  It's a beautiful, sunny day, and I'm very content to spend rest time just rocking away on the porch, marking down recipes and reading a book.  And maybe sneaking a muffin or two.

A happy way to spend a Saturday, no?

Electives

We're fond of electives around here:

Art

Read-alouds 

Not actually an elective, and he's not actually reading out loud.  But my mom will be happy to see her quilts in action.

Funeral planning

Rest in peace, Hammy

Thank you, Grayson, for your love note to Hammy.  Whatever it says.

Cooking

Baking

Fashion

Drama

French

Courtesy of Rosetta Stone Software.  My French is very rusty.

Sleep-eating

Go ahead and zoom in.  See all that dirt? Blech.

Archery

Now that's what I call well-rounded.  :)

Addie's Quilt

I met a couple today at church.  They have grown twins who were born weighing just one pound each, and with problems that have lasted throughout their lives.  The mother, who already knew some of our family's story with Addie, agreed with me that going through something like that changes you forever.  I know it's true, because I still cry when I see preemies, or look at pictures from Addie's first months, or, on some days, just because the sky is blue.  I cried easily before she was born, but now I'm different.  I don't cry as easily over nothing, but once I get started over something, I can't stop.  I feel a deeper level of compassion for people in general, but especially for parents of sick or special needs children.  To be honest, sometimes I'll read a blog about a sick child and then have a hard time enjoying my own life.  I remember being in that hospital room, or receiving that diagnosis, or seeing my child stuck and poked and scanned and cut open, and I physically hurt for somebody else's mama.  Having Addie broke something in me that might never get better.

I'm working on a new quilt.  It's just a simple nine-patch, and the colors are mostly bright and ultra-feminine.  They should be--each piece is cut from clothes Addie wore her first year.  Some of her preemie clothes were so tiny, only a few squares could be cut from them.  She only weighed 13 pounds when she turned 1, so none of them is very big.  There's fabric with hula dancers, geese swimming, purple toile, pink polka dots.  Every square reminds me of an outfit, an event, a stage.   I cut those squares two years ago, when she turned one and I knew I'd never be able to give her clothes away.  I saved her most meaningful outfits, but the rest I cut into little squares, saving them for something, not knowing what.

And then one day right before her third birthday, I decided.  I want a quilt just for me.  I want to wrap up in something made out of all those little pieces, of memories from a very hard year that had more questions than answers, and a lot of hurt and fear, and a lot of joy.  I want to have something to eventually pass down to her, and to those who come after her, and be able to say, "God was faithful.  He gave you to me, knowing how much I needed you, and how much better off we'd be because of your life.  You are a gift, and this celebrates who you are."  

As the last couple years have passed, things have gotten much clearer, and much easier, and I don't cry as much out of fear.   Instead, I cry because I saw the worst predicted, and instead we have a miracle.  I shake my head in awe, and wonder why God chose to do a miracle for me, and know that because of it, because of her, I'll never be the same.  And honestly, I'm glad.  Sometimes broken is better.  

Me and John

This weekend I made a new friend, John.  He's large, handsome, and powerful.  And my husband?  He's pretty happy about it.  Did I mention that John is green?  John Deere Green, actually.

We have a John Deere mower/tractor that, until yesterday, I'd never even turned on.  The mowing duties in our family are usually left to my husband.  But he's swamped this week, so I decided on a whim yesterday morning to surprise him and mow our entire property.  I took Caiden to the shed to instruct me, and 10 minutes later I was off.  After about four trips around the perimeter of our side yard, I realized I hadn't put the mower blade down.  But by the fourth hour of mowing, I'd pretty much figured it all out.  Addie, Caiden, and Grayson all took trips with me.  Gray actually fell asleep in my lap, and I have to say it was a really nice way to spend the morning.  It felt nice to wake up this morning, knowing all the mowing duties for this weekend are done!  I hope I don't regret learning how to turn on the mower.  I don't want too many dates with John!

This morning, after my husband went back to work, the kids and I raked up piles of grass to spread in the garden paths.  We put a fence around the compost pile to keep the chickens out, cleaned out their coop and added that to the compost, and mulched the garden beds with old leaves.  Then Caiden and I stenciled the children's garden bed signs and built a ladder for the chickens.  A very satisfying Saturday morning.

Soon I'm off with Addie to a wedding.  Our faithful babysitter, Kristina, is marrying John, our other new friend (He's not green.), and Addie is the flower girl.  Last night at the rehearsal she sat down in the middle of the aisle and refused to give away "her" flowers.  We'll see how she does tonight.  I'm not holding my breath.  Three year olds are notoriously unpredictable, right?  Well, mine are, anyway.  

And in the middle of it all, my husband is preaching this weekend at church, so we're juggling the boys and all the details.  I have a feeling that if you peek in on us tomorrow, you'll find us all sacked out.  I hope so, anyway!

So for right now, I'm sitting with a towel on my head in comfy shorts and a t-shirt, fresh from the shower.  I'm soaking up just 15 minutes of nothing to mow, no chicken poop to rake up, and nowhere to go.  After a couple of days of hard work outside, it feels really, really nice.  Now if I could just figure out a way to keep that grass from growing.  

Still May

I promised myself May would be mellow, but I am keeping a little list of projects I'd like to do once it's June.  The little yellow shed in the side yard doesn't really need to hold Christmas decorations, does it?  Maybe it could use some shutters and window boxes, a set of tea towel curtains and a rug, instead?  And maybe, just maybe, it could use a black and white paint job on the floor, like our porch?  And a little white picket fence around it, to keep out goblins and dragons and black labs? I know a certain set of children who would think a little yellow playhouse much more charming than a little yellow Christmas shed!

I also want to keep working on our garden.  It's all planted and fenced in from the chickens, but I'm thinking maybe it needs some pizzazz.  What that pizzazz is, exactly, I don't know yet.  But as there are almost two weeks left in this month, I have plenty of time to figure that out.  

And of course there's my dining room window, looking lopsided with its one curtain.  The fabric finally arrived for the second--I guess I could get started on it.  Knitters always talk about second sock syndrome; I have second curtain syndrome!  But if I could get it done, maybe even serenely working on it this month, I'd have plenty of time to do a little playhouse and garden renovation come June, right?  

But it has to be done "serenely," because I'm committed to living mellow this month, and I promised I wouldn't do any projects that cause chaos and mayhem in our lives.  But just between you and me, I'm starting to feel the urge to buy a can of paint, or something.

I've discovered that mellow is hard for me.

Home Comforts

Today has been a day filled with comfort:

• Dancing in the mister out in the yard
• Splashing in a tub filled with bubbles after playing with mud pies
• Lunch al fresco
• Naps in clean, fresh pajamas
• Taking the art set outside to make rubbings of trees, stones, and wood while I hung laundry on the line
• Playing mancala with Daddy on the porch after dinner
• Eating ice cream in the dark

I hope your day has been a happy one, too!

Good Reads

We've been reading a lot around here lately.  For those of you who've asked, here's what we're enjoying:

*Mountain Born, by Elizabeth Yates  

This is a pastoral story, so the action and adventure so far are on the low side, but we're enjoying a calm story to accompany our mellow month.  Besides, who doesn't love sheep?

*Farther Afield, by Miss Read

I have the entire Village School collection of stories by Miss Read and always turn to one when I want peace and quiet.  But they also make me laugh, so they're perfect!

*The Charlotte Mason Companion, by Karen Andreola

Brushing up before we begin a new school year.  I always feel slightly guilty/overwhelmed when I read these types of things, but I figure if I start now, I'll have worked all that out by September, right?  Right??  If not, there's always chocolate.

*Lessons from Blackberry Inn

I don't actually have this one yet, but it's the sequel to Pocketful of Pinecones, also by Karen Andreola, and I have been hoping she'd write a sequel, and I just found out she did!   So my hope is to read it while we're on vacation later in July.  Traditionally, I read Pocketful of Pinecones every year on vacation, so this year I'll have this one instead.  

*The Mysterious Benedict Society, by Trenton Stewart

I'm reading this because I absolutely love juvenile literature, and I want to see if it's fit for Caiden or not.  He read the Series of Unfortunate Events books this spring, and he's dying for another set of mysteries.  

*A Girl of the Limberlost, by Gene Stratton Porter

I haven't started it yet, but I loved her book, Freckles, tremendously.  

*The Bobbsey Twins

Caiden is reading these, as well as the Henry Huggins series of books, and he loves them.  I love them because I know there's nothing in them I wouldn't want him to read.  We go to the library by ourselves each weekend to gather another armful.

*Next up for the kids--Tumtum and Nutmeg, by Emily Bearn.  I bought it after I saw it recommended by my knitting inspiration, Susan B. Anderson, who seems like such a fun and tender mom to her four kids, and also the day I realized our beloved (I use that term loosely) hamster, Hammy, died.  Caiden loved that hamster, and he has also loved every mouse-type story we've read so far, and gosh, the cover is so cute!  So now it's ours. I thought it would be a good "I'm sorry your hamster died, but let's not get another one right now, so we'll read a story about mice instead, okay?" gift.  I don't know if that'll work or not, but I can't wait to read it.  I wish Addie were a little bit older, to enjoy it with us.  Guess I'll just have to read it to her in a couple of years or so.  Darn. :)

*Home Comforts, because I need a schedule.  And because I love books about keeping a home.

So that's what we're enjoying around here lately.  That, and lots of good books on CD for the boys' roomtime, and of course our regular school books, "Our Island Story," and "Paddle-to-the-Sea," and "Burgess Bird Book."  Thank heavens for a good library!

So what are you reading?

Free Range

The chickens are finally out now.
We had a little meet 'n greet for the goats, who seem to like the chickens a lot.  I think they're just happy for a diversion.
Booty Rooster, our infamous naked-neck rooster, is looking mighty fine.  For a naked-neck rooster, that is.  (Shh!  My children think the word "booty" refers to pirates' treasure.  Don't tell them otherwise, okay?)  He's happy to boss around his ladies and check for hawks.
The neighbors' horses and donkeys spent the first few days at the back fence, just checking out the situation.  For the most part, the chickens spend their day scratching through the compost pile or snatching up bugs in the back pasture.

But they're also quite happy to sit for a quick photo shoot,
and to get some love from the kids.  
Or, you know, to be bossed around by somebody who's just happy she's not the littlest one on the farm anymore.

Loving Mellow May

May has been a happy month for me, all 10 days of it so far. Many things in our regular routine, like Scouts and co-op, are coming to their seasonal close, and our schedule is wider and freer. I've been spending early mornings on the porch, writing in my lists notebook, of things I want to do this mellow month:

1. Clean out kids' clothes and take them to Goodwill. All except Addie's clothes, which I have an attachment to and can't bear to part with yet.  And Caiden's get passed down to Gray, so it's a nice, easy task.

2. Steam clean my tile floors. You can't imagine the dirt that gets tracked in. With a barn, that dirt is, well, dirty.  A good steam clean will make regular cleaning a lot easier.

3. Work on my quilt blocks for this one-a-day quilt along.  There's nothing better than the lack of pressure of having three months to put together a quilt!

4.  Tend the newly-planted garden.  It's all planted, so now it's just water and a little weed-love that's needed.

5.  Continue adding mine and Caiden's books to GoodReads.com.  We're keeping track of what we've read this year.  His list is more impressive than mine.  

6.  Spending more time on Caiden's lessons.  With fewer distractions in the schedule, we have lots of time for read-alouds, fun projects, and visits to the pond to see science in action.  We school through July, so we're not in a time crunch to finish anytime soon.

There are no true projects on the list:  no painting or curtain-sewing or renovating.  No garden beds to plant, or landscaping to put in, or parties to host.  We needed a break, so we're taking one.

I'm already loving May.

Three

Beautiful you! Happy birthday to my best girl.

My Modern Miracle

My brother-in-law, Ken, should be a computer salesman.  A Mac salesman, actually.  Several years ago, he somehow talked me into buying a Mac laptop, and the rest was history.  I've only had one sticker on my car, ever, and it's an Apple window cling.  That's how much I love my Mac!  I'm not technologically gifted, and the Mac is perfect because I don't have to know anything more than to click and drag--my computer does all the work for me.  It's easier to operate than my washer.   I love it so much that I went out and bought my husband a Mac laptop a year later, for our anniversary.  It was one of those deals where we agreed not to get each other anything, and then I surprised the mess out of him!  It also helped make up for years of him getting me the best gift.  I finally won.

So you can imagine how crushed I was when, early last year, I was sitting in bed looking at one of my four thousand forty-nine photos of my children, and my laptop made a sound like you'd hear in Star Wars, then died.  

Dead.

I took it to the Apple store, and the technician examined it, said, "Your mother board is fried," and "I'm sorry, but your photos are gone.  Forever."  I don't know what a mother board is, but the word "mother" generally signifies supreme importance, so I knew it was bad.

Every single one of Grayson's photos, from birth on, and every single one of Addie's photos, from birth on, was on that laptop.  We'd had two children in 19 months, our house had been on the market, and we'd gone through heart surgery and several others, so printing out my photos or backing them up to an external hard drive hadn't been top priority.  I was devastated.

Not to mention I didn't have a computer anymore.

So Pace, in an act of extreme sacrifice, gave me his laptop.  Which was great, except that it didn't have any of my pictures.  No pictures of Caiden "reading" to Grayson in his bouncy seat in the bathroom while I got ready in the mornings, or of Addie's first step, or of Caiden after his tonsillectomy.  

And then, to add insult to injury, this computer starting acting up.  Running slow, programs quitting.

So when Ken and Pace's sister Meg, and their children, came from Sydney to visit us for a week, I let Ken know I was reconsidering my love for the Apple cling.  I was ready to go back to the HP pc, if this was how I was repaid for spending more just to have a cute white laptop that wasn't reliable.

And Ken, because he loves Apple almost as much as he loves us, spent the last evening they were here doing this:

When he pulled out his toolkit he'd packed, all the way from Australia, in case he needed to work on a computer, I was seriously impressed.

And then, because he's not only great at getting people to switch to the Mac, but also because he's insanely gifted on computers, did this:

That, if you're as computer-challenged as I am, is where the hard drive should be.  He took it out.  To me, that's like computer heart surgery.  At one point they had all three computers on the table, with various other software/hardware/cords/tools.  Pace got in on the madness:

See how smart they look!  

I just stood there looking dumb, taking pictures.  Never before, and probably not until Ken comes to see us again, had there been such a smart-looking table in my house.  Usually the table's covered in crayons or crumbs.

Ken fixed my current computer by adding six times more memory to the hard drive--she went from being a Plymouth Reliant to a Maserati!  And now I have cool features in iPhoto like photo recognition and GPS something-or-other.  Not that I know what to do with it, but that's beside the point.

So I left the kitchen, happy.  

But wait, look back at the last picture.  Do you see what I see?

There's was a fourth computer up and running.

Do you see that?  That's my old computer, with all four thousand forty-nine photos on it.  Safe.

Y'all, I'd be lying if I said I didn't stand in my kitchen and cry like a baby.  The men were very nice, pretending not to notice me blubbering and turning splotchy while they were sitting there.

Ken got things good to go, and while they went out and had dessert, I stayed home and sat in front of the computer, transferring every single photo to an external hard drive.  I cried all over again at the newborn photos, the pictures from Addie's heart surgery, and so many pictures I'd completely forgotten about.  It took me almost four hours, and I loved it.

Now here's the good part:  Ken rediagnosed the problem.  Actually, he said it appeared the Apple "genius" overdiagnosed it to begin with.  He said it probably overheated and needed to cool off.  I'm thinking that sitting under my bed for 15 months got it cool enough?  So all he did was turn it on.  And now, almost a week later, it's still working!  All my music from iTunes is still there, and it's like a family reunion to find my old music!  We'd been praying about getting a new computer for our school, and I was hoping to be able to get Caiden started on the Rosetta Stone program I'd bought last year but hadn't been able to load on my current computer.  (Grayson dropped it last year and the CD drive doesn't work.  Grayson is tough on CD players around here.  To date, he's broken at least 4, including both the CD player and DVD player in my car.)

So this weekend, Caiden sat with his headset on, repeating French phrases into the microphone, and I had a little mini praise service, thanking the Lord and Ken for doing a modern miracle for me.  Ken says there's always a chance it'll die again, so I, for my part, committed to backing up my photos once a week.  

Thank You Lord, for caring about my photos, and thank You Lord, for Ken.  I promise not to think wayward thoughts about going back to the HP ever again.

Encouragement

Just in case you've recently chopped off all your hair and began grieving even before you left the salon, here's some encouragement for you:

This is Addie 14 months ago.

And this was Addie a few weeks ago:

When her hair is straight, it's a scant inch above her waist. It's amazing what a year can do!  Especially if you're shorter than three feet tall.

And if, when you woke up this morning and looked at your new Liza Minelli-style haircut and wanted to throw up, here's something to cheer you up:See? Terrible hair, but they're still cute. Even if they are sitting inside the fridge.  Now don't you feel better?  

I'm always happy to help! :)

*Photo of the boys is from two years ago--I had a major computer miracle I'll tell you about later, but let's just say I'm enjoying looking at old photos I thought were lost forever.