And.......uncovering the fireplace......

And.......uncovering the fireplace......
A lovely surprise. :)

All clean!


Fitting that their first snack in the farm house is apples. They were contentedly munching for a good 20 minutes, which is how I managed to get everything swept and the downstairs windows washed. The boiler guy was up and down and in and out draining radiators, but the kids were amused. I put together their toy bins Nana got them (me) for Christmas and then we explored.

What I found in the "not really a room" secret space I will post later this week. I just about teared up with glee. It was like old house karma cashed in. I hope we can find a way to put it back......I know, I don't blog for a week and then I leave with a cliffhanger, unfair!

Dearest is staying at the farm all alone this week and we just bring him food and more blankets (thus the effort to get the fireplace working and I wouldn't be surprised if he moves his bed to the main room.....). He's making progress on the heat situation, the bathroom issues, and such. We miss him terribly, but are faring well packing and baking and cleaning.

I was contacted this week through facebook by a very long lost friend. That plus packing reminded be to be incredibly grateful for Dearest being in my life. We'll be celebrating our ten year wedding anniversary on Sunday. Yes, TEN. Time sure does fly. Of all the times I moved as a kid, they were all sudden, sad, and abruptly cutting off with established relationships. As an adult, we've moved around Des Moines, but always because we wanted to and because it meant adventure and promise. I found the Dutch hex Dearest's grandma gave us on our first anniversary, it happens to feature the colors I picked out for the farm house. We never hung it here at the haunted mansion because we were pretty sure the neighbor delinquents (the 8 year olds behind us) would use it to perfect their egg aim. Anyway, sorry for the ramble, its been a long day.

And yes, I'm on facebook now. And yes, if you're my "friend" you can see the photo she tagged me in and check out my 1990 3-4 inch tall bangs. Geesh. I think there's as much product (specifically Aquanet) in my hair in that photo as I'ved used in the last 15 years! *(Edited to add said photo....I am in the front row, right side.....):

Giving Thanks for Food!

Every meal that we say grace Lil'Bug says, when it is her turn, "I AM THANKFUL FOR OUR FOOD!"
I am too.
The last couple weeks I have taken pictures of a couple beautiful food moments.

This is the very successful attempt at preparing a Shank Boil. I altered the recipe just a bit. I used a Dutch Oven, skipped the parsnips, and instead of cooking on the stove top, used my oven at 350 degrees for 3-4 hours. Good stuff. One of the best beef meals that we've done from our grass fed local side of beef, ironically on of the cheapest cuts and I was so nervous about it I set aside the cut with the tongue, heart, and liver. Sooooooo very good.

This is how we roast pumpkin to make pumpkin puree for pies and soups. Under each half is a tablespoon of salted butter.


Beans and ham. Easy. The beans are actually underneath the onions too. This is the heartiest, simple meal I know of. Usually I also add celery, but we were out. Another local mama adds cabbage. I want to try that in the future. The beans soak overnight, the soup cooks all day until the ham falls apart. Even yummier as leftovers and freezes very well.

One random afternoon Aunt Bee showed up bearing these. Tur-oreo-crispins. A play on turduckens of our heritage. She is so cool. I am thankful that I lent her my kids a cookin' cook book. ;)

I am thankful that we eat as well as we do, for less than most families manage, and that we've been blessed to live the life we do. Food is our fuel, how we maintain our bodies and mind, nourish. We thank God for the abundance we are granted, the generosity of friends and family that have helped stocked our pantry this year after our miserable garden output.

May you and yours also be blessed this Thanksgiving and the Thanksgivings following.

Delight in the Sunshine

After such a long and harsh winter we have relished these Spring days. Some mornings it is all Lil'Bug can do to snarf down her cheerios and bolt for the back door. Out she goes! Last fall we got a free swing set from another homeschool family. Thank goodness! She lives on her "pirate ship" and now with the addition of the Pooh Bear themed superhero cape she is "Larry Boy, the hero pirate!".....????.....Veggie Tales does have a pirate movie, but she has never seen it. Behind her is her pet pig who sails the open sea with her and only eats "wishing" flowers mixed with sand.

We had a great child labor thing going for a while. It was her job to pick and gather all the dandelions and bury them in a hole by the back fence. Then....someone showed her that, un-picked, those pesky weeds turn into wishing flowers. Sigh. She has made thousands of wishes that her sister would hurry up and be born. Thousands.

The innocence of childhood. Cape, t-shirt, denim shorts, and....black patten leather princess shoes? My sweet days.

Garden Update, Spring Progress

Broccoli! These are doing awesome. The strange absence of bugs this year also includes cabbage moths and such so maybe we won't have a huge problem with them this year. I plan on harvesting and freezing these in June and another rotation in the fall. Yum. Also, Lil'Bug says we will find June Bug in the broccoli bed and that will be her birth day- just like we found her in the pumpkin patch 4 years ago, in Narnia, in Heaven. Ah, the creation story of a wee babe.

Yum. Spinach. I will have my first garden fresh spinach salad tomorrow and then use some for lasagnas to freeze for the first week June Bug babe is home.

The other part of my salad mix: lettuce and various greens. So tender are they when fresh and young. Drool....

Strawberriest blossoms. Two different kinds. Lovely with morning dew......or wait...no Lil'Bug do not spray Mama with the hose while I have the camera out here! AGH!

And last....we planted blueberries. Again. We are the gardeners of ever innocent hopefulness. Every blueberry plant we have ever planted has died. This one has blossoms! Ok, to be fair, it came with the the blossom buds, but still!

Day in the Sunshine (Belly Pic)

First Planting!

Princess Lil'Bug in the Garden......

Pulling weeds......

Raking the compost smooth......

Finished bed, planted with spinach, spicy greens mix, and romaine lettuce.

Ah, and all I had to do was enjoy the sunshine!

Longest Monday Ever

I woke up to a regular Monday. Fed Lil'Bug breakfast, saw Dearest off to work, blogged a bit.....then, well, then I passed a blood clot.

Yeah.

I calmed myself down enough to call Dearest at work and tell him. He headed home. I called the Dr.s office, but no call back. I called our Doula. She said, "Go, go now." Really, there is no good reason for blood. So we went. Pawpaw came to the hospital to get Lil'Bug who was scared and worried too. I'm only almost 33 weeks.

They monitored, they prodded and poked (which hurt a lot! to the point of embarassment). The ultra sound showed June Bug a perfectly happy and active baby girl, placenta intact, mucus plug intact, cervix tight. My stats were good too. What they didn't find was the fibroid. No confirmation, but the going guess is that it broke, dissolved, and that is what passed. My gut tells me that is what happened. I am relieved, but the scare was a bit much for me and I ended up sleeping for a good deal of the afternoon. And, yes, lots of tears.

Dearest took me out to lunch and then home (after picking up Lil'Bug) and we puttered around for a bit in the garden. Here are some more progress pictures:


And a weird cocoon type thing. Any ideas? It is on a Lilac.

I really need a macro lens. I thought I would end up needing a zoom lens more, but a macro seems like it would fit better with all the close ups I've been doing. Oh, yeah, and the MAGNOLIAS are budding!

Lil'Bug loves mud bugs. Dearest and Lil'Bug also caught a nasty bug, or what they thought might be one. We took a break to look up Emerald Tree Borer. What they caught was NOT one. Whew. We don't have Ash trees in our yard, but still, nasty bug!

Then I went inside and slept. So much for getting laundry done!

Also, as a side note: EVERY THURSDAY SINCE THE WARM UP, IT HAS RAINED OR SNOWED OR BEEN AWFUL OUT. It's not fair. That is our park day! It means we go swimming instead, but still, park days are coveted. I just looked at the week's weather forcast and lo and behold, Thursday 70 percent chance of THUNDERSTORMS but sunny all the rest of the week. Gah. It could be worse; we turned the boiler off for the season so worse would be snowing and frigid.

Also, through some strange act of fate, I reconnected with a friend from high school who is also due in June. Amazing. We had lots in common then, more now. Different things now. :) So that's a happy ending to a very, very long day.

Friday Fun and Movie Review

We had a busy day with lots of driving today. We took Dearest to work, then went to the mall play place (which is AWESOME (empty) at 8AM, mall opens at 10). We met friends and played until almost 11. We then headed to the library and then to lunch with Dearest. Fun stuff. Dropped him back at work and headed home. Too much driving and definitely time to switch vehicles.

Back at home we watched the movies we picked out at the library. I have to say, the one Disney movie picked really surprised me: Cinderella III. It was a neat twist with lots of action, actual character development (which I felt was lacking in the original, save for the mice and maybe the Fairy Godmother), and a great twist at the end. Better animation than most of these sequels as well. We'll watch it again later in the week.

Bah, why kid myself. At the direction of my 3 year old, we will likely watch it 30+ times before next Friday's return to library deadline.

Tuesday, There Was So Much to Do.....

Bradley class was canceled Monday night. Nothing to write about there, except that one of the 6 couples in our class had their baby Monday morning! Yay! They were due first, so while it was a little early, not unexpected. I am so happy for them.

We had a Dr. visit today in which Lil'Bug learned that our practitioner is not really a "doctor" and boy was she mad about it. We tried to explain why a Midwife is better for mama and new sister, but Lil'Bug wanted no part of it. She wanted a doctor.

The visit itself went really well. BP good, blood sugar good, no anemia, measuring right at 30 weeks (this means no fibroid growth as well as healthy baby), and good heart beat. We'll see them again in two weeks.

Then we rushed home to get ready for a baby shower. Not my own. Our pregnant homeschooling mom friend might have her baby early and after reading this post about how her family is "supporting" her a bunch of us decided to throw her a baby shower.....with one day's notice. It worked out fine. The kids were stressed out a bit, but that is to be expected I think. Lil'Bug did not handle the chaos well and there was a lot of crying and such on her part. BUT I think H. had a good time and that is what matters.

I've also been busy with my online job. Something went wonky over Spring break on one of my class sites and I am trying to figure it out. THEN firefox decided not to be compatible so for now I am grading out of Safari and I hate it. I'll get over it, it is just driving me up a wall right now and consuming more time than I'd like.

So then I also found out something that upset me. I post a lot of stuff we do here on the blog, but always after we have done it. On a local homeschool board, I often post events that we plan on attending, even issue invitations to others. That part of the forum is closed to the public and only available to local families BUT somehow people I do not want to have contact with, that have nothing to do with homeschooling, know about our activities and whereabouts. Yuck. I canceled my account with the group and since I usually plan the events I attend anyway, as most others plan things with age restrictions that exclude us anyway, I don't think it will impact us too much. If the yuckiness invades my blog, I can block their ISP (I think, I've heard others talk about doing that), but I can't do that on the other forums. Maybe I am being paranoid? I'm just not willing to risk it.

In Photo Challenge news, I am working on setting up a Flicker pool. I got so busy with things that I forgot to post this week's challenge. Well, it is now Thursday so I won't post it this week, BUT I will have everything up and ready by Saturday I hope! Thank you for the great idea Evie!

That's a lot of random stuff, but that's our week. Now, I must get back to work!

When Emus Attack

Have you ever googled when emus attack? No? What, you may ask, would prompt such a search?

Welcome to my day.

We were not, per se, attacked by an emu, but rather challenged by one in a really scary way. Yes, we were at the zoo, although it would be perfectly acceptable narrative to have this happen to me somewhere else (at least in the scope of events in my life, since really strange things tend to happen to me). BUT, at the zoo, it happened. Emus are huge birds with really big sharp beaks. The enclosures at our zoo are not enclosed, but rather habitats that you walk through on paths with no fences. The animals are usually indifferent and off the path, but not today. Today, the emu would not let us pass and was charging us. Quick thinking on our part, allowed us to get out BUT STILL......zoo staff snickered and mocked me a little. They said it must be mating season but I looked it up and that doesn't start until April. Hmph.

Then dearest husband mocked me A LOT. Not funny. Ok, maybe a little funny NOW, but not at the time. And, dearest emu, I plan on tracking down an emu burger and gleefully eating it so ha ha.

Actually my day started out pretty good, bacon and eggs and a lovely breakfast. It was when we headed out that I slipped on the stairs and into an icy puddle (ow) and then underestimated the time it takes to drive to the mall with the carousel (which was beautiful, Lil'Bug rode a dragon, a gazelle like goat, and a horse). We arrived late, but enjoyed immensely the company and the playing. We lunched and had fun walking and then snacked on a pomegranate smoothie, yum. The Lil'Bug wanted to go to the zoo so we invited our friends along. 39 degrees outside, 2 feet of melting snow, and a sugared up tot? Yeah, let's all go to the zoo!

Emu "encounter" aside (need I say that Lil'Bug thought the whole thing was so very awesome and joyfully expounded on the experience from her point of view when Daddy got home from work?), she splashed in every ice slush puddle she could find until, "bugs are stinging my feet, help help!"

????? I removed her shoes, icy and wet. No bugs. No bug bites. She was just articulating the stinging cold of wet, slushy puddle feet. Yeah, kid frostbite starts as stinging. Duh. Oh, and I get the mom of the year award for letting my kid splash in ice slush puddles while shod in canvas sneakers. I know, brilliant.

So home we went. What a day. Despite all the zoo drama I had a wonderful time with Laura (LifeDreamed) and her K.- thank you lady! I wish I had brought my camera.

Making

Making progress:

I am experiencing quite a bit of anxiety over the Wii purchase. Sure, we made the decision for all the right reasons.....BUT.....

I grew up in a house with video games and violence and heartache.

I banished video games from my home because it was easier than looking at the big picture. Until this week I never explored this in my processing. I have always just said to myself, not in my home. I never related that we all had our coping strategies to deal with our childhood violent and unpredictable household.

My banishment of gaming is no less of a control issue. In reality games are a tool and we have worked hard to create a loving, gentle home. So I released that anxiety. I am also a little sad about the memories I explored today for meaning, but a little sad is way better than freaked out anxiety + 20 anger.

Tea time! Move on, clean cup!


Moving on, we made butter today in the food processor. That's how this place said to. Yeah, no. Next time I will use my mixer. The butter got too thick for the processor at one point; once it clabbered it was fine, but the heavy cream goo stage almost killed my new toy. Also, easier to move the bowl to drain the goo if it is in the mixer bowl AND since you have to use the bowl anyway for the end steps, using the mixer will mean less to clean up. Here's the pic:


We played pirates today. We kidnapped baby dolls and fed them chicken noodle (she doesn't say it noonel anymore...wahhhhhhh!) instead of dog hair stew and booger pie (what I told her pirates fed their captives, he he). Lil'Bug insists that she is a nice pirate. This is her ship and sail:


AND....that's pretty much our day. There was a dinner disaster where I had trouble cutting the roast up and splattered meat blood all over everything and then forgot to add water to the enchilada simmering beef mass (supposed to be strips) and so it is definitely not going to be ready for consumption anytime soon, or possibly just not for dinner tonight. Yup, that's just the domestic goddess that I am.

*edited to add: dinner was saved by some creative thinking on Dearest Husband's part plus a casserole dish. It was yummy, but too savory for my pregnant heartburn prone system. Gah. When did that happen? (Um, the prone to heartburn thing, I mean....)

Monday on a Tuesday

After I posted yesterday, we headed to an OB appointment. Everything is well and good. The report came back on the fibroid, it is small, has grown but not significantly. The docs don't think it will interfere in the VBAC. I am so thrilled at the medical support I am getting for my choice to VBAC! I got the ok for the Yoga I want to do and asked questions about the Bradley exercises that I am confused about.

Oh, and about that- We have decided to take the Bradley classes and there is absolutely no problem with that. They think it is great and recommended the local teacher. With the rumors circulating locally, it was a relief to hear that.

Baby's heart rate is 150/min. My weight gain is perfect, as is my BP.

So then we headed downtown to the historical museum. That was fun. It had been a while since Lil'Bug and I went someplace new without an entourage of other homeschoolers. While that has value, so does walking slowly through exhibits with one on one attention from each other. There is a new exhibit that is 100+ year old nature and animal dioramas. I'd seen them in the basement archival storage when I worked at the museum, spent lunch times walking around down there with the curator, but it was all new to Lil'Bug and she was really engaged. They have preserved owlets and fox cubs and all sorts of birds that we would likely never see up close. We walked through the trash and recycling exhibit and talked about waste too. All in all, just 45 minutes, but it was lovely.

Then we went home and made Chicken "Noonel" soup. Shortly after we popped in a movie and settled in. My headache was only getting worse and ice packs were no help. Lil'Bug got up and headed to the kitchen. That usually means trouble, but when I finally got up to go after her I found her with all her paint stuff set up and ready to go. "Mama, I was waiting for you to pour the paints!" Indeed she was, very patiently. I got down my paints and canvas and we painted for about an hour. We talked and sipped tea and painted self portraits on our canvases. It didn't make my headache go away, but I was really feeling connected to the small one.

So, then we did NOT clean up and instead grabbed a bucket of strawberries and headed back to the TV room to watch Arthur and snuggle. Soon, Dearest Husband came home- he had a headache too. We made dinner together and played as a family. Soon, I thought it was bedtime and Lil'Bug and I settled in. I fell asleep, tornado tot headed back downstairs to play with Daddy for another few hours.

I woke up at midnight and my headache was gone. All was quiet and sleepy and a thunderstorm was rumbling. The pressure had been released, I went back to sleep.

Falcon Release

We went to an event today that was the release of a rehabilitated peregrine falcon back into the wild. Amazing bird. I messed up the flight shots, new camera and all, but here is the photo of the handler showing the bird.

I found about about this yesterday and was happy to share it with our local homeschool group. Ornithology is one of my interests that carried over from my farm days. I used to be in charge of the chickens. So, I trained them to do tricks. :) Now I share my home with two parrots and would love to volunteer at one of the rescues for falcons and owls.

We are so blessed to be able to follow our passions and help our children find their own.

Fleeting Moments

We made cream cheese frosting for raspberry filled cupcakes (will make those in the morning). Yummy.

She washed her own hair today with an entire bottle of shampoo. I had to rescue her when she couldn't get a clean rinse or open her eyes. It looked like she'd been blue slimed. I'm not sure it all came out, but she sure smells good!

Lil'Bug asked me if she could use my phone to call her friends so they'd come over and play. She proceeded to trash her room and THEN she asked me to take her to the mall. How fast they grow up. When I said, "No," she waited patiently until Daddy came home and asked him.

Of course he said, "Get your shoes, let's go!" Sigh. On the way out she said, "Mama, I just needed attention. I'll clean my room when I get home." ROTFL

She did many things today. Too many to count. All said and done, we had a really good day today, but she earned the title: Tornado Tot!

Things Take the Time They Take

Bread must rise..... The cake must bake..... Things take..... The time they take....

That little poem is in a Beauty and the Beast Disney early reader book. It is a fitting reminder for many of us right now. My camera will eventually be fixed or replaced, Lil'Bug will learn to read and recite numbers when people prompt her (or give a catty response in the stead), J. will eventually propose to my anxious sister, wounds will heal, hearts will mend......

Things take the time they take.

I often get impatient. I was anxious to conceive Lil'Bug and again this time. Then when it happened I shared right away. THEN 9 months is soooo very long to wait. Though I would not wish an early delivery. There are plenty of things we must do to prepare. My body must prepare, my family must get ready, ect. The new seed takes time to grow into a sapling, into a tree, and then into a grand old tribute.

When you bake a cake, you can't just turn up the heat and expect it to be ready to eat sooner and opening the door to check on it can ruin it too. When I wanted Dearest Husband to propose to me, he didn't. And I cried. Then I thought, for sure now, but he didn't. Every time I was upset- it actually seemed to delay the proposal more. What this really did accomplish was it made our days sad and miserable, irritated Dearest Husband, and in general decreased our quality of life and affected how much we enjoyed each other's company. However, the delay was really a very good thing. By the time he proposed, we owned our own home, I was steady in my studies at school, we could afford the wedding we wanted without burdening our families, and various other good things. It also came down to trust. I needed to trust my future husband to make the decision when he was ready to- I was ready at that first kiss, but that does not mean that WE were ready to make that commitment financially or emotionally. So often I forgot that there was more than just me in that equation.

Somethings just take time to learn. Somethings come with age or with experience. Patience is something we try to teach Lil'Bug, when something is difficult- go slower. I don't drill her on the ABC's or it could irritate her and she will become a reluctant learner. She knows her letters and numbers but has yet to understand the value in the performance aspect of recitation when homeschool doubters drill her to answer questions. She's 3. Do I intend to send her to preschool just so she can learn recitation and compliance? No. That will come to her in time. In the meantime I will continue to let her learn from life at her own pace and joy. Rushing things would ruin that.

Yesterday I really made life miserable for my family with my impatience. I want my camera to work now, not three weeks from now. I am very frustrated. Should that dampen my participation in family life, should not getting to photo document our day ruin the festivities? No, not one bit. I want my house to sell right now, but it's not ready. I want to live on a farm RIGHT NOW- never mind that moving and house hunting while pregnant is an additional stress that I do not need. I want all the laundry to be done but it will always be a lurking pile of a chore, eh? We are about to celebrate our 9 year wedding anniversary- sometimes it seems that the days just flew by. Indeed they did.

Mostly, I want happiness for all my friends and family. That will come easier to all if we all embrace some patience and enjoy each day as it arrives and passes. Just some thoughts for the day....

TMBG- James K. Polk

In 1844, the Democrats were split
The three nominees for the presidential candidate
Were Martin Van Buren, a former president and an abolitionist
James Buchanan, a moderate
Louis Cass, a general and expansionist
From Nashville came a dark horse riding up
He was James K. Polk, Napoleon of the Stump

Austere, severe, he held few people dear
His oratory filled his foes with fear
The factions soon agreed
He's just the man we need
To bring about victory
Fulfill our manifest destiny
And annex the land the Mexicans command
And when the votes were cast the winner was
Mister James K. Polk, Napoleon of the Stump

In four short years he met his every goal
He seized the whole southwest from Mexico
Made sure the tarriffs fell
And made the English sell the Oregon territory
He built an independent treasury
Having done all this he sought no second term
But precious few have mourned the passing of
Mister James K. Polk, our eleventh president
Young Hickory, Napoleon of the Stump

Why did I post this? Heh. Funny story. In graduate school I took an American history seminar. I had a 3 month old. I didn't do the reading. I'm sure I'm not the first or only grad student ever to face this problem BUT there were only 3 students in the seminar and it is a little harder to fake having done the reading in such a small class. Fortunately......the subject of James K. Polk came up and I had just heard the song at home. I quoted it almost word for word in my piece of the discussion and managed to make my way through the 3 hours. Gah. I've always suspected that one of the other students knew, the professor certainly didn't. Anyway. Funny story. ;) We all learn things in different ways. Me? I happened to learn obscure history facts from a They Might Be Giants song.

It was on my mind today and the subject of the upcoming Iowa caucus was discussed. Our lovely state is overrun by candidates, news affiliates, and campaign brew ha. I wonder how many of them know about James K. Polk?

Playing and Tea

Friday was filled with friends and tea. Three mamas got together and let their kids go wild. It was fun and just what we needed to take a break from all the holiday nonsense.

Dearest husband was home and played music with the kidlings. I was left another tub mural. We made a significant dent in the cookie pile. All good things. :)

From the Archives.....

I've only been blogging since April or May of 2007. This picture I found from May of 2006. I love it. It is from a trip Lil'bug and I took to Gavelston, TX. There were a lot of firsts that trip: first sea shell found on the beach, first walk in fresh salt water, first step in quicksand, first swim in a deep pool, first airplane/ferry/boat ride, first encounter with dolphins/crabs/starfish. So much fun. :) I really miss my aunt who lives there and hosted this wonderful part of our trip.

Family Music

Things We do for Fun

The comments on the Snow Day post got me thinking.......

No, I am not any good at snowboarding, pregnant or not, I just love doing it. I fall a lot, but I have tons of fun. I'm not any good at biking either, but I'll pedal my heart out. Singing too- totally tone deaf, but I'll belt it out anyway! I love to cook, but most of my end results are on fire, under/overcooked, or just plain taste nasty. Once Dearest Husband ended up in the ER with food poisoning. I still like to try and slowly I am improving (that's a different post all together....).

We have a saying at our house that Dearest Husband started: If it is difficult- go slower. That's just about it: slow down and think it out, pay closer attention, just practice. It is all wrapped up in that. Such wise words. We do lots of things for fun, not to be good at them. We love to learn new skills, new facts, new things to do.

Life is good. You don't have to be good at it to enjoy it. :)