Category Archives: Mothering

Coop continued

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The coop continues to be our main project around the homestead (although it would be a really good idea to get to winterizing the house!!)

Toby’s father came up last Friday and gave us a hand siding the coop.  We still have to put up the windows and doors and then put the roosts and boxes in, but hopefully, hopefully, it will be done this weekend!

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What does Leif do while we are busy around the house?  He plays with his feet, he smiles, he makes crazy monster noises, and…

He eats seaweed!!  Yes, we have another seaweed fanatic in the house!

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He just turned 8 months old… got his first top tooth… is trying to crawl… and makes me love him more each day!!

The 5 kingdoms

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Kaia has been studying the 5 kingdoms of life at school for the past 4 weeks.  So, we thought we’d take a trip out to the Nature Center to see what in the Animal, Plant, and Fungus kingdoms we could find.

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Poor little papa peacock is moulting and has no tail feathers.  But you see behind mama Peahen’s legs there is a little baby???  Once that little one gets big enough, he/she will be coming to live with us!!!!  Do any of you own peafowl??  If so, do they live with chickens?

When we got home, we found this:

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We aren’t really sure what kingdom it belongs to… It seemed to enjoy eating non-living things.

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But, it sure was friendly.

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And it enjoyed hanging around with us

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Oh, and the prize for naming Louise has arrived safely at it’s new home.  Isn’t it cute?

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Heidi’s Home!

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YAY!  We are so excited to have our friend Heidi back home after 3 months overseas!  She was nannying for a family in Scotland and we missed her dearly here.  While she was gone, we had grand plans to transform her little cabin.  Well, we all know how our grand plans tend to take much longer than we think.  But, we were able to get a wood stove in her place (so she doesn’t have to freeze again this winter) and we were able to paint the exterior.  It looks so cute!  There are still a few finishing touches needed to the outside, but it’s mostly done.  Cute, eh??

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Kaia and I have also decided to try our hand at needle felting.  Ever since we saw the insanely adorable stuff that The Magic Onions creates, we’ve wanted to learn how it’s done.  So, I got a book on needle felting pets and got to work.  We started with something simple, little bumble bees and lady bugs (and I poked myself a few times with the needle!  Yowza!).

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Then, I got a little crazy and decided to make Kaia a mermaid!!  It was actually much simpler than I thought it would be and lots of fun.  But, man, my arm got tired from all the ‘poke, poke, poke’ of the needle!  As soon as I was done, Kaia said, “I bet if you started right now you could have her mermaid friend done by dinner time!”  Ha!

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rhythm to our day

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I’m a creature of habit.  I like things organized.  I like routine.  Yet, my life has little of this.   So, with Kaia starting the first grade and homeschooling part time, I thought it might be nice to create a basic rhythm that we can count on.  Even if things get adjusted here and there, we know we can jump back in the next day.

In the morning, I tend to get up before the rest of the crew.  This is a time that I like to read through my emails, catch up on blogs, and get breakfast started.  Once the kids get up, we have our breakfast and take care of feeding the animals (cats, dog, and chickens).  If Kaia is able to get up a little earlier, I’d love to make time before breakfast to read to her.  If she has the choice, though, she is a late sleeper.

After breakfast, we will take a few hours for our more ‘formal’ schooling….. working on math (she has a math book from school that we work with), language arts (I’m looking into curriculum that might stimulate her to try reading on her own more, we’ll see… I want it to be self-directed as much as possible.  She does much better with learning if I’m not too encouraging.  She likes it to be her own decision.)

We’ll make lunch, do some clean up in the kitchen and then clean one room in the house (we rotate like this so that cleaning never seems to overwhelming.  The whole house is cleaned by weeks end).

After clean up, if we have errands to run, we will head out.  If not, we may do some baking, gardening, laundry, play with friends.  This time is left more open and flexible.

Then it’s time to make dinner, harvest the eggs, feed the animals again.

After dinner, the kids may have a bath.  We try to read everynight, but sometimes the days get away from us and it’s time to get the kids to bed.

Kaia, Toby, and I also all take Tae Kwon Do.  So, often one of us is out doing that in the evenings.

I think this will be nice for all of us to have a basic schedule that we can rely on.  When Kaia is in her formal school (3 days a week) I will try to stick to the schedule and get some of my own schooling or work done in the mornings, and errands in the afternoons.

The weekends are kind of crazy.  We have had so many projects to finish up since we started building on our land.  Every weekend seems to be filled up well in advance.  Toby and I have made a pact not to start any new projects (after the new chicken coop is built) so that we can try to relax on the weekends this winter!  That would be very nice.

I would love to hear what your homeschool rhythms are like.  How do you get it all accomplished each day?

Building a Fairy Garden

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When Kaia saw the Fairy Garden Challenge over at The Magic Onions, she just had to take part.

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We started by going for a hike into the woods to the area where fairies have been known to party.  We gathered some fairy moss, with their permission, some acorns and mushrooms and headed back to the house.  She picked out a box for the main garden structure and cut and decorated the grand entryway.  Then she created a mossy beach for them to relax on when they weren’t bathing.  And realizing that the Autumn Equinox is coming up soon, she decided to make an area for dancing and eating, since they would surely be celebrating the equinox with a party!  Kaia was unsure if the Queen Fairy danced or if she just liked to watch the party happenings, so she made a small sitting area on the dance floor so that she could sit and enjoy the festivities (the chairs are decorated with bling of course!)  There is an area to hang your coats while dancing and bathing, there is a small swimming/bathing pool and a dipper to get water.  There are fairy bells to ring when you arrive, a table set for a feast, and a bed for napping on in case you have danced too hard or eaten too much.  Oh, and don’t forget the beaded high wire for doing acrobatics!

I’m sure the fairies will come to visit!!  How could they resist?

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Why I’ve been absent…

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My original intention was to make this post a photo montage of all the crazy things that we’ve been up to this summer that have kept me from blogging, but I didn’t have the time to do even that 🙂

The pressure canner is going almost non-stop.  I get up early in the morning to start chopping and preparing the food, and the rest of the day is spent watching the pressure gauge.  This picture (I had a bouncing baby in my hands, that’s why it’s blurry) is only part of the pantry, and the shelves go two to three jars deep!!

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If I’m not canning, I’m harvesting, bouncing babies, playing with and homeschooling Kaia, at Tae Kwon Do, doing class work (an herb course I’ve been taking for the last few years), knitting, keeping house/homestead.  It doesn’t really sound like much when I type it out, but some how, it keeps me busy from the time I get up until the time my head hits the pillow.  Kaia starts back to school (she goes to a part time distance program) next Wed. but I don’t think that will give me any extra time.  She is great at playing by herself and helping me out around the house.  She’s also great with watching over Leif.

I had big plans for a winter garden.  But, I’ve decided not to do it this year.  It seems like Toby and I always have another project (or five) in the works and rarely take down time.  So, this winter, I’m going to put cover crops on the beds, maybe have a bed of lettuce, and try to put my feet up more.  Kaia is already planning our family time by the fire with hot chocolate and knitting (did I tell you she started knitting???!!)  I can’t wait!

Little Man is 6 Months

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Today, my sweet little man turns 6 months old and I’m so in love with him!  I love to wake up at night and see him snuggled up next to me, his hands reaching for me.  And in the morning when he wakes up… how he plays in bed pulling the sheets over his head and quietly contemplates life.  I love the sweet smell of his head when I kiss him and the way he hugs me when I pick him up, his hands grabbing for me.  His dimples, his wonderful smile that brightens up my day, his stinky little feet, his big, round belly, the conversations we have, the way he looks at his sister and laughs at everything she does… He’s such an amazing little being!  I can’t wait to get to know him better!!

Here’s a sweet video of his contagious laughter:

Leif laughs!!

Photo updates

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Of course, we’ll start with the cutest!!

Leif had a few bites of rice cereal yesterday, and he downed it!!!

“Hmmmmm, I think I might have a bite, thank you!”

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“WOW!  I LIKE!  Give me that spoon!”

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“Mine!!  ALL MINE!”

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“Yes, boys can too play with Barbies!  They are very tastey!”

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I finally got around to harvesting most of the chard.  I blanched it and stuck it in the freezer.  (There’s no more room in there now, with all the frozen greens and 3 gallons of blueberries!!  A fourth gallon I made into Blueberry Jam and Brandied Blueberries!!)

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I’ve been knitting up a little headband to keep my ears warm this winter.  Kaia wants one for winter and one for summer!  I might use some light weight yarn and make myself one for summer too!

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We have MORE hens!  A friend moved and couldn’t take her 11 chickens with her… so she gave them to us!  That makes 35 chickens at our home!  Some of the babies from the spring will turn out to be roosters and we’ll find them new homes.  But, it looks like we will start selling eggs!  And we need to get on the new coop!

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And here is one of our regal Fezzik

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Kaia Camp Days 4 & 5

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We started Kaia Camp Day 4 off with a little exercise!  We headed to the Dojang when Kaia, Toby, and I take Tae Kwon Do and did a little hooping.  It’s the first time I’ve hooped since last November when I was 32 weeks pregnant.  I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to dance/hoop like I use to, but I fell right back into it and it felt great!

We went from there straight to the local library where the Balloon Fairy was teacing everyone how to make balloon hats.

Then it was back home to make some flower fireworks.  We got the idea from 5OrangePotatoes (I love that blog:-)  We went outside and picked all the white flowers we could find and put them in wine glasses of water with food coloring in them.  We had Queen Anne’s Lace, Yarrow, Daisies, and Onion scapes.  It took a full day before we really noticed any changes, but they came out pretty.  The darker colors worked much better for us. (oh, and that’s a pink cosmos in there!  Not a white daisy turned pink:-)

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After a little lunch break, we made an “I Spy” jar (This idea from The Magic Onions, another blog I love).  Kaia gathered lots of little trinkets and put them in a glass jar.  Then she filled the jar with sand, and shook it up. (rice probably would have worked better, ’cause the sand ended up making the jar a little cloudy).  I would say “I spy, with my little eye, something with a hole in it” and she would have to turn it around until she found the shell with a hole in it.  It’s a fun game… maybe we’ll make another one with rice to keep in the car for road trips.

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Leif enjoyed the jar too, but he was really only interested in the effects of cold on the gums 🙂

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For the last day of Kaia Camp, we took it pretty easy.  We started out with a little Tae Kwon Do.  (Kaia took the adult class with me and did great!!  I’m so proud of her… she’s really doing amazing!  And the whole belt system works great for her because it gives her something to strive for and she feels like she’s really accomplished something when she gets a new belt)

After that, we had a lot of reading time, knitting time, garden time, and just relaxing fun!

By the end of the week, everyone was tuckered out!

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Kaia Camp – Day 3

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We started the day off with Zucchini Pancakes!!  Yum yum!!  Yep, gotta get the veggies in my girl any way I can.  She said she really liked them.  How do you make them?  Glad you asked.

  • 2 1/4 cups flour
  • 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • pinch of salt
  • 1/3 cup sugar

Mix all of this in a large bowl.  In a separate bowl mix:

  • 2 cups coconut milk
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1/4 oil (I used olive)
  • 2 cups zucchini or squash (I julienned them, but puree works fine too)

Pour wet into dry and mix.  Pour ~1/2 cup onto a med-high buttered pan and cook as you would any other pancake.

We enjoyed ours with a black raspberry drizzle!!

After breakfast, Kaia and I tried our hand at making our own lava lamp.  Here’s what  you do:

Gather an empty clear plastic bottle, cheap cooking oil, water, food coloring, and alka seltzer.

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Pour the cooking oil into the plastic bottle until ~5/6 full.  Then add water almost to the top.

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Add your food coloring.  You can do one color or a mix.  After a while, the colors will mix up.

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Break up a tablet of alka seltzer, put it in the bottle and close the top.  Watch your lava lamp bubble!  (the carbon dioxide created by the mix of alka seltzer and water carries the coloring in bubbles to the top.  When the bubbles pop, the color falls back down.

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Try putting it over a flash light in a dark room!

After this, we thought we’d start our Rubber Egg experiment.  We boiled an egg and put it in a jar of white vinegar.  The vinegar reacts with the calcium in the shell and dissolves it.  After 2 days, you change out the vinegar and let it sit for a week more.  After this time, the egg should be so rubbery that we can bounce it.  I’ll let you know how that goes :-)  (oh, if you use an egg that isn’t boiled, you will be able to slosh the insides around, but don’t try to bounce it!!)

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And the fun just kept on going!!

With our delicious ice cream from Monday, I really wanted a nice magic shell topping.  So, I decided we should make it ourselves.  So we mixed equal parts of cocoa powder, coconut oil, and agave syrup and heated it on the stove, just until melted.  Simple!!!  And it worked like a charm.  Then I found this link for Home Made Magic Shell.  I might try their recipes next time and jazz it up a bit.

To finish off a wonderful day of Kaia Camp, we sat down to watch a bit of Little House on the Praire.

Kaia Camp

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So, Kaia decided that she was going to create her own week of summer camp.  We sat down and made a list of some of the things she wanted to do… make a lava lamp, turn an egg into rubber, make ice cream, etc.  We have a long list.

Yesterday was the first day of Kaia camp.  Unfortunately, she started it with a trip to the dentist.  She does amazingly well.   Then she rode along with me while I took care of some errands.  The fun camp stuff would be started as soon as we got home… unfortunately, I fell asleep on the couch with Leif and didn’t wake up until 5pm!!  MAN!  I must have needed it.  So, to make up for it, Kaia and I put some raspberries in the blender (10 ounces) added 2 cups of cream and 2 cups of Coconut milk, 1/2 cup of sugar and 2 tsp vanilla, whipped it up and made some ice cream!  It’s more like a smoothy at first, but if you put it in the freezer it freezes up nicely.

Today was day 2 of Kaia Camp.  We woke up late and had a leisurely morning at home.  Then we hopped in the car and headed out to go pick black raspberries!!!!  Woohoooo!!  I found an organic farm selling them for $3 a pint!!  They are $6.50 in the store.  So, Kaia and I made ourselves purple with all the juice from picking over a gallon of berries.  Most went into the freezer for future use.  Mmmmmm!!

We also canned up our first batch of pickles.  I tried a simple dill recipe.  Don’t know how it tastes yet, but I’ll let you know.  I’m thinking that this year maybe I will enter some of my canning into the regional fair competition.  Why not?

We’ll see what day 3 of Kaia camp brings 🙂

Leif’s newest attire

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I finally finished his piggy pants!!  I love how they came out.  They should fit for a few winters.  He’s already 20 pounds (and 4 months old!) so as he lengthens out, I imagine his belly won’t get much bigger for a few years :-)  Kaia is 6 and fits the pants (though they come down to her knees).

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Longbottom Leif

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Here they are!  Leif’s new fancy pants!  Can you see he’s very excited!

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He also wanted to pose with his new sweater, even though it’s too big.  Doesn’t he look dashing?  I’ll knit up a longer pair 9or 20 🙂 for winter.

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And his new fancy pants can be casual too.  Here he is posing with the cat.  Right after I took this photo, he grabbed her ear and wouldn’t let go.  Toby thinks Leif looks a bit like a hobbit in his shorts, so we’ve been calling him Longbottom Leif.

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Monster Pudding

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I’ve been experimenting today… thought you’d like the recipe.  It’s really good!  It even gets ‘Kaia’s Gold Star of Approval!” (I got the original recipe from Darcey)

Monster Pudding:
4 small avocados
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 Tbsp. Cardamom powder
1/3 cup (or less) honey or other sweetener

Put all in a blender and mix up.
You can eat it like this, or if you can’t stand looking at green pudding and would like a little ‘dirt pudding‘ instead, add 1/3 cup carob or cocoa powder…
If you want to get even more creative you can also 2 drops of orange or mint essential oil.

Mmmmmmm……!!!

It’s dairy free and full of lots of good fats and oils!  And it’s really tasty!!

Yummy giggles!

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Leif found his giggle tonight!!  It had us all laughing up a storm!  I’ll see if I can upload the video for you!

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I also finally finished his kimono for next winter.  It’s a pretty easy pattern, I just haven’t had a whole lot of hands free time.  I’m going to knit some pants to go with it.

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(Sorry for the horrid color, the lighting sucked!)

Oh, and the strawberries are coming in!  YAY!

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Can’t shake the grin

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I can’t wipe the smile off of my face from watching Kaia at her first lesson today. She was SOOO FLIPPIN’ CUTE!!!
here’s her high block…
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We both started classes this week! It feels good to be back in it, but class kicked my butt!!

Story Dice

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I saw the fantastic idea of story dice here and had to make some! So, I ordered a bunch of blocks and Kaia and I spent a few days last week painting. She made a winter set and a spring set, and I made 4 sets of 4 blocks (extra sets for Kaia’s school K-2 class rooms). It was so fun thinking of things to put on them. We did a boy, girl, turtle, dragon, rabbit, house, beach ball, candle, egg, tree, car, bike, book, cupcake, flowers, boat, hat, balloons, ring, cup of tea, rain, butterfly, and a question mark (to make up your own). You can play many different ways, but the way we use them is to throw them out and create a story with the pictures that are on top. One person will start with a picture and then the next person adds on to the story with the next picture. It’s a really fun way to encourage creativity and imagination.

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My Child is driving me crazy!!

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sdlkrnyiod!! ltionadfshlk!!! Did you understand that??? NO!! That’s because it is crazy language! I know, all you parents out there are saying “yeah, I know what you are going through”… But OH NO! She is driving me up the wall, out the window, and over the yellow brick road!! How can a 5 year old have such control over my emotions? I truly believe that at the exact moment of her birth, the stars aligned to create a mother-daughter relationship that would encourage me to bang my head on the wall… or the floor… or the door…

Example 1:
“MOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM! (said in a loud, whiny voice) YOU WOKE UP BEFORE ME!!” (I’m sitting in bed, not yet having opened up both eyelids!)

“MOOOOOOMMMMM! WHY DID YOU CHANGE LEIF’S DIAPER WITHOUT TELLING ME????!!!” (Oh, I didn’t know I had to inform you of my every movement!!)

“YOU CARRIED MY SIPPY OUT TO THE CAR, SO YOU HAVE TO CARRY IT BACK IN MOOOOMMMMM!!! (While I stand at the door with my hands completely full with groceries and a baby, and she carries nothing)

And as I try calmly to tell her why she needs to help carry things from the car, she puts her hand to her ear pretending to talk on the phone, holds the palm of her hand up to me, and turns the other way! OH no you didn’t just tell me to ‘talk to the hand’!!

Oh My God, child! Get over this phase fast, will you please!!!

OK, end of rant! Momentary sanity has returned…

In other news, we had our house featured in the New Life Journal again. It’s a great article and makes me feel very proud. Though we certainly didn’t build our house to get recognition, it’s certainly nice to get a pat on the back for it!

One of the bee hives survived the winter and one died… I think they starved. But, the hive that survived seems to be going strong. I went into them today to be sure they weren’t getting ready to swarm… but no signs of swarm cells. They were actually very calm and it was nice to work with them without feeling intimidated. This is the first time I’ve gone into the hive by myself.

Two of our hens have gone broody… our silkies. We built a little make shift broody nest for the first one, but now that two are broody, Toby is working on a little broody house for them. He should finish it tonight, so I’ll take pictures and post them.

Speaking of pictures, we spent Wed. afternoon getting family pictures taken. The man who took pictures of my earth belly offered to take family portraits in trade for my time posing for him. Of course we took him up on it. He is such a great photographer, but also a really nice guy! It was fun spending the afternoon with him. Here are some of the pictures… there are a bunch more, but he hasn’t posted them yet. I’m not a fan of the first picture, but that’s my own vanity finding fault with my double chin and squinty eyes… I love Leif’s smirk in the second picture, and Kaia and Leif’s twin stares in the third… and the fourth one just melts my heart!

Keeping busy

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We had one of those wonderful weekends where you stay really busy with all kinds of fun stuff!

Though we don’t really celebrate Easter, Kaia and I wanted to do something crafty for spring. First we made sweet little birds nests (and ate way too many M&M’s) We brought a few to a birthday party on Sunday, but what we left at home is all gone now 🙂

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We dyed some of our eggs, too. But, since we get dark eggs from our chickens and you can’t see the dye well, we tried a new dying tactic.

First, you set up your dyes in glasses and hard boil your eggs.
Then, you roll the cooled eggs around, cracking the shell, but leaving it on the egg.

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Plop the eggs in the glasses of dye and leave them for a few hours, at least (we left ours overnight).

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Then, take them out of the dye and peel off the shell. The inside of the shells are just as beautiful as the egg.

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The darker colors came out best. Some of the eggs didn’t peel well at all, I think they were a little too fresh when we boiled them.

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We plan on having deviled eggs later on this week.

Yesterday, while the moon was in scorpio, we planted spinach and chard seeds out in the garden beds, and started cilantro and fennel in soil block in the cold frame.

With the weather warming up, I really need to go into the bee hives and check them out. But, the weather has been either rainy or too windy. Soon, hopefully, so I can add more supers if they need more space (to keep them from swarming).

amazing…

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These last two days have been so amazing! Yesterday, as Kaia and I were driving home, we passed by one of the cow farms down the road. Most of the cows were far off in the field, but there was one standing right by the road. I noticed that she has an amniotic sac hanging out, and when she lifted her tail there were two front hooves! So, we pulled the car over and watched the sweet mama cow give birth! It was so beautiful!! And as soon as the baby came out it twitched its ears and tried to stand! Amazing!

Then, today, we spent the evening hanging out with a deer! She walked right up our road and stopped by the house to say hi. She must be a lost pet or something. I called the nature center but they said there was nothing they could do. I hope she doesn’t get shot… she’ll walk right up to you and let you pet her! She even walked up to the back door as Suki was barking her head off from inside. We spent a few hours outside with her and then she walked off into the woods. I doubt we’ll ever have an experience like that one again!

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hello…

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… I’m still here 🙂 I’ve just been away from the computer a bit… It’s hard to type with a baby in your arms 🙂
We are all doing really well! Leif is a total sweetie! He’s very laid back, although he is a total snuggler and doesn’t like to be put down. Kaia is still in love with him and is taking on the role of ‘big sister’ very well.

We’re getting some much needed rain here. Looks like the week ahead will bring even more rain! Maybe the spring will start flowing again (it dried up last July with the drought). With the rain, I’ve gotten a few shiitake from my logs. They dried up last year and hadn’t produced in a long time. I really need to move them to a more moist and shaded area, too.

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In the garden, I’ve planted asparagus. I’m the only one in the family that likes it, so I should have lots to enjoy! I planted the crowns last Sunday, under capricorn, an earth sign good for planting roots. I know asparagus isn’t a root crop, you harvest the spears, but I thought it might be good to plant them under an earth sign to get the roots established well for better harvest later. We’ll see…. I have 10 more crowns, maybe I will plant them under a leaf sign and see which patch does better.

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Kaia thought she’d try out the chair to see how well it works to calm you down.

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Spring’s a comin’!!

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Though we had a big snow fall this past week, the chickens are telling me that spring is on its way! They have really picked up their laying and our little Welsummer, Rosie, laid her first egg today! It’s the dark speckled one… isn’t it pretty?

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The top pink egg is from our Easter Egger, Biscuit, (supposed to be an Ameraucana). Clockwise, the next egg is from Buttercup, our Buff Orpington. Next is the small pink egg from (I believe) Vera, our Salmon Faverolle. It’s a really small egg, but I don’t think our silkies are old enough to lay yet, and I saw Vera sitting on one of the small ones…
The fourth, and largest brown egg, is from Rudy, our 2 1/2 year old Black Australorps. The 5th egg is Rosie our Welsummer’s egg. And the Blue one is from our 2 1/2 year old Americauna, Sweetie.
We’re still waiting on the two silkies to start laying… probably in the next month or two.

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These are from the last snow we had… aren’t the icicles lovely!
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And Leif in his starring role as “the Littlest Gnome”
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I know, I know…

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You are probably thinking, “What are you doing on the computer, Lady??!! You have a new baby!! Go sleep or something!” But, the midwives have ordered me not to leave my room until tomorrow so that I have some time to heal (small tear). I’ve had all my food brought to me, I sleep, snuggle the baby, relax, visit with friends and family, and well… play on the computer when I get bored (which really isn’t too often, ’cause Leif is such a total cutie that I can’t stop kissing on him!!) But, while I have some time, I thought I’d post some pictures of my most recent knitting fun:

this is a hat that I gave to Toby just after Leif was born. His little Birth Day Present of sorts. I knitted it last month but had to keep it secret. Isn’t it awesome?! I may have to knit up more for each member of the family! Here’s the pattern.
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And here’s a cowl I made for myself. I really like it, but I think I may do another one with a chunkier yarn so it stands up better.
cowl

And some little toys I’ve been working on. I really like the idea of having a basket of soft, hand made toys for Leif, so I’m working on filling the basket.
cupcakes

And of course, the snuggle pictures:
snuggletime

He’s Here!

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Yesterday at 9:36 am we had a boy!! He’s a healthy, chubby, cute little man! He weighs 8 pound 14 ounces and is 20 1/2 inches long!! We’ve named him Leif Everett. Kaia is already in love with him and has snuggled him more that Toby has. He falls asleep in Kaia’s arms every time she holds him. We are all doing well and enjoying our family time together!
kaiaandleif

I’m doing well. The labor was only 6 hours but it was the middle of the night, so I was pretty exhausted! Toby got up with me, and Kaia joined us at ~4am. So, we all slept the day away after he was born. He’s a total cutie pie! It’s so weird having a newborn in the house again! I’d forgotten how awesome it is to snuggle up next to a tiny baby.

Home

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Things are chugging along here.

On the gardening front, the leeks and onions started sprouting after only 2 days! It’s exciting to see our little window greenhouse working so well!

On the baby front, I’m still VERY pregnant, and really starting to get tired of it. It’s wouldn’t be so hard if I wasn’t so sore. But the baby is so low that any movement is, well, SORE! Even sleeping is hard.

Unfortunately, Kaia has had a high fever for the last 3 days. She usually runs a 3 day/3 night course with her fevers, so hopefully she will be feeling back to her old self tomorrow, but still, we are all exhausted! Herbs and home remedies don’t work on her fevers. Motrin is the only thing that will ease her when she’s aching, and sometimes that doesn’t even work.

Hope to report back with healthy child and baby news soon!