"We Can Fold All Our Clothes!"

 Hannah is very excited to have a place other than a laundry basket on the floor to put all her clothes.

A month ago or so my mother in law sent us a little money to find a dresser for the girls' room. So I've been scouring craigslist and garage sales and Cart'm. Cart'm came through again.

Found this beauty last Friday and put a hold on it, then changed my mind and called and had them take the hold off but I kept thinking about it this weekend and so I dragged the kids there when they opened Monday morning, praying that it would still be there.

It was, and it was only $20.

Next stop, the fabulous Salt and Paper in Manzanita for a roll of fun wrapping paper (inspiration from this blog and this one), then a dig through the leftover paint in the shed. I used the same paint that's on the wall in the girls' room; "Australian Morning", or as Hannah was describing it to our neighbor Karen, "It's like the color of your foundation only not dirty."  (it's a gray/green).

A little Modge Podge to put the wrapping paper on the drawers and voila!
An adorable dresser for the girls for just under $25.

If Marilyn finds a marker and draws on it I might cry.

Chicken Coop

 The chicken coop is finally done! Painted and run enclosed completely. And there are chicks in there!

 These big doors on the front open all the way up for ease of cleaning. And the little door is for everyday use by the chick-a-lickies (as Marilyn calls them).

 We've got Australorps, Buff Orpingtons and Reds. Seeing as we can't tell each bird apart, all the blacks are "Blackberry", all the reds are "Cinnamon" and all the Yellows are "Honey".
They've hit their awkward stage.

They have yet to venture down the ramp but they sure like to crowd around the open door. The Australorps...Blackberries...seem to be the most adventuresome so I'm betting they'll be the first ones out.

Garden Pictures

 The sun has still been shining and I've spent many afternoon hours in the garden and yard slowly checking things off my to-do list. It's been oh so much fun! 
The above picture is taken from the garden gate.
The one below from the opposite corner.
Tomatoes are the only thing planted at this moment; the rest of the seeds should be going in this weekend.

 Mother's Day for me was spent in the garden with a hammer and a pile of bricks. It was lovely. The little brick patio here will someday have a bench or a chair and a table. It is surrounded by chives and herbs.

 The garden shed has been painted and one shelf has been installed.

 The pallet compost area is set up and doing it's duty of containing the weeds pulled from various parts of the yard.
The chicken coop is still not done, but it's on my list.

 Blueberries are within the brick edging, surrounded for now by tomato cages so Quincy doesn't run them over.

 And see that large hydrangea in front of the window? Erik saved it from the job he's working on now. I'm hoping it survives the transplant!

Hope you enjoyed the tour!

Spring!

I feel like I want to tell you everything that's been happening in the last few weeks.

Either that or I want to tell you next to nothing.

I'm so tired tonight, but I feel like I should blog; it's been awhile.

This sunshine is glorious, and it's wearing me out because I feel that I must "make hay while the sun still shines" or get all the yard work done before it starts raining again.  I've weeded flower beds, planted blueberries, worked on the chicken coop (it's still not done), tilled and limed and tilled the garden again, moved fences and ...and... oh, "built" or set up a yard debris compost area out of pallets.

Pictures may or may not be forth coming.

In the midst of all of this outdoor fun we have been changing our diet. Turns out both boys have some level of immune allergic response to wheat/gluten and dairy. And thus left all my filler foods.  I've been learning to bake gluten free, we switched the whole family to gluten free (easier that way) and we've been going through produce like crazy. We don't do baked goods all that often now, and we all agree that our guts feel much more stable/ settled throughout the day, though we never felt terrible before.

Thus this is the first pregnancy where I've actually lost weight while pregnant! Usually I just start gaining but without all my favorite breads, biscuits and pancakes I've actually lost 4 or 5 pounds. I find it amusing.  Oh and if you missed it, baby #5 is due beginning of October.  Just a few weeks shy of half way there!

If it's sunny tomorrow I may paint the garden shed. Or mark off my planting beds. Or move brick or rock.  Or maybe I'll just sit and take a day off. Nah. Or I could take some pictures for you...

Oh, the green and the blooming and the green and the flowers and the green and the growing! I love this time of year.

 I hope you've been able to enjoy some spring wherever you are!

Love My Kids

My kiddos made up for being adorable yesterday by being squirrel-y today.

I won't tell you about today.

But I will let you in on the adorable.

Yesterday morning I put Marilyn's new dress from Lynn and Kathie on her, she was standing on a chair. Clayton was eating his morning snack and looked up, "Marilyn, you look bee-you-ti-ful."
to which Marilyn replied, "It's my birthday dress. I want to give you a hug, 'cause you don't like kisses."
Clayton nodded his head, set down his orange and started wiping his hands on his pajama pants.
Marilyn cocked her head to the side and pulled one of her half smiles, "What are you doing?"
Clayton: "I don't want to get your dress dirty."
Marilyn hopped down and they gave each other a huge hug.

The adorableness was not limited to the younger two either:

I was singing at church so we were there for both services. Hannah and Ivan came upstairs for worship second service and were sitting in the back with a friend. In one of the songs the line was, "We stand and lift up our hands" and I looked back to see Hannah singing as loud as she could with one hand straight up in the air. Ivan was standing on the pew behind her and even though he had his arms crossed his mouth was open wide singing as loud as he could as well.

This momma's heart was pretty full.

Then there was today. They were, like I said, pretty squirrel-y today.
But it wasn't so bad; I figured it was coming.

What I'm Learning

I've been reading a lot lately. Every once in a while I pick up the "Little House" books by Laura Ingalls Wilder and reread them. I think this is maybe the 10th time I've read through the series.

They're like an old friend. And I learn something new, or find a new treasure each time I read them. As I was finishing "These Happy Golden Years" the other day Hannah came into my room and hemmed and hawed a little bit and then asked, "Could I try reading the first one all by myself?" ( I read them out loud to her last year.)

"Sure." I answered, trying to contain my glee.

I am happy to announce that after two days she has finished "Little House in the Big Woods" and is ready to start "Little House on the Prairie". This momma is excited.

Instead of reading "The First Four Years" this time though I pulled off my shelf the biography "Laura: The Life of Laura Ingalls Wilder" by Donald Zochert and devoured that.

And that's where I found my treasure this time, pg. 207 (emphasis mine):

"One day Laura and Almanzo sat by a cozy fire in the parlor at Rocky Ridge and complained good-naturedly to each other that there was not time for anything in life except work. They thought back on the days when people always seemed joyful and happy. 'I was wishing, ' Laura remarked, 'that I had lived altogether in those good old days when people had time for the things they wanted to do.'
For a long time Almanzo was silent. Then he spoke up, remembering all the work Father Wilder had had to do on the farm and all the work Mother Wilder had had to do in the house. There was so much work it didn't stop at supper or sundown, but carried over into darkness. Laura thought back to the way Ma so often sat rocking by the fire, sewing or knitting long into the evening, when the world outside had fallen into silence and darkness- not because she wanted to, but because the work was there to be done.
'Surely,' Laura thought, 'the days and nights were as long as they ever were. Why should we need extra time in which to enjoy ourselves? If we expect to enjoy our life we will have to learn to be joyful in all of it, not just at stated intervals, when we can get the time, or when we have nothing else to do...A feeling of pleasure in a task seems to shorten it wonderfully and it makes a great difference with the day's work if we get enjoyment from it instead of looking for all our pleasure altogether apart from it, as seems to be the habit of mind we are more and more growing into.' "

Oh lately the days have seemed tedious and the tasks at hand overwhelming, and some of that is the emotional state I find myself in nowadays (darn pregnancy hormones). And I've been waiting for mini breaks and moments of time in the day to try and enjoy myself instead of finding the enjoyment were and when I can. Mostly cooking has become a chore because I haven't found enjoyment in it lately. Worried that maybe we're eating too much of this and not enough of that and should we be eating this or is it healthier to eat that? Those worries have crowded out the enjoyment of being able to cook, of being thankful for the ingredients and the food that surrounds me. For being thankful that I can choose what we are going to eat and that we can eat. Tonight I was so overwhelmed and on the verge of tears that Erik sent me to bed for a little while and we had yogurt with peaches and bananas for dinner. And I laid in bed and read that passage above. And I did cry and then I felt better and a little more hopeful.

Apply it how you will, but I'm going to work on enjoying life, even when it's 5pm and I don't have anything ready for dinner.

Head Wounds

Yesterday morning right before we left for church we heard Ivan come sobbing from his room, "I bunked my head."

And we turned to see blood dripping down his face.

He split his head open, right above the hairline. It's not very deep and is holding together nicely with butterfly bandages.

I am so thankful for a husband who has gone through the First Responders class with the Fire Department. Ivan was very very brave and sat still while Erik cleaned him all up and dressed the wound.

I took the other three kiddos to church while the wound dressing was happening as I still had to sing and later Erik said that Ivan started sobbing again after it was all clean. Erik asked him over and over again what hurt and where and what kind of hurt it was but Ivan kept sobbing. So Erik asked if it actually did hurt and Ivan shook his head no. Then Ivan explained that he was afraid people would laugh at him, but once his partially shorn head was covered in a hat he was fine.

After church Erik cleaned it again and called me in to take pictures of the head wound. I walked in and exclaimed, "Ivan it looks like you lost your arms as well!" Which is why his grin is so big.

He thought that was hilarious and stuck just his hands out for good measure.



This morning it looks like it's healing really well and we are praising God for it, and also that we didn't have to make another emergency room or doctor run.

And I think once it gets a good scab on it, we'll shave the rest of his head. Ivan isn't so sure about this idea because then he has to change the hair on his Mii (his character for the Wii).

Silly boy. I like him.