When you only have One at Home!

I've been up since 6:00am. Took the garbage out. Made 3 lunches. Made waffles. Drove the kids to the bus stop. Took the recycling out. Checked email. Checked news. Bathed youngest boy after a horrible blowout. Cut hair of two boys. Found belt for Anderson. Fed him 4 times before 10:30 ...he's too skinny. Took him to bus stop at 11:00. Fed Evan twice. Met with Visiting Teachers for an hour. Did 3 loads of laundry. Posted a blog. This is a picture of what a child looks like when mom is busy sweeping the floor and folding laundry. Not only did he have a gross blow out this morning, but while VT's were here, he drank my homemade Blackberry syrup and got it all over himself and the floor, which I cleaned up and not and hour later...white board marker. I just put him down for a nap. This is the life of the last born...

Haircuts

My boys couldn't be more different. One is skinny and straight and the other is stocky and curly. Mommy, in her quest for frugality decided to cut the hair herself. Don't look too close...and yes, I did cut Evan's hair just a bit. He has more layers now. I will not, I repeat, will not cut off the curls. He can have long hair until he dies, as far as I am concerned.

Anderson's First Day of Kindergarten!

"We just sat alot and didn't get to play that much" and "you have to wash your hands and be quiet while your friends go to the bathroom." This was the extent of the first day for him. I just had to laugh at his hair this morning. He is such a wacky kid! He had a lackluster day. I, on the other hand, had to deal with the "Transportation Department" telling me they can't pick up my kid. Well according to Hillsboro School District he qualifies for the bus but "that bus" can't come up there. Whatever! Well I gave them a piece of my mind. I am not wasting gas to get my kid because of their error. 5 years ago I would have taken it but not anymore. Yet another lovely side effect of being a single parent for a time and getting great therapy and of course an awesome "red" husband. Now he is switched into afternoon Kindergarten, which was too full, again, not my problem. And his bus will arrive 3 minutes after the drop off bus...what the HELL! (not a swear word in my house) What if I really couldn't afford the gas, or I had no car? Humm? Just because they think that I can afford it, or that I live in a nice area? The secretary asked why I couldn't just pick him up...OK I lied and said that I only had one car. I didn't want to fight, but I wanted fairness damn it! (Not a swear word in my house either!) I got my way. Anderson wants to ride the bus and I want to stay at home and not pollute the air and drag my two year old around for 30 minutes of wasted time. Enough ranting...I'm done now.

The Circle of Life...

Most of you out there know that I am a certified tree hugger. My husband is quickly learning the ropes of my environmental indoctrination. Well, sometimes the best laid plans are destroyed by the harsh reality of nature. Picture in your mind the exciting chase that ensues between the hunter and the hunted. Mutual of Omaha...Sunday wildlife special....prey and predator...you get the picture? Well our wonderful puppy Roman has already killed a rooster...shear luck for us. Roman is not even a year and is already quite the hunter. Well today, while my husband is away on extended trip to Utah, our humane trap had an inhabitant. A furry grey ground squirrel was lured in by the peanut butter. Now, I have gotten over their "cuteness" when I step into one of their lovely holes in the ground. So I was glad to capture the little bugger. Christian, being the very good cub scout, loaded it into our jeep, with the intent of letting it go in a field up above our house. The dogs come barreling up the hill behind us (their favorite form of exercise) and I didn't think anything of it. Christian grabbed the cage and put it near the edge of the field and let it go. Now that squirrel was pretty happy to leave its cramped quarters. Until, the lion, Wilson "pursued" the freed prisoner. Wilson is not the quickest dog. Roman, on the other hand, is a stealth bomber. The squirrel took off up north and that is when the Mutual of Omaha scene began. The prey and the predator in the fight for your life dance, with the audience of squealing kids and grossed out mom. He shook that squirrel to death in his jaws. I booked it out of there. I bet you money the kids will have nightmares. I will dream of the lion chasing the zebra in a Sunday special about the ugly truth of nature. Sometimes the best laid plans fall apart before your very eyes...maybe I should contact PETA and fill them in on the fact that us Humans are not the only barbarians in the animal kingdom...go figure.

Apple Pickin' Time

Hi everybody. Greetings from Helvetia, Oregon!


So ... yesterday was Saturday the 23rd of August and me and the kids (this is Patrick speaking) spent most of the morning picking apples off one of our apple trees here on the farm. Maddy was there too, for most of the time, though she isn't in the pictures (she didn't like her picture and just made me delete it; oh, joy ... the pre-teen years march on!). ;0] Lucky for us she's the "responsible, reserved one" of our kidlets. We're hoping the others will follow her example in the next 17 teenage years to come. Yikes!



As I was saying ... APPLES! A week or so ago Em and her friend Stacey canned a whole bunch of applesauce from one of our other trees and it is so delicious the kids have almost finished it off in just the last week, or so it seems. So, our first chore on yesterday's "Cinderella Saturday" list was Tree # 2. You can see in the pictures that they're good apples for sauce versus apple slices and such. They have lots of brown spots and bug bites and so forth. They're yummy, though, and we came away with another 70 or 80 pounds this time around. We're looking forward to more of Emmy's wares ... maybe even an apple pie or cobbler or something like that.



Em seems to be in heaven ... gourmet chefing, growing green stuff, chasing chickens and living off the grid as much as we possible can. We both are! We're not there, yet, but give us another year...!? I'm sure we'll be hooking up solar panels and installing a generator and making our own fuel out of potatoes or something like that. We shall see. ;0)

Personally, I'm happy too; I love our life and I cherish our "not-so-little" family (at last count we are up to 19 'family members' .. me and Em, 5 kids, 2 dogs, 11 chickens and 2 goats ... and that's if you don't add in all the snakes, mice, squirrels and lizards, many of which the kids bring home at night). We used to have 11 chickens but the rooster named "Dinner" turned into chicken noodle soup.

Most of all, I love my Em.

Enjoy the pictures! They usually tell the story better than I ever can.

Patrick

What did you do this Friday?

I just finished Breaking Dawn, by Stephenie Meyers....I recieved my borrowed copy at 6:00pm and read most of the night...and I finally finished just a few minutes ago! Fabulous book! She was true to form. Now I must go clean the catastrophic mess my children have made in my book induced coma!

Family Home Evening...The benefits of Hard Work

Do any of you remember picking strawberries as a kid? I do, and I look back with fondness at the sweet warm berries that exploded in my mouth. Well strawberries have long since gone from the Willamette valley, but blueberries are still in full swing. In a small way, harvest time is starting. Raspberries are nearing the end of there season, and blackberries are taking there place.
I love Oregon in the Summer. I love teaching my kids the rewards of working together. Now my freezer has one whole shelf dedicated to frozen blueberries. If any of you have a great recipe with blueberries in it, feel free to give it to me.




As you can see I have plenty to go around. That huge grin is because I am living my dream! I get to live in Oregon where stuff just grows no matter what. Isn't it Awesome!!!