If Polly Pocket Was Real...

I think I've discovered my family's strategy:
Leave juuuuuust enough toilet paper on the roll for, say, Polly Pocket to wipe with.
This way they can't be held responsible for using all the toilet paper, therefore not responsible for replacing the roll.

Has It Really Been That Long?

How did this little man get to be a month old already?

The date came and went (on Tuesday) and I just realized it today.

I'm glad I get to be his mommy.

That's What She Said

Ruby said, "Mommy, I think I see a spaghitto on the window.  I hope it doesn't bite me."
Elijah said, "Uhhh, Ruby?  I think you meant to say mosquito,"

Fridays on the Farm

It's been quite awhile since I did a 

Fridays on the Farm post.

To bring it back in to play,

I thought I'd share these pictures of the kids at my parents' place--

the farm on which I grew up.

These pictures were taken on Mother's Day this year.

This is the barn where the milk cows were kept.

It no longer houses animals, just my dad's "stuff."

My brothers, sister and I spent many hours milking with my dad in this barn.

My parents moved here in December of 1978.

He milked cows here until he sold them in February of 1995.

Grandma and Grandpa's farm has lots of wide open spaces.

Elizabeth (and the others) like to explore.

This view looks out to the end of their driveway--

the very same driveway that my siblings and I had to walk, nearly every day,

uphill both ways, whether it was snowing or raining, 

to get to the end to wait for the bus.

(Or run for the bus while he waited for us, depending how the morning had gone.

And this was back in the day when we wore moon boots, my friends.)

You can see the foundation of my dad's old barn on the right of this picture.

It was really very old, and he had it burned several years ago. 

A stave silo also used to stand in this space and without the two of those structures,

it really changed the way this part of the yard looked.

Truthfully, I still occasionally need to remind myself about why something seems "off".

For all my growing up years, the barn and silo were there.

My dad didn't have them taken down until several years after I'd left home and married

so it's kind of like it didn't register with my brain that these things are gone.

What would a sunny day at Grandpa's be without riding horse?

LittleBit loves (and prefers) to be barefoot.

She was making her way across the yard from the house to go

say hi to the horse and Linnea.

 It also is customary to bring out the bikes whenever we visit my parents.

Grandpa let them use his car ramps in order to construct a bike jump.

Andrew and Christopher caught some good "air" that day--

over and over and over and over...

I am glad that Dennis and I are raising our kids the same way we were raised--

in the country, on a farm.

Tea Party

Ruby and Ivy wear the same size and have a wonderful assortment of dresses from which to chose.

Their everyday attire is the kind of thing I had to fight tooth-and-nail to get Linnea to wear to church when she was their age.

These girls have been so happy to finally have spring here after such a long winter that one of the first things they did when the snow melted off the yard was to bring their toy dishes outside for a tea party!

Scrumptious

I love this picture of Abram,

taken when he was just about 18 hours old.

Scrumptious, sweet new baby.

Life Since Abram's Birth

Since our newest little boy was born two weeks ago, we've had some adjustments to make.  Y'know, like nursing a baby 24/7 and endless diaper changes all while trying to keep a farming household running.
Thankfully the weather has been fairly cooperative and I've been able to hang the laundry out (yes, even the next morning after he was born).  I always love my clothesline and I find it rather cathartic to hang things in an orderly fashion when things inside the house and in my life can seem rather disorderly.

I've been able take a few naps since he was born so that helps.  I wish I could rest every day but it doesn't seem to work that way.

Some friends have helped with meals which got us through the first several days.  That is truly such an appreciated way to help.  I'm sure our family's size can be rather intimidating to cook for, but we really are pretty easy to please.  Knowing dinner or supper would be taken care of was such a load off my mind.


I'm not sure how much of Abram's birth story I'm ready to share right now, but the quick version is he was a footling breech born in the ambulance in the garage of the hospital 14 minutes after my water broke.

Makes you want to stay tuned, doesn't it?

Wordless Wednesday: Our New Love