The Wedding

Linnea was a bridesmaid in a friend's wedding last month.

I brought my camera but only got some pictures after the ceremony.

It wasn't until I sat down in the pew that I actually took stock of my situation;

I brought seven children ages 9, 8, 6, 5, 3, 2, and 10 months to a wedding 

where there would be no other adult or teen who could help me.

I sort of broke out in a cold sweat,

then reminded myself that I had put on my big girl pants and that I could do this.

I had to.

*gulp*

This was taken as the newly married couple exited the church.

Elizabeth wanted to stand next to Linnea, of course.

For the next week and half, Elizabeth told anyone she could that Linnea got married.

It was her way of saying "Linnea was in a wedding" but

three year olds have a way of losing things in translation.

 Those lashes!!!

 The bubbles were a lot of fun for my crew!

 Abram, like a moth to flame, was drawn to the black dirt

next to the sidwalk.

In light khaki shorts.

Obviously.

 Christopher was an excellent helper to me.

 Elijah

 These lovely ladies...

Cece and Linnea

 Our dear friend Amy was also in the wedding.

I love how this picture turned out of both of them.

 Ivy and Ruby wanted to each take turns with 

Linnea's bouquet.

This boy, though.

Can you stand how cute he is?!?!

Stick Figures

Elijah is our resident artist.

He likes to draw more than just about anything!

Art is by far his favorite subject 

and a reward (sometimes bribe!) for him 

is free time to do art.

Though this picture is rather basic,

it makes me laugh to see all the detail he put in to stick figures.

His initial decision to draw stick figures, he told me, was that 

we have such a large family that he'd have used up a LOT of time

drawing us all in greater detail. Haha!

1. Mom

2. Dad

3. Linnea

4. Nathaniel

5. Isaiah

6. Andrew

7, Christopher

8. Elijah

9. Ruby

10. Ivy

11. Elizabeth

12. Abram

13. Cece 

(with all the sparkle around her, you can tell the baby is especially loved!)

Numbers 14-16 need a little more explanation.

#15 is Grandpa Wayne and on either side of him

are #14 Great-grandma Mavis (his mom)

and #16 Grandma Cindy.

Elijah didn't want Grandma Mavis to have to stand all by herself.

Numbers #17 & #18 are Dennis' parents

Grandpa Gayland and Grandma Harriet.

After giving me time to look over each one and admire his work,

he looked at me with a sly smile, a twinkle in his eye, and said,

"Now, you may notice that I, ahhh, had to draw

Nathaniel and Dad with a little bit, ahh, fuller sticks for their middle..."

as he made a round motion in front of his own stomach.

I laughed and then thanked him for his kindness 

when drawing Mommy and the grandmas

with regular stick figures.

Fridays on the Farm: Big Boys and Little Toys

If You Had to Guess

If you were to see these socks on the floor in your room,

would you guess that they were dirty or clean?

If you were my kids,

you'd be stumped and throw them in the hamper anyway

because one can never be too careful with laundry.

When in doubt, it must be dirty, right?

#itseemsobvioustoMom

The Boy Can Cook

It's important to me that my sons learn how to cook--

not just for themselves, but for a group.

Besides the obvious macaroni & cheese, ramen noodles, chicken nuggets, and frozen pizza,

the boys are branching out to being able to prepare more "real" food.

Christopher's specialty:

chocolate chip pancakes!

Basketball Buddies

A friend from church sent me this picture that she took of 

Christopher and Andrew playing basketball with their friend Krosby

during the kick-off night for VBS.

Okay, they weren't actually playing basketball when she took the picture

but you get what I mean.

These two of my boys especially love sports

so any opportunity to play ball with have them doing so!

BOYS

If you're say...seven years old, and you want to make your mom's heart skip a beat, here's an idea: y'know those Crayola tub tints? Take a couple of the red ones, put them in the toilet, wait a minute or two and then say, "Mooooooom, could you come here? I was using the bathroom and...."

Best Brothers

When Nathaniel was younger he helped me so much with the babies.

He is still very good with babies and little people, but he works outside a lot and also has a job off the farm so he's not nearly as available as he was when he was eight. :)

Christopher is kind of like another "oldest", serving in the same way Nathaniel did when he was younger.

He told me, "Mom, it's kinda like me and Abram are best brothers."

Yeah.  It is.

Boys and Their Toys Tools

 It is a good thing to have willing boys when I need a shelf assembled.

Over the last few years, we have decided to give the boys power tools for Christmas or their birthdays.

The idea has been well received.

Bipper Had a Birthday

Bipper had a birthday.

(Why do we call him Bipper?  Read here.)

He turned 8 years old last week.

We gave him a SuperMan t-shirt.

 I think he liked it. :)

We like super heroes around here.

 He was mildly impressed with his Vikings hat.

Perhaps more than mildly impressed. :)

 Elijah was the lucky boy who went in to Wal-Mart with Nathaniel a couple weeks ago

and came out with a Superman shirt that Nathaniel bought for him.

Christopher wished and wished that he could get one for his upcoming birthday.

These boys are often asked if they are twins; they think that's funny so they purposely dress alike to increase the incidence of that question.

Dressing alike in Superman t-shirts is just gravy.

 Per our "tradition" we have pizza for birthday suppers.

The birthday kid also gets to go to town for lunch on their birthday at the restaurant of their choosing (within reason) and they can pick a buddy to accompany them.  Christopher chose Andrew and Elijah so those three boys plus Abram and me met Grandpa Gayland and Grandma Harriet at Pizza Ranch.

While we were gone, Linnea decorated his cake.

This boy is just such bright spot in our lives.

We are so proud of him and so glad he is ours.

He came to me before he headed to bed the night of his birthday.

He leaned his head on my shoulder, sighed, and said,

"Today was a good day.  Thanks, Mom."

Victory

It is no small victory for the mother of boys when she notices there are more pairs of underwear coming through the wash.

What We Did The Day of the Big Blizzard

This past Sunday church was cancelled due to a big blizzard.

I love me a big snowstorm so I was looking forward to it!

Since we didn't go to church, the morning felt "off" a bit.

What did we do instead?

Well--we had a delightful tea party.

There was a Ruby-ballerina who did her own hair for our party (it was so  wavy from braids left in overnight) .  And oh, look-- little nutella still left on her face from the breakfast I let them each find for themselves.

Our fancy tea, all spread on the piano bench.
My coffee cup looks surprisingly big next to the tea cups.

Ruby's favorite doll, Laura, was also in attendance, her schnazzy hair styled by the uber-talented Ruby.

(My mom made those clothes--isn't she aMAZing?)

Ivy was happy that morning (not "rumpy" like usual) so we let this picture suffice.

I can't recall why her arms were that way, but whatevs.

 LittleBit was a whole lotta trouble as she kept "stealing" all the dishes

and *GASP*

licking all the plates.

Ruby was horrified at her terrible tea party etiquette.

Elizabeth was oblivious.  

Or perhaps, intentional.

Oh YES!  I nearly forgot--Jessie and Woody!

Ivy's constant companions arrived for the party, too, and squished Ivy's sweet cheeks for a picture.

After the tea party and after a real-live dinner,

Dennis, Linnea and I played Scrabble.

Linnea won.

Then, while I took a real-live--although short--nap,

Linnea made snow candy, just like Ma Ingalls, all her idea and all on her own!

I was impressed.
I wish I'd taken a picture...

I'm such a homebody that I have really missed being snowed in these past snow-less winters.

Now that February is half over and winter is nearing an end, 

I find myself wishing for a few more snow falls!

I think snow falling is such a cozy feeling, and seeing as I rarely have anywhere to go and my husband is nearly always here on the farm (as opposed to trying to make it driving home from work in a storm) and all my children are nearly always under the same roof,

when I see snow forecasted,

I think to myself "BRING IT ON!"

Christopher and Elijah ventured out in the afternoon and had THE BEST time in the snow up to their waists. The recounting of their adventures when they came in after dark was quite something!

Lots of motioning with their hands and arms about how high or how far or how fast, replete with sound effects, rosy cheeks and snapping eyes.

It was good "brother time."

We had chicken wild rice stew for supper, a perfect complement to a pretty good day.

And that's what we did the day of the big blizzard.

The News from Here

Do you know how many posts I have saved in my drafts folder that I just haven't been able to finish?
Do you know how many things I have filed under "blog post ideas" on my computer?
Probably not--'cause that would be creepy if you did.

But say you did, you'd know that I have a lot of things I'd like to talk about, and not a lot of time to organize my thoughts and publish them into a post.

So, there are spaces between posts.
I haven't spoken much about this pregnancy.
I haven't talked much about the other kids.
Or the farm.
Or anything, really.

We'll see if I can remedy that.

Let's see.
Pregnancy:  I am 25 weeks along (or so. :) )  Baby moves around a LOT, which is always one of my favorite   aspects of pregnancy.
We no longer do ultrasounds and like the previous two babies, we didn't and won't find out the gender of this baby until we meet him or her face to face.
Boys to girls ratio at this point is 5:4.  The boys are rooting for a boy because a)boys are cool and b) boys want to "win".  {More boys than girls would mean that the boys would be "winning".  Such is the way that six-to-ten-year old boy brains work. :) }
The girls are undecided...some days they say they would like to have a new baby sister and some days they say that it would be fun to have another baby boy.
I tell them that the great thing is, the baby is what it is already and that no amount of our guessing will change who is in there!
My belly is growing quite a bit and the younger children are really noticing, triggering remembrance of when LittleBit was in there last winter.  Some have been able to feel the baby wiggle (I use the word "wiggle" instead of "kick" because one of our toddlers years ago used to resort to kicking from time to time--that kicking was naughty and I was pregnant at the time; it seemed contradictory that the baby could kick and it was cute but if the toddler kicked it was a punishable offense.  I just kept using the word wiggle for subsequent babies.)
I've been to see my midwife twice; we go back the end of February at which time I'll only have 8 weeks left until my due date. I'm excited to approach the birth of this baby in a different way as we prepare for birthing him or her here at home.  I'm a meticulous planner and Dennis is not.  I drive him NUTS if I plan too much so I'm learning to back off and not plan too far ahead out loud.
In my head, I'm planning and wondering and thinking and going over what I've read and learned in 17 years of pregnancy and childbirth.
I have had zero morning sickness which is new.  With all the other children, I have felt crummy and queasy for the first weeks and months.  I've never been violently ill, nor have I have thrown up--just felt extremely tired and nauseated.  That never happened this time and I attribute that to avoiding gluten and conquering a sugar addiction/candida problem.  I do still try to take a nap each day, but unlike the other nine times when I was drop dead tired and could not function without an hour nap, a 20 minute refresher is now sufficient for me (even with the added stress of Elizabeth being a horrible sleeper herself at night!)
In general, I feel so much better this time around, though I will admit that being pregnant at 34 is different than my early 20's. :-)  It will be interesting to me to see how the third trimester progresses; with Elizabeth, I had some swelling near the end, rendering me unable to wear shoes for several weeks.  I wore slippers instead (it was winter).  I'm predicting that since straightening out my thyroid issues by dealing with a gluten intolerance, I will feel better at full term than I have other times.  We'll see!

I'm thankful on these cold, cold days that I don't have any work to do outside like the men do here.  Dairy farmers have no choice--cows need to be milked every day and all the animals cared for especially so when the temperatures are severe, whether extreme heat or cold.  So even when I'm disgusted that the windows are all frozen shut making it impossible for me to air out rooms, or when we have to kick the front door to shake lose the ice in the jamb in order to open it--yes, even then, I'm thankful I don't have to leave home to go to a job.

Next up--an update on the kids (when I get around to it)!

The Short-Haired Squirrel

While Isaiah was checking his snares this morning before church, he had opportunity to shoot a squirrel.
When he told the younger boys about it, Elijah asked if he'd shot a boy or a girl squirrel.
Isaiah answered that it was a male.
Elijah asked, "How can ya tell?"
Isaiah said, "Well, you know how to tell the difference between a male and female person, right?"
Elijah replied, "You mean, by if they have long hair?"

Fridays on the Farm

The title of my blog reveals that I am a farmer's wife.

I haven't blogged over-much regarding our farm life,

but it is a very important part of who I am individually and who we are as a family!

I grew up on a dairy farm, too.

My dad sold his cows in February 1995 and I married Dennis in September of 1996.

Aside from those intervening 19 months, I've spent my whole life on a farm!

Dennis has lived here his whole life--he's never even had a different phone number.

He's been a farmer since the day he was born. :)

In an effort to honor our heritage and our way of life, I wanted to start a new little something here on my blog.

I wish I was a little more tech-savvy so I could create a button

(Believe me, I tried!!  I'll keep trying, but if someone wants to help me I'd be ever so grateful!)

but for now we'll have to settle for this fun picture I created using a photo I took of my brother's barn.

The "new little something" I want to start will be called 

Fridays on the Farm.

I want to use it as a time to purposefully share a bit about our farm,

to show you what one small, family owned and operated, independent, dairy farm looks like.

There are very few such farms left.

Our is one of them.

So, without further ado, I'll begin!

The crops have been growing so well here in our area of MN this year.

We have been relatively unscathed by the drought that has swept it's way through the mid-west.

The boys had been in the field with Dennis this week and upon their return, they called me to the door to come look at this:

12 foot corn!

That is seriously tall corn, just so y'know.

Then, because boys will be boys, they began jousting with the stalks!

It was rather difficult to make any real impact on each other

but it was great fun nonetheless.

Christopher about busted a gut laughing at those brothers!!!

We are anxiously awaiting harvest,

when the corn can come off the field and go in to town.

If you'd like to share something about your farm

or a memory that this post triggered about an experience you had on a farm

I'd love for you to leave a comment!

If you have a blog, I'd love if you linked up to me

(feel free to grab the top picture until I get that little ol' button figured out)

with a Fridays on the Farm post of your own!

Outside

 We've been enjoying a balmy spring here lately.

Ivy and Ruby shared a ride on the bouncy horse.

 Elizabeth takes it all in from her perch on my back in the Ergo (a generous gift from a generous friend)

while Ruby and Ivy discuss how to use the rope swing in the background.

 Though it's a bit blurry, I thought you might like to see Ivy "helping" to boost Ruby up on to the rope.

(The attempt was unsuccessful.)

((I double-checked that no one's undies were on the clothesline in the picture.))

 My outdoor-, football-loving guy, 

Andrew.

(We totally scored at Goodwill, finding the shirt for $1.80 and the pants for $1!!)

 The Bipper 

 Ivy Joy gives the rope swing a try.

Did I mention where Elizabeth was?

I did?

'mkay.

Bipper Lost a Tooth!!

It had been hanging by a thread for some time, that tooth.

Bipper, with his finger seemingly always in his mouth,

wiggled and jiggled and jiggled and wiggled that tooth.

I tried to pull it, Daddy tried to pull it.

It just didn't want to let go!

During an afternoon of football on the yard,

I heard the front door slam and what sounded like sobs

as Christopher climbed the front steps.

As the mother of boys, I immediately conjured up images replete with blood.

It turns out he was laughing rather incredulously.

A football to the face had knocked that tooth loose!

There was blood indeed, but no tears.

He laughed as he told me how as he dove for the football and

got a mouthful of it instead.

As he stood up, he realized his tooth was out.

We didn't find it on the yard,

but we played the tooth fairy game anyway.

(My kids know about Santa and the tooth fairy.)

Now, instead of his finger always on that tooth,

his tongue occupies the vacated space!

Homeschool Friday

 Y'know, sometimes I try to make homeschooling little ones too hard.

But really, it isn't.

I had a "duh" moment this week,

or maybe I should call it a "good idea."

I made my younger ones a book to draw in.

I printed several words on plain printer paper,

stapled them into a book

and let 'em have at it.

Some of the words I chose were

swingset, car, tractor, baby, a page for them to write their name,

banana, apple, table, etc.

They LOVED it.

Bipper said,

"Mom--look at my arms--I'm STRONG!!!!"

They were so proud of their "books"

and were excited to show Daddy what they had done.

Homeschooling littles doesn't have to be so hard, now, does it!

To see other ideas for keeping younger ones busy

click here and here.