About Andrew's Hat

We've had a week or more of warm, sunny, gorgeous days.  The little boys can't stand to stay in the house.  The doors are open and they're running in and out, digging in dirt and generally living it up.  It just doesn't get any better for my country boys.

Most of the time, they run out barefoot (and half-naked, as the case may be).  But Andrew is having a little trouble giving up some of the winter relics.  "Boo!  Boooooo!!"  he yells, even on the warmest days, begging for his boots and coat, because that is just What We Do Before Going Outside.

And that orange stocking cap.  It's adorable, really, and he seems to be very attached to it.  He keeps it on his head, no matter how hot he gets. I've offered him a baseball cap or a sunhat, but those simply won't do.  It has to be that orange hat.  Sometimes I'll see him take it off and wipe his brow, then he carries the hat around in his hand for a few minutes while his sweaty hair dries.  When we go someplace --the store, or maybe a friend's house-- he has to have it before we leave, and he keeps it with him the whole time, inside and out.

He's turning into a funny little toddler, and still just incredibly adorable.

Some serious new-mama-love

I have a very dear friend who visited me yesterday.  She's a mother of 9.  She's been around the block a few times.  And then some.

She came with her 6 youngest children (who entertained my children) and another friend for the purpose of getting some garden planting done for me.  They planted my cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, onions and tomatoes-- work which would have taken me many days and a lot of back-pain misery to get done in my present state.  It was wonderful.  

I somehow failed to take pictures (doh!  What is wrong with me???) of all that, so I don't have anything to show you, but I keep looking out at my garden and sighing with happiness.  It's just wonderful.

I do have this to show you, however.  Besides all that work, and bringing lunch and supper for us all, she brought one of the most perfect baby gifts I have ever seen.

Really.

I was stunned at the thoughtful perfection.

Diapers and chocolate?  Amazing.

And He Turned 8

Jonah... my firstborn... the baby who made me a mommy... 

He had another birthday the other day!  Why does this keep happening?

We gave him a cap rifle as a gift the morning of his birthday and he carried it around all day (and every day since) and shot approximately 9,573 (give or take a few) caps over the course of the day.  He also cleaned it very meticulously between each round of caps.

He also requested a stegosaurus cake, and I humored his request to the best of my hilarious ability.

When he saw me mixing up the blue frosting, he said, "So... where's the other stuff?"

"What 'other stuff'?" I said.

"Mom.  Stegosauruses are brown."

Pardon my gaff.  Reality is not my strong point.

But he was thrilled nonetheless, and decided the a blue-green stegosaurus cake was pretty much the best ever.

I actually think it might look a little more like the love-child of a Smurf and and ROUS, but I kept that opinion to myself.

Jonah is at the age where a birthday is pretty much the epitome of  "good times" and besides counting the days for the last several weeks, he was dying to have friends over, even though I hardly have the energy for a party.  Nathan sweetly offered to make a campfire and oversee the roasting of hotdogs with some dear friends, and we all had a great time, without too much effort expended on my part.

And he blew out 8 candles... and that was that.  My baby is 8!

Sunrise, Sunset

Wow, it's been a long time since I posted anything here.  Swiftly flow the days.  They get away from me.  When I'm behind on anything (and I always am, just peek in my laundry room for confirmation of that), all there seems to be to do is to jump in where I am.  Trying to catch up is futile. So I won't review events around here, other than to say that yes, we did go to Missouri for my brother's wedding and it was wonderful to drive to some spring and hang out with all the far-away family who we miss so much.  The actual "driving" wasn't so much fun, but we/I didn't actually die. A post about that doesn't seem to be forthcoming, so check out the several good posts (each of those words is a separate link) on my Mom's blog for more.

Around here, spring is springing...

~As I type this, Jonah is carrying three baby chicks in his shirt after he took them outside for a run in the grass.  We have house chicks again.  This trio showed up in  a duck nest where a crafty hen hid her eggs and they got sat on by a duck.  We're still waiting for duck babies, so we removed the chicks to the house.  But now these insistent little peepers are living (actually, it's amazing they've made it, considering all the "love" they get) by the woodstove.

~When the fire dips below 85ish degrees, they peep.  A lot.  So we feed the fire, even if it's 65 degrees outside.

~They're like little fluffy thermostats.

~Jonah and I just took a rambling walk through a farmer's field and woods.  It was lovely, and we feasted on the new wild mustard greens.  I just can't get enough of those when they're new and tasty!

~Andrew is showing great interest in going potty lately, at 18 months old.  Well, Evan does it (sort of) so why not?  But  I'm feeling greatly ambivalent about starting that with him.  It might be easy, yes, but...  I'm having a baby, very soon, and I'm slightly traumatized from the last 8 months (!) of working on potty training Evan.

~But what's worse, two potty training and one in diapers, or two in diapers and one potty training?

~It's probably a wash, that's what.  No difference.

~The thing about a long winter is the inverse proportion of the gloriousness of spring when it finally arrives.  We don't even have leaves and blossoms yet, but it's glorious.  Sunshine and grass go a looooong way toward lifting all our spirits.  (I'm thinking you don't get that in California.)

~ Apologies to those of you in Minnesota.

~It's like someone opened a pressure-release valve in my living room.  All of a sudden, everything is calm and peaceful because my children are outside.

~I keep forgetting that what comes after pregnancy (which I sooo want to be done with) is newborn.  I can't seem to wrap my mind around that part.  It's exciting and wonderful, yes, but I keep thinking like life will just go on as usual and I won't be enormous anymore and oh-what-a-relief.  I just keep forgetting about the time-vortex of survival that I will be sucked into and that life is going to change again and THERE WILL BE A NEW PERSON.

~It's kind of mind-boggling.

~There WILL BE. a. new. person. HERE.

~I still have a couple weeks, give or take, ya know, a month.  Really, it could be anytime, but probably won't be.  I have a stationary panic when I think about that because, well... I don't even have baby stuff out yet or birth supplies put together.  I'm working on getting to that, really.  But there is much to be done.

~I have a baby who needs to turn 8 (EIGHT) (!) (8) (!) before we add another baby in.

~EIGHT.

~Evan is at the height of contrary.  It doesn't matter what you say, what it is, or how much he understands about it, he will want the opposite.  Nathan was deciding between black and brown spray paint for some project or other, and opted for brown.  "No, Daddy, you not use brown."  "Uh... I have to, Evan." "No, Daddy, you not use brown." ad infinitum.  "Evan, it's time for you and Andrew to go take naps so that Mommy can have a nap."  "No, Mommy, you not take nap."  Sigh.

~My laundry room is going to eat me.

~My Amish friend brought me fresh chocolate chip cookies this morning.

~How did she know I've been craving them for days and resisting making them because I'm trying NOT to grow a 10 pound baby? (Want cookies?  Too bad.  Go eat some cheese.)

~But what is there to do when someone hands me a box of my deepest craving other than eat the whole box myself?

~(Okay, not the whole box... I let the kids each have one...  Only because they were standing there when she brought them.)

~I am now going to go hide from my laundry room by going upstairs to sort kid and baby clothes some more.

~Maybe my Mom will make me chocolate chip cookies when she comes for the baby's birth.

Easter Egg Hunt, 2013

(If you haven't fished plastic eggs out of a toilet, you haven't lived.  Hand sanitizer, anyone?)

Resurrection Celebration Preparation

While I might prefer to lie around, snacking on stolen leftover french toast...

...there are pressing things that require my attention.

Like green fingers.

Sweet cheeks that need kissing and snuggles to be gotten.

Evan told me no, he won't stay my funny little boy forever, even though I asked him really nicely.

I tried to bargain, telling him he could learn to go potty, but then stay just like this.

But he won't have it.

So I had better get busy. 

Besides, there's company coming for dinner tomorrow.

We wish you all a blessed Resurrection Celebration!   May the joy of our salvation be your greatest gift and treasure!

The Newest Addition

Our little funny farm acquired a new member yesterday!

And there was much rejoicing.

The boys are thriiiiiiiiiilled!

But probably not more than their Daddy is.

This is a Really Big Deal.

Yes, after weeks, months, years of dreaming and scheming, we have a tractor!  It may be a little rough around the edges, but it runs great and the price was right.  I don't actually know anything about it, so you probably shouldn't ask me.  All I know is that it's A Tractor.  Oh, I guess I can say that it is a Minneapolis Moline, which is very exciting because my Dad has one that was historic to his family's farm.

Every farm needs a tractor, even if it's only a one-acre farm!  This will greatly accelerate and facilitate a number of projects that have been on hold for lack of shear power.  It makes me smile to watch Nathan using it because it really only barely fits in our small spaces, but it gets the jobs done!

There is also a certain little boy who is more than excited to help get the jobs done!  Evan cannot help but be Daddy's right-hand man on the tractor.  Nathan gets an extra upper-body workout lifting Evan up and down repeatedly while he works.  Evan is very good about standing in a safe spot when Daddy tells him to, and he's always ready to help drive, or pick up rocks and throw them in the bucket.

I'm not sad about this development, since Andrew recently discovered how to push chairs and climb up to the counter when I'm working in the kitchen.  That has always been Evan's place, and with both of them, I pretty much can't do anything.  So maybe if we divide our child labor force, we just might survive these toddler years.  Andrew is quickly becoming more interested in Man Work, though, and as I type this, they are all out getting firewood.

So, spring is springing, I think, and with that comes lots of time outside working, which is just what we've been waiting for.  We'll say nothing, for now, of the constant on-off-on-off of boots/coats/hats and the M U D, but then, that's why this farmhouse comes equipped with a mudroom.