Gardens

For most of you that receive our yearly Christmas letter (minus the one that never got sent last year), you would know that I always ended it by stating "Don needs to be on a farm!" Well, never dreaming it would come true, we now live the farmlife!

He digs in the dirt and does the tilling and planting.... and I'll help w/ the weeding and harvesting and canning. It truly is a family affair!






Don went from 6 raised garden beds in AZ to now a full-fledged 1/2 acre. He's always had a green thumb for growing any seed that he plants. He planted strawberries last year and this year they took off w/ a bang. In just 2 short weeks, I picked enough strawberries to jam/can 5 batches of jam! And froze 5 quarts. And gave away about 5 quarts. And had 3 more gallons that ended up going to the compost pile (they were forgotten in the basement fridge when I was in AZ....) I still have enough pureed and frozen waiting for Tammi to come over to teach her to can jam! exciting!!!





Watch out Philip Morris! Don has his own spread of tobacco plants, courtesy of my great uncle who is a 'bacco farmer! We'll be calling in all favors to harvest the tobacco. We'll need help cutting, sticking, and hanging in the barn. And then when dried, we'll need help w/ the stripping, pressing and packaging off to PM or the local coops... yes, folks, all 11 plants worth! No, really, we're going to do this! dad - grab your ticket now = we'll need the help! LOL

The kids run thru the corn... it's amazing how quickly they disappear and how you can't find them! No wonder ppl hid in cornfields! It's also the cats' fave hang out!

Jode chasing white butterflies in the corn!

Chachie & Don hauling wood for our some-day-to-own Taylor Made Wood Stove.

Kellar exploring 'what lies beneath!'

Catch of the Day: Part II

Life is busy these days, so I'm just going to throw on some more fish fotos with a couple of turtle shots, too! Hope you enjoy!

And remember, fishing on private ponds is a privilege... always ask the homeowner before wetting your line! (ha - just had to say that because the kids watch the Game & Fish Program every Saturday night, and that's how the program ends!)

Charlie with a box turtle that he found and released in our woods.

Don with a snapping turtle that he caught with his home-made trap! Our friend's mother cooked her up and ate her - said she was mighty tasty! (not too sure about that!)

My dad and his crappie! It was a keeper that night!
It was a fish fry when the family came out! Don, Charlie, Papa, Grace, & TanTan

Here's more pix of the fish that made it to the fryer! Zach, Kellar, Charlie & Tan!

Kids Say The Darndest Things: Part VI

Today's Word: Driveway!

What is a driveway, you might ask? Well, at our house it is two things...

1. A place where you park your car. (and why do we drive on the parkway, but park on the driveway?)

2. And if you might be an "Ein - hi - mer" then a "DRIVEWAY" is where you drive thru to get your food from the fast food joints!

I honestly can't remember which of my kids started this saying, but it's always been a part of our family, so I'm thinking it must have been one of the girls. Nevertheless, when we go to a Wendy's or Mickey Ds, the kids always ask, "Are we eating inside or going thru the driveway?"

User Error!

OK... so, for the last couple of weeks I've been pulling photos from my old files... because my computer wouldn't let me download my latest bunch of pix! Well, that's what I tho't was the problem.... but after asking Don nicely to try it for me... he gets them downloaded with no probs! Definitely user error!



Here's a collection of some photos that I wanted to share! Hope you enjoy them, too! I'll be working some posts around some of the great photos too!



Don't you just love 'blog-booking!' I can get more done this way than I could ever dream about getting scrapbooks done!

Hannah! what a beaut!

The boys out snowboarding on sleds!

Kellar's first BIG CATCH!!

Yes - there is an Easter Bunny!

It's My Birthday!

This is my Gma, me, sissy, mom, cousin, & sil!

This is Jen, E, Sissy, & Me!



Me & my bro! the 2 peas in a pod!

just a decade apart!

How can I say it so modestly? It's my birthday and my youngest son claims that I'm 28! Yep. I'm sticking with that one! My sister claims I'm an 'old fart.' And my bestest friend from grade school wrote on my card to have a 'great 37th birthday!' So - I must be so old that no one can remember my exact age! That's why I'm going with this next picture! cuz 'girls, we just wanna have fun!'

So, how did I get to start my day, you may ask? Well, you know I've blogged about our run-away cow, Dory! Well, she decided to start in on bellowing outside our window at 2am! Yup - it's her 'special' day of the month! Lucky me, she cycles every 2 weeks! We try to ignore it, until we hear our horse, Star, tearing up the turf running to and fro - freakin us out! So, Don & I get up and dress, haul our tired ol' butts out to the barn and arm ourselves with bushels of sweet feed for all - cuz when Dory's not happy - ain't nobody happy! So - yes - happy bday to me! I'm ready for a long winter's nap! (is she 15mos yet so we can get her knocked up already?)

Kids Say The Darndest Things: Part V

Ok.. So, you notice a trend here with Kid Sayings! That's because if I don't get them all written down, I'll forget... You might also notice another trend - they're all sayings from Charlie and Kellar.... so - if any of my sibs and sils can recall the girls' sayings - please remind me so I can 'scrapbook' them, too. My mind is shot!

So, you wonder why the pix of a smoke stack, eh?

Well, on our way to my inlaws, which happens to be quite a long drive, we pass a huge facility that has hundreds of these thingy-ma-bobs. And Kellar shouts out (because whispering is not part of his vernacular, let alone in his repertoire)... "Look guys - a CLOUD FACTORY!"

He believed that these smoke stacks were how clouds were made. Now, mind you , this was about 3 years ago... when he was 3.5ish... So, now whenever we drive by a smoke stack w/ plumes of smoke/steam bursting forth, we all state, "there's the cloud factory!" To which Kell indignantly tells us - "No! It's not!"

Kids Say the Darndest Things Part IV

What's the difference between a "Concession Stand" and a "Concussion Stand"???

Not much, if you're an "ein - - hi - - mer"!

Our weekends are filled with sporting events in which there is invariably a concession stand in the near vicinity. Our boys are often heard yelling out, "Can we go to the *Concussion Stand*?"

No - they're not going there to get their heads knocked around, nor are they headed there for any butt-kickin'. What they are looking for is a yummy ring pop or Starburst or hot chocolate these spring days. Oh - and of course, one can't forget to mention Krispie Kreme donuts while limited supplies are available! {If they weren't such natural athletes, I'd begin to wonder if they didn't play sports, just so they could dig up some change and run off to the Concussion Stands!}

So, can anyone tell me why it's warm all week long, but as soon as Friday night rolls around, it's so cold and windy and rainy? Guess we're not in Arizona anymore!*

*Disclaimer... I'm the only one who thinks it's cold... 37y of desert dwelling has made my blood so thin that I just cannot warm up! So, while I'm dressed up in many thick layers, others are running about in shorts & Ts!

So, if you can't find us on the fields - check out the Concussion Stands!

Kids Say the Darndest Things Part III

OK - So, this one deserves its own separate post. Kellar & I were sitting at the table doing his Spelling Workout book. Each lesson has a word list that they learn to spell and to use the vocab appropriately. There are various types of drills with each lesson and this particular one was a fill-in-the-blank for a 'short story!' Here's a small section of the Word List and following, a portion of the story to be filled in!

bath
white
when
mother

___________ I go to bed at night, I brush my __________ teeth. I also make sure to take a ______________.

So, we work thru this and the first blank is "when".... then "white". So, what might Kellar think goes in the last blank? Sleeping Pill! Not 'bath' - but 'sleeping pill!' I about lost it!

"When I go to bed at night, I brush my white teeth. I also make sure to take a sleeping pill!"

Yes - I suffer from insomnia! And yes, I've finally resorted to taking Sleeping Pills, OTC. I had no idea that my kids were so in tuned with my inability to sleep without these favorite blue pills of mine! I guess I must admit I get a bit freakish if I can't find the bottle... I'm not addicted to them... but I am addicted to SLEEP!

So - once again, Kellar proves that kids can say the darndest things! Speaking of which, it's about time for me to throw back one of those blue pills!