March 22

 Rhubarb

 Blackberry Cane

 The girls out enjoying this unseasonably warm weather.

 The apple trees trying to blossom.  Did I mention it's March?

 Pears in bud.

 Currants in bud.  (really unusual for them to bud at the same time as the fruit trees)

 Daffodils flowering about 6 weeks early.

A close up of the vinca vine in our woodland garden.

Just Writing

This is me starting somewhere.  Just writing because I have this need to write and for a long while now have not had the energy or clearness of thought to be able to put anything down on the page.  Life has been a challenge lately.  The kind where you find yourself just never really getting to the bottom of anything but the one thing you do know is that you have to keep going.  You have to keep waking up every day and putting both feet to the ground and choosing to stand up and do all the things that are before you. 

This isn't to say that there have been no moments of joy.  There have been plenty.  It's just that I have had only enough to find them and notice them and give a small whisper of thanks and then move on.  And that's okay.  It's just the season we've been in.

Today, running on very little sleep I have been able to do the dishes and some laundry and help sick boys and make lunch.  I feel very accomplished.  :)

Our unborn baby is growing well.  Moving around a lot according to the ultrasounds, but I still do not feel movement.  I have a suspicion that the placenta might be in the front this time which makes it harder to feel these things. 

This morning I was really feeling like I wished it would snow.  The bright whiteness of a good snow always seems like such a fresh start to me.  I whispered a little prayer about this.  And God answered with the smallest of snows, just flurries that dusted the rooftop out my kitchen window.  Like He was saying that He wanted me to know, that even though He couldn't give me what I wanted just then, He heard me.  He always hears me and listens and cares.  Even when the answer is no or the answer is just silence.  And as cliche as it sounds the truth is He leaves me a peace that fills me up. 

So I keep putting my feet to the floor every morning.   

Our Baby is 9

And so it happened...our eldest boy turned nine.

Oh, my son.  What words can I write for you that properly express all that I hope for you?  You amaze me!  You always have, since the day you were born.  We are proud of who you are and of the man you are becoming.  We love you so much, and are so thankful to be your parents.

You are our little sportman!

 A wonderful big brother!

 My sweet and helpful boy!  I love your ideas, your love for reading, your gentle teaching to your brothers, how you want to include me in your day.  I love baking with you, reading with you, playing with you, going for walks with you, working in the garden with you, making art with you.  May God continue to bless you as you grow.

And as always...here are a few pictures of the cake.  What a good idea you had Badger for a scarecrow cake!

This Autumn at Our Home

 Fall has come and we have reveled in it.  The days have been filled with lingering and walking and playing and learning and gathering up as many outside days as we can before winter chases our favorite season away!

 The boys in the leaves on one of the warmer days. Bare feet.

 Cricket my always relaxed one.  And Badger wearing his hat and bandana that are always with him these days.  He's really into scarecrows for some reason and likes to dress up like one almost every day.

 The two littles.  Hen wasn't quite sure about being "in" the leaves and Owl was pretending to be a mummy?

 We spent a day a week or so back carving pumpkins and gathering seeds for next years crop.  We were blessed to be able to trade some of our Concords for pumpkins this year!  The boys were diligent in picking out the seeds for saving and roasting even though it was a gooey job.

This fall has been a season of change for us.  J has changed positions at the company he works for, which is a blessing to be sure, but also has kept him very busy!  I spent the most part of September and October feeling really quite lousy and after a time of the doctors not being able to figure out what was "wrong" we discovered I am expecting. 

I don't really know what to write about it.  I have written and rewritten this post trying to put my thoughts down on paper....for you...and myself.  But I find I just don't have much to say about it right now.  We feel like this is a blessing and that God has a plan for us and for this baby.  This doesn't mean that there aren't times of feeling totally overwhelmed and a whole myriad of other emotions!  But I find those emotions aren't even worthy of me taking note of them.

When I told J we were pregnant, I was nervous, and he just was so calm and said "It must be the plan for us!"   And I'm just sticking with that.  :)

And for the record I'm just 11 weeks. We had an ultrasound to confirm the dates and the baby looks great.  We got to see his little arms and legs moving around. Due date is May 21st which means l'il babe will probably arrive the first few days of June. (if he's anything like his brothers)  Here's hoping and praying that all goes well!

Visiting the Encampment

 Last weekend the historical society in our area hosted a Historical Day at one of the beautiful parks in our area.  And we got to go!  It was such a fun day.  There was a hatchet throw, which the boys got to participate in.  Here's Cricket learning how it's done.

 

 Give me a try already!  He did great, and after a few tries actually got the hatchet to stick into the wood slab.  Can you see the small white rectangle on the target?  That's a playing card.  The goal in the competition is to hit the card, or better yet slice a chunk off it!

 Badger's turn.

 He nailed it after just a few tries.

 And of course the big boys had to try to.  Here's papa measuring out the paces to know where to stand.  (7 paces away from the target)  J actually hit the card, but that was after breaking off part of the woodslab's stand with a wayward hatchet.  The trick apparently is not to throw it hard, but to take advantage of the natural spin of the hatchet. 

 There was also a blacksmith demonstration.  The boys have been interested in smithing for awhile now, and were anxious to see it up close.  We had the chance to talk with the blacksmith for quite awhile and the boys even got to hold the metal as it was being cooled in the water.

 There was also a large tee pee.  With a fire inside, and all different kinds of animal furs and hides.  The boys loved going inside and talking with the man about it.

 And games.  Here's J and Badger practicing the three legged race.

 My dad and Cricket joined them.  Such fun!

 And of course a potato sack race. :)

Such an awesome morning. :)  Followed by a very nice afternoon, where J and I actually got to get away for a little while and just walk our small town by ourselves. (thanks mom and dad)  We have so much fun when it's just the two of us, not that we don't have fun with the whole clan, and it's so refreshing to be away.  We both greeted our week this week with a little more peace and gentleness of spirit than usual.  And it seems we need it.  Two boys are sick, J and I are both recovering from long colds, and we still have so much work to finish on the house and garden before winter arrives.  I will just trust that God will continue to take care of us, and go about my days, my moments, with a quiet trust in my heart.  And I'll remember these fun days that get put in there with all the rest.  Life is really beautiful.

Peaches, Flooring, and Happenings...

 Nope.  Not apples.  Peaches.  Because that's how ambitious I am!  On top of all the harvesting here, I decided to buy a box of Michigan peaches to put up for the winter.  They were beautiful....I couldn't resist!

 I blanched them, and the boys peeled them.  All 68 of them or something like that.  Then I sliced them and froze them for peach crisp, and peach pie, and fresh peaches on our granola. Yum!

 Six giant bags of peaches are in my freezer. :) And 26 jars of homemade salsa are in my cupboard!  Thanks to my mom who brought tomatoes from a friend and worked hard hard hard with me all last Saturday.  And well, actually there are only 13 jars in the cupboard she has half of them.  

Also, recently...the men put in the laminate floor in the orange room.  Our eldest son worked all day with papa on measuring and cutting boards and laying them down.  It was a joy to see them work together, and to witness how capable our boy is.  How hardworking and interested and helpful.

We've also just been getting into the swing of school.  Our days go so well when I actually get my stuff together ahead of time and have lots of projects and ideas for them.  No, I don't actually always "do" the stuff with them, but I am the idea maker alot of the time!  Having more structure in our school day really seems to suit us.  It's definitely NOT like school structure at all.  More like...have lots of things lined up to do that are interesting, hands on, and pertinent and then go with the flow.  But we do make sure we get to Math, Bible, and Handwriting everyday, while the other subjects kind of shift around depending on how we are doing, what harvesting needs to get done, and what field trips we are taking!  It's been a good fall so far.  I hope it continues so!

Giveaway Winner!

The boys had so much fun with the drawing!  (I did too!)

And the winner of the Etsy Giveaway is.....Wildflower!

Congratulations!  I'll contact you to get your mailing address very soon.

Thank you to everyone who supported me with comments on the blog, emails, and convos at my Etsy Shop.  I truly love hearing from each of you.  It's been really exciting to learn what your tastes are and it's helping me make my shop a more creative spot!  So thanks!