The Holidays

We will get started with October. The kids wanted to be dragons. We we made them dragon jackets. 

As a stick family we traveled to a foreign land.

The year has brought unseasonably warm weather. The garlic planted started to grow and had to be replanted in late November. 

 The kids hatached a chicken, we call it Chunklet. In 8 weeks it has grown quite large. 

 November brought time spent with family  and food. 

Lost teeth 

 Our last fishing trip of the year to the local kiddie pond. Im pretty sure the local pond is empty, this next year we will have to get to the local big lake.  My love and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary.  Finally we got snow, it didn't last long, but we had fun in it non the less. 

Then came Christmas we and are quite blessed. 

The kids got a dog, it is very well behaved and goes for walks often. 

 The kids have been building and soing all of there Christmas gift activitys. They got snap circuits, build cars, bird house and crach open Geodes. 

I have been working on a Rya style rug. It is would of been made by my ancestors. 

rya is a traditional Scandinavian wool rugwith a long pile of about 1 to 3 inches.^[1] They were made using a form of the Ghiordes knot to make the double-sided pile fabric.^[2] Though rya means "rug" in English, the original meaning in Sweden of rya was a bed cover with a knotted pile.^[3] The first ryas originated in the early fifteenth century as coarse, long-piled, heavy covers used by mariners instead of furs. My rug is made of bed sheets and should be done by next week. 

We will see how well the heart pattern in the middle shows up when it is trimmed down.  Overall we have been healthy and busy. The new year will bring new growth and challenges. We are going to work harder at saving more eating better and achieving some goals. I will get that plan up on mew years. 

Part 3

So  this brings us to March - Mid May

March brought us D back from school and ready to start working again. We put D to work helping with the raised garden beds. We saved egg shells, banana peels and our neighbor gave is spent coffee grounds for the garden. We bake the eggs and bananas in the oven till dry and smash them up for fertilizer. The beds are built with leaves, cow compost from the local college, peat and some garden soil. My yard is old sandy corn/bean Fields so its very poor. But it does grow cati well.

They wanted donuts for a birthday cake. 

Then came Birthday with family, we are very blessed to be around family again and able to share these sweet moments. 

 We got gardening tools that are kids size, planters for plants, and wheelbarrows. Towards the end we will show ya what we have been growing. 

 Are lovies (favorite toys) got the first ride 

They are having a blast with them, they are both inside and outside toys we love. 

We got a globe and geography books for school this summer. Its funny the globe tripped  the kids up for about a month. Until that time we had only used flat maps. Also got croket, a purple flower that spins with the wind and Velcro ball catch along with baddmittin. We play croket and ball catach ar least once a week and on weekends bring out badmittin when D is available to help.

Then came birthdays at the lake. The ambulance had been accepted by the resident transformers and fixes the ones hurt in battle. Our baby doll got a bed and sleeps with George at night and frequently goes on truck trips. 

We sang to Aunt J and Great Grandma as well 

We had to come to the local 4x4 shop to get something on D's truck fixed that was not installed correctly in upstate. J had a blast with the racing harness seat putting it together then having D trying to shake him out. 

Attended an Easter egg hunt at the local nursing home, the youth I work with at church volunteer there once a month playing games and visiting the residents 

April started Field burning season. I missed that smell, its only second to burnt gunpowder. 

Kids got the Kenex out they enjoy building things on there own 

From Uncle P the kids got to try the sky diving tunnel in Kansas city. 

Then we got hail and a very nice thunderstorm 

At the thrift store we found a science set that had find dino bones, a rain Gage, make a volcano and paint a world. 

So my stove is a glass top. That makes it hard to can, the element fluctuates so it does not hold a constant temp. I found one for my counter so I can at least water bath can. Apparently they have had them for years in the EU, but they are a new thing here. We picked berries at a local farm yesterday. I made Jam out of them 

The garden is growing quite well. Onions, broccoli, radishes, cauliflower, spinach. In between the rows of  broccoli, radishes and cauliflower are carrots the kids planted so they can get a start, the radishes will be gone by the end of the week so the carrots will have room to grow

Bed two has onions,garlic, lettuce, tomato and pepper. This is the first year we have successfully grown them from seeds. Seeds the kids got for their birthdays. Peas are growing up the hog panel. 

Here is a shot of the peppers. The water bottle. Is used to watter them at the roots we did the same with the tomatoes. We had a few large water bottles so I drilled some holes in them. 

I got the idea from an Ollas, it is an unglazed pot that you fill with water and its slowly waters the plants. Tomato are heavy drinkers 

Lunch today minus the chicken was all grown in the garden. Kids even at the radishes because they grew them. Potatos harvested, lettuce, spinach, radishes and chicken 

Now we are all caught up. Hope I can stay that way.

Time got away part 2

You So now we run December and February.

J packed up for two days to live in his spaceship. 

When the TV's are stil packed up we just have to imagine. Space ships to outerspace

Daddy came home for winter break, daddy always spends the first two days sleeping 

We had Christmas at the lake 

 Then Christmas at home 

Nurf Guns, Linkin Logs, Coin books and Kenex

Mommy got a rug loom. My first rug to come off

Our first snow. I use the term snow loosely, seeings I have learned a whole new respect for snow storms thanks to Up state. It scraped off with out breaking a sweat.

Kids got bored and played tetris on the floor 

K works on sewing every Sunday during service to keep busy. She works on sewing up loved spots in her blanket

Had birthday fun 

Daddy got dressed up for Graduation 

And Graduated 

We made our own butter for a science experiment, boy their little arms were tired

We were also thwarted by pudding cups this month. I didn't realize that they couldn't open them. I don't have pictures of that. I can tell you there was allot of crying because I wasn't going to open them for them. If they wanted to eat them they had to open them.  Most of our weeks days run the same  sit down school from 8-noon 1-3 science and art and gym/ play,  then mommy does her school, makes dinner and we get ready for the next day.