FUN! (Then, not so much.) Then FUN!

So it turns out boys love airsoft. (Yeah, total newsflash, there.) They had a magnificent time, their only complaint being that it was too short. We hope to reciprocate sometime soon, and host an event, here.

That was Friday... Saturday, we, um... I think I cleaned the house. Watched the chicks. Fed all the people, over and over again. Zorak started teaching the bigs how to weld. Good stuff.

Saturday night, we hit the Von Braun Astronomical Society's open lecture night with the families from our Den. That was a blast. The kids found constellations, identified planets, and got to see Saturn through the 16" telescope at the observatory. We adults visited and tried to keep small ones from tipping over the ledge at the top.

The big kids were... so fantastic. I overheard several of them (mine, and others') being so polite and thoughtful. Had to fight the urge to wrap them in bear hugs and swing them around. I refrained. Not only would that have been potentially awkward, but there was the risk of then actively knocking a small one over the ledge, thus undoing all our efforts of the previous hour. Still, fist bumps and atta-boys flowed heavily.

Sunday brought fevers. And rain. But it was the fevers that kept us home. Low grade, just enough to make folks irritable, but not enough to make them glad for the bedrest. By about noon, I was ready to shout, "Get BETTER, or get WORSE, for the love of sanity, People!" But then I got sick and went to bed. So. Glad I didn't yell. *aherm*

Excited to see what this week holds! We may have three new Scouts join our Troop - all of them neat boys, and we'd love to have them. I'm keeping my fingers crossed on that one. And the never-ending Chicken Tractor should be done this week. Soon. I hope. (Zorak is building it for a friend, as a thank you gift. It's pretty awesome, but it's all new territory, so it's taken a while. And there was a week on the road in the middle of it. Anyway, he's got the cool features working, and I think he's down to the mundane bits, now - roofing and wire. I'll see if I can steal some photos when it's finished.)

Gotta go see if the fevers from yesterday have lifted. We have work to do!

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

How is it Thursday?

I'm exhausted! We awoke this morning to the dim light and soft murmurings that mean rain. I was ridiculously refreshed by six, so I jumped out of bed, made coffee, and sat on the porch swing, reading and sipping until I got damp and felt chilly. Those days are numbered. I plan to wallow in every delicious one of them.

The wide-awake-rush wore off by ten, though, and I found myself fighting off a coma on the couch. Not sure if it was the adrenaline wearing off, or the general pace of Things, or if I didn't eat enough breakfast. (We had chorizo and eggs with green chiles, colored sweet peppers, and provolone cheese. It was so good. I made a ton. John sliced apples, and we had fresh milk to go with. Still, there was absolutely nothing left. The pantry locusts are getting larger.) Nobody seemed terribly motivated today, though, so we read and talked, read some more, napped. Jase is coming off a short virus. Em's fighting it off. It seemed like a good day to rest.

I went down before the children got up this morning and dealt with the chicks that didn't make it through the night. Five chicks survived the ordeal. They are tough, perky, and on the ball. We're pretty sure we have The Avengers of chickens assembled down there, now. One is obviously a runt (compared to the total badasses that are left), but she's a trooper and has already stolen James' heart, so I'm sure she'll be looked after well. Now we get to enjoy the fun part. They've already begun chasing stray bugs that veer into the box, and two of them have a weird love/poke-in-the-eye relationship going that's a total riot to watch. They're pretty evenly matched, and it's definitely a two-way street between them as they figure out the pecking order. Chickens are like Benny Hill sketches, without the innuendo.

Zorak's been on the road all week. He left Sunday and is due in tonight -- hopefully within the hour. I miss him any time he's gone, but tonight I'm particularly anxious to curl up with him and let him keep the Bogeyman at bay.

Tomorrow, we get to go play airsoft with some boys from our homeschool group! John and Jacob are stoked. Absolutely, thoroughly amped up and ready to GO! James isn't so much interested, but tomorrow is also skate day, and he loves that, so he'll get to have some fun and he's got a stack of projects to take with him to the airsoft gathering. (When did he get that organized? I love it!) I have no clue what this event is going to look like, or whether I got the right gear, or how this works, or... but I am excited for the boys to have a day of fun, and it will be nice to get to know another Mom from the group. (We have a very welcoming group, but everyone is So Very Busy at the functions that if you don't already know people, you aren't likely to get to know them there. It's odd, but that's how it pans out. So, from an Isolated Mom perspective, this is kind of exciting, too.) And I imagine Zorak will appreciate having us out of the house during the day, so he can recover from the 11.5 hour drive in peace.

After the kids wake him up and beg for waffles, that is.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Chickens, Redux

After our first experiment with chickens (the trauma of the raccoon massacre, and then Romeo Rooster from next door who wooed the few remaining lovely - yet decidedly PTSD affected - girls away), we took a couple of years to regroup, learn more, prep better, and see if we can make a go of it this time around. We ordered 26 chickens from the hatchery, waited anxiously for the shipping notification, then stalked the post office regularly enough to make local law enforcement a titch nervous.

It took too long. And it's not just that it *felt* like it took too long - it really did. They should have arrived Sunday or Monday. Tuesday was the "at the very latest" date. Come late delivery on Tuesday, there were still no chicks. The hatchery had been wonderful, but what could they do? The chicks left the hatchery on Sunday morning, early. The USPS doesn't always know what's going on within its own system, so there wasn't anything they could do, either. So we waited. And fretted. And called. And waited some more.

This morning, they arrived. The lady who works the lobby at our branch is a dear. The Post Mistress at our branch is also great. They met us at the door, asked the children to wait just inside, and ushered me off to "have a word". (Remember the stalking bit? Yeah, I contemplated running for a split second, there. Kind of tense. And awkward.)

But it wasn't us. It was our poor chicks. They hadn't fared well in transit. At all. The ladies wanted to warn me so I didn't toss the box to the boys and let them open it up like an Easter box from Tim Burton.

We've spent the day nursing traumatized chicks. I was going to say "back to health", but I don't think we've been wildly successful. Four days without food or water is hard on anyone - on a newborn? *pfft* It's amazing that any of them have survived, at all. At the most optimistic point today, I thought we would have eleven left. Tonight, I think we'll be lucky to have saved four, come morning.

It's been a long, hard, draining day. The kids are amazing. James is like having James Herriot in the house. John's a wee Dr. Dolittle. All day long, stopping only for meals, they've been at it. I'm proud of them. I'm sad for them. Sad for the chicks, too. (And yes, the hatchery will square everything on their end. But it's not about renumeration. It's about how darn hard it is to explain to your 8yo that while his songs and gentle caresses won't make it all go away, they are Good, and they are Worth Doing. Because comfort and compassion are arrows that never miss their marks. Keep them in your quiver. Use them generously and well. You'll never regret it, even when it's hard.)

And now, I do believe it's time to slip a little Irish Cream into my coffee.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Back to work again!

As nice as it was to be home, we didn't have time to be still. We had this beauty waiting to greet us in the foyer:

It's a range hood for the kitchen! We got it up that week, and I took pictures, but seven years of cooking without a vent did a number on the ceiling (peat moss fire ring a bell? Ew!), which looks even worse with the sparkly shiny new hood in place. So that's going to have to be repaired before I'm willing to share photos.

And this fun pile in the drive!

We've used some of it to finish the drainage work that's been looming. The rest will go toward pouring a pad for the balcony stairs, and prepping the lower drive for the next project. (Of course there's a next project! *pfft*)

And, of course, we had a Day of Birth to celebrate.

How is my Baby Boy *four*? Wow. He is so glad to be four. According to him, he can have gum, and learn to read, and do whatever he wants to, now. Heh. Set his sights a little high there, but we're not going to knock him down. (Maybe that last one. We'll see.)

And it was nice that we made it back before the tulips that James and Em had planted were finished blooming. They weren't in their full glory, but the kids beamed to know they'd done the job well.

 It can't be all work and no play, of course. That's when people start setting things on fire or running away. And so, we've turned a little work into play, as well, at the Wheeler Wildlife Refuge.

We hit the Whooping Crane Lottery this year, and got to see juvenile whooping cranes at the Refuge before they migrated north for the summer. I wish I'd been able to get a better shot, but with my phone, this was the best I could do. Still, it was amazing!

 Kiss those babies!
~Dy

The Weekend That Wasn't

It's five in the morning. Monday morning, I believe. The last time I was relatively coherent was, um, Friday afternoon sometime. We had a night hike for Jacob's Pack that night. I'd even reminded Zorak that we had that "hike thing... somewhere". That should have been our first clue that the brain-body connection was going South. By the time one of the parents called to see if we were coming, I had to focus very hard on *who* she was, and *why* she was calling. I was on my way to bed with a box of tissues, some Mucinex, and the Kindle. I'm not really ready to face the week, but it's time. So here we are. On the upside, I love having a Kindle. When you fall asleep reading, it just bookmarks your spot and shuts itself down. *LOVE*

I'm pretty sure it's viral. EmBaby and John weren't feeling well last weekend - fever, sore throat, cough. James and Jacob gave in to it Thursday. Jase went down Friday. I'm not entirely sure Z will be at work today. We'll see.

The tile is IN the laundry closet, all grouted and done. It's so pretty. There's a drain, and a combing, and... no washer. Z figured this would be a good time to reconfigure the ventilation. I'm okay with that. Mostly. The timing isn't that great, to be honest. If it weren't near 100 every day, I wouldn't mind as much. If I were willing to deal with higher temps inside the house, I wouldn't mind as much. As it stands, though, the house is uncomfortably muggy and warm, and the electric bill is still going to be sky high. Timing. And presentation. Two very important things.

I don't know if we'll have full-on lessons today or not. Depends on who is sick and how sick they are. For now, though, I'm going to enjoy the relative cool of the morning and a cup of coffee.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Sweet Babies and Projects!

We got to kiss a baby today. All day! His Mama was off having a little sister, so he stayed with us today and tonight. Oh, so sweet. Oh my goodness so sweet. Also, I am old. I am old and slow. But he is so very sweet! And the picture of his baby sister? Oh, she's PRECIOUS! I can't wait to love on her in person, too!

John got to Scouts tonight, ready once again to sit his board of review. Third (fourth? fifth?) time's a charm, right? Well, not so much. The boys in the Troop have become very active lately, which is wonderful and awesome and all kinds of great. Unfortunately, that's put a bit of a pinch in the schedule for Scoutmaster conferences and boards of review. He's been "first on the list next time" every week since they got back from camp, the first week of June. For the most part, I limit my role in Boy Scouts to making sure they are there on time, have access to what they need to accomplish their goals, and general reminders to grab book/kerchief/shoes on the way out the door. The rest is up to them. Tonight, though, when it happened again, I had to point out that he keeps getting punted on this, and considering they've scheduled a Court of Honor for next Monday, I trust they'll make a point of arriving early so he can have his board *then* and not miss out on the Court of Honor due to no fault of his own. (Yes, he could/should/oughta say something on his own. He's young, and he's a little bit shy, and he's way too polite to tell an adult, "Really? You're doing this to me AGAIN?" Particularly when he knows it's not intentional. He'll get the hang of it, but tonight, he was just small. And disappointed. And I don't have those hangups. So, there you go.) We do have great guys leading the Troop, and one of them, whose son is sitting for his Eagle board tomorrow, volunteered to stay a bit longer so that they'd have enough adults and John could finally get this done. He's earned his Tenderfoot rank! He came out of that review absolutely beaming from head to toe, too.

The mailbox has been replaced. The boys helped with the design and the welding, and it's awesome! The mail lady also brought the mail with her today, so it's a good thing we got it up. I'll go in tomorrow and take the official hold off our mail.

James' bed is fixed and happy and he remembered to pull it out far enough that we don't have to stand on it to kiss Jacob goodnight in his bed.

Still doing the wash on the front porch, but I don't mind, as we've got thinset curing in the laundry closet! It'll have a tiled basin with a nice combing and a drain to address any future leaks and protect the floor. That's quite exciting, and completely worth a little Adventurous Laundry here and there.

Oh, and Zorak fixed the blades on the mower, so we mowed the front yard and upper meadow. We're feeling downright genteel at the moment. (Well, except for the porch thing, but like I said, that's not permanent. Please don't let it be permanent...)

In all, it's been a great weekend!

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Well, there you have it...

Sometime Monday, folks got bored in the boonies and set out to play a little mailbox baseball. It was about time, truthfully. We've had this box for nearly two whole years, now. @@ Zorak won't let me rig the new one with paint capsules that coat the perpetrators in hot pink shame upon impact, though. James and I thought that would be kind of worth having to put up with replacing the box.

Meanwhile, we can't get our mail because our fruit loop of a mail lady keeps taking our mail on her route. She's not about to do anything ridiculous, like bring it to the door (she won't even do that when we have packages). The manager has told her to leave it because we'll be picking it up while we are hammering out the plan for the new box. They've had meetings about leaving it. Still, she takes it. No one can figure out why.

We broke a blade on the lawn mower. This isn't a big deal - you can only hammer those things straight so many times before they break - but the mower is parked in the un-mowed front yard at the moment. This comes into play here in a bit.

The boys' bunk bed broke on the trundle. Again. That trundle takes a lot more abuse than it was designed to take. We still love it, but we're getting adept at repairing it.

The drawer front on the bread box of the Hoosier came off. Just plumb came off! :blink:

Then the parts for the dryer came in this morning. WooHoo! It was the work of ten minutes to replace the broken bits and vacuum the insides thoroughly. We got the unit back into place, hooked it up, and started a load -- only to find the washer is leaking! There's no room to maneuver in the hallway, so we moved the whole thing out onto the front porch for troubleshooting. But then we had to head out. James needed to go into town to finish a project. I had made plans to meet friends with the rest of the crew. So the washer sat there...

With the mower.

And the mailbox post.

Amidst the tall, unkempt grass.

And that's when we remembered the rep from Window World was due out today! Ahhhhh. Naturally. Heh.

On the upside, we can do the wash on the porch, Buddy didn't get out again, and the inside of the house was picked up (gah, thankfully!)

Kind of anxious about what tomorrow's going to look like, though...

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Newfangled Technologies, and Springtime

It's the end of March! Sheesh. Well, here we are. Or, here we were...


Z's Granny celebrated her 97th birthday this month. She went out dancing for the actual event, but her daughters put together a family get-together in Texas so that everyone could come. This is the first time since we've left New Mexico that we have been able to make it out for something like this. In the past, there's always been something - too broke, no vacation time, vehicle transmission died, children got sick... Needless to say, we held our collective breaths until we actually arrived at our destination! It was a great time. The kids had cousins galore to run and play with, and they did. All the children got loved on by their Grannies and other people's Grannies, and total strangers who they were assured were relations of some sort or other. It was pretty awesome.

Upon our return, we found that Spring had arrived! And so, we got to work on projects. First up, the dishwasher. We got word some months ago that our dishwasher had been recalled due to spontaneous combustion. Never a great thing. So we hammered out the details and got a new one, using the rebate offered by Maytag, supplemented by our willingness to pay a little extra not to have to either put out kitchen fires or have to do dishes by hand. (Maytag did offer to replace the faulty component at no cost, but considering ours leaked heavily enough to soak a beach towel each load, we chipped in for the full replacement machine.) It's in, now, and seems happy. Hard little worker, that one. I have pictures, but they're on my phone and I can't get them off.

Zorak's shoulder is healing beautifully. It aggravates him no end, because he wants it to be all healed rightnow. Of course. I can't say I blame him. Thankfully, it's a self-limiting thing - if he tries to push it, it pushes back and makes him stop. I think, in general, he's doing splendidly, and handling both the healing process and the frustration very well and with a great attitude, which we all appreciate.

The washing machine is our next project to tackle. I was going to wait for Z's arm to be back in the game, but the washer leaks and now the dryer makes a horrible racket (sounds like someone kicking dogs in there, it's awful!) With the amount of laundry we need to do, and how small the washer is to begin with, the non-stop squealing, spraying, wailing (that last bit is me) really needs to stop. We can avoid the squawking dryer by hanging clothes when it's not raining. But we've got to do something about the leak before we're all driven mad by a return of the mold! James agreed to help me with that.

Actually, the boys have all been fantastic about helping out around here. John built a rose garden bed for EmBaby. (Pics are held hostage on the phone.) Jacob helped Jase put in strawberries around the tea garden. (Yep. This danged phone is killing me!) EmBaby decorated every flat surface in honor of Jase' birthday.

Yes! Our Easter Baby is three, now. THREE! He was so un-ruffled over it, too. We've had two who refused to turn three, and two who kind of hoped they could maybe be four, or three-and-four, or just skip straight to five. Jase just nodded and said, "Yeah. I'm three now." It's all good.
Oh, have mercy! It's all going too quickly!

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Doctors and Scoutnig and Rain, Oh My!

"Frazzled" by OutdoorPDK, via CC license @ Flickr

Zorak had his surgery Friday. It went well. The man has the constitution of a Southwestern Homesteader, that's for sure. The broken bone needed no work, as it was already mending quite nicely. Doc dealt with the torn bits and sent him on his way. I am so glad (and *thankful*) that he's not been a pain in the butt kind of recoverer. This is one of those injuries that requires cooperation and focus, or it could be ugly. Zorak's been fantastic. If he keeps this up, he'll be back out there in just a few months, working in the garden and helping the boys with projects as if nothing ever happened.

The Blue & Gold was nice. Really nice. The boys said they had a blast. Parents have said they enjoyed it. We were in and out in an hour and fifteen minutes. There was time for skits and fun stuff, awards, announcements, special recognitions. The Friends of Scouting rep gave an awesome talk, and I hope we gave well. The best part, for me, was when the people who helped me wade through the waters to make the event happen laughed and said, "We should do this again, next year." Truly. I've worked in volunteer organizations before and I've never heard someone say they *wanted* to take on a job or position again. That made my heart smile, on many levels.

We're now facing all of the projects we had lined up for March. Most of them, we'll need to modify and/or push back. Some, we simply can't. They're springtime projects - pruning the big old fruit trees, putting in the garden (I might sell the stove so I can buy a tiller, because I don't have it in me to turn that thing over by hand again!) I told the boys Zorak's been promoted to Supervisor for the Springtime, so he'll be lining us up and we'll need to do the work. I'm not sure they believed me. (He's never been not-doing-work on projects.) But we'll get it done, and it will be good. Anybody have a cherry picker we could rent for the pruning?

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

We Need A (New) Plan

This last week, I was feeling a titch overwhelmed with the idea of having to be on time - anywhere - more than twice a week. We haven't really even mastered that, yet, if truth be told. In a decadent moment (and after a week of alternately pining over the Levenger site, then digging through the DIY Planner pages like a crazed ferret), I slipped quietly into some box office store during our foray into "town". I don't know which one it was. It doesn't matter, though, because I didn't find The Thing, there. (Either the totally awesome movie, or the actual thing I needed.)

Oh, they had some beautiful things. And for only the cost of, say, a NutriMill, I could have been set for the year. However, "something to keep me from forgetting my own name" doesn't rank as high as a NutriMill, even on the most decadent of days. Plus, if I were to spend that much, I'd rather just skimp on meals for a couple weeks longer and go with the Levenger products.

So. I figured I'd make my own. And that's what I've been doing All. Week. Long. Wee! It's not leather. It's not even terribly pretty. BUT, it makes me smile. It's infinitely flexible. And I didn't have to steal from the grocery budget to make it happen.

I went with the ring binder set up for a few reasons:

1 - flexibility (I have no idea what I need this thing to do, but I'm pretty sure I will need/want/just decide randomly to change the layout, inclusions, pages, dodads, and miscellany many times over - I can, with three little clicks. Yay.)
2 - cost (a box of some 20 or so of these rings cost me $2 - I got three for my binder, and the boys have turned the rest into grappling hooks for Lego people - it's a win-win, as they've been too busy to even notice that we have spray adhesive) -
3 - I don't remember the third, but the flexibility of the ring system counts as two points, so we'll call it good.

Initially, the project was deliciously ambitious. Fabric cover, full spine, lovely detail. Reality, while equally delicious, is not nearly so ambitious. This has no spine (which, actually, is not nearly the issue I thought it would be. But I'll update that after this thing lives with us for a month). The front and back covers are cardboard (thank you, Amazon box!) I made a picture collage in Picasa, printed it out, and stuck it to the front with spray adhesive (best. thing. ever. I wish it worked on upholstery this well!), then used the same process to make end papers of sorts on the insides of the covers. (You can see, it is green.) The blue pocket was an afterthought, but I like to think the overall theme of jarringly discordant colors creates its own harmony. We'll see. There's another, larger pouch in the back. That one has a flap that closes, to keep receipts and such in.

The tabs! Aren't those great? There is a PDF for them at the DIY Planner site. It was ridiculously fun, and again with the colors! COLORS! I have tabs for "Calendar", "Church", "Scouting", "School", "Finances", and "Contacts". I also went a little overboard, so I have two blank ones in the back, just in case.

I haven't quite mastered the printing of the calendar pages, yet. As you can see, next Month's page has no Thursdays. They turned up on April's pages, which have two Thursdays and no Tuesdays. February has no Wednesdays. I'm pretty sure that was operator error, but I've shuffled and shuffled and have yet to solve the mystery.

The DIY Planner has templates and pages set in PDF on a 2-Up format that requires no tweaking. But I also used pages from Donna Young's (the month-on-a-page calendar pages, the reading log, and the curriculum planner). For those, I used ClickBook to format everything to print in booklet form. Quick and easy.

(EDITED to add: this is a Classic size planner - if you turn an 8.5x11 piece of paper on it's side and fold it in half, that's the size. I picked it so it will fit in a bag, can be carried easily, isn't bulky, and I didn't have to buy special paper. Just set the printer to landscape layout and go.)
Hindsight perspectives:
* I'd have waited on the hole punching until I could get into town and have it done somewhere in one fell swoop. My three-hole punch is great for the individual pages, but I couldn't get the covers into it. So I borrowed a hand-held punch - jumped the gun, put the holes in the wrong places, and then had to go mangle all the other pages to make them line up.
* I'd still like to add a business card sleeve page, and a clear zippered pouch.
* It also needs a pen loop somewhere, but I'm giving it a few days of use to see where it would fit best.
* A waterproof cover would also be nice - although without any other protection, any serious water contact may hose the whole thing.

At any rate, it's fun. And, if this works well, and I can find a system that does what I need it to do, then one day I may treat myself to a truly luxurious planner. OR, maybe just a laminator and I can update the photos once in a while. The kids liked the photos on the cover. I do, too.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Study Buddy!

I realized a while back that, with as many boys as we have, we were going to have to ante up with Scouts and do more than just arrive and offer to do grunt work. One (or both) of us was going to have to get certified and cleared to serve in some kind of Official Capacity.

I didn't particularly relish the idea. Not that we weren't already active and busy with the organization, but let's face it -- Those pants would be unflattering on Lauren Bacall. And I'm not Lauren Bacall. Plus, there was the training. The study. The seemingly endless mouse-clicking exercises.


And I was right. There are hours upon hours of training to wade through. And that's just the online stuff.

Thankfully, I don't have to do it alone. The kids hear voices coming from the computer and they come running to make sure A) I haven't been sucked into a program, like TRON, and B) they don't miss anything (like getting sucked into a program, like TRON). So, aside from the Youth Protection Guideline Training - which I managed to do before they figured out I was doing Something Interesting, the kids have done the training alongside me. They rock. They know just what to take seriously, and what to mock. They get that a training program for adults doesn't really need cartoon guides from a children's magazine. I quietly had to wonder whether that's really the best way to weed out predators and/or the mentally unstable. But, meh, there ya go.

They (the Scouts) are stuck with us for the next 15 years, no matter how well or poorly I do on these tests. We're a package deal. Love my kids, tolerate me. That's just how it's always gone, and probably always will.

And no matter what challenges or hurdles we'll surmount in the future, I know we'll rock it, becuase we've got Studdy Buddies. And they bring snacks.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Keeping Warm

Winter Wonderland, Day 4. I think the kids are just about done "enjoying" the cold, snow, and ice. Well, it's mostly ice, now. And very, very cold. (For here.) As of one in the afternoon, two had *just* gone out to play. One went back to bed (he's not been feeling 100%), one hunkered in with the Gears, and one begged for a long, hot bath. I could do with a little of that, myself. All of it.

It's been fantastic, though! EmBaby, who has been heartily resistant to ski lessons, slid down one of the sledding hills on her feet, declared it a "total blast", and then embraced the whole ski-thing when we explained that that's pretty much what skiing is, but with longer shoes and no tread to get in the way. If only all obstacles were so easily overcome, eh?

We have a hint of a fort in the upper meadow. James and a friend started it, and spent hours building bricks, stacking them, and chinking the cracks. Wow. I don't think the fort is going to get much beyond the foundation levels, though. It's too icy now to pack well, and they get frustrated. But it was fun. I think we need to go spend Christmas at Yellowstone some year. The kids can stay in the igloo they build, and Zorak and I could pretend it was a "romantic getaway", there in the lodge. (Yeah, I know. But it's fun to pretend.)

We're down to the newest wood we gathered this year. It's too wet to burn well. Or something. Could be me. Probably is me. I'm not good with fire, really. But until Zorak gets home and proves me wrong by getting the fire stoked and hot, I am going to insist the dropping inside temp and the copious smoke are all due to damp wood.

Well, that, and I keep getting distracted, playing with my new "toy". See that vintage, enamel-y joy? Mmm, yes. Pictures soon.
Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Yeah, it's that cold.

We don't have any cool striped ones with matching jammies, but folks, it's getting down to *5* degrees tonight, so the boys decided maybe sleeping in a stocking cap isn't such a bad idea.

(If they knew who Patrick Dempsey is, I might have mentioned that he did it on screen, but I haven't seen this movie, so I don't know if that would have helped.) Instead I had to make up numbers about heat loss through the head. I know it gets out, and I know it's a significant percentage, but I couldn't remember the exact rate. So I did what any good mother does when she's right, but just doesn't have the documentation on her - I punted. Now they can live long enough, and comfortably enough, to forgive me later.

This will be the first hard freeze since we re-wrapped the water line, last year. It's already been colder than the freeze that broke the line. (Yay us!) Fingers crossed and body parts puckered that it holds tonight. Fixing a busted pipe across a stream in sub-freezing weather is the kind of project one can do *once*, check it off the Bucket List (if one were to gundeck the Bucket List with things she's already done - granted, it makes for a weird list, but it can be quite impressive, since everything on there is checked off! See?) and be quite content to NEVER DO AGAIN.

We've actually managed to replace most of the weatherstripping around the doors, and rehabbed the two storm doors that are on the place, so that's handy. Never did finish rehabbing the storm windows. So, for the rest of it, it's all blankets, all the way. Someday, I'll put insulated window coverings on the Bucket List. Right now, though, there are other things to aim for. Besides, we have blankets aplenty! And wood. And stocking caps. So yeah, we're set.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Should Have Gone Longer

Wednesday came and went, with nary another episode. "Yay," I thought. "We beat the beast!" So, when Thursday dawned and all were well, we did all the things we had not done Tuesday (due to the storms) or Wednesday (due to the quarantine) - we did swimming lessons and music lessons, we did groceries and costume tidbit roundups. We hung out the laundry, and we worked on the trail. It was quite the busy Thursday.

Friday, Zorak and the boys cut more of the trail. This is the last leg, and it runs alongside the creek. It'll flood when we have the heavy rains, but we have another path we can take to see the tiny creek burst its bonds and overtake the meadow. This part, by the creek, has a slightly Watcher in the Woods feel, only without Bette Davis skulking about, thankfully. Then there's a stretch that is more like a bower in a Victorian garden. It's stunning. We crashed in the living room and made fun of Avatar over a supper of vegetable barley soup with garlic cheese biscuits, then ambled to bed for a much-needed rest.

This morning, however, Em says her throat is "prickly". James and Jacob both voluntarily opted out of activities this afternoon if they still feel as poorly as they do right now. John feels fine, and is getting a bit panicky at the thought that he might go down, too. I think we've gone through a week's worth of Emergen-C just this morning. May have to hide that box.

And there's the tea kettle. Better go get to steeping!

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Autumn Trails

With the boys away at Cub Haunted, the Littles and I are enjoying a slower pace than usual. We watched Thumbelina and Barney with no mocking commentary from the Peanut Gallery. We even ate in the living room, and napped on the bean bags. Yeah, we're acting like we're two years old. At least one of us is, right? Well, they've got some very good points, those two year olds...

Then, we opted for an afternoon hike on the trail. The camera, as you can see, is still in full-on Nessie/Bigfoot mode. I took 75 pictures, and these were the best of the best.
The trail forks and meanders. There are straight paths and curvy loops. It's nice. This shot is looking down at the kids as they double back past a fork in the trail.

We took the Logging Road, this afternoon. Those stumps are the remains of fallen trees that Zorak and the boys made useful before they rotted. The stumps will be placed at various spots along the way. We'll enjoy them until they woods reclaim them. The rest is stacked on the woodpile, ready to enjoy this winter!
And we found more hickory trees! Actually, we found the nuts, and figured if there's not an old adage that says, "Where there are nuts, there's a nut tree," well, then there ought to be. The nuts that weren't already chewed on or burrowed through, we brought home. And somehow, there always seem to be some extra hulls in the pockets...

Always good for boats! This was the last shot I got before we had to go search for flowers to float in the boats. I'd forgotten how nice the pace of the littles can be. This was a truly delightful afternoon. And now, a bath, and supper, and then, an early bedtime (because I can get away with it tonight!)

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Oh, Dear. Fall, already?

Well, when the spammers begin posting at will in your comments section, it's a sure sign you've let too much dust collect on ye olde blog...ge. (How would you spell that, anyway?) If you need jeans, jewelry, or... pharmaceuticals, let me know. I'm sure I can hook you up.

So, it's October. Yeah. We survived Summer. (pause for a little celebratory shin dig and some cider) As per the arrangement, my reward for not voluntarily slipping into a coma in August is the truly Awesome Display of Fall Foliage. While I'm relatively certain God would get on with the Awesome Display whether I was aware of it, or not, I made an agreement with a smaller, more shallow entity that lives in my head, and haggles with me to get me to stay upright and functional when I really don'wanna... we'll call it... Jimminy. So, "Jimminy" told me if I'd just keep plugging along, there would be Autumn as a reward. And, not saying I wasn't tempted, and definitely not saying we were "productive", by ANY stretch of the imagination. Just saying... "Yay." And, regardless of the set up, I am deeply appreciative.

The garden was awesome, this year. Actually, no, it wasn't. But it felt like it was, until we tallied it all up. We got okra. A few cucumbers, until the barn developed its laser vision and *fried* the plants to paper. As Superheroes go, the barn pretty much stinks. And, um, okra. But, in the end, Summer ended and we were too thrilled to remember to put in a fall garden, and so, it shall lie fallow and recuperate. It shall breathe. (Hence, the Apathetically Organic moniker - just proves itself again and again as THE name for us, should we ever start smoking peyote and thinking we're farmers.) Regardless, we had a lot of fun with it, which makes it awesome, in a way.

Our latest project is a bike trail through the woods. It. is. *GAH* I can't think of an adjective that isn't some variation on "awesome". (Oh, but it IS. It really IS.) And it's late, and it's a miracle I'm blogging at all. Forgive me. Anyway, I can't even explain how much fun this is. The blisters, eh, not so much. And we're pretty sure that several areas in Dante's Inferno are landscaped with the briars native to the South. However, all that aside, all we need now are awesome little plaques "

Poison Ivy, Rhus Radicans,
native to North America, non-edible

and

Saw greenbriar, Smilax bona-nox,
native to the U.S., freaking impossible to eradicate without napalm

then it'll be just like a trail at the Wildlife Refuge. Without the Rangers. Or the tax exempt status. But those are peripheral. It's nearly complete. Ish. OK, functional. And very exciting. The kids love it. The dogs love it. We love it!

That's it for now. If I write everything allatonce, it'll be another six months before I blog again.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Autumn, the Legend

It's coming. We can't smell it, yet, but there's a change. The heat is not as oppressive, and it doesn't spring up with the sun, having waited just outside the window all night. Now, the mornings are lovely, and the evenings (mosquitoes and sweat bees, aside) are also enjoyable. This time of year is like the herald who forges ahead of the convoy, to announce its coming. We like this messenger!

The chickens have a cool set of nesting boxes, made from reclaimed deck boards. There's a great cabinet at the top, and a simple ledge in front of each row of boxes. The hens loved it. Until they defected. *sigh* The free-range thing didn't work out so well, and now the remainder of our hens are living at the neighbors' place. Ah, well, we'll build a large fenced yard, and try again. At least now, we have nesting boxes!

The Farmer's Market is still going strong. We've been enjoying these bad boys this summer. These aren't your grocery store style peach. They're... oh, my gosh, they're the kind of peaches you hear old-timers talking about picking after a day of walking fence lines and skipping rocks and catching tadpoles. So plump and ready that you have to eat them right then and there, the juice running down your arms, exploding in your mouth and quenching both your thirst and your tummy. Yep, that's what we found, the stories are true -- They are *that* sweet, and juicy, and delicious.
And now, with the start of September, we have birthdays and school days and dove hunting. Me-Wa and Me-Tae made sure the kids were ready to go, this weekend. James and John had a great time with Zorak and Me-Wa Saturday. Today, John and Jacob are out, doing the bird dog thing with Zorak. (I loved doing that with my nieces when we were little. Can't wait to hear how their day goes.)

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Snug as Sardines in a Can

Also known at the "Captain's Bunk Bed with Trundle", according to the packing slip. The boys *love* it. I like the added floor space, and that we can fit three children in the footprint of one twin bed without violating any maritime bunking regulations or anything.

I'm not so keen on how wobbly it feels. However, nobody who has seen them shimmy in and out of it seems to think it's any more wobbly than any other bunk bed, and the projections I've done indicate that should we have a structural failure, nobody is likely to die. So, for now, it stays.

They've worked out a four-month rotation so that everybody gets a chance to enjoy the top bunk, and nobody feels like the Spare Child by being relegated to the trundle. Although, with the trundle being high, it feels like a normal bed and they've all said it doesn't feel like an afterthought, at all.

See how there are six drawer fronts? The top three are false - they're part of the trundle bed frame. The bottom three, however, are actual drawers. The additional space is really lovely! They hold a tremendous amount of clothing, and so far haven't come apart. I haven't looked in them since the boys got them built, but based on what they've put their previous drawers through, I'm guessing they're getting a workout.

The kids helped with every stage, and the boys did the finish work (assembling the ladder, building the drawers, and putting on the hardware) entirely on their own. I couldn't make heads or tails of the instructions, but the kids did a great job and just ran with it! WooHoo!

And, for Julie, who wanted to see the beat up old pirate blanket...

He really loves that thing.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

It's Gone! (It's Back. It's all about the Beds.)

I can't find my upload cord for the camera. Again. This is what I get for cleaning the house. (Update: found it!)

We were busy this weekend. We tagged and sorted things for the church yard sale (on the 24th!) on Friday morning. Then Em and Jase's bed arrived that afternoon. It took five hours, as there was a lot of "help", but we had fun with it, and in the end, we did get the new bed together. They love it! It looks and functions beautifully! Huge hit.
The bedding? Not such a hit. We bought Jase an adorable bugs quilt set. We thought surely he'd love it, with the great colors, and the lovely, whimsical stitching. There are lightning bugs and bugs in jars, and even quilted magnifying glasses with goofy-eyed bugs beneath them. It's just a fun, fun quilt.

No. Not even close. Not only does he not think it's a fun little quilt, he thinks we need to get him a real blanket.

He went so far as to drag John's beat up old pirate comforter down the hall into his room. He dropped it at my feet and muttered, "There. There's a blanket."

I hope he gets over that, because it's quite well-made, and looks like it will last him a long, long time.

EmBaby's lovely quilt arrived yesterday. She likes it just fine, but its arrival was a bit anti-climactic after she'd been sleeping in the new bed for two nights. Still, at least she doesn't hate it. And, it makes us smile to see her wee head poking out from all that quilty flowered cottony goodness at night.
We put Gram's rocking chair in there, too, so there's a place for stories. (The new bunk bed styles seem to be significantly shorter than the old ones - Big People cannot sit upright on the lower bunk. Even the larger of the Littles can't do it. I don't care for that much, at all. But we're loving the rocking chair in there!)

And the steps! Oh, how they *all* love the steps! It's easy to get up and down, we don't have to worry about somebody falling in the middle of the night (disoriented babies trying to get down to go pee don't need to navigate a ladder). We'll have to move the ceiling fan (ugh!) but otherwise, everything's set for a while, in the nursery.
Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Terrifyingly Awesome

We took the kids to the Botanical Gardens a week or so back, and I saw this thing. It's a beast of a tree. The thing is, it look gorgeous, delicate, and inviting (from a distance). But then I saw the title plate at the base of the tree.

Dragon? What dragon? Why's it a dragon? Zorak pointed out why it's a dragon. Ohhh....

Did you see it? Yes, lovely little orange erm, shaped, fruits. But beside those, look closely.

Crikey! Now *that's* a protective hedge. I'm thinking we'll plant them below the bedroom windows. Kind of makes the traditional holly bush look a little puny, doesn't it? Yep, then we'd have dragons, in addition to our half-a-moat! It's shaping up to be a regular little castle, around here!

Kiss those babies! (and, uh, keep them out of the dragon beds!)
~Dy