EKjourney Backup

Phil took a much needed "recovery" day on Friday and we spent two beautiful days out in the sunshine working on getting the farm animals out of the house.  The chicks are big and stinky, very stinky, and poor Mr. Carrots has been in a box in the house since November.  We had several late week nights making trips back and forth to Home Depot picking up supplies and retaining wall blocks (one night we ate dinner at 9:00) so we would be ready to take advantage of the clear weather! Sawyer lost his second front tooth.  Love his gappy smile! Poor Evi, she fell asleep during dinner.  I didn't have the heart to pull her in for nap time.  She was having too much fun! The new rabbit cage! This is not the most updated picture but you get the idea.  Phil extended the outside space to double what it was.  We are taking up another raised bed there in the back (far right) for yard and the new rabbit cage. I am a bit worried that the bed in front (with the cattle...

....it is going to happen to Evangeline. Evi seems to be our most accident prone child. It isn't that she is careless or overly adventurous or fearless or clumsy. She just seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. (And for the record, I am a protective mama! LOL!) She is the child with the burn marks on her hand, with a nasty dog bite scar on her leg, who needed stitches (so far), who has skinned knees and elbows, etc.. Last Sunday, there was an "incident" at church where poor Evi's face met the pew. She was across the sanctuary from me and Daddy was luckily close by but it was one of those horrible moments where you hear your child cry and you know it hurt, BAD. She cried a good half an hour and I was worried that she broke her face (do you know that 3 year olds don't have bones in their noses yet?). It is strange because the swelling (while thankfully down a little today) distorts her face and she doesn't look like herself. Her eyes are more sunken i...

Crafting is one of those challenges of life that I have yet to figure out. This means several things to me. First, I am by nature, a person that likes to "do" things. I like to decorate, organize, create. I like colors, things of beauty, all types of materials (papers, paints, fabrics, and even just writing). I appreciate the talent and creativity of others. I like to look at art, I like to experience art. I have come to accept (begrudgingly at times) that the season of life that I am in does not allow me much, if any, creative time. I try my best to create through the meals I provide and have found great pleasure in building an urban farm where the children and I (and Daddy of course) can work together. Outside my farm, my blog has been my main project. Schooling, I thought would become a huge outlet but I simply don't have time to put together elaborate, creative lessons. I have struggled with the the notion that other homeschooling mothers can manage to make beautiful ...

I had lots of bloggable moments over the past couple of weeks but with pictures not showing up and posts being sent to my draft box, I didn't have time to mess with troubleshooting.  Now all of the sudden, pictures seems to be downloading correctly again. I found this little gem at the Goodwill.  The flowers are layered for a dimensional look.  Someone spent a lot of time making this little lap/baby blanket.  The workmanship is high quality as is the yarn.  What a bargain for 6.99!   Doing dishes quickly became about soapy beards!  At least the floor got a good mopping! We cleaned out our wine barrel ponds and found this little creature.  This is the first salamander I have seen on our little farm. I hope he brings friends! We have heard this guy singing at night.   The mud, oh the mud!!!  I was thrilled to get a work day Saturday to tackle the yard last weekend.  Phil got me a load of mulch the day before and he took the boys...

This the word to describe the Spring. It has done nothing but rain rain rain. A good day, is an afternoon sunbreak for an hour or so. It didn't rain today so we put on our grubbies and headed out first thing this morning. It was cool and overcast but we worked up a sweat moving mud to fill in a low spot in the new gooseberry bed, planting 4 new gooseberry starts, and a few raspberry starts. The sun came out just as we were heading in for lunch. After rest time, back out we went. With the brief sun clearing, the children were running around barefoot as if it were summer (except for the mud squishing between their toes). Phil and I tackled some weeding in the front and enjoyed the squealing chase games between the children and the dog! On a side note, it often doesn't seem like I accomplish very much when it comes to housework because it is undone faster than I can do. However, 2 days of letting the house go (gone all day yesterday for errands and gymnastics and then outside for ...