Just so you know...

This is the restraunt where Barrett and I ate lobster up in Maine. It was delicious!

This is me chewing a tree down in Maine. It was delicious!

This is me sweeping the floor of our un-abandoned house...AGAIN! We put in a larger stove, and we are putting in an even LARGER stove soon. We are insulating also. I was just realizing the other day that we have it much easier than our family did in Oakley, and there aren't 6 little kids with us either! Whew! So please don't worry about us. We have lots of food, have HOT showers, piles of clothing, piles of wood to burn, and near-by neighbors who have already offered us a place in their homes if it got a little too chilly. We are looking forward to a snug, low-key winter where all we have to do is all the projects that we are always putting off.

Just so you all know, electricity isn't IMPOSSIBLE, infact it is even on the "to do list", but it is after insulation for sure.

This is the house this last fall. You will recognize Ol' Blue, the rabbit, the horse trailer, and the house hiding behind it all somewhere. If we had had more time this fall, we could have tapped those trees infront for some real mapel syrup. The house doesn't look all that large in the photo, but I'd say that it is about 1800 to 2000 square feet. It also has two seperate basements.

Barrett came in the house and told me today that someone broke into the farmer's barn, stole half of the cow feed and dumped piles of manure in the cows water trough. I was horrified and tried to think of what wacko would go to all that trouble...and then I realized...the wacko was Spanky. And Barrett laughed his head off. Thanks a lot, you obease pony!

Until next time--Chao!

Todd Show and Brynn/ Seattle

This is Brynn helping Todd to take a drink . Isn't that precious?

Okay! See those magnificent bouquets of flowers behind Brynn, as well as the ones she's holding??? Those are only $5 at the Pikes Place Market in Seattle. Holy Face!!!!

Brynn and Todd in vague pirate garb. Todd took that wooden sword he's holding and beat everything in sight. At that festival, they had no less than 3 swords a piece GIVEN to them because they were so cute.

Dinosaur Todd

This is Todd up in his natural habitat: The wild
Tyler told him to act like a dinosaur.

So He Did.

Playtime

OK family, here are some of the cutest pics ever. Brynn, Maggie and Ivy found some old dresses of Mellie's (which Grandma Percy made) and with Natalie's help they got all dressed up and played princesses all evening. They danced, twirled, primped, walked like I didn't know they knew how to walk that way, and generally entertained us all. That was a really bad run on sentence, I know, but I'm in a hurry. Anyway, enjoy the view. It must have been May that these were taken.
It's after July 4th and I am still trying to get back on track with my regular life. I have been off for three months with Michelle and fam being here and then traveling and being gone for almost 2 weeks.
Mom

Rabbits!

Okay, so maybe this little guy's eye shouldn't have been as big and buggy as they are. That's a little unnatural. However, Emma's rabbit is absolutely a joy to sew! Mom, hop on it! (teheheh, you know...hop.)
I made it a little lace skirt so Brynn could be even more proud of it. I just asked her what the bunny's name was, and she said, "um....shoodeenster". Alright, Shoodeenster it is!

There's a better picture of how I did the buttons. Once again, I actually wish I would have just done them the way Emma does hers. My buttons make it look like it has problems.

Brynn's New Dress

Today Brynn, Todd, and I went to the quilt shop in Springville to get some fabrics to make her a new skirt. Brynn picked out her fabrics, which were all pink and bright and crazy, and then she told the ladies at the quilt shop all about her friend, Maggie with RED hair. (yes, she yelled the word "RED"). As I was going through the quilt shop, I noticed little numbers taped to the floor, and then noticed that there was one of the workers dressed as a clown, and I though, "What the devil...." Then all of the sudden, the clown lady yelled, "everyone get on a number" so I got on a number...and then even more odd, they called out my number. I went up to the cash register, and I got to participate in a contest to win a prize. The contest was hula-hooping....and I've got to say, I kicked butt. So, basically, I won a coloring book for the kids.
So, here's the kids, in an obviously forced pose.

And there's Brynn's awkward smile and Todd's usual face.

The Silver Donkey

I thought I would explain about why I liked this book I recomment from my side post. I found it for a great discount at one of the discount book sellars that send me stuff in the mail. I think it may have been Daedelus. Anyway, I read it out loud to our family a month or so before Christmas last year. It wasn't a deep plot, or action packed, but it was a thoughtful story about a couple of small children who find a blind runaway soldier during a time of war. The book itself was beautiful wih a dark green cover and a silver ribbon.

I think that not only was it enjoyable to read aloud, but that we were all together, enjoying something together with an age range in the family of age 11 to 50. For us all to sit down together and enjoy something for many hours is a rare thing. Perhaps the experience of being together was as important as the story. I would recommend an activity of this kind for anyone. Even just a couple. I used to read books to Brent all the time without kids. I read him the Hobbit and all of the Lord of the Rings when we were young marrieds. I have read him many other books. Good times!!

Ultrasound (Toby & Jill's baby)

Yesterday, I had the battery of blood tests required by the state of Arkansas for home birth moms. Then we saw the Certified Nurse Midwife who works with Candy for a checkup. She was really nice and especially understanding about my raging case of white-coat high blood pressure. It was just fine by the end of the visit, so no problems there.

She was doing the list of routine checks, listening to the baby's heartbeat and so forth. When she got to measuring fundal height, she started asking me if I was sure about my due date. I'm pretty sure about that. I was supposed to be about one centimeter for each week of pregnancy, or about 25 1/2, but it was more like 29. So that means either wrong due date, huge baby, too much fluid, or twins. So we consulted Candy and she recommended an ultrasound to see what was going on in there.

Now, I've never had an ultrasound before. We've had all our babies with midwives and it's never been necessary, and I've always liked to be surprised at the birth by which gender the baby is. But, come on, if I have to have a diagnostic ultrasound my natural impatience for information takes control. It was a really neat thing to have a peek at this kid three months early. It was also mega-expensive, since we have no health insurance and pay out of pocket (or is it nose?) for our medical care.

First, there are no complications. The baby is just the right size, there's only one in there, and fluid levels are good, too. It just so happens that this baby likes to stretch itself out from top to bottom and throw off the numbers. Figures.

Second, we are having another little BOY! I think Hollis smiled his face off last night when we told him. Now we know what color to paint the nursery, and whether to buy pink or blue clothing. That's a laugh on both fronts, since he will sleep in our room (mostly in our bed), and we have boxes of clothing kept from when Hollis was a baby.

New little fairie and Todd Show

What the.......?

Here is the story of the woodpecker who thought Levi was a tree. A few days ago, I was out in my sewing shop, sewing away, when I heard a thunderous crash on the building. It was so loud I thought something had fallen from the sky. I ran outside to circle the building, but stopped right outside the front of the bay window, because there, laying on the ground was a stunned woodpecker. I wondered how it could have made such a big sound hitting the window.

I picked it up and ran into the house to show Levi; imagine holding a woodpecker in your hand!!! He came down and thought it was pretty neat. The poor thing was blinking its eyes over and over. I thought he looked like he was starting to revive so I took him out and put him on the porch railing so he could fly away. (I call it a he, but I don't know.) He just layed there and quivered and I was afraid that he would fall off onto the concrete below, so I picked him up again and took the cute thing over to the picnic table with a larger surface, so that he could recover there. Just as I was about to set him down he flew out of my hand and straight over to Levi, who was wearing a grey shirt and faded black jeans.

We were both so surprized! I ran in the house and grabbed the camera and came out to take some pictures. That being done, I thought I should pick the bird up again and set him on the picnic table. As I reached for the bird, he would quickly work his way around Levi's body so that I couldn't reach him. So I went to the other side and he worked his way quickly to the side I wasn't on. It was so funny that we were both laughing and the bird still held on. After a while of this he actually did take off, hit the window in the doorway, hit the window on the kitchen, and flew to the tree in front of the house, where he stayed for a couple of hours.

We see him outside all the time in the afore mentioned tree. He is our new friend.

Some kid pics.

We're learning more and more how and when to use our camera. Now if only we could remember to use it at night when Liv and Hollis were home, and if we could take pictures of each other, we'd be pretty well documented as a family.












Here are some cute pictures of Ivy. The little hat that Vea made her really completes the look, I think.









Last night was the Daddy-Daughter date for the Activity Days Girls. We got volunteered since I'm in the Primary and we have a swanky camera and light set-up. It was at Eric and Diana Allphin's house, hence the classy (and brown) wall and props. We got pictures of each Dad and his daughter, so here's Brent and Natalie, and Toby and Livvie.

Is it Spring yet?

Here are some pictures of my stuff. I am not selling the rugs, but the looms to make the rugs. I like them a lot.













I put some in my Etsy store. It is the first time I have listed stuff. I had to call Michelle to help me and she doesn't know how close to tears I was. Emma also said that she had just listed her skirts. I hope she does well, as they are beautiful and Emma looks so good in them.

Brent (Dad) is fortunately working, and some weeks he has had to go and stay with Kelly and Cathi and work down there. Thank you Kelly for letting Brent come and help you.

Levi just got notification of his Pell grant. He can now afford to finish the semester at Crowder. He is excited.

SnowTodd

This is Todd in a rare moment of tranquil calm. I'm thinking that his brain wasn't functioning because it was frigid outside, on top of the fact that moments before this picture, he was hunched in a little ball beside the rain gutter and catching icy melted snow running out of it into his mittens. He is a beautiful little boy, when he isn't yelling garbled toddler speech about "sharp knives" and "choochoo trains".

An Ivy Day

I thought you'd all enjoy hearing about shopping with Ivy today. She decided while we were in the middle of Food 4 Less that she was a puppy. That means she crawled around on all fours, yipping and whimpering intermittently. She even panted, tongue out. She howled in agony when we tried to put her in the cart. Occasionally she licked store fixtures or merchandise before we could stop her. My apologies to the macaroni boxes, glass doors protecting the milk, and the mirrors next to the floor at checkout.

To top it all off, she refused to come with us when we said "Come on, Ivy." She only responded to "Here, puppy!" Now, those of you who ever shopped there know that Food 4 Less caters to a slightly, um, Ozarkier class of people (let's just say that about one in ten of our fellow shoppers was sporting some kind of unique bodily funk). Today, I think we won the prize.