FARMED.

Yesterday, we farmed.


And tractored.

I called these cutie-pies goats for about 4 minutes. Then I turned around and read that they are sheep. Cute little goat-sheep aren't they?


Looking for milk from Mama Goat-Sheep.
After close inspection, Dec said that the Mama Goat-Sheep had no eyes.
It was at that moment that I declared: "all Mama Goat-Sheep in this pen need a haircut".
I mean it, there is some wool on those things.

I now wonder what I'd have done if the kids fell in.
Probably laughed.
This is just after we passed the "don't worry Nonie, those vultures aren't too scary" pen.

Dec scooped Nonie's hand in his own. To protect her from the vultures.

For the record, they were turkeys.

(We need to get out more.)

So many signs to read.
So much more entertaining than any of the books we've checked out of the library this week.

Earlier on our walk, Dec had told Nonie that a goat was a cow.
Seriously, why are we having so much trouble identifying farm animals today?

But this, I assured the children, this is a Mama Cow.

Then, I quickly took note of the fact that this Mama Cow needed to nurse or be milked. Her udders were pouring out milk and she kept bellowing from one corner of her field to another.

I think I was the only one who really understood her needs.

Just call me the cow-whisperer.


This photo was taken about 2 minutes after Nonie lost her cute little pink ked in a cowpie/mud puddle.

I chose to focus on the expansive view and not her muck encased toes that wiggled around me.


These are the babies who we stalked for about 30 minutes. Saggy-baggy lambs.
I could have curled up with them and their wobbly little legs for days.


Happy award goes to the pigs.
I tell you - they're on to something.
Sunniest spot on the farm and not even my squealing children stirred them.


Why hello John Deere tractor. Can we talk about the fact that a green tractor drove by us on the farm for the next 30 hours straight?!?
Great then, we will.
Wheels. Fascinated by the antique trike.
Desperate for the chance to take it for a spin around the farm.



We'd just talked about the saying en route to Montessori School two weeks ago.
And we also talked about "the early bird catches the worm..."

Upon seeing this sign, I think (but can't be totally sure) that Dec offered up an ounce of his respect for me, "hmmm, she's not really making all this stuff up...." he thought.

On Tuesday we

Ran.
Laughed.
Farmed.

My hope is that they
Learned.
Loved.
Remember...

Looking Back on Beautiful Days.

I just got a really funny lump in the furthest point in the back of my throat

when I flipped through Dec's archives

and came across this:

And this excerpt from a letter below - which I wrote to Dec and called: "Today Was a Beautiful Day":

Dear Dec,

We played together from the start of the day until it ended.

We made lego tunnels for the speedy yellow and black wind-up cars and raced them all around the kitchen. We laughed when

they
"crashed and burned" and we

celebrated when they

made it through the tunnels AND mommy's legs.

After breakfast we danced to your music and you got so excited while you were dancing that you

kicked the fridge with bare feet and it made you cry and you snuggled in my arms and held onto
me
until you stopped crying.....

It was pretty silly of you to kick the fridge so we checked on it to
see if it had a boo boo and it did...

We went outside when it was almost time for daddy to come home and though I thought we were just

going out for a five minute check of the sunflowers and pumpkin patch - we ended up at the

lake.

That is where you wanted to go so I was your follower and you were my leader and with your

little

fishing

rod

you led me to the

lake.

Around downed trees, touching green green moss, listening to chipmunks along the trail.

I
heard you spell your name for the first time -

as
you scurried along the trail. It was like you

turned it into a little song. We saw a mouse that wasn't moving and figured either the skunk
cabbage (your guess) or a hawk (my guess) had gotten to it

You fished for a long time today.

It was windy and
cold.

You had shorts on and a winter coat.

We kicked your shoes and socks off so your feet
could dangle in the water. It was cold, you said,
but you kept them in the water anyway.

We caught grass

Then we caught more grass.

But -
no fish.

You asked where the swans were and I didn't know.
The geese were all around us but you
didn't really care about them. Just the swans.

No rain today, the weather man was wrong.

You are a very good boy.

I love you so much.

Today,
you asked me what love means and

I said it means
that your heart feels like it is singing.

Today my heart sang all day.

Because I was with you.

Love Mama

12. may. 2008

love- and do you think I would be good company on a train...

cute aren't we-
i think i would be good company on a train trip-
what do you think?

these guys agree. they're cookies. mmm. i love cookies.

my brothers like to hurt themselves. i love my brothers. brothership...

this is what a pulmonary function test looks like.

i love when the pulmonary functions.

my neice and nephew like to sit in a dog crate. not really sure why.

pretty sure i love them though.

breakfast in bed looks like this.

the pulmonary malunctioned...

this is what a perfect family looks like. it's mine.

i love this. to be continued...

Move on over...

There's a new kid in town and Nonie's adjusting slowly.

She liked to be the baby cousin.

A title stripped from her in a moment's notice and two weeks early.

But I must say, having a new baby in town makes me really savor these days.

At 5 1/2, and 3 1/2 Dec & Nonie are still babies. My babies.

And most importantly - they still need me.

To tie shoes, pour milk, kiss boo boos, tuck them in,

rinse shampoo out of eyes, buckle car seats, cut pizza,

put on toothpaste, zipper jackets, open paints sets,

read the "hard words", make popcorn, give underdogs,

answer questions, comb their hair

my babies still need me

not quite, but almost as much as

I need them.

Yesterday It Rained

Yesterday it rained,
so we did this,

And this...


And then I did this...

And now I know why I shouldn't wonder why the kids always say,
"Mommy you get the piggy plate!" when they set the table.

Daddy always gets the farmer or the duck, sometimes the horse.
Nonie always gets the kitty cat.
Dec is always the dog.

Which, more often then not, leaves me with the pig.

Notice, there isn't a morsel left on it in the picture above.

Oink.

Just so you know, I have this thing.

I have this thing about egg cartons.

I don't know... maybe in my past life I dropped a lot of them and eggs splattered across the floor.

But whenever I take eggs out I rearrange the carton to distribute the weight symmetrically.

So when I go to pick it up next time it won't wobble and fall.

So there you have it.

Easy. Hard. Harder.

The easy part is hanging the clothes.

The hard part is folding them.

And the even harder part is putting them away, of course.

Bet they don't teach THAT in montessori school, now do they Nonie?