Slow news day

It certainly isn't every day that your kids make the front page of the paper. And yet, that is exactly what has happened! And it's not the local weekly paper, either. We're talking the state capital's city paper.

We were contacted Tuesday evening about the photographer coming over to get a few shots of the kids doing their morning animal chores in the cold. We agreed. I thought it would just be a photo with a caption...human interest. But then, we were interviewed and told that they might even want to do another story every few months of our progress through the year. And last night, we were told that unless something happened big in Egypt in the next few hours, we'd be on the front page. Talk about shock!

You can see the article here. I don't know how long that link will be good, but for now, that's the place.

So far, the comments online are tame. Hopefully, it'll stay that way. People tend to use those comment sections to sound off. Of course, I know I shouldn't care one way or the other! But I do.

Anyway, take a look! I'm so proud of my hard-working kids!

Copper-colored glasses

When we started adding on to our house, there were lots of other projects that came up. Things like needing to take the power line to the barn down & bury it...it had been on a pole that was really leaning badly after a large branch came down on it. Things like ripping out some of the old wiring in the house and replacing it with new. And things like laying new water lines to new faucets. All that added up to scrap copper laying around.

Don suggested that the kids start gathering it up to sell. And they jumped on that suggestion. They read a little about it online and found that stripped wire was worth more than burned wire. And so, for several months, when they had spare time, they'd sit in the garage and strip that copper wire. It was probably more tedious than any monetary bonus could justify in most of our minds, but it gave them a project to do together.

They finally finished last month and it sat in the back of the van since then, waiting for us to get to town to sell it. But last Friday, we actually made it there. As a total sidenote here, can I just say that scrap yards are a man's world? I felt so completely out of place there. I had tried to figure out a way to get Don to do the deed, but it didn't work out so I had to suck it up and do it myself. No problems, but I just felt like I entered another world when I crossed the tracks down in the industrial area. My minivan looked a bit conspicuous.

But anyway, here are the happy entrepreneurs!They got $100.03 for their efforts. They were in copper heaven. Don warned them to not go around yanking wires out of our walls now! They assured him they wouldn't, but they did start thinking of other possible sources. Hey mom...do you think you need that outlet there???

Turn about is fair play

Remember this picture I posted last March?


Yeah, well, Josh is getting even.

My little wood gatherer

Josh absolutely loves to go outside. So I knew he'd love the job I had for him. There were lots of wood scraps in the yard left from Caleb's wood splitting so I sent all of them outside, telling them to help Josh gather them up.


He had a blast. He filled 2 buckets & 2 boxes with sticks and bark and bits of wood. Now, if I could just figure out how to get him to pick up his toys!

File this under "Things You Never Thought You'd Hear Yourself Say"

The other day at breakfast, these words actually came out of my mouth: "Don't blow your nose in your tortilla!"

Ahhh, motherhood. It really is different from anything you could've imagined!

Splitting wood

Caleb has been building up a nice set of arm muscles this winter. Winter is usually a slow time of the year. One in which we rest & recuperate, getting ready for the sprint through the year that begins when the first seed goes in the ground. But, this year, we have a wood stove and a pile of wood that is too big for the opening of said stove.


Enter Caleb's arms. He has been faithfully hacking away at the wood. Truthfully, he likes it. Yes, it makes him tired and yes, it makes his muscles ache. But, he gets to wear a pair of too-big steel-toes boots. Like a man. And that makes it all worth it.

Since Opa returned from a short (4 month) trip to Ukraine, Caleb hasn't been all alone out there. The two of them have worked at it together some. And if you thought wearing man boots to split wood was fun for an 11-year-old, then think about adding an Opa to that mix. An Opa with an wedge and a sledge hammer, no less.

Building memories

Meagan had one wish for her birthday this year (she turned 9 in July!) and that was to build a stand that she could sell from. We were, at the time, involved at a low level in a farmer's market and she so wanted to have her own stand, her own goods, and her own business.

So, for her birthday, I gathered up a bunch of scrap wood, bought a few pieces we didn't have, and presented them to her, with a promise that we would build the stand together. Just us girls.


Here it is in it's finished form. We will add a sign in the pink area, naming her stand, eventually, but at the moment, we don't have a name. We are also toying with the idea of making it changeable so that she can name it "Meagan's Melons" one day and "Meagan's Mushrooms" the next. We're brainstorming as to how to do that best.

I used the plans from Ana White's website as a basis, but modified it as Meagan is now 9 and these were designed for much littler girls. The hutch part comes off, as we attached it with bolts, so that we can easily stick it in the back of the pickup to take it somewhere else for selling things. It is a bit heavy, but manageable in two pieces. If you are interested in the plans and how we modified it, that info will follow...

Here is the base unit as is.
My cut list was:
A) 2 - 1x12 @ 31 3/4" (sides)
B)3 - 1x12 @ 34 1/2" (shelves)
C)2 - 1x4 @ 34 1/2" (half shelves)
D)2 - 1x10 @ 34 1/2" (center dividers)
E)2 - 1x12 @ 8 3/4" (bin dividers)
F)1 - 1x8 @ 36" (top of bins)
G)1 - 1x4 @ 36" (front of bins)
H)2 - 1x2 @ 22 1/4" (front side trim)
I)1 - 1x3 @ 33" (front footer)
J)1 - 1x4 @ 36" (back of bin trim)
K)1 - 1x2 @ 36" (back top trim)
L)2 - 1x2 @ 5 1/4" (back side trim)
M)1 - 1x3 @ 36" (back bottom trim)
N)2 - 1x2 @ 20" (back side trim)

The new overall dimensions are 36" wide, 13" deep, and 32 1/2" high.

In step one, the top measurements are the same, but the side will measure 25" instead of 15 1/2".

Step two is the same.

In step three, the bottom shelf will still be 1 3/4" off the ground, but there will be 3 shelves instead of 2. There is 9 1/2" BETWEEN each of the shelves, with 8 3/4" remaining at the top. So, the bottom of the bottom shelf will be attached at 1 3/4", the bottom of the 2nd shelf at 12", and the top shelf at 22 1/4", leaving 8 3/4" over the top of that last shelf.

In step four, we will add 2 half-shelves instead of one. The lower half-shelf will have 6 7/8" from the bottom to the ground, and the top half-shelf will have 17 1/8" from the bottom to the ground.

Step five is the same, except that there are 2 of the D pieces instead of one. Obviously, one between the bottom & 2nd shelf, and one between the 2nd & top shelf.

Steps six through fifteen are the same, just using the new cutting measurements. Locations & methods are the same, though.


Here is the hutch unit as is.
My cutting list was:
A)2 - 1x6 @ 32 3/4" (sides)
G)2 - 1x3 @ 25 3/4" (front side trim)

The new dimensions are 36" wide, 7" deep, and 36" tall.

All the steps are the same, with only the side heights changing. You won't notice any difference in the instructions.

News

There is so much going on right now that I simply do not have the energy to write about it all in anything other than a list format. So, here goes:

1. Our poor mac is sick. He thinks he is a PC apparently, as he spends most of the day randomly freezing up and crashing. It's a very confusing time. His doctor's appointment is Saturday. We're hoping for the best.
2. Saturday, by the way, is my brother Bryce's wedding! He is marrying a darling woman named Tracey and we will be attending. The kids sure hope there is dancing at the reception, as they've been practicing.
3. Early Sunday morning, we leave for Wichita, KS. Just Don, Josh, and me. Don has a convention and I get to enjoy shows, museums, and chocolate. And, we get to stay in a bed and breakfast! I simply can not wait.
4. However, I am simply sick that Abby cannot go. I know the bigger kids will be fine (staying with Don's folks here, of course), but there is just something in my mama-brain that is going insane over the thought of leaving her behind.
5. Two days after we return from Wichita, all of us (except Don's folks, as they get to stay behind to milk) leave to visit friends in Texas. Another wedding too!
   
6. No, we don't really treat Don's folks as slaves. In fact, they've been away for a week, themselves.
7. Valentine is the name of our new bull. Pictures will be delayed, as he is making the rounds (as I mentioned before), but I hear that he is very dark and very big.
   
8. We will be opening up the "old" part of the house into the "new" just as soon as we return from TX. Everything is enclosed and insulated and the woodstove is ready to warm us. Some paint on the walls and some flooring installed and we'll be good to go. Of course, there is still lots to do in the basement, but it'll come...eventually.
9. Since the mac has crashed no less than 3 times while composing this post, I'm thinking I'll be absent for a while. I'll try to pop in from time to time on Don's work computer, but then again, I may be having too much time on vacation to think of it! Here's hoping!
   

On the move

From rolling over to sitting to crawling to pulling up...
This boy of mine is ready to go, go, go!
Quick, everyone! Get everything off the floors and close all the doors!

Little Braids

Someone around here is getting hair long enough for braids. What we call "Laura braids" from Meagan's obsession with everything Little House on the Prairie.
That someone is also, apparently, camera shy...

The best-laid plans...

Just when I had plenty to write about and pictures to go with, I am stuck (bad choice of words because I wouldn't want it any other way!) with a sick babe in my arms. Poor Josh spent the night battling a 104-degree fever and though it is much-improved, he still wants constant snuggling. So, since typing one-handed is a bit of a drag, writing will have to wait.

But, here's a cute picture of him in the meantime. Check out the six-pack...on his back!!!

Boys with knives

For a baby boy with an older brother, this is bound to happen...

Big boy

This is all happening way too fast. Josh is now getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth. He rolls all over the place and gets into anything within a foot of the floor. My goodness, do these babies ever stop growing so fast?

Two.

Abby turned two yesterday...and suddenly, I feel older. What's with that???

She is still holding back on talking, though she has added a few more words to her vocabulary, including a Russian goodbye. I keep telling Oma that I'm having a hard enough time getting her to speak English, but what can you do? You can't fight progress, no matter the language.And two years later, she's still a precious miracle.

Where's Abby?

Is that a foot?

Abby loves to tuck herself in between 2 bookcases and arrange her toys in front of her and on the shelf.

And I must say, she has a little of her big brother in her. That boy would line things up like you wouldn't believe. We'd often find lines of toys stretching across his room. Her desire to be neat and tidy, though, goes beyond that because she actually will pick toys up so as to not leave a mess.

It's CDO...like OCD, but in alphabetical order like it should be.

Nineteen Pounds

Okay, so I knew that Josh will just about break your arm if you have to carry him for any length of time.And I knew that he and Abby wear almost the same size diaper.And I knew that it wouldn't be outrageous to suggest a big baby, as I have had 3 before.But 19 pounds at just 3.5 months?That's one big boy.

Waiter, there's a hair in my soup.

I do believe that one of the sneakiest, least talked about, issues of new motherhood is hair loss. Those pregnancy books that gush over the lustrous hair that you'll have during your nine (or, in my case, ten) months of waiting really do us a disservice by ignoring the inevitable. That hair...that lustrous hair...that which just does not fall out on a daily basis during pregnancy? It's coming out sometime.

And so, along will dealing with too-tight pants and leaking milk, you must also lose all your hair. Oh, I know that the body is just playing catch-up. But, seriously...when I see all that hair in the shower, I'm pretty sure I'm going to need a wig.

And a hair net.

Dirty knees

I think I may have to take some Ajax to these puppies. At least I know he's living life to the fullest!

Stuck

I was canning tomatoes the other day and managed to enlist the help of Don. Frankly, I think he just wanted me to get a move-on with lunch, but hey, I'll take what I can get.

But Abby is a handful. And with everyone else occupied, she loves to make trouble.
Did you know, however, that a toddler often finds it difficult, if not impossible, to get down from a high stool? It's true. And if she's sitting on one, she's got no other option but to stay out of trouble. Problem solved. I cannot take credit for the idea myself...A friend did it first to keep their busy toddler contained.
Incidentally, she becomes quite a ham when the camera comes out.

Smile for the camera

Gee, mom...I sure love you.

Whoa, what on earth was that flash of light???