Emma

I looked at this picture and wondered how my baby girl has gotten so tall. I also wondered who taught her to dress. That morning she wanted to wear her skirt that we made. So, so easy. Find pattern here. And she had to have her white t-shirt. I got them down from her closet, and left the room for her to get dressed on her own. As I was leaving she asked me if the white shirt was a t-shirt. I assured her that it was. She came out shortly with this rainbow shirt on.
I looked at her and said, “That doesn’t match.”
“Yes, it does” she contradicted.
“No it really doesn’t”
“uh-huh…look…there’s pink {matching up the thin pink stripes} and green {matching up the thin green stripes} and white {matching up the white to her skirt}”
“OK” I think she will make a great lawyer some day. She’s got a convincing argument for everything. And she’s only three.

A Good Scouting Project

Two years ago, when Sam was working on his Wolf Badge, I bought these containers for him to plant and care for a container garden. They have been such a beautiful addition to the landscape of our house. This year it was Clay's turn to work on that requirement for his Wolf Badge. We usually go with a red and yellow and purple color scheme, but the pink petunias were the favorite among all of the kids, so we got a little more girly look in our pots this year. Clay planted one, Emma planted another, and Amelia sort of did the third. The result: three beautiful pots of flowers and some cute kids, proud of the work they did.

What This Picture Says About Us

I got this idea on Becky Higgins's blog. She posted a picture of a snack that she enjoys this summer {of course the picture was much more artistic and appealing than this} and it is remarkably similar to one of my all-time favorite breakfast foods. I have always loved granola, but with Sam being allergic to nuts, I am hesitant to have it in the house. Mostly because he loves granola, but can't have it. So, we recently found another cereal that is much like granola {without the nuts}. Just Bunches. Little clusters of oat things. Pretty close to granola, and still adds that same yummy crunchy texture to my yogurt. Before peaches were readily available, I would slice strawberries, and before strawberries, I would just use peach yogurt, but anyway you put it together, this is a great breakfast. Cereal with strawberries and/or peaches and milk, or cereal with yogurt {that's how Emma and Amelia eat it}. So, I thought it would be fun to take a picture of this delicious breakfast treat. And as I was taking the picture I had to laugh. What else did this picture say about us right now? Please note: plastic spoon and paper bowl. No, we do not usually eat with so non-eco friendly materials. I think we're going to challenge the capacity of the local landfill with our paper and plastic eating supplies for the next four weeks, but I am not going to wash dishes in my bathroom sink or tub. The thought just made me throw up a little in my mouth. {We will eventually move our food prep and clean up to the trailer.}Besides, it sounds like the government will take care of all our wasteful habits by taxing the heck out of us. Maybe if I could slow my breathing, or even just not breathe at all, I would reduce my CO2 emissions and make the world a better place. But then again, the ten new trees I planted this year really need me so that they can survive. Anyway... next time you look at a picture think of everything it says about what's happening in your life right now. You may be surprised.

A Funny Story About Thunder

Thunder, our horse, has been a little naughty lately, and we haven't been able to catch him from Ron's field. So, yesterday, Nate and Sam drove down to the field and were able to finally catch him. He was in need of some TLC, so Nate decided to wash him. They brushed and washed and cleaned that horse until he looked ready to compete in the fair. Then Nate took him back to the corrals and let him loose. That horse walked to the muddiest part of the barnyard, fell down on his back and rolled back and forth in the mud. Well, at least he looked good for a minute.{literally}

The Bad Thing About Rain

I think that we are being compelled to be humble. As if a torn apart kitchen is not difficult enough to maintain some normalcy, we noticed some really wet blankets behind the couch in the basement last night when Clay went to get some extra blankets so that he could prop himself up while he sleeps so that his coughing/bordering on bronchitis/ would not bother him so much. When we bought the house the owners had mentioned some flooding problems they had when the neighbor used to flood irrigate his field. {he doesn't anymore} This would cause the water table to rise to an unmanageable level, and their basement would flood. It didn't even occur to me that the large amount of rain would cause the same thing to happen. But it did. Now the kitchen is all but gone and our basement is completely useless. We're going to have to take out the pad {we really don't want mold problems} and we're looking for something other than carpet to replace the flooring. We need something that can handle water if it happens again. {and I think we'd be safe to say that it will} The "funny" thing is that the water is in completely different places than the last flood we had, so we'll be replacing literally all of the flooring in our basement. I don't know if we can afford to keep up with the weather!

Just Like I Said

It's raining.{again} It happened just like I said it does. And I see blue skies coming...at least for a little while.

The Good Thing About Rain

It has rained so much here. I think yesterday was the first day in maybe two weeks that we have not been pounded by rain at some point in the day. This rain is different rain than the Ohio rainstorms and grey skies that I grew up with. It may start out with blue skies, birds chirpping, grass unusually green {from all the rain} and the temperature mild. Then then wind picks up and the grey clouds come over the mountains and the storm is here. Often there is thunder and lightning, which scares Amelia to death. Other times the rain is not rain at all, but hail. When this happens, my kids say that it is raining "bug guts." We've been rained out of two ball games, one for a very close lightning storm that I think passed right by us as we tried to seek refuge in the dugout. The rain came so fast that the water rushed into the dugout and covered our shoes before we could make a run for the cars. The whole time Amelia just cried. She cried the whole time the next game too, when we had to seek shelter from a downpour. This one involved lots of "bug guts" and by the time the rain had let up enough to get to the car, the fields were puddles. The games were cancelled the next day too because the rain continued all night and the fields were too wet to play on. It didn't break my heart too much.
I really haven't minded the rain too bad. It does make me a little more somber and contemplative. But the land needs the moisture. My lawn and plants love it. And we always get little breaks of sunshine and some impressive rainbows to remind us to be happy in the midst of the storm.