The Big Switch

 One of my favorite things about home keeping is that I can rearrange things, to my hearts content I might add, to make my home function better for our family.
Kyle had always been in the pass through bedroom and with him getting older, it was becoming an issue.  So we did the big switch! He moved to the smallest bedroom that Rachel and Sarah had been sharing, and they moved to his old room.

 Kyle has Nate's old platform bed.  It actually can be a bunk bed by putting lower rails but we don't want to do that at this point.  I decided to put his train table under there, it pulls out easily when it is needed for playing.

 Sarah gave Kyle her desk and here it is in all it's glory!  Actually, I need to organize a bit but it has his clock radio/cd player on it that he listens every night.  The train photos are from an old calendar.

 Here is his bed, he loves sleeping here. I am planning to paint the walls, as soon as I figure out what color to do it.

 Here is the girls bed in their new room.  The color of the walls are perfect with the curtains the girls use!

 The shelf that goes around the room has been perfect for the girls artwork.  

 The dolls and the pink chair make me happy.

 Sarah is my budding artist...

 I love seeing her artwork around the house...

 Two more curtains at the closet...the door on the left goes into the master bedroom which is Lindsay and Emily's room.

 Their cute stitcheries that Auntie Paula made them...

We had some sad news this morning.  One of our chickens died...I hope poor Lottie will not be too lonely, until we get a few more chickens...

Rearranging!

The younger girls are switching bedrooms with Kyle today.  His room is bigger, but also one has to go through there to get to Lindsay and Emily's bedroom.  It has become problematic when he is trying to get dressed and the girls need to come through.

In reality though this means major cleaning, sorting, organizing so the moves can be made easily.  

Tim is happy because he will be headed to work in about an hour!  


I will post photos when we are done!

This Is On My Mind

                                       Yellow Squash in June 2010

We have spent a lot of energy the last few days digging out the driveway, and a few neighbors driveways as well.  Good thing we have lots of man and woman power around here! 

I am one to not rush the seasons - each one has beauties and joys of it's own.  In the winter we slow down, spend more time playing games together, hanging out reading and drinking tea and coffee.  We love this!

                                           Bush Beans - June 2010


Last winter was long, and when spring came it was short because summer started early and got hot fast.  We lost some of our 'cold weather veggies' because of this, but we learned so much.

Flat Leafed Italian Parsley - June 2010

I am looking forward to trying some new varieties this year.  In fact we just placed our order for our new heirloom seeds.  We are busily planning where to place our new raised beds, and this year Lindsay wants to do an herb garden as well.  

We are hoping that when those groundhogs (Phil and Orphie) pop their heads out of their fancy winter quarters this year that they will find spring on it's way!

Linking up with Rhonda Jean...

A Snowy Day

 Where shoveling the driveway turned into playing in the snow,

 building forts, 

 snowballs, 

 cute boys on the deck...

 fun times together...

 Kayleigh, Emily and Rachel - Rachel is working on their fort...

 3 inches on the rail of the deck...

 Tim helping the little ones with a giant snow man...

 Sarah puts the carrots on...

Where was I?  I was inside keeping an eye on the stew cooking for lunch and hanging out with this sweet girlie...lucky Grandma!

After I took these photos, Tim and Nate went up our road and shoveled several neighbors driveways...they came back in time to have beef stew and homemade Sweet French Bread.  So good.

I am going to read a chapter to the little folk now, and then tuck them into bed.  I am tired myself, but will probably wait up for Tim.  I'd like to spend some time with my big girls too! The snow is supposed to stop this evening and hopefully the roads will be cleared by the time he heads home from work.

A Change Of Plans...

 Sarah and I are supposed to be headed out to the dentist in  less than an hour.  We were supposed to have a wintery mix this morning, then a break in the weather and the snow would start up again in the afternoon.  


However, it is snowing now here and we already have 3 inches!  Our road has not even been plowed yet.  So I will be calling the dentist's office soon to reschedule.


I guess I will have a few extra hours on my hands.

Time to look through these organizational books I found at the library.  

 Time to read a book or two to the kids.  This book "The Big Snow" by Berta and Elmer Hader, was for sale at the library's bookstore.  They sell used books.  It is a Caldecott Medal winner and was .50 cents. We have already read it once, and I am sure we will read it again before the day is over.  

More chapters in "On The Shores Of Silver Lake" By Laura Ingalls Wilder, music appreciation, math, nature study are all on tap for today.

We will all stay cozy and warm thanks to our woodstove, which warms our whole house, and thanks to Tim's diligence in chopping wood!

I think that I will pop some stew beef, carrots, potatoes and onion into the crock pot with some dry onion soup mix and that along with the Sweet French Bread Rachel made yesterday will make a fine lunch.

Rachel also wants me to start her skirt, so we will likely work on that as well.

What are your plans for today?

Rag Baby Quilt

 My niece and her husband are expecting a baby in about 6 weeks.

 They like classic Pooh.  It is a perfect pattern for a baby especially when you are not going to find out the gender of the baby before the baby is born.

 I am loving this wee hedgehog.

 And the wee chickies who Pooh think are "Small Pieces of Fluff."

I love how the edges, when snipped, get ravelly.  


These are sweet quilts and go together very quickly.  I love thinking of Crystal wrapping her wee babe in this quilt that was made with love for them.  Such a privilege to have such precious family...I hope I will get to see this sweet baby early in it's life.

Praying for you Crystal and Andy and wee babe!  You are loved.

A Bedroom, But So Much More

I mentioned on Saturday, that I was working on rearranging my bedroom.  I love the way the sunlight is streaming through the window.  This room is the original 'master' bedroom of the house.  It is 12 feet square.  Not a large room, by any means.  It is a room that frequently has overnight 'guests', meaning my younger children, who love to either climb in with us, or bring a small mattress in and sleep on it.   We also have a dresser, an armoire that houses dvd's and such.  Lots going on in this room.  It is a hub of activity as our whole house is on a daily basis.

This time with our children is fleeting.  One day we will be living here and looking forward to our children coming for a visit.  I look forward to us all remembering all the slumber parties with mom and dad, movie nights in bed, being close to us when they were sick.  These are the ties that bind our hearts together.  

This small room works just fine.

We Live In The Frozen Tundra

 It is really cold outside...Accuweather.com says it is 13 degrees outside right now, but the "real feel" feels like 8 degrees! 

 We must leave in an hour for church.  Did I mention it is cold outside?  At least our fellowship among our fellow worshippers will be warm!

I'm thinking Emily's proposed afternoon hike is a no go.  I know I am 'no' going!  I am planning on a warm house and good fellowship.  Either Chinese food or pizza for lunch.

It's going to be a good day, which is much needed after an emotionally challenging week.

Our Escapee

Isn't Cheyenne cute?

This time of year she is likely to be found across the road, having stepped through the electric fencing and in search of 'greener' pastures.  She does this at least once a week, her blanket, and the weaker charge from the solar unit, keeping her from being deterred.

During Spring and Summer there is a lot of green grass in their pasture.  Even then she can be found with her head out of the fence trying to eat the grass outside of the pasture.  Cheyenne is definitely a "the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence" type of a horse.


Our horses get grain and hay twice a day in the fall and winter and if it is really cold overnight, we give them some extra hay.  They also wear blankets.  It is getting to be an annoyance to have to go out early in the morning, to bring her back into the pasture.  


I guess we are going to have to close her into her stall every evening.  At this point we don't have doors on the pasture side of the barn, so they can easily go in and out. My dad has talked about getting a 4 foot pasture gate for her stall, and Tim has said he could just make half doors like the other side of the barn.  I don't think I care as long as we don't have to go across the road to get her and fix the fence every few days.  


Just so you know our other horse Sandy doesn't do this.  She is content to stay put, because she knows she is going to be fed.  She just stands there and watches and sometimes even calls to Cheyenne like "come back here, where are you going?"
Seriously, the grass across the road is covered in just as much snow as the pasture! 


Crazy horse.

This Is On My Mind

 I have been thinking of sewing projects.  The above fabric is for a spring skirt for Rachel.  It is a soft cream, not so tan as the photo shows.

Also I heard from my niece that they like Classic Pooh, so I found the perfect fabric for their baby quilt!  I can't wait to start it!

Joining Rhonda Jean again for On My Mind...

Hodge Podge

 Here is a bit of what is going on around our cottage.  As part of our quiet day, I made these sweet treats that Tracy showed us last year.

 Personally, I think they are more fun to make and look at then eat, but I am not a marshmallow kind of gal!

 Strawberry marshmallows...very pink.  Are you looking at the pink Paula and Alicia?

 This was what it looked like yesterday heading to the Hospitality Lane folk to pick up Emily.

 It was worse driving home from my parents house last night with Kyle...this is not a photo of that though.  I was too busy trying to see.

Warm and cozy candle light in the kitchen tonight....Thursday is our co-op day and we also have a graduation meeting in the evening.  Oh, and I have a leadership meeting after co-op.  Crazy...

The weather was up in the 40's today...just enough to melt the snow and I actually took the dogs out and got the mail without a coat!  Tomorrow night we are supposed to get snow again.  Soon it will be spring!

A Quiet Day

www.allposters.com

We went to dinner at my Mom and Dad's house last night.  She made "halupkes" or stuffed cabbage.  She learned from a neighbor years ago who was married to a man from Poland.  

Our friend Denny, who is of Slavic decent has been talking of missing some of that food.  He mentioned especially the stuffed cabbage.  I just happened to mention that my mom makes really good stuffed cabbage and she offered to cook some for him.  He loved it - said it was the best he had ever had.  She sent him home with a 'care package' of more.  Games, talking and fun were had.  

Then Rachel mentioned she didn't feel good, so we headed home.  Kyle stayed - it was his turn to spend the night with Grandpa and Grandma.  As soon as we got home, my mom called to say that Kyle had thrown up, so I headed back to get him.  Sarah called while I was on my way to say that Rachel had thrown up!  NO!!!!!

I cried out to the Lord in my car!  Please Lord, let this be over and done.  Keep the rest of us from getting sick.  We had been sick in November and it was BAD.

Thankfully the Rachel only got sick that once and she slept all night.  Kyle was sick a few more times, and he too, slept all night.  

He is back raring to go, and Rachel is taking it a bit more easily.  We are having a quiet day with them and thanking the Lord for answered prayer.  

Lindsay and Emily are headed out in a bit to help clean Denny's store.  He has a very bad knee and cannot get up and down easily.  It is a blessing to be able to help each other. 

ps - Kyle and Rachel did not eat the stuffed cabbage....just sayin'.

Barren Spaces...

 The landscape of the land on our property is barren.  Only the blue spruce has any color.  Likewise landscape of my shelves, piano, and cabinet tops are barren as well.

 Gone are the jolly greens and lights that warmed our winter home.  It was time.

 Now, however, I must warm our nest once again.  This time of year we are hopeful for an early spring - to the earth awakening from it's slumber and spreading forth that delightful shade of spring - green!

 But for today, this lovely winter green goes back to it's storage space until next year.

Along with the random baubles that were still here and there!

I love each season - each has it own purpose and reason.  Ah, a rhyme!  Isn't it sublime? Oh, somebody stop me!  I think I need a cup of tea.....