Heart at Home

New Baby

2010-10-18T16:10:00.004-04:00

A few hours after Jesse was born, his brothers and sister came home to meet him! Lydia was happy to be home after a long day away from mommy.

Jesse Daniel, born at 5:43pm on Oct 14th. 9 lb. 13 oz and 22 1/2 inches long. A little bit of dark hair and a wrinkled forehead. Long fingers and big feet.

Not sure why this pic. went sideways on me. This is my midwife napping during my labor. She was up half the night before delivering another baby. We spent the morning playing scrabble together and we chatted through most of the afternoon. I'm glad we planned on having this baby at home as I'm not sure I ever would have thought it necessary to go to the hospital until the very end. We may have had a baby in the car at that point!
I'll get more pictures over the next few weeks.

Modest Mom skirt Give-away!

2010-02-27T20:21:00.002-05:00

My sister just sent me a great link to a favorite blog of ours - Passionate Homemaking http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2010/02/the-modest-mom-giveaway.html/comment-page-4#comment-21653
She is hosting a give away for custom made materinity skirts from the Modest Mom. Hop on over and enter! Modest mom also sells used maternity tops for very reasonable prices.

Neck Deep!

2010-02-11T07:41:00.002-05:00

The snow drifts are taller than I am in places and the ground is bare in places. I'm taking pictures, but I have no way to upload right now. The wind just keeps blowing. When Lydia has her morning nap, I'm going to go out and see if I can find a route to the wood pile since the driveway is impassable. Maybe I'll take the boys with me. Yesterday William said, "Will we ever be able to go outside again?" They were itching to get out since the large box that they were using as a livingroom slide broke, causing some tears. They were sad until they realized they could still get inside the box and roll it around the livingroom.

Growing Up!

2010-01-23T19:41:00.003-05:00

Here are some pictures of the kids from this fall. Lydia is wearing my dress. The one I wore for my baby photo. It is fun to have a girl. Her hair is long enough that I need to put little pigtails in the top to keep her bangs out of her eyes. She has finally taken off with her walking. She started a month ago, but refused to go more than a few steps on her own until this week. Now she will walk across a room, but is still rather wobbly and unsure of herself.

William is taking piano lessons and practices at least 1/2 hour daily! He loves it and tries to figure out how to play songs he knows.

Brian has been drawing a lot lately. He's getting quite good and especially likes to draw houses with windows and people looking out the windows. There are always some clouds and a sun in the sky. He also drew a pair of feet the other day, but the body wasn't on the page.

I'm enjoying watching them all grow!

She's Talking.....

2009-09-17T13:37:00.002-04:00

.... with her hands! Lydia said, "all done," and "more" today. She was very pleased with herself. It is very useful since she wnats to eat everything we do. She kept saying "more" for applesauce and cheese and her brothers we excited for her. Of course she loved the attention.

We had ice cream the other day. William insisted on finishing cleaning up before he would come for ice cream. Brian wanted more and I told him we needed to save some for tomorrow. He announced, "I don't want ice cream tomorrow!" Curt said, "Funny children!"

William giggled. Brian, puzzled, said, "Where?"

Brian is interested in puzzles now. We have a book of Tonka Truck puzzles and he can do them all (35pc). William still loves maps and spends a lot of time reading and writing. Today he read a few books to Brian and then helped him do StarFall http://www.starfall.com/ - a website that teaches phonics. Brian likes to do the school things that William does, so I always try to find something he can do too.

Though William is super smart about many things, we are trying to not make a big deal of it. Don't want it to go to his head. He was almost apalled that Brian can't read! He doesn't remember learning to read and didn't realize it was something that had to be learned.

The boys were playing with cars in a waiting room yesterday. A man asked William if he liked Lightning McQueen. William asked who that was. The man said, "Have you seen the movie, Cars?" William said, "Well, yes, but I don't really like it. I like to do Legos, and read books, and write." I'm sure he can come across as being odd at times, but we like it that way!

We Miss Daddy!

2009-09-05T13:19:00.002-04:00

Curt's driving truck again and we all miss having him home. The boys especially miss his bedtime stories and I miss his putting them to bed for me. Sometimes the days just drag when he is away..... Yes, today is dragging.

In alphabetical order.....

2009-09-01T22:02:00.003-04:00

Yes, William now recites all 50 states in alphabetical order...... in under a minute. This he learned by looking at the state flags on the back of his placemat - of course listed alphabetically. So now he wants to learn the countries of the world. He's given up on alphabetical and has been writing them by region in his notebook so he can study them. I don't think he's quite normal, but we love him.
Today Brian started pronouncing his "L" sound. He says, "I would lllllike _________," and smiles, pleased with himself.
Lydia started waving bye-bye yesterday and is getting more sociable by the day. Still not crawling. Every time I get her on hands and knees, she pushes back until she is sitting.

What William Knows

2009-08-16T22:30:00.002-04:00

This weekend I discovered that William knows most of the State Capitols. No, I did not teach him, I just let him play with his USA puzzle and gave him "Our Fifty States" to read. Wish my memory was that good. He's been teaching Brian about the states too. I'm impressed at how many states he knows and he can put the puzzle together all by himself.

Tonight he was sorting his legos according to which set they belonged to. No, he didn't need the instruction book. He just knew where every. single. piece. belonged.

He also learned that he shouldn't leave his books on the floor. Lydia managed to eat a page. Well, she didn't ingest it, but it's well chewed. He handled it very well considering the damage. Perhaps it's because I've been warning him for several weeks now that he needed to keep his things put away if he didn't want her chewing on them. (She tends to only really chew cloth and paper.)

Nature Lesson

2009-07-09T22:23:00.002-04:00

Curt has been doing a lot of yard work lately. He put up a HUGE tarp on the other side of the garage and is storing his tractor and attachments there. He also moved the wood pile there today. Later he found a little garter snake in the grass where the wood had been and showed William who showed me. It hadn't moved an inch since Curt found it (only part of it was visible), so we poked it with a stick and discovered that it was dead - mouth wide open.
Later I found Brian with it in the sand box making it slither all over. It was the best toy snake ever! We had a little discussion about why it's not a good idea to play with dead animals.

Beach Pictures

2009-04-27T13:25:00.003-04:00

Lydia's big enough to sit in the booster seat - even though she's not big enough to eat anything yet!
Last week we went to NH with Curt. He's been working on a job up there, so we stayed with some friends. It was really relaxing and I even took the kids to the shore for the day! The boys LOVED the ocean and got as sandy as humanly possible. Lydia took a long nap between some blankets and I just relaxed in the sun.

Boys on a rock at the beach.

The boys stood watching the water come and go. The water was freezing, but they didn't seem to mind. Well, Brian didn't care. William ran up the beach and got his rubber boots.

Purrrfect Response

2009-04-22T20:56:00.002-04:00

Tonight as Curt was putting the boys in bed, he patted Brian's back and said "Good night." Brian said, "Hey, don't pet me! I'm not a cat!"

2009-04-12T16:41:00.002-04:00

Fun with Cousins

She's very snuggly. (This outfit barely fits her now.)

HAPPY EASTER! Picture taken after church today!

A child's view of Mommy.

2009-03-06T14:45:00.003-05:00

I asked William the following questions and these are his answers. I LOVE numbers 9 and 13. Brian's answers are in ( ). I his attention span and comprehension were limiting factors.

1.What is something mommy always says to you?
Clean things up.

2.What makes mommy happy?
Obeying (Daddy)

3.What makes mommy sad?
Disobeying. (Daddy)

4.How does your mommy make you laugh?
By making a funny face. (I don't remember that.)

5.What was your mommy like as a child?
Ummm. Playing with stuff, maybe.

6.How old is your mommy?
31

7.How tall is your mommy?
About 114 inches. (High up to the sky. Okay?)

8.What is her favorite thing to do?
Help us clean up. (Clean up, washing things.)

9.What does your mommy do when you're not around?
Look for me. (Turn around and around.)

10.If your mommy becomes famous, what will it be for?
Writing a list for what you want to buy at the store.

11.What is your mommy really good at?
Doing laundry. (Playing.)

12.What is your mommy not very good at?
I don't know. (Cleaning up.)

13.What does your mommy do for a job?
Everything! (Clean up.)

14.What is your mommy's favorite food?
Beef Stroganoff.

15.What makes you proud of your mommy?
That God made you my mommy.

16.If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Bob the Builder.

17.What do you and your mommy do together?
Help clean up if there's too much to clean up and Brian is having his nap.

18.How are you and your mommy the same?
Our hands are different sizes.

19.How are you and your mommy different?
I think our eyes are different colors.

20.How do you know your mommy loves you?
Because God loves us.

21.What does your mommy like most about your daddy?
Working on his tractor. (You like Daddy.)

22.Where is your mommy's favorite place to go?
To the grocery store. (The store.)

Lydia Joy Miller

2009-01-09T19:35:00.003-05:00

William helping with laundry!

Tired Daddy with tired baby.

Big brother often says, "I like her."

Lydia sleeping shortly after birth. She's a sleepy baby.

Lydia was born at 2:43pm on Jan. 2nd 2009. She weighed a healthy 7lb 15oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. Check out the hair! She came rather quickly as I was in labor less than four hours, but we did make it to the hospital in plenty of time - despite an unpleasant drive getting there.

Of course my parents were disappointed that they missed all the action as they left for home the morning she was born, but my dad may be here tomorrow night (trying to get a truck load out here) and Mom is flying out on the 13th.

Lydia is a squeaky baby. Lots of little noises and a squeaky little cry. She's nursing well and is healthy. Brian loves to hold her and William is a big help. He helps with laundry and setting table and runs to get things for me. Enjoy the pictures!

We now also have a five year old in the house! I can hardly believe William is that old! His new passion is numbers and he is constantly thinking of math problems. He taught himself subtraction and multiplication and loves large numbers. Numbers like 999,999,999,999,999,999 - And he can name them correctly! At night I can hear him whispering math problems to himself as he falls asleep. He's just a little bit like my dad.

Brian is still the little social boy. He LOVED having Grandparents visit (both sets since Nov.) and really enjoys having Aunt Sarah and Uncle Ben around. He likes to help take care of Joshua (3 mos.) and helps entertain him. He'll run and get anything you need for a baby. He's also become quite independent and wants to everything himself, whether he is able or not.

What kind of noise?

2008-11-12T22:25:00.003-05:00

Last week I was carrying Brian out of his room after nap and just as we got to the doorway he said, "What's that?"
I asked "What's what?"
He said something, but I wasn't sure I was hearing it right so I repeated it back to him, "Poopy noise?"
"Yep, poopy noi."
I thought for a minute and realized I was stepping on a creaky part of the wood floor, so I made the noise again and Brian confirmed that as the "poopy noise."
Such a boy!

Cousin Pictures

2008-11-02T22:00:00.003-05:00

After Aunt Sarah and Joshua left, I came into the house to find another "baby" in the bouncy seat. He insisted that he couldn't help clean up, because "I baby!" I told him that babies couldn't have hot chocolate either. He got up very quickly.

Brian LOVES to hold his new cousin! He sits very calmly with him and just wraps his arms right around him. He even helped Aunt Sarah change his diaper! I'll have an eager little helper when Lydia arrives.

It was getting late in this pic. Joshua was fussy and Brian wouldn't take his fingers out of his mouth. Willim did fine for us, but he's my night owl!

The funny things they say!

2008-11-02T21:53:00.002-05:00

Tonight we read about the Israelites moving camp after being at Mt. Sinai for one year. We talked about how they traveled for three days before they stopped. I mentioned to William that it would take a day for use to walk to Carlisle if we had to take a lot of stuff with us. He asked me why the Israelites didn't have any roads. "Because they didn't have cars to drive on the roads."
William asked, "When are we going to read the Bible story about when they made cars?"
Brian and William have fun yelling, "boo!" and tell me they are scaring monsters away. This has been a fun game for them for weeks, but I think Brian's imagination is getting the better of him. He won't go into a darkened room until he scares the monsters out and asks for the light on. Tonight he came to get me and told me there was a monster in his room. I said, "There's a monster in your room?!" thinking he was playing. He about jumped on my lap and held me tight, terrified that there really was a monster there!!! I keep telling him, "There are no monsters anywhere! God didn't make any! Mommy, Daddy, and God will keep you safe." I'll have to tell William not to play monsters anymore.

Chicken Free

2008-10-25T15:50:00.002-04:00

Well, we decided that although having chickens was a great way to never run out of eggs, it was a lot of work, feed is expensive, and we can get better (organic), cheaper eggs at a farm down the road. Not to mention that I don't want to be checking to make sure their water doesn't freeze this winter with a new baby on the way. So, the chickens had to go.
Two weeks ago we butchered the two ducks and two roosters that hatched in June. Not something I'd like to do again, but I'm glad I know how in case I ever need to. A friend came over to help us, becuase once Curt and I started, we realized that we really didn't have a clue what we were doing (internet directions make it look so simple!). It all made me really appreciate where my food comes from. William didn't want us to do it and cried at first, but he got used to the idea and asked if we could make gravy when we cooked the chickens. We've eaten one duck. Brian LOVES duck, but William didn't want to try it even though he was excited about it while it was still in the oven.
The rest of the chickens are now living at the Becker's house and their kids are having fun collecting eggs and feeding chickens. I told William that we could think about keeping other animals when he got bigger and could take care of them himself. He's been talking about dogs and rabbits recently!

What William Prays For

2008-09-25T22:50:00.002-04:00

We've been reading a story Bible and praying with the boys before bed. At first William never had anything to talk to God about, but now he has a huge list.
He wants to pray that he can be a policeman when he grows up.
He thanks God for snacks, church, a good story Bible, our new balloons, our house......
Tonight he wanted to thank God for "nice parents." What a sweety.

Thanks for the Hats!

2008-09-09T14:15:00.002-04:00

Grandma and Grandpa Rittgers went to the Iowa State Fair and sent caps for the boys. These are their "smiling for the camera" faces.

Sometime soon I've got to get a video of Brian praying before bed. I showed him to fold his hands together and close his eyes and he makes a hysterical face in effort to keep those eyes closed. I'm not sure how to get the video without him knowing though.

William and I have started doing school regularly now. I have him read to me in the morning (we are almost done with the first McGuffey Reader), then we do a math lesson (or part of one), practice handwriting, and do at least one page in Explode the Code. Soon we will add literature. We will do First Favorites from Veritas Press. There are a lot of neat activities that go along with all the classic children's books. I think he'll love it. He still begs to do school if we miss for some reason. I'm trying to keep it simple and short at this point. We are always done within an hour and he will often ask to do an extra Explode the Code page. Now I need to come up with some more ways to keep Brian busy during that time. He just wants to be on top of us all the time.

Brian is growing up a lot too. He's speaking more clearly now and comes up with some fun ideas. He also spends a lot of time trying to get William to wrestle with him. William is usually willing as long as he's not reading a book. Brian begs to go to work with Daddy every morning and is near tears every time he gets left behind. He's the first to notice when Curt pulls into the driveway in the evening and always runs to greet him. Brian has also recently learned to jump and to pedal his tricycle, though it's still much faster for him to walk it with his feet. The boys have fun seeing how fast they can go and do all the silly things that boys do on bikes!

They are usually covered in sand and dirt by the end of each day, which means a bath every night. Some days I think, "Oh, I can just wash their extremities today!" Only to have Curt come home and dig a hole for something and of course the boys are "helping" and come in with dirt in their hair, etc....

This weekend when we had the tropical storm we had a big mud pit where Curt had buried the propane line to the grill. They begged to go out with umbrellas and so Curt had them stomp in the mud to help all the dirt settle. It wasn't long before they figured out that getting rained on was much more fun than an umbrella. Curt had to hose them down before they came in! They had so much fun! I'll post a pic. once I get it on my computer.

Baby Lydia is doing her fair share of moving and shaking. I'm 24 weeks pregnant now. Last week I had a lot of hip pain so I went to a Chiroprater yesterday and he put my sacroiliac joints back where they are supposed to be and I feel much better now. I'll get Curt to take my picture the next time I'm dressed nicely so I can show off my belly.

Habla Espanol?

2008-06-11T09:56:00.001-04:00

Brian was trying to say something durning dinner yesterday. William said, "Mommy, what language does Brian talk in? Is it Spanish?"

Look what we've been doing!

2008-06-09T14:48:00.004-04:00

I'll get back to the bread baking soon, but just had to share this video of what we got on freecycle.

Shopping list for baking bread.

2008-06-04T20:41:00.003-04:00

How do I find the time to bake all my own bread?
I make the time. It's important to our family, so I make sure it happens. It's kind of like cooking dinner. You find the time to do it. Over time you get faster, and you learn some shortcuts along the way. Here are my tricks to making it work for us:
I bake bread in large batches and either freeze the bread or the dough.
I let the boys help.
I let the machines do the hard work.
It really doesn't take much time. Here's a breakdown.
15 min grinding grain
10 min mixing ingredients and kneading dough
take a long break and come back later to turn machine on for a few seconds and turn off again.
take another long break
5 min. to shape the dough to bake.
take a 15 min break
1 min put bread in oven
take a half hour break
2 min to take bread out and cool it.
That's a total of about 32 min of work for three or four loaves of fantastic bread. We think it's worth it!

So, if you want to bake your own bread, you will need to have some items on hand. I'm going to write this in two sections. Section #1 is for those who want to bake the softest, most nutritious, 100% whole wheat bread. Section #2 is for those who just want an occassional warm loaf of bread and don't care about 100% whole wheat.
#1
Eqipment:
1. A grain mill. Electric is preferable unless you want to spend an hour cranking. I have a K-Tech Kitchen Mill. It does a good job, but sounds like an airplane. Quieter and just as good is the Wonder Mill. This is an upfront expense of about $200, but if you make most or all of your bread, the savings will pay for itself in a year or two. If you have access to freshly ground flour you do not need this.
2. A mixer with a dough hook and a large capacity bowl. I have a Bosch and it is fantastic. Kitchen Aid also works well.
3. Bread pans. Pyrex or stonewear are best. The metal pans heat too unevenly.
4. An oven!

Ingredients:
1. Wheat berries (yes, that's what the grain is called). I buy mine if 50lb bags at a bulk foods store about 20 miles from here. I buy several bags at a time and store all the grain in tightly sealed 5 gallon buckets. The price for 50 lbs is currently around $30. Double what I paid six years ago.
2. water-from the tap
3. apple cider vinegar - I use raw, but it's not necessary. I buy it at the grocery store.
4. honey - grocery store
5. baking soda - grocery store
6. yeast - If you plan on making a lot of bread, don't waste your money on store yeast. I can get 1 lb packages at any bulk food store for a fraction of the price of the little jars you can get at the grocery store. Look around and see what you can find. Store yeast in the freezer to maintain freshness.
7. salt
8. olive oil
9. butter or lard - this is for greasing your pans. Please don't use vegetable shortening. Not only does it taste terrible, but it clogs the arteries!

#2
Equipment:
1. A bread machine or a good mixer with a dough hook.
2. An oven
3. Bread pans - pyrex or stonewear.

Ingrediens:
1. Whole wheat flour
2. White flour
3. honey
4. salt
5. yeast
6. olive oil
7. butter or lard

My Bread Story (as requested by Angie)

2008-06-01T13:15:00.005-04:00

For those of you who don't know, I LOVE homemade whole wheat bread and rarely (as in 2-3 times per year) buy any storebought bread. I even buy wheat in 50lb bags and grind my own flour.
"Why bother?" I used to like store bread just fine, until I lived in Prague for two years. There, the only good bread available was baked fresh daily and delivered to the local stores. One could cut it, bag it, and buy half or quarter of a loaf for pennies. It was a dense, hearty, flavorful, rye bread. At first I didn't care for it much, but it quickly grew on me. It was wonderful toasted with cream cheese and jam for breakfast. It made great ham and cheese sandwiches. It was such a shock to come back to the US and find NOTHING that could compare with that bread. So, when Curt and I married and I had my own kitchen, I started baking and searching for the perfect bread recipe. We bought a bread machine, but I could not get a good 100% whole wheat loaf to be moist enough. It always ended up crumbly and dry and only good for french toast and stuffing. What I didn't know was that the whole wheat flour we buy at the store has already gone rancid!!!! When I first tasted bread (thanks to Kathy O'Donnell) made from freshly ground grain, I knew I had found my solution. Thanks to a husband who loves tools, we soon bought a grain mill and I was in business! I found a good, reliable recipe and started baking bread.
Over the past 6 years I have learned more about nutrition and baking and have further improved the recipe to make a bread that has better keeping quality, tastes better, and is easier to digest. Since I've had numerous friends learn to bake bread and many of them call with questions from time to time, I've decided to write down the complete process (pictures included) for their (and your) reference.

How To Get Fertilized Eggs

2008-05-30T21:14:00.003-04:00

So a chick costs a dollar or two, a 16-18 week old pullet (already starting to lay) costs $5, and a dozen fertilized chicken eggs costs about $30 !!!!!!!!????? Much of the cost is in the shipping, but good grief!!

Why am I looking for eggs to hatch? Because I have a hen who WILL NOT get off the nest. I've been taking her eggs, moving her off the nest, and I even put ice in the nest, but nothing will get her to budge. I figure I might as well put her to work. Since I couldn't find any fertilized eggs locally, I asked some farmer friends if I could buy a rooster from them. So they sent a few boys out in the field to chase one down. Picture two tall Menonite boys in their black pants and suspenders, cheerfully running down a rooster for me. Mr. and Mrs. and two or three girls were all standing with me watching for a while before Mr. Farmer decided to go down and get a dog to help because roosters are really fast. So, on Tues. we brought a rooster home. William said, "I wanted a rooster so much, and now I have one!" He's not too loud in the morning as long as the windows are closed. He's not any worse than the crazy birds that sing right outside our window starting at 5am. The boys love to hear him crow.

So, now our hen is sitting on eight eggs and I'm hoping a good number are fertilized. The golden colored hen in the pic is the one brooding. I feel like brooding too. I could make a nice nest in my room and only come out to eat and drink for the next few months at least. Yep, that sounds nice.

Photos and stories below

2008-05-23T21:49:00.002-04:00

2008-05-23T21:37:00.003-04:00

Did you ever get sent to the corner as a kid? Well, that's where we send William when he gets crying for no good reason (mini temper tantrum?). The idea is that it's no fun to cry in the corner while the rest of the world keeps going. It works and he calms rather quickly (he's not allowed out until he can show me a pleasant look on his face). Well, Brian has been fascinated by this and would like to stand in the corner with William. Of course I can't let him and he was rather upset this afternoon that I made him move, so when William came out of the corner, I sent Brian there - not as a punishment or anything, but because I knew he would LIKE it. He was happy to comply and went and PRETENDED TO CRY in the corner!!!! I just about fell over laughing. Such a little actor! I'm sure he won't be so happy the first time he gets sent to the corner for real.
William is really into building with his legos. He builds incredible little things! They make all kinds of moving parts on legos now, so he can build a working excavator. The pieces are teeny tiny and get lost pretty easily, but he just substitutes other pieces and keeps building. His instructions have been missing too, but that hasn't slowed him down a bit. He can still build all the same little machines in almost the same way.
The boys had a nice treat this Thursday morning. I had to go into town to get some chicken feed. Just as I got to Carlisle, my dad called and said he was just driving through in his truck. We met at a truck stop and the boys got to see Grandpa for a few minutes. They also got to go in his truck and see the load in the back. Brian cried when Grandpa drove away without him. I think he really wanted to ride in the truck. William was being a little reserved - and also busy enjoying his new sunglasses.
William's question yesterday, "Is our baby coming soon?" - I wish.
William's question today, "Is your tummy bigger now?" - My pants are getting tighter!

Winking and Kissing

2008-05-16T18:42:00.002-04:00

Tonight at dinner Brian was trying to wink at me. I wish I could have captured that moment on film. His face was so contorted and his eyes were rolling back. Try as he might, he couldn't manage to close only one eye.
The best cure for any small injury with Brian is a kiss. Today he was playing with William and I heard a wimper but by the time I got to him he was smiling and pushing his hand into William's face, asking for a kiss! William didn't know what was going on, but was happy to oblige Brian and all was well. This evening I caught Brian kissing his own hand after he bumped it! I guess there's nothing magic about Mommy's kisses.
Maybe Curt will shave this weekend and then I'll want to kiss him again.

More photos

2008-05-11T14:23:00.002-04:00

This is just last sunday. Check out my lilacs!

Brian likes to do "school" too!

Brian also comes up with some unique outfits. (aka Sarah)

Boys in a basket.

Lots of mud.

Photos for Grandparents!

2008-05-10T21:16:00.004-04:00

This photo is fairly recent. I think they were watching Daddy outside.

This was this winter - probably Feb. Love his smile.

This is Brian goofing off with Daddy's hat and pencil (over ear).

I took this photo tonight. They wanted to sleep together. See how innocent they look? Of course they started to wrestle right after I took the picture. I did put Brian back in his bed, but it won't be long before I'll be needing that crib for someone else. I guess that means that William's moving to the top bunk.
We think New Baby will come mid December. Of course I saw the cuttest Pack n' Play for dolls in Walmart tonight and immediately wanted a girl VERY BADLY. Curt said, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" I think almost everyone wants a girl, but of course William says, "We need more boys."

We went out with the Beckers tonight. I had baked a cheesecake for Tsiph's birthday, so we took it to the Chinese Buffet and had a little party for her there. Somehow Brian and Luke ended up at the ends of the table. Probably because those were easy spots to put highchairs. They waved to each other and said hi across the table. Very cute. I can see those two becoming good buddies and possibly partners in crime. They both have that mischevious twinkle in the eye and a bit of temper to go with it, but they are such affable, endearing kids too.
Chickens and ducks are doing well. I'm getting 6 eggs/day now, but I've had to pen the hens up so they can't ruin all the gardens in the neighborhood. The ducks are free since they don't dig and they really don't go far at all. The prefer to be close to the house. They have loved the rain this week and got really muddy playing in a puddle out back. I think they are both she ducks, so we should start getting eggs from them before too long. It will be fun to try them.

Adventures, Cont....

2008-04-02T20:54:00.002-04:00

I've got my chickens! They don't look at all like the pictures posted previously, because I want lots of eggs and Polish chickens don't produce well. Two weeks ago I got six little red hens. Five days later a fox got four of them. We reinforced the coop, moved it closer to the house and I went to a farmer to get four more birds. Now we have three red hens and two Barred Rock hens (black and white stripes). I'll post pictures once I get my camera batteries charged. I'm currently getting four eggs/day, but expect that will increase as the hens get settled in their new home.
We also got two ducklings. I'm hoping they are female and will lay eggs for us, but if not, they will make good eating in the fall (if we can manage to not get too attached to butcher them). The boys love to watch the ducks. They have doubled in size in one week! (ducks, not boys)
William asked me if we can have hay and a red barn on our farm. I guess he figures that we have a tractor with a few attachments, chickens, ducks, a cat, and we've started seedlings, then we must have a farm! He also keeps asking for horses and cows. Too bad two acres is not enough space for a milk cow. Then again, I think I already have enough animals to feed and water.
Curt taught me how to drive the tractor yesterday. Brian thought it was great that mommy was on the tractor. He kept smiling and waving at me. We were moving all the woodchips from their various piles to one location near the garden so it will be handy for mulch. The boys were both helping rake. They were climbing on the log pile and sitting in the play house together. So cute. They would both live outside if they could. It should be a fun summer.
Next project: a greenhouse (unheated variety) so we can enjoy winter veggies. I put the chicken coop over the grass where we will put it, so they can kill the grass and fertilize! I also want to make a narrow pen for the hens that I can put between my garden rows, so they can weed there as well. Why should I do the weeding when the chickens like to do it so much?
We would love to let our chickens run free, but we have too many dogs that wander around. I'm afraid they would go after my hens! There are also hawks that fly over the field out back. Still trying to decide. I'd just hate to lose more birds.
Updates on boys:
William is reading extremely well now. He loves to do school and he likes math just as much as reading. We are beginning to add and he gets the concept, but we don't have things memorized yet, so don't quiz him. He's also beginning to really want to do what is right. It makes it much easier to help him change his attitude or behavior.
Brian is really starting to talk. When William talked he did one word at a time and spoke rather clearly. Brian has been speaking in complete, though not understandable, setences for some time. Now I'm beginning to understand them. He says things like, "William, may I have the fire truck please?" but it comes out like, "May-may, I ha ire tru pee?" His intonation is perfect and I think that helps a lot. He calls himself "Bri-bri" and William is "May-may." If you want to hear him, call us. He'd be happy to talk to you on the phone, but don't expect him to listen much. Brian has also shown interest in using the potty. He does well as long as I take him frequently enough and he usually tells me as soon as he wets.
So, you can see that we've been a little busy. Perhaps you will forgive the long delay in posting and I'll do my best to keep up in the future.

Pics from William's Birthday

2008-01-13T22:33:00.000-05:00

We gave William legos for his fourth Birthday. Not just any legos. Curt's legos from "when he was a boy." William LOVES them. The night before we gave them to him we decided they needed to be cleaned, so we thought up a minimal effort method. We put them in my mesh laundry bag and put them in the dishwasher. Alas, though I set it on "delicate" half the pieces melted. I could have cried. Curt took it quite well and we both were up until after midnight sorting out the good pieces. William plays with them every day.

Ready for an Adventure

2008-01-13T22:14:00.000-05:00

It's been forever since I last posted! I've been too busy reading and managing home. I'm beginning the think I'm a reading addict. I think sometimes that I enjoy living life vicariously through reading a book. I've just spent the past two days sailing across the Atlantic in a 45 ft craft. Before that I was running for my life in 14 cen. England. It leaves me yearning for an adventure, though not as dangerous as those I read about.

In a way, we are having an adventure here. Curt is cutting and pulling trees down in our backyard. We watched him pull a maple over with his tractor. Brian almost cried when he saw it fall. It's such a hard thing to do, but we must if we want to grow food. We want a big garden and when your yard is full of trees, some must go. The other up-side to cutting trees is free firewood. I think we've used our furnace one day this winter. It doesn't even turn on at night. It's chilly by morning and it's no fun to start a fire with a hungry toddler clinging to my back, but hey, it's an adventure!

Our next adventure will be building a chicken coop and getting some hens. I want good, fresh, free range eggs! We saw all the chickens at the farm show this week and I think I want a Polish hen. I have no idea how well they lay eggs, but they are worth it for the laugh. Not only do they have the crazy do, but they know it. They are constantly flipping their "hair."

Rasing Godly Tomatoes

2007-12-03T09:55:00.000-05:00

It's here! I highly recommend this book!

Click on the link below to view the back cover and table of contents.

http://www.raisinggodlytomatoes.com/order.asp

More photos

2007-11-06T21:39:00.001-05:00

"I love helping Mommy bake pies."
This is the mess that happens when Mommy has "help" baking pies.
But this is the end result. William would have liked to have a whole one to himself.

Encourage Your Husband

2007-11-06T21:37:00.000-05:00

I just came across this challenge and thougt I should share it. Just ignore this if you are a man and let your wife surprise you this month.
http://www.reviveourhearts.com/downloads/index.php?id=9471

How to Wear a Tiny Baby

2007-10-19T22:11:00.001-04:00

So, you want to carry your baby hands free? Here's how! I'm using a 5 yard x about 22in. guaze material for this wrap.

Okay, This is going to be confusing, because I couldn't upload all the photos at once and ended up with things a little out of order. Many thanks to baby Marcus (3wks old), who left his mother's warm arms to let me use him for the demo.

These are directions for using a wrap for a front carry with an infant. Please scroll down and find #1.

#6. It should look something like this. Make sure it's not too tight. You need room for baby.

#7 Pull both ends around to the back again.
#8 Tie
#9 Baby will sit on the X on your chest. Bigger babies will have one leg out either side. Tiny babies can tuck their feet up in. Put a tiny baby in one side at a time and spread wrap over baby's back.
#10 For added support, you can pull the waist band up over baby. The shoulder straps can be pulled over baby's head for support.

#1 Put center of wrap at your waist.

#2 Cross wrap in the back.

#3 Try to keep as flat as possible while pulling each end up over your shoulders.

#4 Cross at your chest.

#5 Put the ends through the waistband. Scroll back up to the top for continued directions.

Photo Sharing Time

2007-10-18T12:27:00.000-04:00

Here are a few of the pictures from our visit with Oma, Opa, Aunt Heidi, and Nathaniel. We all went out and picked a bunch of our apples! I've been busy making sauce, dried apple rings, and William and I want to make a pie today. Mmmmmmm! Come on over and have a slice! We'd love to have you.

Dress to impress!

2007-10-11T13:48:00.000-04:00

So, how important is it to dress well? Do you abide by the old advice of, "You will act how you dress"? Public schools once held dress codes for this reason and most workplaces currently have some sort of dress code in place.
Consider the 14 year old from Cleveland, OH who just shot and injured four others before killing himself. Classmates described his style of dress as "Goethe"; black, skulls, trench coats. The question is, are you what you wear, or is it the other way around: what you wear shows who you are? Perhaps the answer is a little bit of both. Either way, our way of dressing certainly puts our values on display for the world to see.
If you think you don't need to worry about dress until your children are in middle school, think again. "Hip" parents are working hard to make sure their babies are also "hip." This article http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21108690/ caught my attention today and got me thinking. These parents are working hard to make sure their children are getting a message, but are they getting the message their parents think they are? Rather than learning to be "hip", I wouldn't be surprised if these kids learn that their parents' fun takes priority and that the latest fashions are more important than kindness, self-control, etc....
Of course I'm not saying to dress your kids in rags, but please, let them be children and preserve their innocence. Don't dress your 2 year old like a little tart, she might become one.

He Can Read!

2007-10-10T16:15:00.000-04:00

This is especially for grandparents and other relatives living far away!

Rab ran at a cat.

He Found His Legs!

2007-10-09T13:50:00.000-04:00

While we were at the Opera on Sunday, Mom and Dad had fun teaching Brian how to use his legs. Yes, he's walking. He's still very wobbly, but can walk all the way across a room and sometimes turn corners.
Last night William said, "Mommy, I don't want Brian to get bigger. I want him to stay a baby." Brian is growing up quickly now and the baby stage is passing. He feeds himself with a spoon now. Now if only he would learn to sleep like a big boy!
I'll post a video of the walking as soon as I get one.

Opera this weekend

2007-10-03T21:07:00.000-04:00

Curt is in the chorus for the Magic Flute in Harrisburg this weekend. Come if you can!!! He says it's a good one and loves the music. We all just miss him here since he's had so many practices and he's tired too.
Oma and Opa will be here tomorrow! I got Brian saying "Opa," but "Oma" sounded the same. We'll work on it more this week.

Another William Conversation

2007-10-02T21:32:00.000-04:00

I have a friend coming with her two little girls to visit tomorrow. I've been talking to William about it and suggesting what we should do with our guests. At bed tonight I added, "Isn't Lydia a good friend?" mostly prompting him to think that she's nice.
"NO!"
I was surprised since I know they play well together. "Why not?"
William was credulous, "She's a girl," laughing as he answered.
So, tell me, where do little boys get ideas like this? Certainly not from his parents! He doesn't watch TV or any videos that would deal with issues like that.
OH, I know! God has given him a natural knowledge that there is a big difference between boys and girls. Funny how my three year old knows this, but most adults don't.

Quotes to share

2007-10-02T21:31:00.000-04:00

Educate people without religion and you make them but clever devils.
Author: Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley

In large states public education will always be mediocre, for the same reason that in large kitchens the cooking is usually bad.
Author: Friedrich Nietzsche

To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.
Author: Theodore Roosevelt

Silly Boys

2007-10-01T22:12:00.000-04:00

Welcome

2007-10-01T21:59:00.001-04:00

I've decided that xanga isn't quite as nice as blogger, so I've moved. No more ads for you to view while you read!!! It's late, so I'll keep it short.
William loves to have us tell him stories as we put him to bed at night.
"Mommy, want to tell me a story?"
"Sure."
"About Jesus?"
I have had to refresh my memory a few times, so I could have some new ones to tell. (A little ashamed to admit that.)
Then, "I want Daddy to tell me a story about Kahula and Quacky and Joey the Frog and Tommy the Tortoise."
Curt is carrying on the tradition of his father's style of story telling.
Since Curt has been at opera practice every night this week, I've been doing some creative story telling with the above mentioned characters. Of course there is a lot of suspense and the main characters are often being chased and in grave danger, but escape in amazing ways at the last moment. William was looking a bit worried as I told the story the other night. I asked him if it was scary.
"Yes."
"Is it too scary."
"Does Daddy tell scary stories?"
"Yes"
"Is it too scary."
"Yes"
"Should we stop telling Kahula and Quacky stories?"
"NO," emphatically.
"Do you like it scary?"
"Yes," with a little smile.
I think we all enjoy a little drama at times, and especially the kind we know always turns out fine in the end. It's the real life drama that scares us badly. We forget that it will turn out right in the end.