Cooking Beans From Dried.

I enjoy eating beans and so do most of the kids. Papa, not so much.. unless I make chili with them. 

I bought, several years ago now, several buckets of dried beans through a lady in town here who does a bulk store once a year. 

I love them!! 

I've finally figured out a good way to use them so they taste 'right'. 

First I put several scoops of beans into my roaster. 

I use my 2 cup measure and fill it about half way up. 

Yup, when I do beans I DO beans :) 

Then I get all the kids to wash their hands and pick out the rocks, half beans and any bean that doesn't look 'right'. They LOVE this chore. I LOVE this chore.. 

but every time I go to do it they want too.. and they out number me. 

I still get to sort beans a little :) BECAUSE...

when they are done it's MY turn to go through them and makes sure they got everything. 

After sorting I fill the roast with water and let it set overnight. 

Now there are two ways to do this. You can put the roaster where you want to leave it for the night and add water.. or you can add water and then move the roast where you want it. 

I've had bad luck with BOTH!! The only other advice I have is; whatever you decide to do, 

make sure there are no kids, dogs, toys etc in between you and where you are going to.

OK after you clean up what ever mess there may be let your beans soak over night. I check mine before bed and often add more water then as the top half of the roaster is dry. 

 The next morning, unless you forget like I did last time, or afternoon rise the beans off in cold water. I have a great big colander and I put it in my sink, dump half the beans into it and rise and then put those beans in my big pot to cook and do the other half OR if you want to bake the beans put the colander somewhere to drain and rise the other half of the beans in the roaster. 

Then when your beans are all together again add some salt (I'm so precise I take my salt container and pour til it looks 'right!', but it should be about a tablespoon? or two?) and enough water to cover the beans. Yes I have a BIG pot! If your going to bake the beans do the same thing. BUT if you do the roaster half full of dry beans you will NOT have room to bake them as the top ones will not be covered in water. The soaked beans will TOTALLY fill your roaster!! That is when I found my big pot 

 I've cooked my soaked beans several ways. They've all worked. 

You can leave it on your wood stove for the day as long as you have a small fire in it, or even overnight. Too much fire will just cook them faster!  Be sure to stir! 

No fire.. will not cook beans.. but wait you knew that :) 

OR

You can put it on high on your kitchen stove until it boils, turn it down and then simmer it for a few hours. (Actually I normally put the pot on the kitchen stove to boil and then put it on the wood stove for the day.)

OR

 You can bake them at 350 for an hour and then 250 for the rest of the day/night. 

I really should soak them for the day and cook them on the wood stove at night next time. The weather is getting warmer and the fire during the day was too little heat so I had to keep it going hotter then I wanted and leave some windows open this last time. 

There you have it 101 ways to cook beans.. or did it just feel that way to me?? 

OK after your beans are nice and cooked.. Oh wait..

How to tell if your beans are nice and cooked. 

Well.. 

I eat one. 

If it crunches..

NOT COOKED

If they are all sticking together and mushy..

COOKED!!! 

:) 

Yes that is really how I tell.. I told you I was precise  crazy. 

Maybe I'm precisely crazy? 

Nope that's not it. 

Ok after my beans are nice and cooked I take some out of the pot for chili for supper :) 

Then I get out a bunch of containers, big or small. How many beans would you like to use at once? Find a container that size or sizes. Fill your containers up, mark the containers with a sharpie and stick them in your freezer.  I let the beans cool a bit first as hot beans really burn! 

Next time you want to make chili or refried beans, grab a container of beans out the night before or the day of and thaw it in a sink of hot water or your microwave.

It's as easy as that :) 

I've also canned them but I don't find it's worth the time put in. Takes too long. 

Though it is nice to have about if your a last minute cook!! I just followed the directions in my canning ball book :) I think :) 

Egg In A Hole

Our children beg for egg in a hole :) We love it. Takes a while to do it right but it's worth it.

First, if your using homemade bread like I do, slice it about an inch thick. 

The depth keeps the egg from spilling out too much. 

Then I cut the holes in the middle. I find with store bought bread I can rip the holes but 

with homemade bread cutting works better and the outsides stay in one piece. 

The kids love the middles so they go on the table too.

Heat your pan up nicely, add a bit of butter and the bread and then crack eggs into the middle of each toast. Salt and Pepper them the way you would eggs. We like the yokes popped but I had not done it yet in the picture. Let them cook for a bit on a med low heat if you want your yokes done, or a bit hotter for shorter if you like them runny. 

Flip the over a bit after you think you should. Carefully done and you shouldn't have too much mess everywhere :) Fry them up till they are nicely browned on both sides, try to only flip them once :) Great meal! We like them as leftovers too.

L is SEVEN!!

L got to turn on my new bosch mixer to mix up his cupcakes :) 

He's the first kid to be able to use it. 

Very exciting!!

His birthday cupcakes, yellow icing and marshmallow Easter candies :) Just the way he wanted them. 

Blowing out his candles on his Oreo ice cream cake!! 

His tackle box from Grandma and Grandpa F with a "real leatherman inside!!"

Check out face!~! Cousin L gave him a five dollar bill!! 

Opening his present from us.. See Papa does smile :) 

L, J3 and Grandpa checking out L's new Finn. 

Grandma F and the big girls :) 

L reading his card from Grandma and Grandpa G!! Super cool card.. dinosaur facts! 

He drooled over the money in the card before sticking it his jar :) 

Thanks for helping us celebrate L's 7th birthday!! 

~Spring Fun~

Roasting marshmallows in the sunshine. In the back ground you can see the last of the snow. There is also a patch just out of the picture behind L, in the blue, where Papa piled up all the snow all winter with the bobcat. The kids picked the sticks, helped light the fire and added to it for several hours. We also burnt some grass and my front, and only :), flower bed. Ahh.. hello spring!! 

Today on my little walk I noticed little shoots coming up at the end of the driveway.. :) 

J3 and the Horn.

L got some of those annoying horns from the cheapo section of the store for his birthday. You know the ones, the white blow through piece with a length of sparkly plastic papery stuff that moves when you blow on the end. The kids had just had cake and pop so we gave them each a horn and kicked them outside. What a fun racket! J3 being too small to go out alone hyped up on sugar or not stayed inside with his. I tried to teach him how to blow on the end to make noise, silly me :), I'd blow into the horn and then let him try. He didn't get the blowing thing....but he made the noise anyway :) It was SO CUTE!!

~Two Way Street~

I find it amazing how different perceptions change your out look on life. Every morning I take a quick walk down the driveway. It's short, our driveway, but big things have been coming to me on these short walks. On the way down the driveway I can hear the road traffic, horns are often heard, but mostly it's just the rumble of trucks and the whine of car engines or the sound of some truckers jake brake. I can see the mountain and when I reach the end of our driveway and step on to the road we live on, a quiet country road that parallels the highway, the wind hits me on the face and brings with it the smell of ADVENTURE! I'm not sure which part of the walk out appeals to my adventurous self or if it's the whole of it but it does. On the way out my driveway I feel like I could just keep walking and find the adventure that is waiting, and start to live that adventure. I have no idea what that adventure might be. Good, bad, just different? I suspect it's not a God driven wish for a new adventure, but man or self driven wish for adventure. I stand in the road and look one way and then the other. I smell the wind and it flows my hair over my face. There is always wind on this road and some how it smells like a new adventure that calls to me. A fresh adventure. An unknown adventure. A new and wonderful or new and terrifying adventure. A happy or sad adventure. A long or short adventure. 

I smile and I turn back down my driveway and look at our house and home, farm and yard, family and love and I keep walking. Down the driveway towards my adventure. I stop to check the puddles for run off and the earth for the tiny bits of green that will mean flowers or plants later on. Flowers and plants that I planted in this soil. Soil I dug and prepared. The soil of my home. I see green grass, the first small shoots standing impossibly green beside a stump, in an area we prepared for grass, by clearing, burning, picking up sticks and planting. An area that a few short years ago was useless bush, now thrives with grass and health. I see Chip. Waiting half way down the driveway. Eager to see me though I've been gone only minutes. He seems to sense my feelings and is happy that I turned back his way. I feel the lack of wind and hear the calf Star bawl for her morning milk. I can still hear the highway but it's no longer calling me. Midnight the little cat is sitting watching. I reach the raised beds, which Papa and I built and filled, seeded and harvested, protected and dreamed about. Chip lunges, eager that I've reach the allowed spot and runs to greet me. I remind him of his manners and he sits so I can pet his head.

There are memories all around me. Every piece of the land I can see I've stepped on, worked on, battled with, watched my children play on, enjoyed and mulled over.  I hear the rhythmic thump thump of the milking machine as it pulls milk from Isabels udder while I walk. Chores go on without me. I see the house, that on going project, and I picture in my head what it might look like... it's always different and that is part of the adventure. I see the trailer and I think of my children. Sleeping inside. I am swarmed with memories.. My biggest adventure!!  Soundly asleep in their beds, giggling madly in their beds, running across the house to 'see if they can get up yet'. Every day is a grand adventure. I see my adventure, and their adventure, in their eyes every morning, and I hope they can see the adventure in mine. The highway noise is fading, almost gone, the wind is gone, the house calls to me, the cow in her stanchion, the children in their beds, the empty spot where the car sits when Papa is home from work. 

 I smile that secret smile as I walk by the empty spot where Papa parks his car. He is not my adventure. He and I are. He and I are one! Are not separable. We are in this adventure together. There is no adventure without him. He is me and I am him. I remember the kiss, the one he gives me before he leaves for work. On the forehead in bed as I sleep, on the mouth at the door. The smile. You know the one. The one that says I am yours and you are mine and I love you. The knowing look he gave me as he left for his side of our adventure, while I stay home with my side of our adventure. Sometimes we wish we could switch. Share a bit more of the others adventure. We cherish the part of the adventure that we get to share together. Everyday is an adventure. 

My adventure is calling me. The calf bawling for her milk, the pigs grunting good morning, the thump thump of the milking machine marking off the time until chores are done, the chickens clucking in their pen as they walk the fence line in hopes of a bucket of food, the excited whimper of Chip as he tries to convince me to throw his stick, the mew of the cats as they beg for milk, the sound of the birds in the trees, the children waiting asleep inside, and the thought that a new day has started. A brand new day. 

"Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22 & 23. 

Today is a brand new day with no mistakes in it. *

I know inside there are chores to be finished, coffee to drink, breakfast to make, kids to wake and kiss, smiles to exchange, dreams to hear, life to live, diapers to change, babies to snuggle, fun to be had, training to do, schooling, dishes, laundry, WORK to be done. Just like I know outside there are sticks to pick up, grass to seed, house to build, animals to care for, land to clear, firewood to haul, races to be had, toys to enjoy, challenges to face and all of this are ADVENTURES TO BE ENJOYED!!! 

Go out and make the most of YOUR adventure!! 

*Anne of Green Gables.. actually the quote is 'Tomorrow is a brand new day with no mistakes in it.'

A Day In The Life

I've often been asked how things work with x amount of kids and how I handle just the day to day life with them. I know did A Day in the Life of Me in 2009 and I thought I`d write out a new one :)

Papa gets up around 7am to head out to work. I normally get him to wake me if I'm not already up with Baby G. She is still quite sporadic with her sleep habits, we're working on it ;), so sometimes I'm up at 6:30 or even 6am.  If she's not already nursing I sneak out of bed and get started with my day. Coffee with Papa before work is one thing I'm striving for. Cow chores done before the kids get up is another. IF I still have time and she's still asleep or back to sleep, a shower makes my day a bit easier :) and breakfast started helps make the morning smoother. I also often start the days load of laundry if we're doing laundry that day. *Note on the shower.. IF Baby G and J3 are napping at the same time I will often let the older kids play in the living room and hop in the shower. When Baby G was smaller this was VERY uncommon so I'd lock J3 in his high chair, place it in the living room and put a short movie on for the kids while Baby G slept and I showered! It can be done.. you just have to line everything up perfectly! OR sometimes I just wait for a time when Papa is home and he watches them while I shower.

          Our kids get up at 9:30, and often I wake them up!, I go into their room and "Rise and shine" them, grab J3 out of his playpen and we get started on our morning! J3 needs a clean bum, everyone else takes turns in the bathroom and comes to me for their morning chore. J, L and E often set the table or even make breakfast if we're just having something simple like baked oatmeal muffins, or banana muffins like we did this morning. They can also do cereal and J often cracks the eggs for scrambled eggs or whatever we decide to make. They often empty the dishwasher or take dry clothes out of the entrance where they've been drying over night. Sometimes we've been lazy the night before and we clean off the table and reload the dishwasher and wipe the table :) Now J3 is changed, dressed and ready for breakfast. I send him off to go play or read books and get started on breakfast. We normally eat around 10am. Sometimes, if Papa is home for the day or if we all sleep in, we don't eat breakfast until 11am.

          After breakfast we finish cleaning up the kitchen and get the house ready for the rest of the day. Today we cleaned house! The girls got the clean, dry laundry and put it in the living room, folded it and put it, as much as they could, away. The boys got dressed and went out to do chicken and calf chores, and filled up my back porch with firewood. When the girls were done the laundry they got dressed and did odd jobs for me. I cleaned the kitchen: reload the dishwasher, wash big dishes, cleanup, put away, wipe down. I also swept the floors as they really needed it.  J3 finished his breakfast and went to read books on the couch. He loves to help with laundry but he just shoves it in any space that is open and that makes finding anything VERY HARD!! Or he climbs on Papa's big chair, throws all the laundry off and LAUGHS!! :) So the couch it is. The boys brought in the eggs and L put them in a carton to be washed later and came in to help the girls finish the laundry. They finished up the laundry and started making beds. L brought me the floor vacuum and plugged it in for me. I vacuumed the living room and he put it away again. L prefers this as he doesn't like vacuuming so it works well. J was done his firewood by then and came in to use the shop vac to vacuum up my sweeping piles and the black rug that goes between the trailer and the addition.

         Baby G woke up right about then and I nursed her and checked my fb :) on my ipad2! As I got her ready for the day; bum change, clothing check, I tickled her and got her to laugh several times. Her smiles are amazing!! She went into her chair on the couch with a chew toy and then into her exersauser when she got tired of the chair. Girls and L were done beds and laundry so they got to go play. J put the shop vac away and morning chores were DONE!! We don't do the same cleaning every morning. We do get something house done everyday but some days it's bathrooms, floors, chair/table/cub wipe downs, bedrooms, or whatever needs doing. The kitchen and animal chores get done every morning. All this doesn't take long. Today we were done at 11am, after a quick breakfast of banana muffins.

      Now when we are schooling this is when we do school. Today we were getting company so the kids played until they got here at 10 to 12. When we do school J3 and R go play in the living room while J, L and E are at the table doing PACE work. Normally we do school til lunch at 1, 1:30. Lately this is when I kick them all outside to play! Baby G often naps at about 11:30 or noon so we all head outside to play in the mud or whatever. This is Baby G's short nap, and she missed it this morning!, and so she's up to eat again at about 1. She loves to play on the floor in the living room while we are all eating lunch at the table. Sometimes she's nursing while the kids eat and I eat later.

       Lunch is leftovers, sandwiches, mac and cheese, snack picnic lunch outside or in the living room. As it gets nicer outside we're doing more eating outside in the sunshine and by summer time we'll probably eat half of our lunches outside.

      After Lunch J3 and R normally nap on the couches in the living room. Actually R only naps about 2 or 3 times a week and lately E has been napping too. She's been fighting ear aches and needs a bit more rest. J and L either go play outside, like today, or read or draw quietly in the kitchen. If we have extra school projects to do this is when we do them. We turn music on in the living room for the sleepers and it masks a LOT of other noise. Baby G naps again at 2 as well... her longer  nap of the day. She sometimes sleeps almost 3 hours. The dishwasher often gets unloaded after lunch and the mornings dishes loaded up. I don't normally run it again during nap time but if we've made cookies or yogurt or muffins, or gotten a bunch of jars I will run it again if it's full. Sometimes I get a kid free break in the afternoon while they all sleep or nap.Today I'm blogging. Often I read or fb or finish one of my own projects. Today I also have beans cooking on my wood stove and 3 extra little boys sleeping in the kids room :) This is also when I chat on the phone or make school and life lists/plans. I can't leave the house as J3 will almost always sit up, half asleep, and I need to be there to lay him back down so he'll sleep for the full two hours. He normally isn't super awake he just sits up! So I lay him back down and he'll finish napping. I also will not leave him alone in the house, free, while no one else is in it, or awake anyway! I really do need to start making him sleep in his own playpen at naps so I can head outside more.

       After naps we often do a few more chores. Eggs that need washing get washed. Laundry if it wasn't dry that morning gets folded and put away. The dishwasher always needs either emptying or filling. Meat gets taken out for supper if we haven't done it yet. Supper plans get made and started. On Wednesdays the kids all hit the shower. J3 and Baby G have bathes in the milk sink. Wednesdays and Saturdays are shower/bath days. Wednesdays we eat early at about 4 or 4:30 in prep for AWANA at 5:45pm. Only two more AWANA nights left!!

     Papa is getting home around 5:30 these last few days which is really nice. I did manage to make supper the first night but last night we ended up cooking together. We have been eating supper around 6 or 7 and it seems to be working. When Papa gets home it's pretty much a free for all of wrestling, hugging, screaming, talking, running and general chaos. He and I often sit down together at some point in the evening and chat about our days. He also does animal chores in the evenings.. often with small helpers.

     After supper Papa takes down the Message Bible and reads us a chapter or two before opening up our family Thank You Book. We go around the table until everyone has said one thing they are thankful for and Papa writes them in the book.  Then the older kids clean off the table and stack dishes in the sink and put food in the fridge while J3 and R finish eating and Baby G nurses yet again :) She is 5 months old today and will soon start solids which will be much more fun to blog about :) Baby G is often up for several hours every evening which is wonderful as she sleeps better at night then. She sits in her chair, or lays on the floor in a safe spot, or walks around on my hip or snuggles with Papa, or plays in the exersauser. Soon we'll get out the jolly jumper and add that to her activities. :)

    By 8:30 we are heading into bedtime mode. PJ's are found and climbed into. Toys are cleaned up. The table is wiped and I load the dishwasher, yes again!, it's not uncommon for me to do 3 loads a day in the dishwasher!! , bathroom trips are taken, diapers changed. Sometimes I have the kids lay on the floor and I ask them questions.. all sorts. Best and worst parts of their day, favorite colors, math adding and subtracting, letter sounds, school songs, anything I can think of. Other times they do jumping jacks, sit ups and push ups, running in spot or seeing how long they can go without moving, talking or whatever we want. (J can go a long time without moving if he can talk. L can go a long time without talking if he can move!! E has trouble doing either, though not moving is a bit easier!) Sometimes if we have time we have a movie night and a popcorn snack.

     Then it's bedtime.  Stories are read, hugs and kisses given, prayers said and little bodies tucked into beds. Their room fan is turned on and I love you's are said.  Then Papa and I sit on the couch and read or talk for 5 minutes then one of us goes back into the bedroom and lay J3 down yet again. Every. Single. Night. He sits up and starts chatting or singing and we go in and lay him back down. Now the kids are in bed for the night. Baby G is often in bed soon after and Papa and I often watch a episode of our current TV show on Netflix, or a movie if we feel we have enough sleep, or sometimes we watch a bit of a preaching CD, read books or finish up projects or chores. One thing, I have to admit, we do every night after the kids are in bed is just stop for a minute and enjoy the silence. We love the noise of our 6 children, but we also know how to appreciate the silence!

Mr. Suspicious!!

Chip is a great dog, he good at his job of barking when strangers drive up, he is quite convincing when I am outside but haven't told him it is ok (some people are even scared of him which I myself find funny as he is such a wimp! Look here for the best Chip story ever!), he enjoys hanging out with the kids and the cows and chickens. Pigs are a bit challenging for him as that electric fence really does bite! When the pigs are loose they have no fear of him after only a little time has passed..they know he is all bark and no bite!

 The thing Chip does best, besides drool all over Papa, is be suspicious! If our neighbor guy is gone for a bit and then goes back TO HIS OWN HOUSE Chip is suspicious. He barks and carries on like the aliens have landed and are stealing all the dogs! Sometimes. The next time the guy will be home for three days before Chip notices and then the aliens have landed! Some mornings we hear furious barking, he's really getting into it, from under the porch, (remember there are dog snatching ALIENS out there!) because our other neighbor has started to (become an alien dog snatcher? Nope. Come walking up to the house at 7am? Nope! [Chip hates people who walk up the driveway they are sneaky and quite and they wake him up from his nap!] Nope!!)  our neighbor has the audacity to, to, to PLOW HIS OWN DRIVEWAY! Mow his own lawn or MY GOODNESS....start his 4 wheeler!!! REALLY!! Those aliens really are hard at work this morning!!

Chip will be 3 this fall and he is showing some signs of maturing.. Our neighbor, the one with the lawn mower, plow and 4 wheeler, takes a walk everyday with his wife and his little dog.. or just him and the little dog. Every day without fail.. never misses a day. Sometimes several times a day. When Chip was in his 1st year he would cause SUCH a ruckus every SINGLE time Mr. R took his walk. We'd have to go out and talk him down EVERY. SINGLE. TIME!!! He also tried to go visit the little dog who was also just a puppy then. She came on the yard once or twice and they did the sniffing thing. She stands about Oh.. 7 inches MAX off the ground as a full grown dog now so it was pretty interesting for both of them. He didn't know dogs came in that size and neither did she! Mr. R would call her and mostly she'd obey and go to him but once he did end up coming into the yard to get her. I think Chip went out on the road once too.. but we soon cured that. In Chips second year he would hit and miss.. some days the dog snatching aliens where out in full force and other days he was too busy napping. Lately he's been more missing then hitting and I for one am grateful. Mr.R still takes his little dog out several times a day for a walk but Chip has decided it is no longer worth his notice.. UNLESS... they decide to ride his bike ( Mr. R has a little basket on the front for the dog).. then the aliens are OUT and are going to GET him!!!!
  J got a chunk of rope out yesterday and attached it to Chips collar and started to work with Chip a little bit. Chip has never been leash trained, actually normally he FREAKS if you attach anything to his collar. But yesterday he did really well. Maybe he is maturing after all!! I have a funny feeling though that Chip will never outgrown his suspicious nature :)

~Snails~

This was one of the fun projects the kids school teacher Mrs. Hunt put together for the grade one group. 

We all made one as they are super fun!!

I had to help R a little bit as she found it hard to roll the clay.

Take 3 equal pieces of clay and roll them into long equal lines.

Twist the lines together and roll it up like a shell.

Make sure you attach the end firmly!

 This looks a bit like a braided rug when your done. 

Take another color and roll out a chunk big enough for the body..

we just doubled the length of the shell. 

Flatten half of the body and place the shell on the flattened part. 

Bring the head up and shape it.

Add eyes, ears, noses, mouths or whatever your snail needs.

Super easy and lots of FUN!!! 

The 3 R's

Reuse, Reduce and Recycle :) We made new crayons from old small pieces of crayon.
1st we broke the broken crayons into smaller pieces and took all the papers off.
2nd we placed the small pieces into the silicone ice cube molds.
3rd we baked them at 250 C for about half an hour! DO NOT BAKE THEM HOTTER!!! :) I opps-ed and put the oven at 350 and thankfully I noticed before I melted my ice cube trays!~!
4th we let them cool off and popped them out of the molds!! Now we have cool crayons to color with!!

Adventures In Sourdough ~ Cupcakes

We've been having a bit of fun with our sourdough starter!

These are chocolate cupcakes which tasted really good.. but are super sticky.

I think I put too much pudding mix in them? 

Maybe? 

Oh well half the fun is in the making :) 

The End Of The Tunnel.

E and L finished their PACE work books!! They have one friction science experiment to do along with monthly verses and PE for April and May and they are FINISHED SCHOOL!!!! J finished his PACE's a few days later amid much excitement!!

I'm already looking into curriculum for next year and we are still planning on doing what I call fun school and the kids know as FUN!! all spring, summer and fall :) Along with math review and lots of reading.

I guess I should say my kids LOVE their PACE work! They really do! They enjoy reading the stories and coloring the pictures and finishing pages and check ups. It takes them 4 days to go through a PACE. Tests and all and we all love how fast they can finish one and head on over to the next one. You never know what will strike their imagination or funny bone or their minds and I very much enjoy listening to them tell me what they are learning. BUT that being said.. Spring is arriving, abet slowly, and they are eager to go outside and PLAY in the MUD and GRASS and BUS and do OUTSIDE SPRING STUFF like bike riding and PACE's are really taking a backseat to fresh air and sun! And that is how it should be :)

So as it stands tonight as I finish off this post. L and E have their one science project to do with Papa And J has 2 art project and a science worm farm to do and they all have verses and PE for April and May to do and we are DONE for the term!! With Papa being home we're not getting that much school time :) (also how it should be as we are busy with other projects) and I imagine we MIGHT get these projects done next week... or we might not. I'm not stressing the end of the tunnel is around me and I'm basking in the sunshine that streams into it :)

Having a 'spot of tea' with their new hats from Grandma while the sun shines in!!

Hard And Soft Sounds~ School Fun.

A tiny science experiment :) Glass cups filled with different levels of water and a spoon are all you need to hear soft and hard sounds. Just tap the cups with the spoon and compare sounds. Super fun!!

What Happened To Spring?

Three days ago I was walking down almost dry earth on the driveway chatting to E that soon they should be able to ride their bikes on the driveway! Later that same day Papa and I noticed that where the grass was clear of snow it was greening up!!  Not anymore! This morning we woke up to snow! 

The snow really is beautiful as it covered everything with it's whiteness. It makes everything look clean and nice and I can really appreciate that. 

We got 6 inches of that fluffy white stuff this morning. Warm, wet, dripping mush! It was snowing when we got up and snowed until almost 6pm!! Papa figures we got about 6 inches. It was +5C and the snow was falling off the roof and trees in chunks while it was still snowing! The snow flakes started out HUGE and slowly, through out the day, got smaller and smaller.  I took these pictures later in the evening. With the naked eye it looked like there was a fine mist over the new snow several feet high. I didn't capture it on the pictures which is making me wonder if I imagined it :)  Papa did plow it off the drive so it might not take too long to get back to dirt.

It did put a few of our projects on hold... and got a few others bumped up the list and finished! Star was going to get out of her little pen and into a halter and on a line out in the yard and we decided not to do it just yet! Instead Papa got the cream separator out of storage, washed and set up. We took the plastic off the living room window and he threw me bags of kids clothes that needed to be sorted and repacked in totes and I got them all sorted and repacked and Papa took them back outside!! SO nice to have that big job done!! I sorted out an entire barrel sized black garbage bag for the thrift store! Now I just have my own clothes to find, sort and try on. Yes.. I'm avoiding it :) But it needs doing as I've only got two pairs of pants to wear and one of them are sweats :)

J decided to do more school then I'd planned and started and finished his last PACE on science, sans self test and test. He spent a good chunk of the day at the table doing school. L and E finished their PACE's with  cheerful smiles all around! All and all it was a productive and fun day, Papa headed out to Bible Study this evening which means MOVIE NIGHT with leftovers :)

SPLASH!!!

We went outside the other day to

 purposely to get as wet as possible 

and get some SPRING in our systems.

It was a little colder then I thought

 and we ended up 

only staying out for an hour.

But it was good because it gave us time to 

SHOWER 

before the baby woke up :) 

SPLASH!!! 

J jumping in the deepest puddle. 

Cool picture of the muddy water splashing up to his knees!!

J3 loved to jump in the puddles!!

 SPLASH!!!

At one point his boot got sucked off in the mud and he got very wet in the puddle 

and I picked him out of it, put his boot back on and off he went again!! 

R, she's a little bit wet and dirty :) LOL. 

YAY!!!! 

5 little Griggers huddled around the well casing :) We went inside right after this.

Well.. NO.

We went on the front porch.

Striped the kids to their underwear.

Put clothes, jackets, hats and gloves right into the washing machine! 

Hopped them in and out of the shower in quick order.

Got dressed in nice clean warm clothes.

And remembered fondly our hour outside in the very wet! 

I also got a short movie of them all jumping in the deep puddle which I may up load one of these days.

SUPER DUPER FUN STUFF!!!! 

*Star* ~Naming Of~

Why we had to call her Star!! 

Do you see it?

*HINT* it's the second part of the calf you see born. First being it's front legs. 

 Someone said recently that it looked more like a maple leaf and I can see that

 but her names already Star 

and Maple starts with a M. ;)