A great big SMILE!!

Papa showing L how to play a chord on our Ukulele, a gift from Grandpa and Grandma G.

Checkers.

Papa taught J how to play checkers recently. J won. LOL. I helped a little :). But as you can see it was a pretty serious game for a while. I love how cute J is with his little stick on mustache. L took the time to review the rule book for when he's old enough to beat Papa in chess.

Milestones.

Baby R who is almost 1 year old is growing in leaps and bounds. Not is size, though she is now 15 lbs. She's growing in maturity. She has started talking. She can say Papa, Momma, J and L. If you ask her to say E then she says ummumm. Here she is right after she climbed on the couch for the 1st time. She stepped up on a blanket and climbed up. She is very proud of herself. She walks along the furniture but is not brave enough to step out and walk but that's ok. She is getting braver by the day. She also gives big wet kisses and loves 'round and round the haystack'. If she wants to play 'round and round the haystack' she points her finger at her hand until you do it. For those of you who do not know. Round and round the haystack is when you draw circles around the baby's palm while saying 'round and round the haystack goes a little mouse." Then you point on the baby's arm and say "One step." Point higher and say "Two steps" Then you tickle them under the chin and say "In his little house!"

Lazy Sunday Morning!!

Our children love to read books. They have everyday books and 'special' books that they only get at special times to keep them in good shape and keep them always 'new'. Not 'new' as in condition but 'new' as in exciting!!

Plowing or Playing???

Papa has the use of this skid steer through his work and a trailer to bring it home on. It makes short work of the snow on the driveway and piles it perfectly for snow forts!! Papa and the kids have made a huge snow fort and the next warm nice day we have I'm planning on taking some pictures of it for you all. This is taken from the porch. Beside that garbage can is the front porch which is half covered in snow. There are 3 steps up on to it, but only one is showing. The chainsaw keeps the freezer lid down!! LOL. It's a bit twisted and every time we open the lid it refuses to close all the way again. Oh the joys of making do!! Keeps the saw handy though!!!

The Little Things.

The Griggs household has been having a bit of trouble the last 6 weeks. Nothing huge. Nothing devastating. Nothing heartbreaking. Just little things. The new dryer still doesn't work because Papa hasn't had time to get into it, a bit of cow trouble and car trouble. Nothing that costs too much but little things that catch you by surprise and still need dealing with. Our milk fridge smelled all of a sudden ( the freezer quit working and the meat inside made a mess and leaked into the fridge. It's cleaned up now.), the stray cats started fighting with our cats under the house, the laying hens keep unplugging their light and water so that they are cold and thirsty. The appliances went crazy and almost half of them stopped working. The moose is eating the cow hay outside the pen almost as fast as the cow is on the inside (some electric fence should stop him but we only figured it out yesterday when Papa caught him at it.), a shelving project that should take about 3 MAX hours has taken a full month and is still no where near being finished, never mind the bunk beds Papa was going to build weeks ago. We ran out of pine firewood and Papa went out to cut a tree down and brought in a small load but the rest of it is buried under a foot or more of snow because the Travelall stopped working. Several people consistently forgetting milk jars and we had a serious problem. One night when Papa got home from work he put his supper in the microwave and lights or appliances on 5 different breakers went out for no apparent reason and not everything on each breaker went out. He flipped the breakers a few times and they came back on all alone 15 minutes later!! I told Papa "What are we supposed to be learning??" Normally when something like this happens we agree that God is trying to teach us something. Something we need to be learning. It started New Years Eve and hasn't really given us much of a break since. It's just the little stuff. Some of which I can't even remember because it was so minor but every thing plays a part in it. The kids tried to stop sleeping and napping one week, the animals are uncooperative, the phones conk out at odd times, the brand new meat saw we bought this summer is in parts because the saw doesn't line up!! It's never even been plugged in!! Pig butchering has been put off at least 4 times because the saw isn't working and no one seems to be able to figure out what the problem is. Not even the company we bought it from!! Stupid things, irritating things. I got stuck 2 times in 4 trips!! Since when?? I don't think I've ever been stuck before!! I told my mom about some of it one day and she laughed at me!! LOL. She thinks it's because we've been married 10 years this Fall. She told me she thinks a couple should have a wedding shower every 10 years because things start breaking down at 10 years and you have to buy everything again anyway!! I pointed out that we haven't had any of the stuff that's breaking down for 10 years, living in 2 countries the way we have we've very little of the same appliances, and she said it didn't seem to matter. 10 years and everything breaks down. I'm not too sure that's it but it's a good a theory as any I guess. What I find interesting is that 2 praying woman (you know who you are and Thank You) have told me in the last month right out of the blue that they are praying for us. That tells me it's probably something big. Now if we could only figure it out. :) I'm hoping we figure it out soon as my poor hands are chapping in several places from all the washing up. My one thumb is split constantly and burns every time water hits it. Nothing seems to help it heal. Our family dishes wouldn't be so bad but because we sell milk I wash up to 25 gallon jars a week!! Never mind milk dishes 2 times a day. I love our cow but I really miss my dishwasher!!! It surely is a time of testing and trials in it's own small way. I'm just very thankful it's only the small stuff. No one is sick or injured, lost or dying, as with the books (which was another thing, and the lack of water)... it's only things. I'd rather it be things then beings. Human beings that is!! Thank you LORD!! God Bless and have a great day, and if you think of it would you pray for the Griggs family that they would understand what they are to learn!!

Oh and if anybody has any ideas or thoughts I'd love to hear them. On either the little things or my horrible hands. :)

Imaginations...

Children have amazing imaginations. Our children surprise me almost daily with what they dream up. Some days they are Donavan, the Sheriff and Dusty out of "The Apple Dumpling Gang" movie. Other times they are Bagheera, Baloo and Shere Khan or Wilber, Charlotte and Fern or Templeton. Chip and Dale and Montary Jack are regulars as are Aslan, Peter, Lucy, Susan, Prince Caspin and Edmond. They often give names to everyone in the room for a game. For example our friend Blair is always Shere Khan the tiger who 'gets them' and his wife Becca is Baloo who is suppose to come 'save' them. I like to be Kaa the snake as he often has a very small roll or 'naps'. Papa is Bagheera or King Louie in turns. They often are animals. Tigers, wolves, bears, porcupines, black panthers, snakes, cows, horses and a wide assortment of other animals. They hunt in the bedrooms and drag their 'prey' back to the living room to be BBQ'd, of which we all have to 'have some steak', they save Mowgli from the monkeys or tigers or whatever else they dream up. E's baby doll is now permanently named Mowgli and E carries her by the bow on the front of her sleeper with her teeth while crawling on all 4's. They fight dragons, giants, and monsters and win or lose as needed. They roll play being 'momma' or 'papa' or 'baby'. Often all 3 or more in an hour. A laundry basket makes a fine boat and carpet or lino makes wonderful water or lava or rock. The couch is a port in a storm, the chair a rock over looking the 'water'. They 'fish' for toys or each other. They drive cars and have races and play 'town'. They love to be 'the green knight' (Franklin) and one is the dragon or goblin or squire and the other the knight. E flits in and out of these games getting more involved now that she is getting older. A string of beads is a tail one minute and a snake the next. The same beads can be bullets for a pistol or soup to be stirred. J is mostly the ring leader but L makes his wishes known. E is big on copying but is still totally involved. Some days they all play together all day and the next they hardly speak to each other. Each does their own thing and everyone is happy.

Critter Update

Well we think we finally figured out Bindy's problem. She misbehaved for several days, got her bruise on her bag one day, then a few days later took off on me again while I was trying to get her in to milk and cut her bag (front teat same side as the bruise) on the fence between us and the neighbor. She didn't cut it too bad but enough so that it's hard to milk out. Then the next day Papa went out to check her hay and found the problem. At least we think so. Moose tracks. Over the neighbors fence to the bale of hay (they love free food) and then back to the neighbors!! Bindy had reacted BADLY to chickens, she chased them out of her pen for days after we got her, pigs, and cats, so we are not too surprised to find that she reacts badly to moose as well. AND it was eating HER food.

The eagle that was hanging about brought his wife/buddy over and the two of them, I'm assuming a mating pair, have been hanging out!! He sits up in that tree and watches us and they fight the crows and ravens who try and take over the mess in the lagoon. I can't imagine there is much left but they seem to thinks it's worth while. The other day while feeding the pigs the bigger eagle (the male?) was flying over and when he saw me he hovered over my head about 50 feet in the air and 'talked' to me. I just stopped walking and stood there and watched him. They are amazing birds. He 'talked' for about a minute or a bit more and hardly moved in the sky!! His wings gently moving to keep him in place. The talking is high squealing sounds with sharp squeaks. Sort of sounds like a piece of barbed wire being pulled, back and forth, through a fencing staple, but much more prettier.

Travelall Fun and an E funny.

Yesterday we got to go to town in the morning to get our new car, a 1990 Honda Accord. Papa has been looking at it for awhile and he went out and bought it Monday but we couldn't go get it home until Papa got the Travelall running. The car is 19 years old and 19 years newer then the Travelall!! It is the newest car we've ever owned and the 1st to have a trunk!! He got the Travelall running late Tuesday night after spending almost all of Monday and Tuesday on it. I figured it out this is the 1st time the Travelall has really broke down in the 2 years we've been driving it. After we picked up the car and dropped Papa off at work we did some stuff in town then drove to Grandma house for a long awaited visit. When it was time to go I managed to get the back in the Travelall stuck on the down hill side of a very icy shallow hill. Not a big deal I thought and got out to put her in 4x4. Well it wouldn't work. It just made this horrible grinding sound. So I took it out of 4x4 and we managed to get out with out it. As we drove away my Travelall started to make a horrible grinding noise again. I pulled over and in the driveway across from me was a man standing by his truck. So I hopped out and asked if I could borrow his phone then called Papa at work and begged for help. I was so upset. He finally got the Travelall working and his wife goes and wrecks it the 1st time out. Well Papa came down and drove it and we looked at each other and groaned!! OH NO!!! So I limped it back to Grandma's and he went back to work to get some fluid just in case it was just a case of low transmission fluid. He came back 5 minutes later and checked one thing and SMILED!! He had gone back to work and told his two bosses what was going on and one of them had this same thing happen to him!! We are blessed with Bosses as neither of them even turn a hair when Papa has to come rescue his wife and one told him to stop apologizing as had I needed him and that was fine!!! LOL. It turns out the horrible grinding noise was a tiny part that connects the front wheels to the back!! He took that whole drive shaft right out, it took him 15 minutes, and off we went!! We will not have 4x4 until he replaces that part and puts it back in but that's OK I've gotten stuck 2 times this winter already I think I'll just STOP NOW!! LOL.

While Papa was taking out the drive shaft I had taken the kids back inside Grandma's house. E was asleep when I brought her in and when she woke up she asked "Why Grandma's?" So I told her that Momma had broken the truck and Papa needed to fix it. And she tells me "Need to be more careful Momma!!" That is what we tell them when a toy breaks or someone gets hurt. Need to more careful is right.. Maybe it's a good thing I've been stuck at home these last 3 weeks, of the 4 times I have been out I've gotten stuck.

One of Papa's bosses played a joke on Papa a while ago now. If you look really close you might spot it!!

Yes that is a FORD sticker on our 1971 International Travelall!! His boss found one on a pickup somewhere and siliconed it on the front of poor Polly!! Papa sent me out in the middle of the night claiming I HAD to go see what his boss had done!! It was worth it!! I laughed so hard!! Papa gets teased more about his Internationals at work then anything else.