Baby R eating her favorite food!!

She will even ask for "Nana's" she likes them that much!!

Snow Babies!!

Update Feb 17th.

WELL.. the baby shower was great!! The kids and I had a great time and the twins were very tiny and very cute and they got lots of really helpful and cute stuff.

One of the kittens that we've been taming has recently decided that humans are awesome ear scratcher's and lovely all around caretakers. He, named Patches as he looks just like his mother did (who never did come back), loves to wind his way through my legs as I'm milking with quick foray's into the milk bucket to see if he can reach the milk yet. He allows us to pet him but would rather not be picked up just yet. He is actually becoming a bit of a pest and try's to 'play' with my hands as I'm milking, drink out of the milking bucket, and swat at the milk when it streams into the bucket. As I'm only milking into an old pail these are not serious offences. Yet! This morning I decided that even 'happily friendly kittens' need manners and started to swat at him when he tried to drink out of the bucket. I got a playful swat back! But after a few thumps he got the idea. And as the 'thumps' seemed to come out of no where he is still friendly and playful. The other kitten will not come near, but often plays with Patches tail while Patches sits by me. We have the loan of a live trap and are going to try and tame him when he gets caught in it. The trap is actually for 2 strays that showed up this last fall and are making themselves at home here. They are both Tom cats and neither have any manners or sense. One of them cause our water to freeze the time the bathroom flooded but living under the house after Papa thought he had it all shut up so nothing could get in. We still don't know how he's getting under the house but it must stop.

Papa and I are looking forward to home schooling J and in prep we are looking into different types of programs. Several of our milk people home school and tonight I went to one of their homes to look at what she does and find out more about the program she uses. The kids had a great time playing with their kids and as we left their oldest child started to play their keyboard. J was all ears, riveted on the music and this child only 3 years older then him that was playing it. I got a fair amount of info on home schooling, I really wasn't sure what all to find out, and learned a bunch about that great family.

This week is Papa's 6 day late shift week which means we have mornings together and so far we are really enjoying it. He has time to get some stuff done in the mornings before work which is really nice. And we all get to have breakfast together. Last night he even got home in time to read the kids their book. He's reading Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder and we are all enjoying the story of that hardworking, constantly eating and dreamer of horses Almanzo Wilder.

This morning every thing finally aligned for the cleaning out of the children's closet. Boy did it need it. I got 8 totes on Sunday when we were in the 'city' to go swimming with friends and today I put them to work. Lots of the clothes were sorted and in diaper boxes, but several were over flowing and missing stuff. So I filled up totes and got everything labeled and sorted and finally finished. I had several piles of too small clothes that needed to be put with the proper size in a new rat proof tote. These totes are going to go out to the shed to be stored until we need them again. I also got the kids toys resorted and some of them re boxed and stacked away in the closet. Because of our small space and my own need for neat living area, the kids toys get put away in boxes then every few weeks we switch the boxes out for new boxes and it's like Christmas all over again. I also found some things I'd thought I lost and some I'd forgotten I had at all!! I put all 8 totes to work and emptied out many more boxes. Oh and I went through all the kids current clothes and sorted out too smalls and moved in larger stuff. E and Baby R are almost ready to share clothes!!! Shirts they could almost already. Not the button between the legs shirts but just T-shirts or sweaters! Soon I will only need one pile for them both! I was in an organizing mood and got my brown cabinets above the microwave done as well. Things are looking up!! Papa still needs to make me some shelves in the kitchen and the back 'pantry' bathroom and then I'll feel almost ready for spring!! Wellll maybe not!!

My hands are doing better now that I picked up some non latex gloves. I use the gloves for dishes and wiping up and I'm amazed how fast they are healing. A few more days of this and I may be able to hold a needle again. My finger tips were so sore that I couldn't even hope to do my next winter project which is a cross stitch wall hanging for Baby R. I've made one for each of the kids. It has a teddy bear sitting on a moon with stars all around and their names and dates of birth on the bottom. I really wanted to get it done as if I don't get it done this winter it will have to wait until next winter.

The eagles are gone I think. I've not seen them for about a week. I was sort of sad to see them go but have decided it's for the best. I was a bit worried they would hang around all year and that would not be good in the spring when we have chicks out and about!! Never mind cats!! They may come back next butchering day but hopefully they do not stay! A few years ago my brother had a pair of golden eagles taking baby goats out of his kidding pasture. An eagle can easily carry 5 or 6 lbs, and can kill a lot of chicks if it has babies to raise!!

Hemmed!!

Friends of Papa's from when he worked in the bush just had twin boys!! Their 1st and 2nd children so tonight we are going to a baby shower for them. I went to Walmart last night and picked up some great boy fabric and spent the morning hemming it into 2 large blankets for the twins. After I got some kinks worked out the hemming went really well. Surprised me as me and my sewing machine are often at odds with each other. Not outright war but close. I'm not a sewing person at all, though I seem to be overcoming this slowly, and the smallest chores on the machine are great achievements!! It likes Papa better then me and will only grudgingly work for me but will willingly work for him. I took the 2 blankets I made and wrapped the rest of the gift up inside the blanket. One for each of them. Really cute and I didn't have to wrap it!! LOL. I always want to have twin boys and so this is really special for me! I told a friend of mine that recently and she thought I was NUTS to even ever want twins. Then I mentioned that 'maybe our next one will be twins! Wouldn't that be FUN!!" And she gave me this HORRIFIED look. LOL. But I still think twins would be fun. Now that our other kids are older it would be even more fun for us all and I'd have a few helpers as well!! No I'm not crazy, or pregnant :), but I can dream can't I??

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. :)