Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Where have you been?!?

Thank you to my loyal and devoted readers who have gently reminded me that my posts are missed. For your patient endurance I give both of you an update... ;)

I don't have any amazing excuses about why it's been so long, just life I think. 

I've been making meals, reading stories, going to church, changing diapers, milking goats, hosting community group, correcting children, admitting failures, trying to keep up with house work that is somehow never finished, grocery shopping, kissing bonks and bangs, wrestling, snuggling, and sleeping too. Just the day to day kind of life. The "reminds me of why i'm so desperately in need of a savior" kind of life. The good kind of life!

Here are some highlights from the last few months:
Daisy Mae, Cassie, and Jackson
We've added another goat to our little herd, so now we have Daisy Mae, Cassie, and Jackson. He is a friendly but spirited (stubborn as heck) nigerian dwarf wether! He's around for companionship and helps us know when the does are ready for breeding, although he can't do anything about it. In other news... Daisy has been bred and should kid  in late April. Cassie has been with a buck, although, we don't think it took. But If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. :) 

(check out all that goat jargon)


Some Goats!
Charlotte must have heard my muttered threats toward their wellbeing on a particularly noisy day. :)





E turned 1! 1st birthdays are so confusing... WAIT, WHAT? Now you WANT me to rip paper? He caught on fast though. :)
In lieu of a cake picture... here's spaghetti face.  
And yogurt face!
And then there was Christmas!
"Mama, take my picture with this!"... for advent we read a bible story, had a piece of candy and, cut off one link each night. It was really neat to have J be at an age where he is able to understand and be excited to celebrate Christmas. 

after that it finally snowed!
other news:

Jordan found this on craigslist for free! J is pumped (pun invalid... he doesn't know how yet) about it... it will be especially nice when it's a little warmer outside. 

I love J's imagination... these are airplanes. (fashioned from kleenex and chip clips)

E loves hats! Sometimes he's being quiet and I expect to find him unrolling the toilet paper and instead he's looking at books or putting on hats. :) Sorry it's blurry, I took at least 10 and they all were. He's a mover!

J has taken to wearing this carabiner and keys around on his belt loop... just like daddy. It's really cute!

E is maybe just a little pleased with himself...
he finally managed to climb into that pesky rocking chair that's always bucking him off! 
We heart Playdoh!!!

"Mama can you build me owls?" (I can't take credit for the snake)  :)
I turn my back for one second... Owl family massacre!

And for the grand finale... a first installment of, "Busy Mama = Busy Boys". I'm unfortunately sure there will be many more installments in my future!


Where was I? I was reorganizing the kitchen cupboards.
Where were they? They were in their bedroom playing quietly (theme anyone?).
What is that? That is xanthan gum.
Xanthan gum is used as a binding agent in gluten free baked goods.
When wet it turns into a thick, sticky, slimy, paste. Note E's head. 
I hope it's been worth the wait!
I'll try to update again sooner!
Love, April





Sunday, August 12, 2012

a little update...

Garden harvesting is in full swing and we aren't the only ones reaping the benefits :) (beet greens for the goats) i canned 9 quarts of beans and 3 quarts of pickled beets yesterday... i ain't no grandma blake but i consider myself successful :) 

oh hey, did you know joe and ashley came to visit us? what? you can't tell from this picture?... well unfortunately it's the only one i took while they were here. (we love you guys!) we had fun... and joe, jordan, and jeriah reaped this bounty in the good old puget sound!

J has become an awesome little helper! he even helps feed E...

he operates under a "one for you, one for me" policy

he looks so sweet and innocent (don't trust him) he's a mover!

   *when sitting up or laying on his back he can scoot backwards 
   *when laying on his belly he can spin in circles
   *when set in a bear crawl position he can hold himself up 
and today he was working so hard to crawl... he'll be chasing J soon.

(in other news: he has officially cut his 5th and 6th teeth.)

Monday, July 16, 2012

this was our first strawberry yield this year... yum! 

J called me into the living room while i was washing dishes to add a finishing touch to his tower.

E... what a little stud :)

a little stud who started doing THIS this week!!!

J helping daddy carry firewood

self portrait

a typical sight...

four teeth...

checking out a moth...

our happy little homestead...

a legacy continued


Sunday, June 17, 2012

did you miss us???


it's been pretty rainy out here so here's what we've been up to inside...
legos!!! J is a master castle architect.


Play dates and play doh!!!


trains... OHHH LOOK! J's actually wearing pants!!!!

chasing... (everybody's favorite)
 mowing the lawn with an exmark... (or sitting on E's car seat which you have turned upside down)

riding horses with a "saddle"

helping mom put groceries away...

and of course after all that... naps...




Sunday, May 27, 2012

Animals

Just what exactly does a man with a Saturday off work do?  He goes to the zoo with his wife and kids right?  Yes that is exactly what he does.  WOW thats great says you, is there anything that could be better than that?  only if the zoo was full of moving walkways. carrying 2 kids, walking for hours on end in the heat... exhausting but worth every step as evidenced by the images below...

For the 1st hour all J wanted was to see a zebra, which is practically a horse... we could have gotten away with a drive in the countryside.  Also, see how good he is doing at looking at the camera, wrong camera but looking none the less



There's a leopard in there, A leopard is a big cat, probably could have gotten away with a walk around the neighborhood where there are plenty of those ferrel creatures



another big cat but super close and pretty cool



 E had a great time, even seen a crow!




We got to feed this guy a little later which was not as cool as it sounds but to J it was indescribable



 FOR ASLAN



If those pics weren't proof enough that the boys had a great time, these last 2 of the trip home ought to convince you




Thanks for looking
Jordan