Last Friday, we awoke to ~6 inches of snow. It was warm enough that it was good for packing- a rarity in these usually frigid winters, which keep the snow hard and crusty with ice.
The girls were out for hours making "bunny burrows."
The boys went out for a little while, too.
On Saturday, it was even prettier- like powdered sugar coating everything. Mike said it was probably the prettiest snow he'd ever seen. It was breathtaking.
And this fellow was keeping snug inside of one of Iris's boots. She went to put it on to go out and play and began to scream hysterically, "There's a mouse! Or a frog!" while frantically shaking her foot. I helped her pull it off and peaked inside. Sure enough, there was a shrew peaking out. I tried to shake him out but he wouldn't budge, so I put the boot down outside in the snow, and he scurried away. Poor Iris! I would have screamed, too. At least she didn't get bitten! Country living...
Our neighbors down the road who own a farm (where we got our goats) asked us to take care of their barn chores while they were away this past week, and we were happy to oblige. Mike graciously took care of the chores every day, but I took the kids one day to do them, and it was an adventure. Our animal chores are a cakewalk compared to theirs- they have ~70 chickens, turkeys, pigs (large and small), horses, a ton of goats in different areas (some babies and many expecting), a rabbit, cats, and a llama (and about twenty dogs, which we, fortunately, weren't responsible for). Feeding and watering everything took us about an hour in all (it would have taken longer if we'd refilled everything for the next day, which Mike has been doing, but I skipped that step with the kids- they were ready to go.
It's nice to have these experiences (and be able to trade 3-1 our animal care for theirs when we travel), but the kids and I agreed, we are glad we don't live on an actual farm. The girls came home and promptly hopped in the shower :-)
1. (Mike is responsible for the carton symmetry, though it was difficult for him that we didn't have two more blue ones at the time)
Chicken update- We are down to six- one rooster and five hens. We asked our handyman to take two roosters that were being aggressive and pecking children (and me) and each other. And our chickens are finally laying- at least three of them, as we are getting three different colored eggs pretty much daily- all of the possible colors they could lay- cream from the Swedish Flowery Hen, dark brown from the Black Copper Maran(s), and pale blue from our Whiting True Blue(s). It's a shame none of our Swedish Isbars survived- they would have laid green eggs. How exciting to be filling up our egg cartons and not have to buy eggs at the store!
2.
A few months ago, we noticed a lump on Fenrir's front left toe. The vet tested it (it was necrotic) and said to keep an eye on it- that we may have to amputate his toe. A couple of weeks ago, it started getting progressively worse- a tennis-ball-sized, open sore on his foot. The vet looked at it and said it is very bad and that we need to bring him in for x-rays. If cancer was not present, they would just amputate his leg. If cancer had spread to other parts of his body, we would have to put him down. They said if he wasn't so young, they'd just recommend putting him down. Last week, Mike took him in for the X-rays. They showed no cancer in his liver, and they were surprised to see that there was no bone in the location of the tumor, which they said was very aggressive. So they removed the tumor and just ended up having to amputate a toe, but this is considerably better than we were originally told! Mike has been giving him numerous medications and moving his kennel around/giving him fresh hay as bedding daily, while he wears a cone to deter him messing with the wound. We're grateful for the many people who have prayed for our pup. Thanks be to God for what seems to be a miracle yet again for this big white dog (see the first on my mom's blog, here)!
3.
We have been using a reward system of poker chips for the kids. They can earn chips for doing things like folding an entire load of laundry, putting Joel down to bed/a nap, making dinner, completing a reading lesson (for little kids who need that incentive), or any job I give them to do- and they usually jump for the chance to earn a chip. After they earn all of their (20) chips, they get to choose something fun to do with Mom or Dad, like go out for ice cream or something else. A couple of weeks ago, I took Abigail to see the new Little Women at the theater. And last week, I took Iris to get her ears pierced (which she could have done when she turned nine but chose not to then). It won't always be that big of a prize, but the girls have been particularly helpful while I haven't been feeling well and have been low on energy, so we like to be able to reward them, and we enjoy the one-on-one time with the kids.
4.
The girls have been giving my sewing machine a workout this past week. Besides a lot of their own creations, I helped Abigail make this apron from Sewing with Saint Anne, which we've had for years but haven't used until now. It looks like there are a lot of other nice projects in there she has bookmarked to do. I love seeing them pick up these useful skills (and enjoy the process!).
5.
We finally got a good snow! Somewhere between 6 & 8 inches, but it's hard to tell with the drifting. The kids spent hours playing out there after Religious Ed this morning/afternoon despite it being 9° (of which I have no pictures). The strong winds yesterday made some pretty big drifts that they've enjoyed hollowing out to make cozy forts. And yesterday, Iris and Jack went over to the house of some friends and made forts there too. It is pretty, but we're at that fun time of year when we're constantly having to thaw our mudroom water pipes and my fingers hurt.
6.
We had fun celebrating Uncle Will's birthday yesterday.
7.
This one made her first sacrament of reconciliation today! She said afterwards, "I thought it was going to be really, really, really, really... hard. But it was easy!" Congratulations, sweet girl, on your spotless soul!
Some scenes from celebrating Christmas with Mike's brother's family and his parents here last weekend...Thanks for the awesome new educational books, Pleasant-Ryans!
Happy New Year, friends! 2020 is going to be an exciting one for our family, as we take on a large-scale home-renovation (God-willing) during which we will be displaced from our home for 4-5 months, officially enter the loooong period of parenting teenagers, and....
(taken Nov. 25, at 8.5 weeks)
(I’m only 14 weeks, but hello, world!)
I've been getting progressively more anemic, which is the same as my last pregnancy, and I'll be getting an iron infusion in the next couple of days to help with my extreme fatigue, shortness of breath, and headaches. My jaw gets tired and sore even chewing, and I often feel like I'm going to black out when I stand up. Fortunately, I have the most wonderful, helpful children- my girls have insisted on making meals, giving younger sibling baths, cleaning the house... And Jack can be pretty helpful, too, when asked :)
We feel so blessed to have again been blessed with life, especially after losing our twins a year ago. I've been feeling anxiety since a positive pregnancy test in October, but it definitely helped to see and later hear a heartbeat pumping strong. I've been offering the unpleasantness of pregnancy for those we know who have experienced loss and infertility.
May 2020 be filled with abundant blessings for all of you!
Last Friday, we awoke to ~6 inches of snow. It was warm enough that it was good for packing- a rarity in these usually frigid winters, which keep the snow hard and crusty with ice.
The girls were out for hours making "bunny burrows."
The boys went out for a little while, too.
On Saturday, it was even prettier- like powdered sugar coating everything. Mike said it was probably the prettiest snow he'd ever seen. It was breathtaking.
And this fellow was keeping snug inside of one of Iris's boots. She went to put it on to go out and play and began to scream hysterically, "There's a mouse! Or a frog!" while frantically shaking her foot. I helped her pull it off and peaked inside. Sure enough, there was a shrew peaking out. I tried to shake him out but he wouldn't budge, so I put the boot down outside in the snow, and he scurried away. Poor Iris! I would have screamed, too. At least she didn't get bitten! Country living...
