Friday, July 13, 2012

Enterprise

We harvested our first big batch of carrots a couple days ago- soooo many! Christian told the kids they could sell some, so we rinsed off almost a third of them and they've been selling them the last couple of days- they are so excited that they can earn actual money (unlike the paltry amounts I pay them to do extra chores)!


 "Where's Waldo?" 


Thankful List, Pt. 2

-the ambulance at the church today was not due to any of my children, but a drunk
-fun evening/morning with Grace and Andy
-coffee
-new Bibles all in the same version for Peter, Anne, and I
-inspirational time with the ladies
-the scale was nice today
-carrot harvest
-Aprons!!! An amazing lady made these aprons for us girls- all coordinating! If you'd like her information, I'd love to give it to you! :)


 -the smell of rain backed up with actual rain
 -going to sleep to the sound of receding thunder
-the POOF sound of snapping the cords on a bale of hay (and the smell of dry alfalfa!)
-wonderful friends who are willing to house-sit AND help deliver goat kids if necessary!
-Elijah finally earned enough $ for his Superman juice (for those who don't know Elijah, once he gets an idea, he NEVER lets go, and doesn't let you forget it!)
-a new and improved goat house! (now if we could just get it IN their yard...)
-meeting neighbors by selling produce
-the kids' pet crickets and grasshoppers haven't escaped...yet

Enjoy your weekend! I'll be back in a week with pictures of Colorado!



Saturday, July 7, 2012

Thankful List

I've been going through an extended period of "down" the last several months and I'm getting really sick of it, so I'm starting to intentionally work on a few things. First, I'm starting to pay myself to exercise because I'm quite bribe-able. $5 a week if I exercise in some way every weekday. I hate exercising, but I always feel better when I'm done. Even though Jillian is gay. Secondly, I've started a Thankful List, inspired by Julie McDonald and more recently my friend Leah in Slovakia. So here's my first day and a half worth...
1. The kids all slept thru the night.
2. We caught Sammy the hamster after he was let loose under the couch.
3. I finally exercised again.
4. Cheap AAA batteries
5. Friends who care
6. A husband who won't give up on me
7. Fresh eggs and tasty chicken
8. Kids who love me in spite of me
9. Good work for Christian
10. RAIN!
11. Creative kids (I think I'm thankful for this, even though it means a lot more work for me!)
12. Craigslist deal- fall/winter clothes for twins
13. They found the missing guy with dementia and he wasn't in our shed.
14. A day to stay home all day
15. Veggie pizza- 1st zucchini from the garden
16. Laundry- it means God has provided well for us.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Fun on the Fourth

 We celebrated the 4th by chilling (literally- it was a chilly day!) with family. My parents are leaving this afternoon to go back to Africa for 3 last years, so it was extra special visiting with them, even though somehow we failed to get pictures of them. :(

We started out the day by going to the park!

Swingin' sisters!

Flying high





 Anne played on the monkey bars. A lot. Today she said her arms were hurting so bad she couldn't even lift her spoon to eat her oatmeal. Ha! Nice try, honey.


 She's growing up waaaaaay too fast.




 Elijah wore his gloves just about all day.

Walking Judah is no longer quite such a back-breaking experience.





The Great Jumping-off-the-swing Contest 



Guess who won? Anne actually came in 2nd, but I think Peter definitely wins for style.


 





Squeaker.

 We had watched Johnny Tremain earlier in the day, so Peter and Elijah brought their toy guns to play with before fireworks.

Happy Independence Day!

P.S. Still no goat babies. But we got rain the day before yesterday! Town didn't get any, so God must've known I needed the pick-me-up. :)

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

The Great Chicken Harvest

Sorry, there aren't very graphic pictures forthcoming. I know you're disappointed. But other than some canning of broth, we're done!!! Our first ever chicken harvest! :) I won't say "annual" because I'm not sure it's really worth it, but it was, nonetheless, quite an experience. Lesson #1: get more help in the kitchen- it's a lot more time-consuming than the killing/cleaning. Oy. Without further ado, here are some pics. 


 5:30am breakfast of homemade frozen (toasted) waffles. Crazy kids. I would've slept in, if I was allowed. :)


 Setting up


 Amazing Blake came and helped for a couple hours even though he was flying out of state later on in the morning!


 Peter was quite a man today and I think even dispatched a couple birds on his own!
He regretted wearing those sandals.

 Only a couple minor casualties. I got a little excited when I finally found my way through the wing joint easily. I am now a pro. ;)


 
 Slight change of subject, we also harvested our first batch of onions yesterday!


A stocked freezer! Yes, I know you're ALL telling me that I'm supposed to refrigerate it for a day or two before freezing, but we don't have the space for that. So, oh well.


Two of the three full pots cooking chicken broth!
In case you're wondering, we're grilling hot dogs for dinner.

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Gardening

Ok, disclaimer: I, Aimee, hereby take absolutely no credit for anything that grows around my house. Number one, it's God that makes those seeds germinate and grow and keeps (or doesn't) the bugs away. Number two, Christian is the one who does all the scheduling, preparing of soil, planting, setting up the irrigation system, etc. My jobs are occasional inspection, finding fun recipes to destroy nasty bugs, harvesting, and putting away during/after harvest time. And photographer. :) Which, by the way, if you have issues with gray blister beetles or grasshoppers, I have really good recipes for you. That said, here are some pictures of what are growing, more or less, around here.


First, the weekly chicken pics...just about 8 weeks old- good fryer size. :) You can tell the roos from the hens quite easily- the bright red combs/wattles belong to the males, the pale heads belong to the females. This morning I heard one of the roos trying to crow! Talk about fast-maturing! (Our 12-ish week old barred rock roo has not starting crowing- I expect him to start within the next month, though)



Far left bed is corn, next bed is carrots, next is lettuce/spinach/cabbage/broccoli, next is onions and peas in the back

 Our to-maters are doing quite well so far- Christian estimates we have over a hundred baby tomatoes growing so far. We need to trim the branches back, so we can walk down the middle.

Ok, Oregon/Washington peeps, this is our blackberry growth- about the best it's done in the last two years. Now you know why I drool when I think of all the fresh berries you have growing like weeds up there!

Squash in the back and tiny baby carrots just starting to come up in the foreground.


Peppers in the back (not terribly happy) and potatoes in the front.


Our grapes continue to surprise us every summer when they finally come up after we've given up hope of them still being alive. Maybe one of these years they'll grow enough to reach the fence to start climbing...

Our aspens are happy

Our apple tree looks much more like a bush

My very sad chamomile, with one die-hard lily. The twins decided to pick me flowers one day and pulled them all up by their roots. Sigh. It's the thought that counts, right?

Another apple tree- notice how all our trees lean in the same direction? It's windy out here.

Our strawberry patch- the first year they haven't died as soon as we planted them!

In the front yard now- here are some daylilies, iris, daisies, chives, and yarrow. Yarrow is amazing for stopping bleeding. Just so you know. It's also supposed to be good for upset stomachs and colds, if you drink a lot of it at the first sign of symptoms. I'm not sold on the aspect, though. But stopping bleeding, yes. It's also one thing that grows like a weed here.


 Asiatic lilies with purple Rocky Mtn. penstimons

Yellow flowers. ? And squash.
"Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ...  But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."