On the Top : May 14

When I make biscuits and sausage gravy, I must serve peas.  

And when I serve peas, they pile them on top.

A strange practice, but no stranger than the children doing it.

Part 1 of the Boys' Room : May 13

The ‘up until now’ progress of the boys’ room.  Probably the longest, most drawn out project to date- even the porch seemed to make more progress more quickly.  This has been discouraging for me, particularly having the entire upstairs and porch cluttered with stuff out of place and tools and lumber always underfoot -but the end is in sight!

After Matt tore off the old sheetrock, we discovered the roofline of the original house.  The original house was half the size of the house now and housed grandparents, parents and children.  I try to remember that when I am pining for a separate playroom for the children when company is over and the background playing noise makes it hard to have grown-up conversations or when our one bathroom is being occupied when I need to use it myself.  

We are incredibly blessed.

Matt replaced the single not-functioning outlet (the very thing that started this whole process in the first place!) with six outlets around the room and an overhead light.  There had been no light fixture before and since the only outlet was a major fire hazard- there had been no light in that room (save the window) for probably a year.  It is so incredible to be able to turn on a light with the flip of a switch now.  I realize this is the 21^st century and sentences like that aren’t often said- but it must be!  

It’s amazing! 

After the electric work, it was time for insulation.  I *EVERYONE* really hopes this will help the upstairs stay warmer in the winter…. Up ‘til now it has been, well, freezing. 

After the insulation, it was time to think about walls.  And this is when we came upon a serious roadblock.  

We wanted a log cabin look but everything was so expensive!  Really expensive.  Too expensive.  So we looked into beadboard.  Almost the same price.  Then Matt looked into a few more lumber options and it seemed, no matter what, it was always between $400-$500.  Ugh.  Eventually, he decided to do the boards himself...cutting the edges, board by board, on his table saw.  It added a few more weeks to the project but saved a bunch of money.  And, he had plenty of help!

 

Then it was time for polyurethane…

and hopefully, this weekend, the last of the boards go up!

After that, it is ceiling and then floor and then shelving and then DONE.

It is coming along nicely now and the sun is motivating us to button this thing up.  We are all more than ready for this project to be done.

Matt- so he can get outside and do other OUTSIDE projects now that the weather is nicer.

The boys- so they can have their room back.

The girls- so their room can be next.  (Not for a bit, girls!)

And the Mama- so that the upstairs and porch can finally be put back in order.  Oh, I’ve been positively desperate for that.

The world opened up to you : May 12th

Look who has expanded her palate recently?

Oh, just you wait.  

Yarn Along : May 11

A yarn along of the day late and a dollar short variety...

Reading:

Deconstructing Penguins by  Lawrence Goldstone and Nancy Goldstone.  A really great book about how to discuss books with children and how to discover together the story underneath the story.  How to be a book detective or a story sleuth.  I am finding it both interesting and inspiring.  And a bit convicting too, since the chapter book read-alouds haven't happened in quite some time around here.  

Yarning:

I was searching for something in every nook and cranny that holds crafts the other day when I went peeking into the cotton yarn basket and saw a bunch of not-quite-done projects.  A few bowties and a few bibs and a few bands that I *believe* were supposed to be shirts for Corynn.  Now, I guess they will be shirts for Adele'.  Unless I set them aside again- in that case, Ineke.  I started those bibs waaaay back when for a certain Judahbear and thought "I know!  I should make a bunch to sell on Etsy!"  ha.  ha ha ha.

Good news is...I know a certain little girl who could benefit from a few new bibs.  I do think they need to be dolled up a bit though...

Reality : May 10

When I came downstairs to find the kitchen in the state it is in, with milk from milking time still to be poured but not until some milk jugs are first cleaned and made available in a kitchen where there is literally NO counter space on which to work...well, that is the most depressed I've been in a while.  

It doesn't help that my entire body is sore and achy from the yard work I did outside yesterday.  

This is what happens when a day turns sunny after a week (or two!) of straight rain.  

The house goes all to pot and I don't care a whit.  

Until I have to clean it all up.

For the (Grand) Moms : May 9

I prefer more spontaneous, living moments shots of my children so I hardly ever take staged photos of them.

But.

Both Grandmothers have been after me for quite some time about getting some up-to-date photos of the children on their walls.  The last ones were back in 2012.  (And I understand their long-suffering since, as homeschoolers, we don't give them school pictures every year.)  That is what they got for Mother's Day this year.

I had a hard time deciding between Ineke's Inquisitive-Sumo-Wrestler look and her Subdued-Pretending-she-is-shy smile so I post them both here.   I am pretty sure the Sumo Wrestler won out for the walls though.

I could post 10 more too, because every picture I take of Ineke is just so darn cute.  (I know, it's a mother thing.)

The day I chose for photos was pretty impromptu and very last minute (READ: if I didn't do it that day, they wouldn't be ready in time for Mother's Day.) Not the best strategy in the world.  The day turned out to be the coldest, dampest, darkest and most dreary day this spring!  You can see from  scrolling through the pictures, that the storm got progressively worse throughout the 'photo shoot' as the lighting got darker and darker.

Along with the individual childrens' photos, Matt's Mom wanted a picture of all the cousins together.  Because of the pouring down rain, it had to be under the porch instead of in front of a barn...but you get the drift.  Ah well- they were all looking at the camera.  (Sort of.)

All the little Newmans...

And because the photographers' helper requested them: 

Mother Dear : May 8

To the one who could always turn my frown upside down.  

I love you Mom

May 7

A Mama and A Tiddle : May 6

Chore Time : May 5

Yarn along : May 4

Here is the completed crocheted wedding pillow I was talk about a few weeks ago. 

It isn't an exact replica of the pillow on the gift registry but neither was it almost $60.00!  When I finally got it to them, the bride said she actually preferred my version to the store one and while she could have just been sayin' it, I am going to choose to believe her.  ;-)

It was a fun thing to do and quick enough.  I have several throw pillows that are ugly (UGLY.  LEOPARD PRINT. CAME WITH COUCH) that I couldn't bear to throw away (even though I hated them) because I know how much throw pillows cost in stores. 

 I think maybe covering those nasty things with yarn might be a perfect solution.   Probably not in ivory though.  Ivory would be my inclination but not my reality.  Not living where I live, with whom I live.  ;-)

A few heart dishcloths I made as Valentine gifts for some friends way back in February. 

(What can I say?  I told you I am backlogged with photos to blog!)

What I am working on now?  I picked up the merriment bonnet again, determined to get that thing finished next.  Guess what happened?  My very first row after picking it up again I knit when I should have purled and now I have to undo the row.   This has happened so many times with this particular piece- I must have undone rows about 13 times.  Every time I set a knit project down by the time I pick it up again I am lost.  And since there is no way of finishing a knit project in one sitting (ha!) this happens all.the.time.  So discouraging!  Not to mention, scary. You would think by now I would be an expert ripper-outer but every time I am filled with dread and start sweating bullets.

As for reading- I am now officially done reading Comfort Me with Apples even though I am only halfway through.  It is a memoir of a food critic that was highly recommended by a food blog I peruse every now and again.  I do not recommend it, not even a little bit.  On her blog, the food blogger wrote an excerpt from the book about a 10 pound chocolate cake that was basically a testament of love to 'Michael'.  It was beautiful.  Only 'Michael' turned out to be a lover who she was cheating on her husband with... and he was after Coleman, another lover that she cheated on her husband with.   Needless to say, the cake lost its' luster.

I would have quit reading immediately but I couldn't fathom a person writing a memoir about infidelity and how her poor husband must have felt so I kept reading to find out if she had used the book to tell him of her affairs.  She didn't.  Turned out the 'poor husband' was having his own affairs so...  They ended up being grateful for the 'relationship that they had made where they could encourage one another to be true to themselves' or some other sort of hogwash.

Liberated selfishness is not exactly my most favorite genre.  No matter if it is dripped in honeyed lemon butter and folded between elegant and romantic sounding french dishes.

(joining Ginny)

Farmer Boys : May 3

4 Months : May 2

The faces just get better and better these days.

Ineke weighs in at 17 pounds, just four pounds shy of her 19 month old cousin.  She looks an awful lot like the baby grinch, but in the most adorable way.

At around 7:30/8:00 every night she gets fussy so I get her all cozy for bed and I start nursing her.  She lingers a bit and I let her.  I wrap her snug in her blanket, tight but with atleast one arm out; her Papa gives her a kiss and a whispered bedtime wish.  His beard tickles her and her eyes and nose twitch.  She wakes up again.  I take her over to her cradle and give her my own sweet-nothing whispers and kiss her chubby little cheek- and she gives me the sweetest, brightest, most joyful grin  in return and then she lays down and eventually falls back to sleep.  In the beginning, I was always so afraid that when she woke back up that she would fuss and need to be rocked to sleep but it never happened.  Her cradle is in the living room and even in the midst of living room noises, she sleeps.  We had a game night last night in which there were 8 children and 6 adults downstairs goofing around and still, she just laid there quietly, in the midst of the noise and chaos, until she finally fell asleep.  She is an extraordinary child.  

Since her head is bigger, her hair looks smaller and she is getting more bald.  And the darkness of her newborn hair is turning lighter.  Her eyes (so far) remain blue, but not a light, bright blue like I think of blue eyes but more the dark blue of stormy seas, churning and engulfing before the lightening strikes.

She loves sucking her lower lip and has just the sweetest voice when she talks.  I need to videotape it~ I don't ever want to forget that sound.

She is almost sitting up by herself already and she has entered the phase of the horrible, awful neck ligament pinches that do.not.end until you pry those little finger vices open again.  Ouch.  She has started playing with toys and laughing at her siblings' antics- and she doesn't cry as often when Judah kisses her.  

She still loves being held in close with my Moby wrap although after a while, my back doesn't love it. 

Four months old.  Oh, it's so great. 

The Month of May : May 1

I fully intend to *try* to post every day in May though, since today is technically May 2nd, I'd say I haven't started off too well. ;-)

 I can rarely be found on the computer on the weekends which may make blogging hard so blogging on the weekends may not happen.  Or maybe I will schedule posts?  Or maybe I will double up on days to make sure a post happens FOR every day but not ON every day?  Really, how serious do I want to be about this blogging in May bit?  That has yet to be decided.  However, for this month at least, I can assure you I will be blogging more than the previous practice of once every week or two. Anything is an improvement on that!

I also have quite a few other goals for this month.  Here they all are, out of my head and onto a screen for others to know.  That ups the ante a bit.  See Mattie?  Totally serious this time.  ;-)

~ Kettlebells/Exercise Monday thru Friday and a walk/jog once within the weekend

~ low carb eating all month for me and the Mister

~ NO gas station stops or fast food, not even for drinks  (on shopping days we are uptown for hours and though I pack lunches for the children, we always inevitably wind up parched and heading to a drive-through for tea (me) and waters (children).  And fries have been happening more than I care to admit too.

~ create a meal plan for every day of the month to make supper happen more smoothly and the low-carb eating to actually happen.

~ Are you sensing the fact that I need to  lose some weight?  yeah.  Thought so.

~ Blog daily

~ Photo document the days more creatively.  I've become a quick snapper and lost my artistic eye.

~ Write a letter (or two) on Sundays

Also to-do this month:

~ paint puppet theater
~ paint rocking chair?
~ make baby gift
~ sew some sunbonnets
~ garden work, Oh, the garden work.
~ sort/price books for upcoming homeschool book sale
~ Paint bunkbeds
~ help Matt stain/poly boards for boys' room
~ drop off clothes to sell on consignment
~ finish my stained glass project
~ keep scouting around for cheap canning jar pantry, daybed and rocking chair on Craigslist/yardsale
~ design/plan summer dresses for girls, gather supplies
~ sew a shirt for myself that flatters and is easy to nurse in

There.  That should keep me out of trouble!