Eastering

There was candy and JUICE on the table for breakfast and hanging hanky garlands~ it must be Easter!

Funny how quickly children come to the table when there is candy on it.  ;-)

It looks like Ineke and Moses are trying to decide what those rolls were supposed to be... no one realized they were supposed to be rabbits with candy cottontails until I told them.  

Ah well.  You win some, you lose some.

After a yummy breakfast and church, we made our way to John and Holly's house for an Easter gathering...

Along with an egg hunt for candy for Littles and an egg hunt for MONEY for Biggles, Aunt Holly had a special activity for the little girls involving a treasure map.

(Clearly Aunt Holly is THE BEST.)

I love this next series of photos because you can follow Ineke's disbelief of her good fortune.

 "Is this really happening?"

The cutest house basket purses ever!  And filled with candy, to boot.  

Before the party, I had hidden, down the road and in plain view, Easter bags for each child- will they find them?  

They will, indeed.

Don't get too close!  These lovely ladies have a fierce defender/protector waiting in the wings.

Our lovely hosts!

I am particularly proud of this year's Easter coordination because it all just hand me downs through the years that happened to work together the day before (or morning of) Easter... even Adele's and my exact same dresses came to us separately.  A bit of Jones, a bit of Owen, a bit of Reigle (with some rummage sale and shower curtain thrown in for good measure) represented here- hand me downs are the best.

The Month that Was: March

“It's sad if people think that's (homemaking) a dull existence, [but] you can't just buy an apartment and furnish it and walk away. It's the flowers you choose, the music you play, the smile you have waiting. I want it to be gay and cheerful, a haven in this troubled world. I don't want my husband and children to come home and find a rattled woman. Our era is already rattled enough, isn't it?”

~Audrey Hepburn

March could be summed up in a word:  sourdough.

Sourdough bread.  Sourdough Rolls.  Sourdough pizza, muffins, banana bread, cookies, pancakes and waffles.

The March goal of getting practiced up with sourdough was great on it's own.  But one should not try to make that a goal right alongside another goal of losing weight.  At least, not one in one's right mind.

Me, on St. Patricks Day, pretending I am the Homeschool Mama I was seventeen years ago.  I did things like this back then.  

How is this marvelous boy HALF her age and just as big?  

This photo is entitled "The Indoctrination of Brothers" and also "A Mother's Heart Goes Pitterpat"  (If she ignores the book, that is.)

The results of indoctrination

I don't remember what constituted that big frown but it must have been a bad day.  :-/  

Thank goodness that crocheting dishcloths counts as a craft project- I barely squeaked the craft goal through. 
I enjoyed this book very much- a selection of personal letters throughout the life of Flannery O Connor.  What a character she was!  I have not read any of her works so this is the first time I know the author more intimately than their works.  If you are a Flannery Fan, what would you suggest I read first?

I was lamenting to my Father-in-law how time is just passing so swiftly by- and how many years I have spent hoping that as I got older and my children got bigger, things would begin to slow down a bit.  He said that "No, they just get faster and faster."  

So now I know.  And that's DEPRESSING.

As time careens past me, particularly in these last few months, I feel an undercurrent that I know will completely shatter my own personal pangea.  My whole world is about the be blown to bits, I just feel it in my bones.  I can't shake it.  It keeps me up at night.  It distracts me during the day.  I want to cling to the goodness of now.  And then I feel pretty sure that God doesn't want me clinging.  That was never His way.  

 I am in a tug of war right now with God.  And like a gentle Father, He is holding onto the rope loosely, tenderly; making it appear to me like I have some semblance of control while simply protecting me from His own strength.  

And so I am trying not to cling.  I am trying to live in gratitude.  I am trying to make the best of things, to revel in the now.  I am trying to create a haven, trying to have a ready smile even when my whole being seems ready to burst.   I am trying not to be rattled.

And, on top of it all, I am trying not to eat ALL THE BREADS.

Egg Roll Day

If kind, talented, and sweet Millie gives Corynn a homemade egg roll as a special treat- then I am going to have to steal a bite.

And if I steal a bite, I am going to have to beg Millie to come and make some for ME.

And if I beg Millie to make some egg rolls for me, Millie is bound to say yes, because she is kind and talented and sweet.

And if she makes egg rolls for ME, Andrew is absolutely going to love them.

And if Andrew loves them, he is going to ask for homemade eggrolls for his birthday feast.

And if he asks for homemade eggrolls for his birthday, he is going to GET them.

(Guess who is making eggrolls this weekend?!)

The Month That Was: February

Well, February zipped by, didn't it?  And March is following suit.  It is high time I blogged about February, but try squeezing a blog post around 3 children who all require the (single, solitary) computer for at least a portion of their schoolwork each day... when I have a free moment, there is usually schoolwork happening.  It ain't easy, my friends.

My February goals were intense (but necessary) which had the month fly by with barely a notice of the world around me.  We had two cows butchered earlier than expected and so the whole months' goals were surrounded around food: eating it, canning it, organizing it, making room for it, etc.

My goals were thus:

#1 Clean/organize basement  

#2 Empty out freezer.

#3. Do ZERO grocery shopping for the entire month.  This, in order to help me focus on emptying out the freezer and using up what I had. (The exception was the weekly run to my brother-in-laws for farm milk.)

Those are hardcore goals!  

 Every day I was making something yummy from something I had been hoarding for so long I had forgotten I had it in the first place.  The children didn't complain about the many muffin breakfasts or fruit smoothies.  Or soups for lunch or desserts like blueberry rhubarb crisp.  Often I was boiling soup bones to make bone broth and then canning it up.  I canned fruit jams.  I canned quarts (and quarts) of meat. 

I am quite sure my children love the No Grocery Challenge months more than any other time because…  soups and meat for lunch instead of sandwiches.  Meatloaf without feeling guilty from using all that meat!  Desserts! Generous heapings of vegetables in the stir fry! Oh, look!  A bag of french fries- let's eat them for lunch!

We literally had to eat (or can) through an ENTIRE CHEST FREEZER... it was nuts.

Somewhere around the food and freezer madness, we tore off socks and shoes on a 65 degree day and went to the creek just to put them back on a day later, in time for a few snowstorms.  Matt celebrated another birthday (like four times, because he is spoiled).  Aunt Holly treated some of us (non-working~ sorry, Corynn!) girls to a dinner-theater production of Cinderella, Valentine treats and cards were made and delivered, I was given a sourdough pet, we had an egg-roll making day (which deserves a post of its' own), Matt bought me flowers, and I was able to meet my exercise 3x/week goals every single week along with all the daily ones.

Overall, February was a very productive month.  Too productive, if you ask me.  

This month I've been taking it easy...

And it feels oooh, sooooooooooooooo goooooooooooooooooooooood.