Summer Days

I have survived my week of Girls' Camp and am now enjoying the easy summer days at home.  The kids and I have been going to the pool in Albany a lot.  They enjoy seeing friends from church and school there.  And I enjoy being able to sit back and observe without being in the water (its cold!!!) the whole time. 

Our animals are growing steadily and thriving.  Bella is still scrawny next to her new sister, Meadow.  But she is growing and seems happy enough.  Bella has been shedding, and now that much of her longer hair has shed, she looks much better. 

The twins are happy as ever.  They were recently weaned, and did  NOT like missing babas.  But they are doing fine without them.  They enjoy all things mischievous, including climbing into our vehicles and on the lawn mower, escaping their pen, and head-butting cats.  That is so funny to watch!  Thank heavens they have yet to attack our garden... knock on wood!

The chickens look like adults already!  I know I need to begin looking for eggs soon.  Wow!  Our roosters are starting to "crow", although it sounds kinda pathetic.  They are NOT quite fully developed yet.  Almost!

Our fruits are growing, although it has rained seldom and they need a good rain.  We have squash that can be eaten any day now and have our first cucumber.  Yeah!  We need to get the knack of gardening here.  The soil is rich and absorbs water, but we have little vermin to deal with (moles, field mice, rabbits, raccoons...).  We are still learning!

Tomorrow is Cole's 7th Birthday!  He is so excited!  We need to make it fun!  ;)

Next week:  My best friend Tasha is coming with her kids to visit!  I am SO EXCITED!  I miss her and the kids SO BADLY!  And Cole and Emma miss their best friends Scott and Brooklyn.  Aubree cannot wait to see her sweet baby, Tayven (neither can I)!  Happy dance, happy dance!

I'm A Survivor!

I have survived Girls' Camp!  Woohoo!  I was sick all week with a head cold, so I was not fully functioning.  But it is DONE and ALL the girls had a blast! Such a relief!

We had 3 girls at the main campsite (one a YCL and gone half the time and the others with me as their Leader), and 2 went on the 4th Year Canoe Trip (with Sis. Smith).  I was super worried that the girls would not have fun with only 2 to with me all day. missed them an AMAZING time.  I think it worked!  from the smiles and comments I received, it seems to have their best year yet!  Thank heavens for the energy I did have and my "silly" personality!

The girls made new friends, Sariah won the "Miss Sunshine" award for camp one day, and we generally bonded very well!  Such a blessing!  I LOVE these girls SO MUCH!  They are so sweet and have a spiritual strength that amazes me.  YW rock!

Memorable moments:
The girls on the 4th Year Trip, Zane and Ellen... seeing them come over and down the hill to Camp after their 4th Year Adventure was complete! It was awesome to run to them for some serious hugs and exchange fun stories!

My favorite moment with Sarah... after having listened to her amazing testimony, seeing her with her newest REAL friendship with Kendall! I was secretly crying behind her for joy!  She had been a bit sad all week without her best friend (could not come due to a recent surgery).  She had put herself out there, despite her discomfort and made a friend that loved her equally as much as she loved her.

My favorite moment with Sariah... seeing her joy when she won the Sunshine Award at Camp!!!  She had set out to win it on day one and her commitment to friendliness paid off.  Yeah!

A special moment with our YCL, Jenna... being her "arms" during our AWESOME skit! Despite our small numbers, I think we had a memorable skit.  It was funny and the girls were proud!

My favorite with Sis. Pam Smith... staying up till who knows when talking about our love for these AMAZING GIRLS! We had a blast!

There are SO MANY more to mention, but I cannot do them justice with my limited writing skills.  Just know I had a wonderful time and CANNOT wait till next year!

By the way, I have an awesome video of my dancing skills on Facebook.  I just cannot get it to upload to my computer.  So here's a link to my timeline... http://www.facebook.com/amie.haddock#!/amie.haddock

YW Camp On My Mind

I have a few days left to prepare.  Next week is all about YW Camp!  I am excited!  Is that because I have never gone as a leader...LOL.  It will be fun.  I will MAKE it fun.  Oh yes, I will!

The Camp theme this year is "Hold On" D&C 121:7-9.  We were asked to make flags for each Branch/Ward.  We went with an owl theme.  So cute!  The owls were my idea.  I was thinking... Branch... branch... Albany... "Owl"bany... owl on a branch... Okay.  I am a nerd.  But the flag is adorable!  There is a tree with lots of branches and a uniquely made (and colorful) owl for each YW and leader.  The flag will say "Albany Branch YW" and "Hold On to WHOOO You Are". 

Here's the shirt I made.  We all made our own (even those not going to camp).  Each owl (on the flag and shirts) has the same shape, just differing colors/patterns.  They are unique!  EEK!  So cute!

I need to start packing.  I need to make sure I get everything together before Sunday.  Monday morning I will be going down with our only YCL(Youth Camp Leader) a day earlier than most.  I need to make sure I have all the necessities and fun stuff we will need.

My worries:

I am worried about getting exhausted.  I swear that I am tired half of the time anymore.  I will just need to drag myself around a bit and stay positive.  Right?!

I am also a little worried about only having 2 girls with me the entire week.  We only have 5 girls attending.  One is a YCL, 2 are going on the 4th Year Trip (we will not see them until Thurs), and then there are the 2 stuck with me.  I hope these 2 ladies have fun.  My goal is to make it fun and memorable.

Summertime Begins!

The kids have been out of school for more than a week.  I must admit that last week we did a whole lot of nothing.  No house work, no fun stuff, no nothing. I allowed the kids to "chill" the way they wanted to and they ended up engrossed in one form of media or another.  Why can't they just play outside on their 40 acres?


Yesterday we started our week by swimming at the pool in Albany for Memorial Day.  It was great having daddy off for the day.  We went ahead and bought a season pass to the pool, so we will be swimming also.  I think we will be visiting the library a ton, as well. 

Today we are officially starting our summer routine:  daily chores (house and farm), homework assignments (reading, etc.), restricted media time (TV, computer, video games), and mandatory outside time.  Apparently if we do not plan out their time, they will do nothing but play video games, play on the computer, or watch TV all day.  I feel a bit like a dictator.  But I want to teach them that we have to get something accomplished each day.

My mom will be getting back home in 2 days, so we have a lot of housework to do before then.  All I need is to overwhelm her BEFORE she even spends one full day with us again.  We have been working all morning, are currently taking a break, and will continue to clean this afternoon.  Cursed housework!!!

Neighbor From Hades Update:  We have had very little to do with him for weeks and weeks.  He continues to lock his gate whether or not he is home.  I suppose we might get a wild hair and decide to go up for a visit or take something.  Yeah, right!  Every time we drive past or are outside, he childishly and blatantly turns his head so he will not have to see us.  Not that we are hurt or anything. Its nice to have him avoiding us as much as we wish to avoid him.  I feel safer this way.

Yesterday morning he drives up our driveway to "talk" to my husband.  Apparently he believes we have not returned a wrench and some Jurassic Park DVDs he forced us to borrow (which we returned via his mailbox).  And he was upset that we didn't respond to a letter he wrote to us.  Which we did not get.  He called us thieves and cursed at us.  Dan asked him to leave and he cursed and screamed that we should never step foot on his property.  Which we never had and never will. 

Dan thought he would give him another wrench the same size, despite the fact he remembers returning the borrowed one.  We found that same wrench in our mailbox last night.  UGGH!  The man is completely mental!!!

Summer Break On the Farm

I haven't posted in awhile.  Whoops!  I have been busy with end of the school year stuff and the first week of summer vacation.  And my husband is officially living here, so I have been enjoying that immensely!  I kinda like having him around for some reason... ;)

Farm News:  We now have 2 little ewes (female sheep), Bella and her new "sister" Meadow.  Meadow has been here for nearly 2 weeks and is adjusting fine.  At first she was a bit freaky.  Not only is she HUGE next to Bella (momma milk, I suppose), but she had been out to pasture all her life and was NOT tame.  At all!  She would go barreling through, ramming her head against fences, to get away from us, etc.  Thank heavens for Bella!  Meadow has been used to being a part of the flock and follwing all they did.  Bella is very tame and lovey, so Meadow has learned to tolerate me and follow me into her pens.  I still am not allowed to touch her, but she doesn't freak out when I am nearby.

Bella and Meadow

Meadow being shy

All of the other animals are doing well.  They are growing quickly!  Our chickens look like adults.  The roosters (there are 3, oh heavens!) are starting to crow a bit, fight a bit, and one is even "acting his part".  Blech!  We will keep one, maybe two.

Our chickens are growing up nicely

Capt'n Dudley Haddock (Cole named him) is watching over his ladies

The twins are so cute and fun!  They are into everything and are little Houdinis!  We have to make sure their enclosures are VERY secure!  They love playing around, climbing on everything, and head-butting anything.  Emma made the mistake of playing "head-butt" with the twins one afternoon.  She ended up regretting it (sore bum and forehead)!

Cheese & Sprinkles are growing quickly and loving life

The twins love torturing the cats (head butting them), and Ruby is ever vigilant

Fun stuff:  We got are garden going with tomatoes, swiss chard, green beans, yellow squash, zuchini, cucumbers, and watermelons.  Yum!  It was HARD WORK (especially when the ground hasn't been worked in a few years)!  We had to till several times, hoe into into rows, plant, and mulch it (straw).  But it looks nice.  We cannot wait to get some veggies!



We now officially have baby grapes!  We have 3-4 old Concord grape vines going strong.  How awesome will it be to have fresh juice and jam?!

A nice close up, the bunch is about 2 1/2 inches long

Glorious, glorious grapes!

The coolest thing...

We have a PEAR TREE that is producing highly!  We didn't even know we had a pear tree!

AND we have TWO.... drum roll, please... APPLE TREES!  Woohoo!  I am just a bit excited.  Can't you tell?

Okay, okay.  The fuits are only about 1 inch long right now.  But how cool is that?!

I should probably say something about my kids... they love summer!!!

This Week...

Dan is nearly done with all his traveling.  WOOHOO!  He has been here so little since we've moved that he feels like a visitor.  But when he gets back from Venezuela (Thursday), he will be officially working from home.  He has all his equipment here.  We will just need to set up his office and he's good to go.  Now, where do we put his office...

He has been doing phenomenal at work!  He has impressed his bosses at his local company, which is owned by Tessenderlo Kerley, Inc. (they own a ton of smaller chemical companies).  He had a meeting with the "big wigs" of Tessenderlo Kerley last month and blew them away.  He gave a presentation that was dubbed "the best presentation" they had ever seen.  He's a smarty-pants!  They basically had low expectations for his first year.  I think they are seeing that he is very good at what he does.  I think he is pretty awesome.  That's just me.

The kids are doing well and nearly out of school.  Their last day is this FRIDAY!  Lucky me!  They are excited to be doing a whole lot of nothing, that's what they think anyway.  They will be doing lots of farm labor..... Mwah-ha-ha (that's my evil laugh)!   It should be SO much fun getting them to work hard... Yeah, right!

I am focused on 1.  decorating of the front porch and 2.  all things Girl's Camp.  I am such a nerd.  Seriously.  So here's what I did so far for the front porch...

Mom and I painted an old horse trough that is otherwise useless (holes in bottom) the same color as our front door.  We plan to fill it with soil (duh) and climbing roses, hence the trellis.

A plant stand next to the door made from and old ladder.  I want to add more white distressing.

This will be a hanger for a potted plant.  I found all these rusty pieces in the barn.  It is essentially a large pulley wheel with metal bracket and a smaller double pulley.  Notice the cool hooky thing on the rope?!

Close up of the double pulley.  I love it!

Purchased for a quarter, and full of possibilities...  We have several old windows now to work with!

Post Mother's Day Musings

Yesterday was Mother's Day.  Yeah, me!  The kids worked very hard on trying to make it the best they could.  They were really missing daddy (and so was I).  Daddy always makes Mother's Day a really big deal and makes lots of secret plans with the kids to make it perfect.  Cleaning, presents, flowers... breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert... PERFECT! 

The kids did their best, though.  They cleaned on Saturday morning and AGAIN on Saturday night AFTER I was in bed (they sent me to bed at 8pm, not to leave my room for ANY reason).  Coolness!  As I came down the stairs, I was required to have my ticket punched and a grand curtain (blanket on the stairwell) was opened to bring me down to the amazing "spread" at the table.  They made Grammie and I a breakfast of Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls, Orange Juice, and Ants-On-A-Log!  I know you are jealous!  They also picked fresh flowers from the yard (yes, they had approval), made us home-made cards, and put on a dance for us.  They worked very hard!  Sweet babies.

After Church, Dallin made us lunch (fish sandwiches) and dinner (Spaghetti w/ meat sauce and cheesy garlic bread).  We had dessert after dinner.  Amish-made Peach Pie and Strawberry-Rhubarb pie with choice of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.  YUM-O!  Dallin worked especially hard on cooking and trying to keep the peace in the home.  He's such a sweetheart!

I was very pleased with all the effort they put in and was grateful for such loving children.  I could have done without the messes that inevitably happen and the noise and commotion from a rowdy, happy brood.  But I love them, nonetheless.  They are precious!

I spent way too much time in my room yesterday.  I just wanted a break.  I sewed for about 2 hours.  Note to self:  do not attempt to make your own patterns anymore!  I made an apron, because I have been wanting one that fits well really badly.  Except this one doesn't quite fit as well as I'd like, hence the need for a pattern!  GRRR!

I went to bed exceptionally early (like at 7) and just laid there.  To be honest, I was feeling sorry for myself a little.  I REALLY felt tired of the mommy gig sans-daddy.  And I REALLY miss my husband.  Not so much the effort he puts in for Mother's Day, but everything else.  Freakishly enough, I miss his SMELL most of all.  If you know me very well, you know I am weird about smells.  Psycho, really.  Its my thing, good smells anyway.  So I just laid there, missing his smell and feeling sorry for myself.  I miss him!

Blah, blah, blah...  GET over it, woman!

This morning:  1.  Get up at 7 (heavens, they let me sleep that late?) 2.  do a load of dishes (there is easily another load awaiting me now) 3.  prepare goat babas, and feed the twins 4.  let out chickies and feed them... All before 8am

One of the chickens was left out all night long (the kids tried, right?!), thank heavens it was still alive.  Upon opening the broader house, a swarm of flying chickens attacked me.  They were starving and had only yucky water left to drink.  After cleaning their feeding trays, filling them, and dropping them in the chicken run, they attacked with a vengeance.  Their waterers needed cleaning and filling, but apparently they were not too thirsty.   I was only swarmed twice.

The cat was apparently wishing me a belated Mother's Day.  She left a nice fresh one right in the grass, in the path to and from the chicken house.  Nice!  I nearly stepped in it half a dozen times.  Sigh...

Happy Belated Mother's Day to ALL the lovely ladies out there!