Farm Life

As I write this blog Nick and I are sitting on our deck enjoying a beautiful Minnesota spring day. No mosquitoes and no humidity, yet. We had a windy day today and it is still blowing some. I love to hear the sound of the wind blowing through the leaves. It is one of the most relaxing sounds I know. We have been taking advantage of the great weather and getting outside as much as we can lately. Of course, Nick has been busy with planting. About one more day of planting yet!

 In between planting Nick helped get the old brooder house ready for the chicks. They are growing fast and are no longer little chicks. They seem to enjoy their new home and like to run outside when I open the door in the morning. The girls still enjoy going out to feed  them everyday, especially Faith. She threw a tantrum the first night when I tried to sneak out and close up the coop without her.

 Slowly venturing out. Nick put together a temporary run for them (made out of old hog gates). It looks rough, but they enjoy getting out. Someday we hope to have them free range and lock them up at night.

The girls got to be in charge of their own flower garden this year. They picked their own flowers, planted them and watered them (with a little help from mom). I didn't get a nice picture of them, but this is their garden. We call it the pig garden because of the pig decor. Grace apparently told her teacher something about the pig garden in school and the teacher was a bit confused by what she was talking about. They also helped me plant the veggie garden. They really got into this year. I wish I would have had my camera along to get a picture.

Faith enjoying time in the sandbox. They have spent hours in the sandbox the last few days. So far this and the playhouse are the big hits of the summer.

Grace "cooking" in the sandbox.

All the supplies.

We planted a raspberry bush a few years ago and this is the first year it has flowers. I'm excited to see what we get from it. I also have a strawberry plant flowering.

Of course we had to get a tractor ride, or a few, in with dad the past few days. We all rode with him yesterday. Here is Faith enjoying the ride.

She didn't last too long. Apparently planting is pretty relaxing.

New pots that I bought for the front of the house. I think I circled the garden center about 10 times before I finally decided which one to get.

Gracie really enjoyed the ride with Nick. She got to push the button to get the tractor on auto guidance. Walking home she said "I think we should go for a ride again, only longer next time." Today we brought Nick lunch and she asked if she could go for ride by herself with dad.

Hanging out while dad was fixing something.

I love lilacs. They are so beautiful and fragrant. We have one bush that is just gorgeous now.

Allelujah!

The Lenten season and Easter is always such a powerful and emotional time for me. It is so moving and amazing to think of all that Christ suffered for us. For me, a sinner. Then the joy of Easter. Being given the assurance that one day I will rise to be with Him.

We started off our celebration of this amazing event at church today. Our church has a early sunrise service (6am). No we didn't make it up that early, but some year it might be fun to go. We made to church around 8:00 for the Easter breakfast followed by the 9:00 church service. Pastor had a great sermon and the choir added some beautiful music. After church we had our first egg hunt. Nick was one of the organizers so he, and some volunteers, hid about 2,000 eggs. Our church is located on a few acres with big oak trees so it was the perfect spot for the egg hunt. Both girls got plenty of eggs. Although Faith had trouble spotting them. I think she even stepped on one before she saw it. I think she was a bit distracted by all the other kids running around. After church we headed over to Chuck and Jo Ann's for a delicious lunch. The girls had another egg hunt in the house there. They certainly got plenty of Easter goodies! We had a nice quiet day visiting. Nick's aunt Elizabeth was able to join us in the afternoon. The girls always enjoy time with her.

Aunt E of course brought a little treat for the girls and read them Peter Rabbit. She is a former teacher and always has something special planned for the girls when she sees them.

Grandpa and Grandma and two of the granddaughters.


Our family all dressed up.

Checking out the goodies from the egg hunt at Grandpa and Grandma's house.

Faith on the hunt.

We got the girls a few things this morning too. I found this basketball in the girls' favorite colors (of course pink and purple). I think dad is looking forward to playing with them this summer.

The Country Life

We felt it was finally time for us to get some farm animals at our place so last week we got nine chicks. To my relief they are all still alive and doing well. Currently they live in the garage. The girls are having a great time holding them and helping to care for them. Honestly I am having a great time too! I realized that I missed having animals around the place. I'm sure as they get bigger the excitment will wear off and it might be a pain when we want to travel, but it brings back memories of having chickens when I was a kid. Back then we butchered our chickens, but we have decided to take a different route and have laying hens for eggs. I know more about butchering then the laying hens, but I guess we will learn along the way. We are also considering getting a rabbit. My dad has fixed up my old bunny hutch and we have been frequenting the pet store so another addition to the farm may be in our future.

Faith by the chicks.

Our little chicks! So cute although they are already starting to get a few feathers. They grow so quickly.

Home Improvement

We recently did some work on the house. This winter we had the wood floor in our kitchen refinished. We were also able to get a new fridge. It is sure nice to have one that isn't falling apart. The bottom shelf was broken almost in half. I had to hold up that shelf every time I wanted to open or close one of the veggie drawers. I'm sure the new one is also much more efficient!

Nick took on the project of installing a new kitchen light over the table. I was very happy to see the old tacky one go!

The biggest change to me is the new carpet. We put new carpet in all the rooms upstairs (expect for kitchen and bathrooms of course:) It is so nice to have all the same color upstairs and not a different odd color in each room! Maybe in a few years we can get new carpet downstairs too!

Another shot of the new carpet before the furniture got moved in. The girls were running a farm with dad's old tractors and animals.

Strep Throat Strikes Again

Yes, we have strep throat in our house again. Unfortunately this time WE ALL HAVE IT. We are thinking it may have spread so rapidly when the girls hopped in our bed the other night when they were both scared. I remember a lot of getting breathed on and coughed on. Yesterday Gracie complained of a sore throat and today Faith had her usual rash. This makes strep throat case #4 for Faith. Our last time around to the pediatriacan she reasured me that they wouldn't think about further action (taking her tonsils out) until after her 6th time. We are getting a little too close to that for me.

Aunt Clara

I found out the other day that my great aunt Clara died. Whe was the last sibling of my Grandpa to die. I have fun memories of visiting with her as a child. My impression of her when I was that age was how put together she looked. I'm sure she was older even back then, but she was so slender and poised. Her hair was done so nice and she was dressed so well. We were blessed to have been able to visit her the past two years when we went to Arizona. This picture is from our last visit. We had such a fun time hearing 'old' stories.

Home Improvements

Nick and I have tackeled some new improvements to the house this winter. Nothing major, but it really seems to make a difference to me.

We finally got blinds in our kitchen. This is something that should have been done long ago. If you have ever joined us for a meal you may have experienced our past dinning situation. If your back was to the window you were heated up to an unbearable temperature to the point of having to take off layers of clothing. I think the afternoon when Nick had to take his shirt off while eating lunch may have been the straw that broke the camel's back:) If you were on the other side of the table you were blinded by the sun and had to shift your chair so as to be able to see what you were eating. Although this did come in handy when trying to get the girls to eat new foods.

Our second change was getting the wood floor in the kitchen refinished. On this one we took the easy, but costly, way out and hired to have it done. I'm enjoying a shiny new looking floor, but I am also much more paranoid about spills and scraches on the floor.

The final addition is a new light above the kitchen table. The old one was a very dated golden fixture. I had never liked it and was happy to see it go.