Sarah Stories

Sarah is old enough to have her own "hall of fame" stories. Geez. I took the younger three to get their haircut at the neighbor's. In the country neighbors aren't just neighbors. They are the people who cut your hair, deliver your mail, snow blow your driveway, and attend your church. Everyone is very inter-related. Eli & Sarah were outside playing while Jonah was getting his haircut and I was chatting with the neighbor. Eli burst through the door and excitedly reported, "Mom! Sarah pooped on the grass!!" We are the neighbors who fertilize yards. Then, yesterday Sarah proudly reported from the bathroom, "Mom! I went potty in the cup!" I checked on her, and she was right. She managed to go in a plastic cup, just like she sees me do at the doctor office. What a great skill to master at 2yo.

A delightful fall afternoon at our house

Sarah is taking a nap. Big Mark is working on the ceiling in the winter room. Yippee!

Little Mark is sliding down the stairs on left-over thermal barrier.

I am making cookies.

Anna & Jonah are making domino creations in the garage. They charge $0.10/person per show. Do you think they are budding businessmen or scammers?

Baby Prep

Life is all about cramming projects before baby comes. This week I surprised everyone by turning the swing on our refrigerator door. Only took me most of an afternoon. Now I am in cleaning mode. Yuck. Today we are working on the ceiling in the warm room, finishing the bunk beds, and running baby errands in South Dakota. Tomorrow we are *hopefully* finishing the ceiling and moving the deep freezer into the laundry room. Here's my cutie pie. Oh, I guess I have more cutie pies.

This is how my life goes.....

I'm painting the bunkbeds generic white before we put them up again (due to the situation coming in a few weeks), and look what happens. A chicken sits on my paint job and poops on the bed frame.

A Day in the Life....of Us....

The kids are out before 8:00 playing with chickens. Sarah loves the dog even though he thinks she is a chew toy.

Every morning the kids check the chicken nest and find two eggs from our brown chickens. We are eagerly waiting for the other chickens to start laying too.

What day wouldn't be complete without a tantrum?

Mark & kids hauling metal junk to the salvage yard. They have been cleaning up the buildings and grove all summer. Wasn't it nice of the previous owners to leave us some work? Check out our beautiful old farm truck and trailer.

This week on the prairie

Despite being weird homeschoolers who DO immunize, Jonah caught whooping caugh. The doctor put all the kids on antibiotics since it's not something you want kids to catch. Here are the medications lined up and ready to go. I put different colored rubber bands to attach each syringe. I don't know how else I would keep them straight. Another cute sib pic.

We spent Mark's reserve weekend in the Cities having fun. It's only the second time we've gone despite having free lodging and transportation for the weekend. The kids & I made out like bandits on free activities. We swam at the hotel, went to the Como Park zoo, and the Minnesota Children's Museum - all for $0!

Eli at the Children's Museum.

Sarah wearing Mark's military boots.

We visited LegoLand at the Mall of America too. A definite must-see for little boys. Here are the kids posing on huge legos outside the mall.

And one more delayed post....

My two littles who are best friends.

Putting up the crib.

Proof that I canned this year. My first attempt - 6 jars of apple pie filling made with apples from our trees. We'll see how it works out in a few months.

Sarah & I taking a nap together. She insists on sleeping on top of my pregnant belly. Weirdo