Makeshift Christmas Card

When I decided that I wasn't going to make a family Christmas card this year, I thought, "I will write a blog post instead" -- thinking that would satisfy the 1 person (maybe 2) that still check on this poor blog. Well, I didn't get to it. And didn't get to it.
But am now.
I know, y'all were holding your breath.

Anyway, the last 6 months have been busy. Not rush-around, can't-see-anything busy, but mostly more a steady thump with all of the little free time going toward either the FarM, Family, and/or hanging out (generally including both the FarM and Family). And I have been totally ok with that. At peace even. Because I'll be honest, this year has been a whirlwind that, Praise God, we have made it through. But I am craving peace and rest.

But anyway, I don't want to make a long list of things that we have done in the 6 months since I have posted. But here are a few of my current favorite things:

We are loving the snow. I think the animals would probably disagree, but the kids have So. Much. Fun. playing around in it. Mmmm....and I could sit outside at night for hours watching the snow, hanging out with the animals. The sunrises have been sensational. Just pure love.

God bless :)

It's July, right?

Seems like this summer is going fast. Thought it might be time for an update on happenings with our summer.

Gman went to training in May. He came home the Monday we got back from vacation. I am so glad to have him back, he's an awesome, light horse to ride and he's doing GREAT.

Kgirl turned 4 while on our vacation. She got to pick out her sweet pink cake.

"Nummy!"

For our vacation, we went with my dad and that whole side of the family up to Voyageur National Park and stayed on a houseboat for 3 days. It was awesome.

These are kind of old pictures,  from about a month ago, but I love them enough to show them. Mel the wonder horse is the one horse out of the 4 currently at our house that anyone can ride. She tolerates the young'uns well. Both of the girls love horses, try so hard, and are doing a great job! A was the first to be able to get Mel to ride away from anyone standing near, and without a leadline. She worked hard to get to this point, not that Mel would be bad, just that she decided that standing next to people standing was preferable to working.

On Saturday the big K was riding, and (I'm sure not influenced by the girls' recent addition to Horseland, the Saddle Club, and many, many hours of playing horse both with play horses and on their 'pretend horses - bikes and scooters) she says to me, "Mom, run?" "No, K, not run". She asks again, with the same response. Finally she goes, "Mom, trot?" "Yes, that's fine". She is my daredevil, and doing a good job of getting Mel into a trot and bringing her back down to a walk. It's hilarious to watch her though, her little legs barely reaching down below the saddle, and when she kicks her right leg flexes and extends with good force while her left secures her against the saddle. 

So, that's about where we are at. Still not in the house. And honestly, I can hardly comment on that right now as I vacillate between having strength and being ok with living in a 35' travel trailer with the 5 of us and knowing God is in charge and all will come to fruition, to getting frustrated with the multiple errors, setbacks, and other issues that are rising the longer we are out of the house (mouse poop and moist close-to-moldiness on our stored boxes in the back of the basement, really??). But anyway, despite being somewhat (ok, probably really) anti-social, we're hanging in there, and hope that y'all are having a great summer!

The Elvis Pig

Happy as a pig in slop.

Thank you, thank you very much.

How to FarM with a wild, raucous Tot

Baby J is not so much a baby anymore. He's a crazy wild running machine who is infatuated with all things wheels and steering wheels. Throw a ball in there and he's a happy camper. Given this description I'm not so sure I need to mention this, but I'll throw it out there: Left alone to his own devices, he will cause trouble. He will fall off the Gator, climb into Opa's truck to commandeer the steering wheel, take over the lawn tractor. Not that he's done any of this, I'm just saying.

So. Drastic times call for drastic measures. Here's what we do.
A. Put him down for a nap. For some reason, now that we live in a trailer and need to clear out the trailer of live, loud children when one naps, or maybe to make up for the first 8 months of his life when he did NOT sleep, J has decided that 2 naps a day is sufficient. Really. But, it's nice for the days when it's sunny and 70s. I'll be thankful for these days.
B. Take him along. This really only works when one is driving ... something.

When not riding a motorized vehicle, he hangs on in a backpack. Which actually works great, but we've used it so much that one of the buckles keeps slipping. It may or may not have to do with him being a 2 year old's weight in a 1 year old's body.

The girls are not nearly as narrow-minded. They're in for anything as long as it involves accessories, driving the Gator, riding the horse, or training a calf. 

No joke. It's a trip around here!

FarMin some Hay

Praying for it to dry, and to stay dry...

just for a few more hours...