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This is springtime before I'd moved in.
You can't really see the view out of all these kitchen windows, but definitely not the snowy scene I'm looking at this morning.
 Looking down from the roof...I love the roof. |
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And this is what the other side will look at. We won't be keeping these old buildings, we'll tear them down when we're ready to build and put the house just in front of where they are. On the other side of the trees in this picture is a pretty hay field that I hope to put a horse or two in sometime soon. Being raised around so many pretty mountains, I totally didn't notice them. After living in Saskatchewan for a few years, I really appreciated the mountains when I returned hom to them. Oh, and the trees aren't really the ugly brown they look in the picture, they're nice and green, they're just in shadow. I know you probably already figured that out, but I just thought I'd mention it! |
My Hunny and I signed papers this month on our own much beloved 10 acres. I grew up on a farm and my Hunny practically grew up on his grandparent's farm in the prairies so we've both hoped to get some land of our own someday. These pretty mountains are what one side of my house will look at.
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Winter has been so fun out here. We've gotten lots of snow and being ground level with so many windows, it feels just so cozy being tucked down in among the drifts. 
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The main living area is in a half circle with windows all around although this pic only shows one corner. I love the cozy wood cookstove although I've only used it a few times...what a lot of work those pioneer women had! Good thing it has a regular electric oven and gas range. I can never get a picture of the sunroom/greenhouse that shows just how bright and cozy it is...it's also one of my favourite rooms.  |
The house is surrounded by gardens and ponds.
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This might be my favourite room of the house. It's bigger than it looks and that tub is sooo comfy.
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This is the kitchen side of the house...it's such a pretty sight to look out at, there is a pond that isn't in sight in the picture and it has lovely pink waterlilies in it. I really love my red door...and you can't really make out the stained glass window beside it very well, but it's a peacock and so pretty.
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Oh my goodness...has it really been so long since I posted anything on here? I really am the world's worst blogger. One of the bigger events in my life lately is moving last summer from the house I lived in for 9 years to my brother and sister-in-law's lovely farm where we're leasing their house. It's a really fun and pretty house to live in with beautiful views inside and out. I'm so grateful to be living here. It's been so long since I've used this site, I hope I can still manage to upload a picture...trying now This one is of the sod roof. It's just a couple steps to get onto it from the back of the house. The view from here is incredible. |
This is the front of the house showing the sunroom/greenhouse windows.
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I'm looking for ideas to do WITH my kids to teach them things and just to make sure that we're not all living in the same house but going our seperate ways. I decided that instead of going in seperate areas to clean, we'd tackle each room together. I put the room names in a bowl and we rolled dice to see who got to choose first. Each person got a chance to be the 'captain' of the 'cleaning army'. We all had army names, of course, so we sounded very cool, and we deferred very respectfully to the 'captain' who not only joined us in our work, but assigned the various jobs for the room. After completing each room, the captain would choose as snack to reward and serve to his/her army. I have also assigned a supper day to my two older kids. On their day, they choose the menu, shop for their ingredients, and then I help them prepare it as they do as much of the work as their capable of. Afterwards, I do the dishes with the other kid. They have a hard time narrowing down their dessert choices...so much sweet food, so little time. So, I'd be happy to hear other ideas for doing together things. Post any you have! |
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My 3 year old just proudly showed me the toy farmer he cleaned. He's been washing walls all morning and washed the stove too. He didn't want to go to bed last night because he was so busy washing walls. As I washed the floor this morning, he followed me around with a worried, "Don't wash the walls. Washing walls is just for kids. Adults can only wash floors and roofs." As I moved to cleaning the bathroom mirror, he poked his head around the corner with an accusatory, "Hey! I didn't say you could wash that.".......Ah, if only it would last until he was tall enough to wash more than three feet off the floor. |
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Picture this...a hugely overweight woman, lying in the snow in the pouring rain, trying to keep a manic dog off her face, gasping for breath and laughing her head off...I know, not a pretty sight!
We had our first outdoor gym class today for school, a tradition I hope to keep up all year. I've certainly played outside with the kids, especially when we get new snow, but this excursion out into the snow had a more purposeful 'exercise' theme. We started with "Simon Says" which is a great warm up, moved on to "What time is it Mr Wolf and some "Follow the leader" and running games. Then I got the bright idea to play a game from Kids Klub called "Deck, Duck, Dodge, Ditto." What a horrible game! One kid gets to be the caller, when they call 'deck', everyone has to lie down, when they call duck, we squat, when they call 'dodge', we have to run across the field, and 'ditto' repeats the last action. My evil daughter figured it was pretty fun to just repeat 'dodge' over and over again and watch Mum plow through the snow back and forth across the field over and over and over...gasp, pant...but then she realized it's much more fun to throw a 'deck' in at each end of the field so I have to flop down in the snow and get attacked by an overeager dog. Whew! What a great workout...for me and the dog. |
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Happy New Years! My one and only new years resolution is to get healthy...and hopefully much smaller. I am starting back on the GI diet which is basically just a whole, natural, unrefined foods plan. No refined sugar, no white flour, lots of fruits and veggies. Well, I'm sure not about to post my weight, and I was looking for a picture to post instead, but surprise surprise, I've deleted them all because I look too fat in them hahaha. I just made my menu plan and it looks delicious. My kids will hate it and think I'm torturing them, but somehow that adds to the joy..hahaha. |
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It always takes longer to clean with kids doesn't it? When my mum takes the kids, I can get the whole house shining in a few energetic hours, when my kids are around, a quick tidy up can take all day.
First, I vacuum. Megan wanted to help, so she vacuumed while I moved furniture for her. I decided to show her how the schnozzle comes off the end and we ended up sticking the hose end on each other's bellies and cheeks. Kelly joined us as we moved on to suctioning lips and noses. Once we had killed ourselves laughing suctioning each other, we had to chase down Kyran and drag him screaming to the vacuum cleaner to suction him too. A half hour later, when the suction game is finally over and it's time to wash the floors, all three kids and I have cloths and an appointed section of floor. While we wash, we play The Minister's Cat... "The Minister's cat is an awful cat...The Minister's cat is an amazing cat...The Minister's cat is an antagonizing cat" and then on to B's "The Minister's cat is a bashful cat" and so on. We are finished the floor before we are done the alphabet, so we have to finish playing before moving on to a new chore of course.
Whew...we've been working so hard we must deserve a cookie break. At the sorry state of the cookie jar, we decide to quickly make another big double batch of cookies. We have to wait for Megan to gather the eggs first. When I finally call her into the house from sliding on the frozen puddles outside, two eggs have 'somehow' broken...we have to make only a single batch of cookies.
As they are sorting the laundry, Kelly and Megan enjoy a laundry throwing match. As the saying goes, 'it's all fun and games until someone loses and eye'...Megan gets a cleaning cloth in the eye. Housework stops, everyone gathers in the bathroom while Meg's eye is treated with a cold cloth.
Oh my, look at the time, we have to play a game of Heroscape before Dad comes home for supper. So much for cleaning for today.
I'm sure going to miss my messy house when my kids grow up and move away. |
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So having a cabinet builder for a hubby isn't all sunshine and roses. For instance, I've been in this house for about 9 years now and I have yet to see a single new cabinet. (My beloved Hunny has done TONS of great wonderful stuff to our house...AMAZING stuff, but shhh..that just doesn't fit the tone of the story.)
This morning, my Hunny and I were discussing one little cabinet that we want to add to our kitchen. Now, with a regular cabinet maker, they come to your house, you tell them what you'd like them to do, they do it, you pay them, everybody's happy. When your own sweet Hunny is the cabinet maker, however, he's bound to have some crazy opinions. Never mind that he never cooks in the kitchen, or even really looks at it or has a clue where anything belongs in it. As a cabinet maker, who is freakishly good at what he does, it is very important to him that it looks a certain way. He wants to ensure that the flow is proper, that the style is impressive, that all the lines are...well, I don't know how the lines are supposed to be because according to our conversation this morning, I'd missed his whole point. All I know is that, "If function were the most important thing in a kitchen, all you'd need would be some cardboard boxes and leftover plywood." Which, of course, I'd be fine with if it meant that I didn't have to have the silly cabinet he had in mind! hahaha
Now, our conversation didn't get nasty, we were extremely civil and trying very hard to see the other person's point of view even though we were both firmly convinced that the other person was more than slightly off their rocker. I may have been a little less than gracious in the voice I assigned him when narrating his side of the conversation as I discussed it with my neighbor this morning, however.
But, when I got back home from church this afternoon, I had a sparkling clean kitchen...washed floors and everything...and hot lunch ready on the stove.
Now, if you've read one of my previous posts, you'll see that a clean kitchen was what I got the last time we almost got in a snooty little tiff. Therefore, the moral of the story must be...be a difficult wife...get a clean kitchen.
Okay okay, that's not the moral of the story. I don't know what the moral of the story is, but I sure do adore that boy of mine...even if he is a cabinet maker. |
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Often at Christmas, I worry that I may not get my Christmas baking done. Baking is something that I only do when I'm in that 'baking mood'...otherwise what's the point? I feel it should be fun and enjoyable or not done at all. Today, as always happens sometime as Christmas approaches, I had an overwhelming urge to do a bunch of baking. I've been loving it, I made an enormous batch of nuts n bolts, mexican wedding cakes, nanaimo bars, and butterscotch squares. |
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Man am I ever getting lazy! With anything schoolwise that is. I just don't feel like doing it lately. I feel like making decorations and cookies. I feel like blasting the Christmas tunes. I definitely feel like Christmas shopping. But math? No way! I'd love to take December off, except that I know I'll also get lazy as soon as summer arrives and I'll want to go to the beach, go camping, garden, etc. Of course there is an education to be found in those activities too, but somewhat lacking in the reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic category. So, we're plugging along...getting precious little accomplished, but at least keeping our brains warm. Can't wait for Christmas!!!!
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Tonight after my kidlets had listened to their bedtime stories and everyone was in their jammies, instead of sending them off to bed like they expected, I surprised them by announcing that we were going to make some gingerbread cookies. They scrambled to get ingredients out, and when we'd mixed everything up, everyone sat down with a big chunk of dough with a pile of cookie cutters. I've finally sent everyone to bed after a cozy meal of warm gingerbread and milk and a severe toothbrushing. I'm glad that we don't have our hours dictated by a school bus, and that although my kids will grow up fat, cavity ridden, and sleep deprived, |
that they'll have these fun memories to look back on.
 There are obviously MANY areas of my life where I am falling short and trying harder to grow. However, if someone were to ask me the area that I most have things together, I would answer my marriage. My Hunny and I have an EXCELLENT marriage. Although there are definitely a lot of skills and disciplines that I'd like to acquire to be a better wife to him, I would have said that we do a wonderful job of loving and appreciating each other and that our relationship is darn near perfect.
Of course, God likes to remind us to be humble and to show us where we fall short.
Last night, I kept supper hot on the stove until my Hunny was ready to come in from working in his shop and join the family. Since we'd started our meal a bit late, I had to run out the door to my homeschool meeting before I'd had a chance to clean up the table and put the food away. As I changed the baby before heading off, I was listening to my Hunny slamming things around and grumbling about how he had to put the food away and how I never save any margarine containers to put things into. I was thinking up many good comebacks to shoot at him, after all, I had cooked the meal, would it kill him to clean up one time? And who needs a margarine container when you can just put the leftovers in a bowl and cover it with saran wrap? However, as I was doing up the last snaps on the baby's clothes, I firmly forced a gentle smile on my face and bit my tongue, determined not to say anything snitty on my way out the door.
Then...God told me " You're not going to just walk past him, you're going to go and give him a giant squeeze and smooch like you would do if you weren't secretly angry, and you're going to thank him profusely for cleaning up supper."
I said, "No way! He's acting like a big baby!"
God said, "AND, you're going to apologize for not having the foresight and organization to have saved some containers."
I grumbled, "Ohhhh maaaaaan!" but didn't dare complain anymore in case God had even more to say!
As I walked towards my husband, my inner-pout started to fade and by the time I reached him to give him his smooch and apology, it really was genuine. I went off to my meeting with a real smile and my hubby had instantly melted and was now finishing his complaints with a big smile of his own.
When I got home after my meeting, it was to a still-smiling Hunny and an absolutely gleaming stove and sink, and spotless counters and table.
God showed me not only that there is always more I can do, even in the areas that I feel I'm doing well, but also that He will continue to pour out blessings when I do. |
 The kids and I were watching a video on giraffes and I was thrilled to find out that God has created giraffes to be such gentlemen!
The video said you can tell the males and females apart while they are eating because the males, who are typically a few feet taller than the females, always eat with their necks outstretched fully, while the females, eat with their necks curved slightly at around body level. It certainly is a great design for the taller males to leave all those lower leaves and shoots for the ladies and kids!
I am hoping to make gentlemen out of my boys too. My older son is definitely growing into a thoughtful, helpful young man, and is a GREAT help to me. My three year old is learning too, but still needs some honing of his gentleman skills...
I was sitting in a hospital waiting room with him on my lap. The woman beside us left her seat, but I knew she'd return in a few minutes. I let Kyran have her chair, but instructed him to quickly get out of it when she returned because she was a lady he must be polite. He was thrilled with his mission and kept a close lookout for her. Every single woman he saw walking by, he'd scrutinize closely, then point his finger and yell very clearly, "HE'S NOT A LADY! HE'S NOT A LADY!"
Fortunately, some parents are doing a better job, such as the parents of these excellent young men on my new favourite site. http://www.therebelution.com/blog/2006/08/modern-day-gentleman/ |
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Yeah, I wish. But we did have an Egypty sort of time today. We made a tent out of blankets and decked it out with cushions and rugs. Then we sat inside and feasted on warm pitas with olive oil, hummus, cucumbers, raisins, grapes, apples, and fig newtons. We used our VERY limited and badly pronounced French to comment on the food the weather, the camels outside our tent etc. Yes, I realize that French isn't the main language of Egypt, but it is spoken there, and besides...it all makes sense if you've read The Giraffe That Walked To Paris. If you're fussy enough to think that we should have spoken Arabic or something, then you likely wouldn't think that listening to Walk Like An Egyptian during our meal was a great way to learn the Egyptian culture either,
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but it was fun, and that hummus was yummmmmmmmmmyyyy! |
My best homeschooling buddy just finally got her Old Schoolhouse Magazine the other day after a very long, loooong wait. I, as the amazingly wonderful friend that I am..hahaha...refrained from looking at mine until she got hers too. Well, if I'd known what was in there, I might have had a harder time. I just loved the article on Alex and Brett Harris and their "Rebelution" blog www.therebelution.com . If I'm not actually the last person in the world to know about this blog and there's someone else who hasn't seen it...you've got to take a look! These kids are amazing and inspiring...I'd like to be half so wise, articulate, and Godly as these boys. An awesome site if you have teens and a great one even if you don't. |