elsie at 2 1/2

Elsie runs everywhere. Everywhere. She never walks, she jogs. Even if it's from her place at the kitchen table over to the silverware drawer to get a new spoon, she jogs. If we're outside and she suddenly wants to be somewhere else, she runs, pumping her arms, kicking her feet up to her bottom. It really is something to watch.

As a result, she is also the most likely to get hurt in a day. She takes some nasty spills. It's become so common that our responses are quite tempered. Last week she was on our tile taking off her winter coat and slipped on a table runner that had been used as a farm field earlier in the day. Her arms were caught in the coat and she fell forward onto her face, splitting her lip, hitting her front teeth (for the umpteenth time in her short life). We might have reacted in a more dramatic way if it wasn't so downright crazy that she fell on her face again.

Elsie wakes up in a splendid mood and is proving that she does not need nearly as much sleep as her brother. She has begun skipping her naps and instead plays quietly in her room during quiet playtime. In the mornings she will come jogging into our room sometime between 7:04 and 7:07 to tell me, "I went poopie and peepee in the potty, so now can I have a marshmallow? Mama, can I have a marshmallow? Can we go down and have a marshmallow? Mom, can you get up and get me a marshmallow? Can you sit up and come get me a marshmallow?"

It's funny because we hardly used the marshmallow at all during her actual potty training. But now she's figured out the connection and likes to play it up as much as possible.

She is quite the mess. We just started having her wear a bib again, which was a brilliant idea (that only took us a year and a half to figure out...) She is the first to find mud, dirt or food. Tonight she pulled Rory's tall glass of coca-cola off of the counter to see what was in it, right onto herself and the whole kitchen floor. We go through a disproportionate amount of hand towels and kitchen towels in this house for only having four members. But Elsie actually accounts for about seven of them a day.

She and Ivar are the best of friends. It's really a joy to watch. I heard them playing house out in the garage yesterday and they were playing so hard. At night I hear them singing songs back and forth to each other, babbling about the day, telling each other the plan for the next day. It'll melt a mom's heart.

She has started telling us about the baby in her belly. She'll let us know, "my baby loves chicken!"

She's got some strong opinions and she is happy to share them. She keeps us on our toes, trying to train her to be polite while maintaining her fun and wild spirit. I told Rory recently, "Elsie's hair matches her personality perfectly." And it's so true. Fired up and wild, we just love her and her crazy hair to pieces.

a barn razing

This weekend our little barn went down. This actually was a building next to the big barn that was burned before we moved here. I'm not sure what it housed back in the day, but we loved it for its character, its history and the charm it brought to the farm. Unfortunately, it just wasn't safe. We couldn't let kids go in there and we had no purposes of our own for storage or any other use. So after two and a half years of helping us make pretty pictures, it was time to go down.

On Saturday, Rory's dad came and they moved mountains. They spent the morning emptying out the pole barn (not pictured) as well as this barn, driving truck loads of things to a temporary spot on our farm or to the garage. The kids got to ride along in the cab of the truck, which as you can see below, is about the greatest thing on planet earth. Everyone was having a jolly time. And so much got done. In the afternoon they pulled off the leaning roof that was already partly off the building. I've been waiting for that to happen for a long time and it was fun to watch.

Sunday the weather warmed up and we got a new crew of helpers: my folks, our friend Derrick and his son and our pastor's son. Derrick and Rory took off as much barn wood as possible, and the boys pounded out the nails.

My dad was on the inside pounding boards from that angle. And my mom made brownies and kept everyone hydrated while watching my kids. I took pictures...and a nap. I've got some pregnancy stuff going on and was happy to watch the work being done.

We saved as much barn wood as possible. We have a couple of ideas for its use, and it will be fun to bring it back in new ways.

Once all of the barn wood was removed that we could safely remove, it was time to pull it down. The actual event was quite exciting...to watch a tractor pull down a building that size is pretty awesome. But the more I watch the video the more sad and sorry I am for the building. I am the queen of personification anyway, and when it falls, it just looks defeated. I understand it is just a building...but I'm good at adding in an extra dose of emotion where I feel it is needed. Especially when I'm pregnant.

In the end it did go down. As Rory said, "by the hands of two pastors, a computer programmer and two eleven-year-olds." At some point this week we will have quite the inferno on our hands. Derrick told me I should call that blog post, "barn a-blazing." I'll keep you posted.

the first watermelon of the season

I have blogged about this a few different years. It seems I think the first watermelon of the season is a very big deal. Because it really is. It marks the start of a whole six months of possibility, projects and good produce.

I should tell you though that this watermelon cost me ten dollars. For real. I had an appointment today with my midwives and they sent me to the Co-op to get magnesium and fish oil and right in the entry way they had samples of this organic-all-the-way-from-mexico watermelon. And it was amazing. Crisp and cold because they were in a bin outside, I grabbed a nice heavy one on my way in the door. I did the math in my head and knew this was going to cost me, but I had to have it.

Of course, Rory would never ever understand this. He would never support spending ten dollars ($9.73 to be exact) on a watermelon. Or any produce. Which is why I made two transactions. I paid for the vitamins with our joint account, and paid for the watermelon from my Fun Money debit card. You may already know that at the first of the month we each get Fun Money that is solely ours to spend. My clothes, shoes, haircuts, outings with girl friends, gifts and watermelons come out of this little account. It means I can spend money on nice shampoo and not have to explain it later to Rory. Anything that I think will come up later at a budget talk is purchased with my Fun Money card. It has saved us many a money argument throughout the course of our marriage.

That said, it seems I'm always out of my Fun Money while Rory saves his for months until he has enough to buy a surveillance camera to see what is roaming in our garden at night. But I tend to spend my Fun Money. Rapidly. At this moment I can't afford new shoes, but my belly is really happy that it is watermelon season. And thankfully this ten dollar watermelon did not disappoint.

bee friendly seeds: on sale now!

I'm just so excited about this and also really proud. Our bee-friendly seeds are now on sale over at The Grovestead. Rory has worked diligently researching the seeds we would sell and ordered from various vendors to ensure these seeds are not genetically modified. He figured out the packaging and design and last night put the final details on the payment page. As of this morning, the seeds are now on sale.

I was thinking about how excited I get when I'm driving on an interstate and see one of those blue signs with a little sign for a Jimmy Johns. That's my favorite place to eat on a road trip. And how basically each person who plants honey bee friendly flowers is setting up a little buffet for honey bees. Bees will fly for miles in a day looking for good pollen and nectar. I'm imagining them getting just as excited to find our little bee friendly gardens as I am when I find a Jimmy Johns.

Please bop on over to The Grovestead to check it out. He's got pictures and details of the flower seeds we are including, frequently asked questions and a brief back story. If this interests you at all, please join in and plant a bee friendly garden and help us spread the word. It's a bad feeling to feel helpless. It's an awesome feeling to feel like there are little things we can all do that might make a world of difference.

So now, go! Check it out!

tea time with toddlers

Today I got out my tea set from when I was a little girl. My mom had a special tea set growing up that she still cherishes to this day, housed in her china hutch. When I was still in elementary school I knew it was important to her that I have a set of my own. I remember purchasing this tea set so vividly. We were up at family bible camp and one afternoon we went into Alexandria with the intent of finding a tea set for me. We went into antique shops and gift shops and finally we found this set. I can't quite remember how old I was when we did this...maybe upper elementary?

This morning I got the set out with 2 two-year olds and 2 four-year-olds and gave them very detailed instructions on how I wanted them to treat these treasured dishes. They completely rose to the occasion. It was a very polite and calm tea party. We talked a lot about manners and polite ways to ask for more as well as grateful ways to say thank you. I brought out one treat at a time and they sat so nicely and were excited about every new item. Their favorite part seemed to be asking for "more tea, please!" which was just water poured from the tea pot into their tiny tea cups.

The tea set will now go up high in my hutch and only be brought out when I can fully supervise its use. And I'm already excited for the day when I can go shopping with Elsie to be sure she has a set of her very own.

celebrating a new baby

Oh man, this baby boy was so sweet. Rory's cousin Kerah just had her first baby fifteen days ago, and in the spirit of family, she ventured out to the country for a little lunch with a few Groves cousins. Her sister was visiting from California and it was awesome to be all together.

Over lunch, Kerah shared her birth story. And I'm not kidding, I think it might take the cake for the very longest, hardest labor and delivery story I have ever heard before. I was in awe of her endurance as she told the story, and because of her, in awe of woman-kind! I listened to her story and then remembered that sometime at the end of September, I'll have to birth a baby too.

Now I can't even explain it, but the more she shared her story the more excited I became to get to do it again. I felt the real privilege and the honor of getting to carry and then birth a baby. And maybe it was because I was holding her little boy in my arms as I stood and bounced him by the picnic table, but even as she told of the hours labor, my heart swelled when I realized I'd have one of these teeny-tiny babies again, of my very own.

Kerah was a rock star for coming out to the farm. Her big water bottle, the babies feeding schedule, her own need for rest and good food all brought back a flood of memories. And I'm so excited to do it again.

stair step forest

Last fall we discovered one of my new favorite places on planet earth. It's a little county park, just a mile from our house. We had driven by for years (literally) before we finally ventured down the steps. I wrote about how we were there for the first time at the very moment my friend Mama J took her last earthly breath. And then we visited again when the leaves were falling so quickly it was as if we were caught in Times Square on New Years Eve. The leaves were like confetti fall around us.

It was on that visit that I ran into a woman while walking back up the stairs and said to her, "this place is magical." And she asked if I had seen it in the springtime yet. She said that in the spring the floor of the forest is covered in white flowers so that it looks like snow. It doesn't last but a few days, so be sure not to miss it.

Well you can imagine my anticipation all winter long. I can't imagine they stay in bloom for very long and I don't want to miss it. I thought about leaving my number on the sign up front, begging for a phone call when the flowers were blooming, but then I realized I just need to do my own investigating. So on Saturday we went and found lots of green, and just a few blooms. Then tonight (writing this on Wednesday night) we went again and found many more blooms. But I have a feeling the real show will be this weekend. Maybe early next week. And I can't wait.

Until then, I have pulled out my wildflower guide and am now adding wild flowers into the mix of discovery along with song birds. I'm not sure what is happening, but this spring God has my full attention. I am hearing things like I just got new hearing aids. And I am seeing things like I just got my first pair of glasses. The world feels so alive to me, and I'm so grateful for these heightened senses.

Learning wildflower names always reminds me of the time my Grandpa Phil took my cousin Sarah and I out on a hike in the desert when we were in 7th grade. He pointed out every flower and told us each name. And then we came to a patch of white flowers and he looked and said, "I haven't see that one before. I don't know what it is." And Sarah and I looked at each other because we knew...it was someone's popcorn they had spilled. Oh we laughed later. And Grandpa had cataract surgery soon after.

april at the grovestead

+My wake up walks continue to be an awesome addition to my day. I love how instantly grateful these walks make me feel. Grateful for bird songs, grateful for the grass that is getting greener every day, grateful for lilac buds. I start my day filled to overflowing with gratitude and that's the best part of these walks.

 +Rory is back in his office. This makes for a very fun destination when we need to go find an adventure. Except for the time I sent both kids out there to say hello and he was on an important phone call.

 +The chicks are in the garage! There is no cover on their cage and thankfully all cats seem disinterested. But I am so grateful to have access to my downstairs bathroom again! The smell was keeping this pregnant woman from utilizing that bathroom which is tricky when this pregnant woman has a baby sitting on her bladder all day long.

 +This lovely weather has brought back lots of farm walks to check on everything. Our apple trees look great after a long winter. Unfortunately our second hive of honey bees did not survive the winter. Our bee keeping friend inspected the hive and was happy to report there was no foul brood or other signs of disease. It seems the queen didn't survive and without her, the hive would slowly die out. We will try again this year, eager to continue to grow our own bee-keeping knowledge.

 +Ivar got a new set of wheels! Auntie Lisa brought this bike over yesterday after she cleaned out her garage. The tread on those wheels were made for the country! Ivar can ride it on the gravel, on the grass and even in our field. He loves it so much.

 +It's time for this barn to come down. We're looking into all sorts of options for the barn wood, but I think we're all ready. It's pretty, it makes for charming pictures, but it's not super safe and it's just time.

+Rory is in full swing, dreaming up the plans for the summer ahead, sketching out the next projects, making many visits to Menards each week. At one point this winter he told me that he didn't think this spring and summer would be nearly as busy as the last few years, and that made me laugh a bit. So far, he is busier and has bigger plans than ever. It makes for a full and exciting life. :)

 +Our farm cats have been quite cooperative with our kids. I find it pretty remarkable. In this game, our kids kept stuffing Thomas the cat into the mobile chicken coop, closing the door and then opening it and watching him shoot out like a rocket. They laughed so hard every time he would shoot out of that little door. And the cat kept letting himself be caught. I would have felt badly for the cat, but he's a cat. He can run, climb trees, hiss, scratch and run away. And since he never did any of those things, the game continued.

kid quotes

There are some words I refuse to correct, because they are so cute to me.
These are Ivar's:

            -He calls the remote control a camote untroll

            -And a permanent marker is called a provident marker

            -When we drive by Buck Hill (a ski hill we drive by occasionally) he'll yell, "It's Ski Ball Mountain!"

            -Today he started calling our woods the Spooky Branches Forest

            -He'll yell, "It's the PBS man!" when the UPS guy drives up to our house

And these are Elsie's:
Big Softy = the big blue bathrobe Elsie sleeps with along with Pinky, her pink blanket

She'll ask, "Mommy, can you scramble this?" when she wants me to open up a plastic egg for her

When I put Elsie down for bed she says, "and now you go have a sucker with daddy?"

When Elsie doesn't want to do something or feels sad she tells us, "I'm feeling a little tender."

When Elsie knows she's in trouble with her dad she'll start crying, "Daddy! I am feeling a little worried!!"

the FUN to-do list

Friday night I was sitting on the couch thinking through my Saturday. I was supposed to go with my dad to a writing seminar, but we had gone on Friday which suddenly left my Saturday wide open. I started making a list: sort through kids clothes, tackle the laundry, hit the kitchen, put Easter decorations away.

I sat there a little longer and thought about how I wanted to try making pot stickers. So I wrote that down. And how I would love to spend time reading a book.

It was then that I started a brand new to-do list. I decided I would only write things that I actually wanted to do. Things that would feel restorative. So I wrote the list above and went to bed so excited for my Saturday. I got up and got ready to take my morning walk at Stair Step Forrest (our county park nearby that we adore) and by the time I got in the car the whole family wanted to come along. I got the stuff for pot stickers at Cub and began my quest for the perfect homemade pot sticker. When the kids went down for their naps I knew it was my time to take a blanket and pillow out in the yard to take my own nap. I skimmed through a poorly written book and started a new book. And I ordered the bird guide my cousin recommended to me.

Interestingly, after dinner, I got a second wind and cleaned the kitchen, started some laundry and gathered up the Easter decorations. And I was happy to do these things, mostly because I had done other awesome things all day long.

This Fun To-Do List felt indulgent. It felt caring. It felt fun. And I can't wait to write another one for another weekend day. I'd probably add a hot bath and baking cookies the next time around.

bird songs

Four mornings in a row I have gotten up and very first thing, taken a walk outside. One morning I was struggling to get myself out of bed, but I could hear a bird in our oak tree. And I knew there were all sorts of surprises for me, if I could just get myself out there.

That morning I saw that our tulips are all nearly four inches tall. And I heard so many different birds. One in particular, the one I had heard while still inside, was still calling but I could not find it in a tree for the life of me. I heard it, but could not spot it.

So I came in the house and googled minnesota bird sounds and that is when I found this incredible interactive page with minnesota birds and their bird songs.

Friends, I believe this puts me in a category of bird watchers, bird enthusiasts and general dorks. But let me be the first to say, I have found that usually the dorkier the activity the more life-giving, awesome and rewarding it is. (I would name examples here, but I don't want to offend more people groups than necessary...)

Anyway. I'm officially a bird watcher. In high school I had to take a test on bird calls, and now I wish I had paid more attention. But I did remember having to purchase a bunch of field guides for that class, so I came in looking for my Peterson's Field Guide and was so sad when I could only find my trees and wildflowers field guides. I'll have to purchase the Bird Guide next.

Promise me you will visit this site (and download flash if you don't have it...I had to). When you click on a bird, it plays its song. So prepare to spend a lot of time clicking on all of the birds. Today Ivar came in and was so excited that he had heard a bird singing. He tried to mimic it for me and we figured out that it was a red cardinal. And the happy bird that calls me outside each morning is a black-capped chickadee singing it's two tone whistle. I'm a total dork, I know. But come on! God has all of this music playing for us, if we'd only have ears to hear!

wake-up walks

Sunday morning Rory and I woke up early to a neighbor dog barking and then he remembered, "there's a blood moon! let's go out and see it. I'll make coffee." So at 6:20 I got out of bed and we stood in the kitchen waiting for the coffee. It was then, while reading more about the blood moon on my phone that I pieced it together. The blood moon would peak at 6:43 on April 4th. But was April 5th.

So there we were, bundled and ready for a morning walk. We still went out and enjoyed a full white moon on a very crisp Easter morning.

It turned out to be the best way ever to start a day.

I had recently read of a movement starting called the 100 day project where lots of people online are committing to doing something for 100 days. I like these sort of efforts but hadn't landed on what I might do until we were out looking for a blood moon on easter morning. We didn't find a red moon, but I did find a glorious day waiting for me to enjoy. The birds were singing, the trees were still and there was fog on the horizon. It was stunning.

So I made a goal: I want to get up before my kids and take a walk. Just to get outside and have some personal time before my day begins. There isn't a distance or exact time of the morning I'm aiming for. The goal is to get outside and go for a walk.

Rory is nervous about the 100 days part, but that's also not the goal. I'm not going to be legalistic or defeated if I miss a day. And I'm not actually participating officially with the online movement. But I do want to feel accountable to something so I decided to track this on my instagram account. If you want to follow along with my daily #wakeupwalk (or even join in!) be sure to swing by my instagram page.

oma zina

Zina is my sister-in-law Lisa's, mom. She moved to Minnesota a few years ago and we are so lucky she did. You might remember Zina from other posts, like when she fried up our pumpkin flowers (I still think about them and can't wait for pumpkin flower season to come!) or when she brought all of her bee keeping equipment that her husband used decades ago. Every time she comes she brings bread for the chickens...loaves and loaves that have been delivered to her apartment from a bakery that doesn't sell day old bread. My chickens love her.

When Zina comes to my house, stuff gets done. She helps in the garden, she folds all of my laundry, she washes all of my Easter dishes. I can't even explain how magical it all feels. Lisa is the same way. They came on Saturday to drop off the ham and then stayed to fold four loads of laundry, run three loads of laundry and help set the Easter table.

And definitely the most meaningful, she prays for my kids every single day. She's such a gift to us.

Happy Easter!

Every Easter Sunday growing up we would say a responsive reading at our church that my dad wrote. And every Easter Sunday since I wake up with these words in my head:

He is Risen!
He is Risen Indeed!
He is Risen!
He is Risen Indeed!
People of God, whom do you seek?
Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified one.
(then there's a whole middle part that I seem to have not memorized...)
The grave could not hold him.
The cross could not contain him.
And nothing will ever be the same!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Today I actually got my hymnal out to look up my favorite Easter hymns. Made me think I should make a set of hymn cards for Easter. I've always meant to make a set for Christmas...

This was my third year hosting Easter and I think I'm getting the hang of it! It helps greatly that I have a family that brings almost all of the food. What a dream. This year I decided to throw some brunch items into the menu, but it ended up being a crazy amount of food. We could have had twenty more people here and I think everyone still would have been fed and full. I'll adjust for next year. Oh but I love hosting for this day. And I love decorating for Easter. Everything becomes so colorful and cheerful. I got three bundles of tulips at the grocery store and and used peeps again for the place cards. Some peeps were partially eaten by the time the guests arrived, thanks to my sneaky children, but I still like using them. And this year we made an Easter Egg tree. My mom always cut a lilac branch the week of Easter, put it in a coffee can filled with rocks and water and by Easter it would have green leaves. Ivar and Elsie loved having an Easter tree and even put the eggs on themselves (I later spread them out onto more than one branch).

Elsie told me she wanted to be "a pretty pink princess" for Easter, so I splurged and got her a new dress at Target. She wore it proudly all day long, part of the time with her winter coat on while in the house... The kids loved hunting for their Easter baskets (hidden in the same places as last year) and really loved the outdoor egg hunt with all the cousins. Auntie Lisa led the pack outside and later we had everyone taking a turn at chopping wood with the ax and walking across a slack line tied between to trees.

Most people got in a nap at some point in the afternoon as the rest of us sat and talked and ate our way through the nine desserts to choose from. It was a really nice day and made for a lovely easter.

I'll end with my favorite moment...finding five family members talking theology in my downstairs bathroom while visiting the awkward adolescent chickens. Of all the rooms in my home, who knew the downstairs bathroom would be the hub of conversation and togetherness!