Farm Camp this summer at our farm!!

I have been having a whole lot of fun lately. I am planning a week long day-camp at our farm this summer for 8 high school girls. It's basically my dream summer camp...exactly what I would love to do (and not do.) So there will be no spinning-our-foreheads-around-a-baseball-bat relays. But there will be lots of creative projects- embroidery hoops, mixed media collages, and daily baking or preserving. Every night each camper will go home with something edible to share with their family.

Mostly, I'm so excited to get the ears of these girls and to pour some dreams and hopes into their hearts. The decisions that a girl makes from ages 15-25 will have implications and consequences for the rest of their lives. These years are so, so important for keeping an eye on the big picture, and not just the immediate and instant. So we will talk about all sorts of topics from finding life-giving, supportive friends, wisdom in dating, the gift of marriage and the joy of one day having their own family. What fun to get to dream big dreams together! And what a gift to have time to seek the Lord and spend time listening to his voice in these matters.

And then there is the farm! We'll be working in the garden (not a lot, but enough to learn about weeding and good soil and growth) and with the animals (we'll milk the goat and make goat milk soap, spend time with the sheep, feed the pigs and we are hoping to have eggs hatching the week the girls are here in our new egg incubator). Everything we learn about on the farm will be connected to scriptures that highlight God's ways. This winter we have carved out two afternoons a week when I am writing the curriculum I will be teaching (or the girls will be reading) and I cannot wait! It's so rich! As always, I feel like I am the first student, soaking up these lessons as I learn and am so excited to pass these truths along.

I am envisioning a varied group of girls. Some might be from the city, with no experience on a farm at all. And maybe even no actual interest! But I want these girls to feel the welcome of a family farm and to experience a week here, sort of like when I visited my Grandma's farm growing up. I was definitely a city mouse, but am so grateful I had so many family farms (aunts and uncles) to visit throughout my childhood. Some girls might be from around this area and just interested in a summer camp that is closer to home or that lets them sleep in their own bed each night! (That would have been me growing up.)

And others might feel like they would love to live on a farm one day, but don't live on one now. I have two good friends from church who came to our farm last summer to help me, a junior and senior in high school. Both of them lived in town and one told me, "I just have this feeling I am going to be a missionary one day in a country where I will need to grow my own food and I want to start learning." (Talk about life vision and goals!!!) And the other told me, "I just want to learn how to garden and preserve my food and see how you do it all as a mom." Their visits were an absolute highlight of my summer and got me dreaming of this day camp that I am calling Farm Camp. I see the need, and I understand the gift of living this lifestyle for a short time to help cast a big and full vision for the campers that come. (Obviously they won't all move to a farm! But maybe they'll take an interest in gardening. Or making their own pickles from grocery store cucumbers.)

Can you tell I'm excited? It's really fun to tap into my former life as a Bible Camp program director and to see how God is creatively merging my life as a mother and farmer with camp ministry.

So one afternoon Rory and I made this spiffy little promo video. We had the kids upstairs playing in the bedroom, kept quiet by a sleeve of club crackers, and quickly recorded this baby in one shot. I didn't rehearse what I would say and in the end I think it does a fine job communicating the heart of this camp. As one who has never been able to take a selfie, this was a very awkward experience for me, but whatever. Hopefully it will help spread the word!

If you know of anyone who may be interested, send them my way! A full rundown of our topics from day to day can be found at this link on The Grovestead website. I am so excited for the week we will have together. It is going to be full of worthwhile experiences, conversations and teachings. Plus, it's just so great to think about summer, isn't it?!!

a tv show pitch...

On a given Saturday afternoon, when in the midst of the sports channels, you might see an ice fishing competition on one channel, a down hill skiing race on another, ice dancing on one and a bowling tournament on another. 

I have an idea for another sport. It would be all footage of mothers getting their children out the door in their snow gear. There would be a commentator, announcing how it is going, what might be going wrong, telling what the mother intended for this moment. The camera work would be difficult. The mother would be going back and forth helping everyone find lost mittens and boots. And really, just a pair of socks can often be the most difficult task.

"Oh dear. Folks, this is not looking good. Did you notice what she forgot to do here? She forgot to ask the 3-year-old if she needed to go potty. That's a real shame. That little one will be back inside in two minutes to do this all over again."

"Looking good from the start. Everyone is in cheerful moods, feeling excited to go and play outside. But oh, now that's not going to be good. The inner lining of the boy's snowpants did not get stretched around the outside of the boot. And that is deep snow out there. One deep step and those pants will rise up and expose his athletic pants to the snow. He's not going to be happy about that."

"Not bad overall. Everyone is outside. Playing. Looking around. The unfortunate thing for this family is that somewhere in that yard are their buried sleds. Yes, they got left out during an overnight snowfall, and those sleds have yet to be found. Which has caused all the children to complain of how boring it is out there, with nothing to do. Poor, poor children."

"Oh what's this? Is that the mother, putting on her own snow pants? Oh now that is above and beyond! A reminder that she is 15 weeks pregnant and already got the 18 months old and 3 year old suited up and out the door. But she's really going for it. Here she is, heading out the door to be greeted by her...oh, shoot, by her sobbing 18 month old who seems to have removed his mittens and stuck his pink hands into the snow. She'll have to head back inside now. But boy, what a nice effort."

Amish Mom

Elsie, age 6, walking into the kitchen, "Mom, let's pretend you're an Amish mom who loves to make a big lunch so that anyone who is hungry and doesn't have enough money to pay for a good meal can come to your house and you will feed them. And how about we are two neighbor girls who come to help you each day get ready for all the people. I'll be Mary and Hattie is Laura." Hattie interjects enthusiastically, "I'm Wawa!" "And Mom, we call you Ma, even though you aren't our actual Ma, but that's what everyone calls you when you're working in the kitchen. And you tell us helpful things we can do."

So I asked if Laura would wipe down the kitchen table and if Mary would wipe down all of the counters. They were so glad and happy. And then Mary asked if they could sweep too.

I told them they were the best help I had ever found and I will gladly spread the word to all the other Amish mothers out there that Laura and Mary are terrific workers if they ever need extra hands.

It's 2 17! It's 2 17!

Ivar's watch alarm just went off and he began yelling, "It's Two Seventeen! It's Two Seventeen!" And he kept celebrating while showing me on his digital watch that when he hit mode it said 2:17 for the time AND 2 17 for the date.

And that is your dose of 8-year-old for the day. He's so awesome.

And it is also Ivar's Papa's birthday today! So happy 2 17, Papa!

In other news, one afternoon this week I began singing:
"...I ask no other sunshine than the sunshine of his face;
Content to let the world go by, to know no gain nor loss,
My sinful self my only shame, My glory all, the cross."

And the song stopped me in my tracks because I couldn't figure out why I had even thought of it. Best I can come up with is maybe someone at Aldi was humming it? But I go to a charismatic church now and I haven't sung Beneath the Cross of Jesus in a long, long time. Let alone (what I just looked up to be) part of verse 3!

But it made me happy to know that my inner Lutheran Clock is still going strong. And somehow I just knew it was time to sing Lenten songs!

...except then I googled when Ash Wednesday was this year and it is not until MARCH SIXTH!!! And then I felt a little bit of winter defeat. Because Lent was always a bit of a Spring-Is-Coming countdown too. But apparently it's still a while before the fish-n-chips specials start up... In the meantime, I'll still sing my Lenten songs. I LOVE a good somber, contemplative hymn and Lent definitely does this best!

yes! five!

Apologies for that pregnant pause after posting Ivar's video. I had intended to come on here and further explain, but you know...life is in full swing.

So yes! Five! We are thrilled. We were hopeful for one more and were grateful to be able get pregnant again.

But let me tell you, we didn't see this coming even after Alden was born. We bought our minivan with full belief that we were done and would fit a minivan nicely. Now we will fit a minivan not so nicely. It was strange how our change of heart came about. There was a night where all six of us were up in Ivar and Elsie's room. The kids were playing, a newborn Alden was laying on a blanket on the ground and Rory and I looked at each other. He said, "there's room for more, isn't there?" And I said, "oh my word. I was just thinking that we're not done yet." And we sort of looked at each other in amazement. These thoughts surprised us both.

We didn't talk about it much more, other than making little comments here and there, "oh we could totally have another." or "where would we fit another bed?" It was always sort of floating around, and some days I felt super able to add another, and others I thought the idea was a little extreme.

But then there is Alden. Easiest baby on planet earth. He's just a delight. Easy peasy. Pure joy with a huge smile. And the more I thought about what we would have missed if we had stopped at 3, the more I wondered who would be our number 5.

Plus, my mom is the fifth born in her family. Just think how different my life would be if Phil and Velma Bredberg had decided to stop at four! (I'll give you a hint. Poof! You wouldn't be reading this blog right now...)

Around the end of August we realized we had to get serious about making this decision, so we took a month to pray and seek the Lord. That month we experienced the tornado, as well as the powerful gift of a large family and all of the help and love and care that descended on our farm because of my mom's large farm family. It was one of those first evenings after the storm, still without power, sitting by candle light that Rory said with tears in his eyes, "what could be more worth our lives than raising up good children who love the Lord and will take care of each other for the rest of their lives?" We took these moments as confirmation and decided we could figure out the logistical things like car seats and bedroom arrangements in due time. We wanted a fifth.

We also sat Ivar and Elsie down individually and asked them what they would think about having another baby. I know the oldest kids can sometimes have opinions about being the oldest in a bigger family. Ivar's response was, "oh yes! I just wish we didn't have to wait so long for the baby to be here! I want it here now!" And Elsie's response was basically some sort of squeal followed by a yes.

So here we are. I am already 13 weeks along (this will be a fast pregnancy for you blog readers! Already almost to second trimester!) And due mid-August. I feel fantastic. I cannot complain about one thing. That is remarkable to me, and I am very grateful. I have a swell of nausea once in a while but take those with a little relief that I actually am pregnant and everything is still going well. I will also add that this is how I felt with Ivar and Alden. It was Elsie and Hattie that had me sick. So there's that. But every baby born to a friend lately has been suspected one gender and then surprised everyone, so I'm not going to place any bets.

I think that's about all. My belly is growing. I still fit into my carhartt snowpants, but it's getting real snug. I have been nesting and cleaning and making give away piles like a woman who is trying to make room for one more body in her house. It feels great. We've got room aplenty in our house and our hearts for this baby. What fun to feel the same anticipation and gladness for the fifth pregnancy as the first. That is always a wonder to me. Our hearts can only grow and grow and grow.

Ivar's latest stop motion video...

(Be sure your volume is on.) Ivar has been doing so many stop motion videos lately, and it's fun to see what he comes up with next. This one has a great ending! :)

well hello!

It's been a long, long time. I'll try to fill you in on life lately...

Lately I've been:

Watching Tudor Farm and Wartime Farm with Rory. Both of these are BBC series where they reenact a certain slice of history and show how they did everything back in that day. Rory and I eat this stuff up. Where many are excited about the technology of the future, we are always slack jawed at the innovative ways things were done in the past. (both are on youtube linked above and the music audio on tudor farm is horrible...just a heads up...)

Enjoying all of the quotes that come out of Hattie's mouth.  A few nights ago we had friends over for dinner so that day I cleaned my kitchen so that it was basically empty when I was done. Every bit of paper and clutter was put in it's place and so the next day I was cleaning it again, hoping it might stay that way. Hattie came in and said, "More people comin' over?" I said, "no, I just want to keep it nice and tidy when it looks so good." And Hattie nodded her head, "Oh good! Nice and Tidy comin' over!"

Reading My Bible! I am enjoying this version so, so much! I had no daily habit for Bible reading the past few years. I was quite sporadic with long lulls in between. And even though I still don't read it every single day, I do catch up about every other day or every third day and I LOVE being accountable to keeping it up. Plus, this version that I linked to is really great. Good summaries, keeps it moving, adds insight along the way. Join in if you want! There is no "too late" to starting this good habit!

Eating the salad above. As often as possible. My sister-in-law Sara brought this to a Christmas gathering and I honestly think I ate half the bowl. It's just olives (I use kalamata) tomatoes (not in season, but they taste so summery in this salad) cucumbers, feta cheese and a dressing. Sara used Newman's Own Feta Greek dressing. I use Aldi's Greek dressing and both are SO GOOD. This salad tastes so not-wintertime to me. It's why I love it. It feels like I'm taking a stand against the frozen earth. Make this. You will be happy you did.

Playing board games! On Saturday we took the kids to a meet up where a big reception hall was set up with tables and tables of prototype board games to play with their creator. We didn't bring our own games and instead played everyone else's and it was SO GREAT. One was a card game that had us building sandwiches with our cards. Another was a Christmas Caroling game where you had to knock on the table, sing a carol and then take your turn in game play. It was all so fun! So creative! So inventive! And we left with our heads spinning with fun ideas for more board games.

Hibernating. When it gets this cold I just don't like to go outside. Rory is a stud and does all the animal chores a couple times a day, checking on their water and making sure everyone is okay when it's below zero. And I just tell him how great I think he is and quickly close the door when he walks outside.

Cleaning the kids room. It had hit a new level of sty. There were just too many toys accessible and today I cleaned it like it was my job. It sort of is, as their mother. They helped as well and I loaded up two big boxes full of toys to put into the attic and one big bag of toys to give away (don't tell the kids...) Their room looks great now and I will have more peace in my heart with less stuff strewn all over by my well-intentioned, though destructive, one year old.

That's all for now. I felt like I had to bop my head in here before you all thought I've quit forever. Not sure why the lull...you know me. I'll be back.

2018 in review

For years and years I have done an annual Best Of post. But this year I'm going to change things up a bit, going month by month, picking out the highlight from my posts that month. I just went through January and it was so fascinating to me to scroll through my life one year ago. So I'll spare you that task, and just share a favorite moment from each month.

January

 Goat. It's what's for dinner. Definitely a favorite blog post.

February

John Deere Groves, Welcome to the Farm-ily

March

his name is Miracle

April

today on the farm... A good reminder of all that is to come in springtime. And to rest up!

May

post holes So. many. post. holes.

June

I'm a milk maid! Likely the happiest moment of my 2018. Can you tell?!!

to market to market to kill a fat pig There's just so much to learn on a farm...

July

Hay Day...Hooray!

Goat Milk Soap

August

can the rainbow ...my New Year's resolution last year.

 ...and, a BLT with the Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato all from our own farm!

September

a very scary night and so grateful 

October...I only posted once in October...

Halloween 2018

November

Alden's Day 2018 A day-in-the-life at our house.

December

...no blog post, just a nice family picture

So there you have it. Our year in review. I have never had a year in my life where I have felt so changed...and I'm not certain if it was 2018, or when I turned 37, because that was the day Miracle was born, and that experience changed me so completely from an in-the-house farm wife to a full on walking-to-the-barn-at-2-am-to-bottle-feed farmer. I wrote about this transformation fully right here. And the big life experiences just kept coming. God has shown me so many things this year, taught me so many things, empowered me in so many ways. All things are possible and I believe it in my bones. My hands will remain wide open, ready to learn and grow and deepen my relationship with Him. Because he has me on a fast track at the moment and I simply want to learn more and more of him and his ways.

So there it is. 2018 has passed and 2019 looks full of possibility and promise. How good it is to be alive.

3 good Christmas stories

So this picture was taken earlier in the month...it's a little more brown and icy now. :)

Story One: 
Back in September our church hosted the Minnesota Teen Challenge Choir. We have the Rochester campus come to our church and in the choir was the granddaughter of one of our members. Also singing up front was the young mom who sits in front of us every Sunday morning. I knew she had been in rehab, but I didn't realize she was at Teen Challenge. She's a great girl. She comes with her mom every Sunday and now her two kids come with their grandma as she gets help to overcome her addictions.

This past Sunday she must have had a pass to leave the campus and came to church. We were sitting on the opposite side of our usual seats and so I didn't see her until I saw the commotion as we sang. She had been spotted by a good friend and the two were hugging and it looked so joyful. Then one of my favorite older men in the congregation got out of his seat and went to shake her hand and they talked for a while. And over and over I watched her be overwhelmingly welcomed into our fold with so much joy and gladness that she was back. It made me happy to be a part of the church- there was so much love surrounding her.

Story Two:
We got to church for the Christmas Eve service just as it was beginning. I was walking behind my clan with a toddling Alden who tripped and fell and by the time he picked himself up again, Rory had chosen our seats. He chose a row closer to the front in the middle of lots of people, next to our good friends with little kids. And immediately I felt like this was a bad idea. Christmas Eve is a quiet service and if I had been leading the pack I would have chosen the back row, with an easy exit for when we got to noisy. Instead I climbed over Rory to sit with all 6 of us in 4 chairs.

I was so annoyed. I didn't even look to see who was behind us as I climbed into my spot. I just felt embarrassed for what was to come. So I tried to be still and keep everyone quiet and fumed a bit at how stuck I was in this row.

But the kids were fine. And Alden kept smiling at the people behind us, and I just hoped they weren't regretful that their Christmas Eve came with a side show. Eventually I loosened up and I turned to see who Alden was beaming at. And guess who it was? Tony. Tony, Alden's very best friend at church. Tony is an old man who lives alone and comes to church an hour early so that he can feed Alden donut holes, one after another and scratch Alden's back. They love each other and I quickly realized Alden was likely making Tony's whole Christmas as he smiled and excitedly handed him ripped up scraps of paper.

And then I looked next to Tony and it was Gayla and her husband. Gayla teaches Hattie and Elsie's Sunday School class and adores my daughters. And when I made eye contact with her she lit up and wished me a Merry Christmas and her husband smiled and I felt so much grace.

It turns out we were surrounded by people who love us fully. I looked around and on every side were friends who love our family. And I felt that love go right into my heart as my body physically went from nervous and annoyed to relief and belonging.

Story Three:
This one involves you. A few years ago my mom got a Chronological Daily Bible and read the Bible in a year. The next year her brother Wayne bought this Bible for himself and for each of his siblings and they read it together. Last April I found this particular Bible at the used book fair in our town and picked it up. It took until September for me to start reading it and when I did I was so glad. This Bible is fantastic. The books for the prophets are woven through the stories found in Kings and Chronicles. The Psalms pop up from time to time, fitting the text. The book of Acts has been broken up with Paul's letters to the churches peppered throughout. The best part is that there are helpful paragraphs between readings that say, "Now remember while this is happening in Babylon, this is happening back in..." And it is so helpful! The story is alive and I am so grateful for the way the Word is made new through this Bible.

So I emailed my pastors and asked if I could invite our congregation to read this Bible with me in 2019. By 2020 we would have read the Bible together. And then I emailed a bunch of local friends to see if they wanted to join in. And at this time there are over 50 of us committed to reading God's Word together in 2019. Even the Hispanic small group bought 8 Spanish versions so they can join along!

So here's the thing. January first is right around the corner, and with Prime, you could have this Bible in your mailbox long before then. Or maybe it comes a few days late and you just pick up on the day it arrives because there is grace for this reading plan and because you likely know the creation story pretty well by now...

But I want to invite you to join in. It is 4-5 pages a day. It usually takes me 15-20 minutes. And I am telling you, I love this version.

It is called The Daily Bible in Chronological Order.  If you are feeling like your own faith life has been dry, or if you need a word from the Lord, then I highly recommend joining in. Because God is not quiet in his Bible! He has many words for you! They are right there.

And the thing about doing this as a group is that we are on the hook to read it! I need the accountability so much that I am leading this effort- think of the pressure on me to read it now! And you too! In a good way! I want to do this. Think about all that God wants to show us through his Word, if we would just open the book up. We will pray for discipline, obedience and steadfastness to keep our faces in the book- together. Literally on the same page.

So go order your Daily Bible. It's $20. I don't think you can regret this one!

Merry Christmas everybody.

Santa Lucia: Santa Hattie

My friend Lacy replied to an email saying, "we've got everything set for Lucia Day tomorrow..." and I wrote back that I was so grateful for the reminder because I barely knew the day of the week that week. So we pulled it off! And let me tell you, every year we are more and more casual about the whole thing and that seems to help greatly.

Elsie was Lucia in the morning at our house with Hattie as her joyful and happy assistant. They gave Dad cookies in bed and then tried to wake up Ivar but he just took his cookie and crawled back under his covers. Alden was the most enthused because he can say, "Cookie!" And he couldn't believe he was getting a spritz in his crib, first thing in the morning. 

Later in the day we went to Kyle and Lisa's house to surprise Josie and her boyfriend but Elsie got nervous at the last second so it was a quick switch to Hattie who was happy to be Lucia, though the crown didn't feel good she said. 

Then we went to my parent's house and Elsie was Lucia there. We sang We Wish you a Merry Christmas and gave cookies. And that was a wrap. And of the entire day, these are the only two pictures I took! But it was so fun to go to relative's houses, just like in our favorite Lucia book. I think this will become more of our tradition...making the rounds and delivering cookies door to door. It made for a really fun and festive Lucia day this year!

homemade snow globes and I'm still here!

I've been getting emails and texts asking if I'm doing okay...it's been so long since I have posted here! And the answer is Yes! Doing great and living this season fully. (Also, my computer is in the cold laundry room, and has to be connected to an actual internet cable so that I can't move it anywhere...and it is so cold in this part of the house that I have very little incentive to come back here! But I just batch edited all my December pictures, so get ready...blog posts are on their way!)

Now let's talk about these snow globes. I found this tutorial the day before our Harrington Family Christmas and I basically stopped all of life in order to get these babies made to give as Christmas gifts to my parents. They are so darling. They were pretty straight forward to make, though the glycerine/glitter ratio was a little tricky late, late at night...just a heads up. But I wanted to post these pictures so that if you are looking for a last minute grandma and grandpa gift, you now have this darling idea. Fire up your hot glue gun!

Funny story from these snow globes. Before we took the pictures I showed the kids the original post where the idea was from and they got really excited. I told them to go put on their winter gear to take their individual pictures and Elsie left for a long time and then came back with her hair done, a dress and high heels. Oh that girl. She is a delight. And looks stunning in her snow globe. (Alden wasn't going for any of the winter gear, hence the pj's.)

So a few catch up stories:
Elsie- The road we take to church and Aldi has been closed since April. It finally opened back up and lo and behold they put in a round-about at the entrance of a subdivision. You should know that I am the president of the Round-Abouts-Are-Dumb fan club. I just think they're dumb. But Elsie, on our first spin around our new round-about (on a quiet road with barely any traffic) said to me, "This is my dream! I love these! And now we can ride on this everyday!" And it made puff a laugh and I was grateful to have Elsie in my life. And I swallowed my own opinions and decided to grab hold of Elsie's attitude.

Alden- He toddles everywhere, is quite hefty and talks a lot. When he wakes in the morning he bellows, "HaaaaaTeeeee! HaaaaaTeeeee!" And then when I get him out he leans forward whispering, "Essie? Essie?" He still calls me Dadda, and when I correct him and say, "I'm Mama" he will look at me and say cheerfully, "DaddaMama!" He adds joy and delight to every day. And rearranges anything not locked down in our house. Every day.

Ivar- We are reading The Viking Quest series right now. Actually, Ivar is reading each book first and them I'm dying for him to finish so I can start reading the next one. He told me while reading the first book that he really wanted me to read it...that I would love it. So late one night I picked it up and thought I'd read a chapter to be kind to his wishes, but then I got sucked in and read half the book! They are so good! They teach how to hear God's voice and how to believe even when everything seems impossible. And they are intense! If I had read the books first I likely would have waited until Ivar was 10, but I didn't, and he seems fine. I think it is more challenging reading, but Ivar told me, "when I don't know a word, I just skip it. It usually doesn't matter." Ha.

Hattie- Hattie is always talking about whose birthday is next. So now each day she'll tell me excitedly a couple times, "Baby Jesus' Birthday Comin' Up!"

Rory- We brought two ewes to auction on Monday and on Wednesday we brought our lamb Big Sister to butcher. We love our animals and these goodbyes are really sad. I loved one of those ewes so much...she was so friendly and tame. But it's also part of this life and becoming more routine. A strange reality to recognize.

Me- I've enjoyed this December so much this year. We decorated the day after Thanksgiving and then I got all crafty and made a huge wreath out of our evergreen, made big stars out of sticks and twine, made a bunch of paper snowflakes with the kids and hung some new decorations in new places. I really got a kick start on the season. But then I think I sort of sat on my hands for a while, so that now, the fact that it is December 20th is crazy pants to me and I still need to find a few gifts! I do this every year! The last minute run around is just a part of my December tradition, I guess. But it's fun, isn't it? Even in Walmart two nights ago I felt glad and happy to be out and about getting things ready for Christmas.

So that's all for now! And I've got more posts to come. But for now, know that we're doing well over here. I had a friend's girls over tonight while their folks hosted a work christmas party. I told all the kids over dinner, "Tomorrow the days start to get longer! It's the winter solstice!" And Lily moaned, "Oh nooooo. I don't want the days to be any longer before Christmas. I just want it to be here!"

Isn't that great? It was such a great reminder of Christmas as a kid. All the joy and anticipation for that one day. What fun!

Alden's Day 2018

You will never believe this. I woke up, mom got me out of my crib and brought me to her bedroom window...and there were guys on my roof. Lots of them. I stayed very, very still and kept a close eye on them. I knew right then this was going to be an interesting day.

Then Elsie woke up and she helped me keep an eye on the roof guys. Mom didn't seem concerned, so I relaxed a bit. Which was good because this day was going to get noisy!

It was only after making Peanut Butter and Jelly Toast that Mom thought of the last time I took over her blog and shared pictures from a typical day and she decided maybe it was time to do it again. The crazy thing is, it was almost a year to the day that we did this last year! So Mom committed to keep her camera out and take pictures all day long. To be noted, new this year, Elsie can make the PBJ Toast! This is a great step forward for Groveskind. Mom is so thrilled. Also, we don't always have PBJ Toast, but we go in streaks for breakfast foods, and right now we're once again on a PBJ toast streak.

Hattie got all sticky while eating her toast and was so glad to be told to go and wash her hands. That's basically all Hattie does anymore. She just stands on the step stool and squirts the soap, adds some water, squirts some more soap, makes faces in the mirror, makes bubbles, talks about the bubbles... and it goes on and on until Mom remembers that she sent her to wash her hands and tells her she needs to be done.

I'm not there yet. I just sit in my high chair until Mom takes the time to hold me with her one arm right under my arm pits, and then uses her other arm to quirt soap into each hand while I splash and squirm and try to get my feet into the sink. Sometime mom procrastinates on cleaning me because it can be quite the mess.

So she puts off the inevitable and makes her own breakfast while I watch. She's doing another Whole 30 right now, with a few modifications this time (like rice) and is happy to be off of sugar again.

But it's too bad she didn't wash my hands when she took that first picture! Because guess where I put my sticky fingers?!! When I said I was "all done!" I meant it. so get me out of this thing so I can go dump something on the floor!

Meanwhile, when Hattie washed her hands, and Mom ate her eggs and I discovered hair gel, Ivar and Elsie got to work up in Lego Land. This is part of the upstairs closet where they can play and not be terrorized by people like me, people who love to destroy lego creations. Also, if they are playing in Lego Land, it means they are done with their morning chores. Or at least they are supposed to be!

Mom loves this wall in her bedroom and just wanted to show you.

So I wish you could hear the audio of this day, but since you can't I will tell you that those workers were ripping off every shingle on our house and then nailing in new boards on the existing roof before pounding in the shingles. Sometimes the house positively shook. It was so loud and exciting! The workers were fun to watch, but we all agreed they looked terribly cold. So Hattie and Mom decided to make them Monster Cookies.

Hattie is always happy to help in the kitchen.

And I'm happy to help too, but it does seem I continue to get set in my high chair. This time I had feelings about that. I was so mad! I wanted to be right there by the mixer, making sure the blade was spinning in that batter by testing it with my own hand. So Mom put me in lock down...I mean, in my high chair and I was not happy. But then she gave me a little tootsie pop from the halloween candy and then I was happy.

Hattie and I went down for our naps, which was a little bit of a stretch since the workers were walking around right above our heads. But we stayed in our cribs and listened for a bit, while Mom got Ivar and Elsie working on school stuff. Ivar is learning about the 13 colonies as a part of his US History. Recently she was telling them about the constitution and Elsie said, "The thing that is embarrassing about the Constitution is that it sounds like constiTOOTion." Let me tell you, we are never at a loss for potty humor around here. Everybody just loves a good toot joke!

And Elsie is almost a full-blown reader! She has been working so hard and is almost done with her reading book and it is so fun to watch it all come together. Also, when Ivar took this picture he said to her, "Elsie, you look very beautiful right now." Later Dad told Mom that he had told Ivar to stop looking for things Elsie was doing wrong and to look for opportunities to build her up.

Look at this sweet Ewe. Just walked right up to Mom when she was walking out to the cabin. Our sheep are so tame and friendly.

And here's Dad working out in his office. He is writing a book right now and it is almost finished. Also, if this had been a Monday or a Wednesday, he would be working at the butcher shop. He is learning so much!

Now look at that guy! And I'm trying to sleep right under where he is working!

Well, my nap didn't last too much longer and guess who was in our house when I came downstairs?!! Hershey the Rabbit!!! Mom had rescued her because her hutch was covered with tarp and nails kept falling on her metal roof. So she went and got her for a day in the downstairs shower. Ivar was thrilled and brought her out to play many times this day.

Then Hershey went back in the shower and we tuned into our favorite show, Shingles at Sundown.

Then it was time to make dinner! This was a big day in the kitchen. Mom made cauliflower rice, monster cookies, scalloped potatoes, a ham and a loaf of bread in this one day. Her cooking ebbs and flows, sometimes she's into it and sometimes she's not. But lately she has been enjoying her time in the kitchen which is good news for good eaters like me.

 

This was our own pig, our own potatoes and our own onion. We love meals like this!

After supper we all tidy up the house. Elsie is super duper helpful in the kitchen and adds a lot of joy to Mom's work in there. That's fun when a 37 year old can be inspired by a 6 year old's chipper attitude.

And then we got the projector out and watched the videos of Mom and Dad when they went to Tanzania just after they got married. They liked remembering that season of life. They kept saying to each other, "do you remember our life back then? what were we doing with all of our time? I hardly remember our day to day..." I mostly liked snuggling with mom and Elsie.

And then we had Family Worship. That means: we sing a hymn, read a portion from the Bible and pray together before bedtime. Hattie and my favorite hymn is Holy, Holy, Holy. We sing it all night long when we are trying to fall asleep. Holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy... Mom uses her Hymn Cards so we all have a copy of the words and it has become a very favorite part of the day. And Mom and Dad are so glad we are learning these important songs. Otherwise we'd never hear them! They are very aware that the Hymns rarely say "me" or "I" or "us" or "we." The hymns are mostly about God and how good he is. It is refreshing! So we end our days singing of how good God is, and then I hit the hay with the other three. And these days, Mom and Dad come to bed pretty soon after. Thanks for joining me for another day! And be sure to read the disclaimer at the end of last year's post if this all looks a little bit too perfect for you... ;)