I don't know when I've ever been so amused...

Oh my word this blows my mind. This is hilarious. And we could probably make a killing hosting this in our barn but we most definitely will not. Because it is absurd. And weird. And goats poop and pee all the time, as they will. Thank you Kathy, for sending this on to me! I have not laughed so hard in a long, long time!

a whole bundance

Elsie has started helping me with the laundry and it is sincerely so, so helpful. I love her company. I love her narration of the task at hand. I love that I have a partner in crime. She told me, "Mom, look at this on the bed. I am really folding a bundance of kitchen towels!"

Watching my kids vocabulary grow has always been one of my very favorite parts of motherhood. I think it is for everyone..it's just so entertaining. Today Ivar was protesting the movie that Elsie wants to watch for family movie night. He said, "Elsie, I don't want to watch Ben Hur! It's just so awkward!" It's an animated version my dad got for us to watch. I asked Ivar, "what do you mean, awkward?" And Ivar's eyes went huge like a dear caught in the headlights and he said, "I have no idea what that word means. That was my first time using it!"

winter survival skills

I took a class on winter survival my senior year of high school. That class was geared towards car kits with flares and granola bars, and learning how to build a shelter in the snow. But the kind of survival I am talking about today is the one where a woman may look aghast at her calendar and say, "what on earth? Is it STILL January?!!" Longest month ever. Plus, we're on a tight budget and ran out of food money nine days ago. For real January, let it go.

But it got me to thinking about the things I do to make it through with my spirits high. Because, as your may remember, I have regrouped my seasons and My Winter is actually January, February and March. It sets March up with much more realistic expectations. It's going to snow a lot that month...might as well call it winter. Which means we are just 1/3 through this season.

I actually do love winter, but mostly because of the hibernation and hunkering it naturally brings. Which is why I wanted to share my favorite winter survival skills:

1. Kiwi, orange and banana salad. Just these three. Just one of each. Cut up into a fruit salad. I swear it turns into a different food entirely. Somehow it all balances each other out and because all are in season all winter long, it can feel like a little tropical get away. Try it before you knock it. It's my favorite.

2. Hot Baths. Honestly, people who don't have winter just can't get the gift of a hot bath. Or a hot shower, for that matter. We just read The Long Winter to the kids, where the Ingalls family nearly starves to death waiting for the train to come through the snow drifts in late, late April. Blizzards come for days at a time and only leave for one or two days. It's terrible. Rory mentioned that he couldn't imagine not having a hot shower...ever. That whole generation died before they knew the goodness of a hot shower! Don't take it for granted!

3. A roaring fire. This isn't completely fair because most don't have a fireplace. We dreamed of our fireplace and talked about it and even made fake paper fireplaces on our living room walls for a decade. But when you are bone cold, there is NOTHING like standing next to a roaring hot stove. It's such a good, radiant heat.

4. Grapefruits, peeled like an orange and then each section peeled again. There is no other way to eat a grapefruit. Get rid of that sharp spoon and learn from my ways. My uncle Wayne taught me this method and I can never go back. To take a bite of an enormous wedge of grapefruit in the dead of winter? Well it's worth all the work and mess off peeling the whole thing. It will reset your mood, outlook and will become a daily ritual. Just the smell alone will do wonders.

5. Winter photography. This is a favorite. When I'm feeling like it, it is so good to get outside and look for what is beautiful. There is so much. We recently had a snow that coated each tree in white on just one side. I looked out my windows and thought there is just no better painting in the world than the one God changes for us each day.

6. Tea Time with Popcorn! Do this! I was recently at Cub and looking at microwave popcorn. And then I saw a bag of whole kernels for a fraction of the price, for like 10 times the amount of popcorn. And I thought, "Aunt Louie pops her own popcorn. How hard can it be?" And thank you Aunt Louie! It's not hard! At all! I don't even have a pan with a proper fitting lid, and I still can do it. (look it up on youtube, lots of videos..it's a cinch, try it with coconut oil...yum!) Anyway, each day at 3:00 when my kids start saying they're hungry I have been making popcorn and tea. (They love tea now that Mary and Laura drank so much in The Long Winter. We're really into Good Earth Sweet and Spicy...thanks to some recommendations here on the blog!) What used to be a long and dragging part of our day has become a highlight. We sit and sip and eat and talk and regroup for the rest of the afternoon and evening. Hattie loves popcorn too.

7. An electric blanket. So excited about this. I don't know if a night has passed where Rory or I don't say, "this blanket is the best." Bed is already heated when you crawl in. 2017 is a fine time to be alive. An electric blanket is just a sweet luxury that isn't that expensive.

8. Good books. I have been listening to The Read Aloud Revival podcast that shares great, wholesome books to read aloud to the whole family. (they have a book list of recommendations on their site to print off!) Along the way I have heard many titles that are too old for my kids, but I want to read. My list is long and the books are rich and good. Classics, or certain to be classics. And you tell me if you're not hungry for a good story of good people doing the right thing!

9. Playdates. Winter is such a catch 22 because the second you plan a playdate, someone gets sick. But we persevere because eventually it works out and friendship is good for everyone.

10. Go to be early. I love this one. Especially because I'm pregnant and exhausted. But isn't it nice to have permission to go to bed before 10, just because it's that dark? In the summer, Rory and I will putter in the yard until 10 most nights, working on projects. But not in winter. There have been many nights at dinner that I announce, I am going to bed with the kids tonight. And when 7:00 rolls around, I'm the first one with my teeth brushed and contacts out.

So there is my list. I'd love to hear if you have any other favorites to add. You'll note I'm not super active this winter. I daily walk would be good addition, but hard with all the little people (and snowpants drama) it involves. But do share! I really do love winter because of the list above. And I'd love to add more to my list!

good lookin' goat

I remember at the County Fair walking into the goat building and telling Rory that I was on a mission to "find the cute goats." We walked the loop of that building, and I was hard pressed to find a cute goat. They are odd, odd animals. Most disturbing are the really tall kind that are the top milk producers. I can't remember their name but they didn't have ears. And I can't remember it that was because they were clipped or if they were born that way, but either way it was terribly unnatural. And their heads were very small for their bodies. They were far from the cute goats I was looking for.

Well, we didn't find them at the fair, but I did eventually find the cute goats. They're ours. And just between you and me, I am sure they look exactly like the ones we saw at the fair that day. Except these goats are our sweet Darcy and Precious. And we love them so much. They are probably our favorite farm animals, right up there with Velma and Vernon, our very first farm cats. Sheep are interesting and show very little personality it seems. But goats are just awesome.

I took this picture recently and when we came in I zoomed way in to discover that Darcy the Goat is in fact smiling for the camera. Come on! Not only do we think Darcy and Precious are darling, but we also find them to be quite photogenic. Plus,we are expecting baby goats sometime in February from both of them. Can you imagine the cuteness?!!

a pretty winter

These pictures were all taken last week. This week has been nice and balmy and a whole lot of our snow has melted. It feels better outside, but it's not nearly as beautiful. It's supposed to snow overnight, so we'll likely be coated in fresh white by morning.

This is Hattie's favorite place to be. She loves watching her brother and sister and yelling, "I-are! Eh-Eeh!" Also she can climb up onto anything now which makes life a little more intense. Thankfully she is proud and usually alerts me to her new position by clapping her hands and loudly announcing, "Ididit!" That's my cue to come from the other room to figure out where she is now precariously perched.

I've also figured out a good mom trick. Typically Ivar wants to stay inside and Elsie is up for going outside. But they both need some time outdoors so I have started telling them, "you just have to be outside for 10 minutes. I don't care if you stay in the warm room (heated a bit for the water spigot) in the barn and play with the cats the whole 10 minutes and then come back in." The mom trick is that the kids usually find something they're interested in like visiting the goats and sheep, riding their bikes in the barn, building baby snowmen, looking for possum prints or pulling each other in the sled. Those ten minutes never end up just ten minutes. But those ten minutes get them out the door.

Thankfully the ice didn't do any damage, so these pictures are still lovely to us. And the picture below is of a huge black walnut we had taken down because it creaked so badly. We were glad it came down on our time...look at how hollow that tree was!

And on a sad note, a coyote got into the chicken yard and ate one of our best layers! (Not Henny or Penny, Kathy!) Goldie (in the lower right) apparently didn't go back into the coop one night. We didn't see her but a coyote did. We've been hearing them each night and man coyote howls are ominous! The dog left tracks in the snow and some grey fur on the fence so we are pretty certain we know who to blame. But the very next day Rory put up an electrical mesh fence around the chicken fence, a motion-censored flood light and an animal cam. These chickens have never been so safe.

Other than that, January keeps marching along. I woke up with a terrible bout of Vertigo this morning. I am always so surprised when it hits because you never really plan it. It knocked me out a lot of the day, but finally this afternoon after a round of the awesome head exercises, I got everything set right in my inner-ear and life could carry on as usual. So I made spaghetti and cleaned the kitchen. And my "as usual" felt really good to do because I was healthy again. Funny how a sick body can throw everything back into perspective. There are so many things to be grateful for, especially a healthy body.