Just a Quick Check in

Hi,

I just wanted to make sure I put something up this week.  It has to be short ~ I have prayers to go say.  It has been an interesting week.  I have much time to read and learn more about my faith this week.  I keep asking God to help us either get closer to tradition or to bring tradition closer to us.
So far no move...but I am thankful for the time that he is taking to prepare me for such a move.  I have learned over the years that when I come across something three times, I need to pay attention.

What have I recently come across three times?  You need to pack up your stuff and move to a traditional community where you can receive the support of like minded people and be close to daily reception of the Sacraments.

Okay ~ so we are pondering how to do that.  We are just in the pondering stages at the moment.  We will ponder and pray and see what happens.

In other news...MK turned 18 this week!  She was pretty excited for her birthday but not because of the number.  She was excited because it was a day to celebrate.  We have another celebration for her next week...Graduation party!  Looking at how little time there is between now and then I am a little intimidated with the amount of work that needs to get done.

The garden ~ the garden is coming along nicely.  The dh is doing a fine job this year of maintaining a truly beautiful garden.  He went out and bought some really nasty smelling spray to get rid of the raiding rabbits.  It seems to be working.  He also is employing the help of our two teenage boys in mowing the yard...or acreage. :)  The boys are adjusting to doing such fine manly work.

House work ~ My dh agreed that painting another room right now is not a good idea.  So the craft room will remain white till fall.  Then he went out to LOwe's and bought a 5 gallon pale of a pretty blue semi-gloss because it was only $50.  This is how we have painted before ...so now we need to decide where this might best fit.  A nice problem to have really.

That should be good for now to have brought mostly up to speed in my rather ordinary life.

Enjoy your weekend and make sure to keep Sunday holy ~ rest, read, pray.

Kate

A little better all the time

Things are improving - slowly. But improvement is good and speed is relative. One drain tube was removed at our surgeon visit on Monday. We go back and hopefully the other one will be ready to come out next Monday.
His appetite is returning in increments. He lost a significant amount of weight. What I notice is that he has lost a lot a muscle tone. His arms look really skinny to me - not that they were big to begin with but they look smaller to me.
The children are doing okay. The 12yr old son had a melt down on Saturday but we worked through it. Not sure what was the cause. The 10 yr old son hasn't quite pulled his head out of the sand yet. He is trying - they all are trying really hard. We all have good days and bad days. This is how it goes when you experience a major life change. This is that marking moment in the children's lives. It will be things before the surgery and things after the surgery.
On some of the trips to and from the hospital, I remembered the times my dad was in the hospital. Other than just before he died I know of two other times. I know that he had his appendix out when they lived in Detroit. He also had hernia surgery. The hernia surgery I remember. What I remember is before he went in to the hospital. He was sitting on the kitchen floor and couldn't get up. I remember when he came home from the hospital because we decorated the house with a welcome home sign and hid to surprise him when he came in. I don't remember how long he was in the hospital or how much Mom went up to see him while he was there. I wondered how my mom felt during those time. Was she as torn as I was about being in one place and missing either her husband or her children? It was hard for me to leave the hospital but it was good to see the children before bed or at least in the morning.

As time goes on I am sure to hear more from the children about how they viewed this significant event in their lives.

Blessings on you all!

Trying to find the good

So yesterday's post was quite depressing, huh? I still feel like my fingernails are just barely holding me onto the edge of the cliff. In the spirit of trying to find something good, as in "Count Your Blessing" or "There must have been something good", we will try to find the blessings that I can remember in all of this.
First - this is the first time since possibly grade school when I have had such supportive and helpful friends. They were the first people I let know that Larry was in the hospital and their first question was how can we help. Not only was that the first question but when I stated how they could help, they said okay and just gave what was asked for. Isn't that amazing? I don't know how many times people will say how can we help and you state a direct answer and then receive - oh well, I am not sure about that.
Not so this time. This time everything I have asked for, I have received. God is truly wonderful that way, especially in such a messy place.
I am thankful that God also gifted me with the most awesome daughter. She has not only stepped up to the plate, she has continued to hit line drives and get things done. She has become my support - for good or bad - the person who discusses things with me because I can't discuss them with the dh at the moment. She is working with me and the younger ones to get a routine going so they are pitching in more and lining up behind her at the plate.
It is still hard and I know it will continue to be hard while he goes through the long recovery. But at least I know that people have got my back. God has placed them there just for me. :)

Prepping for Decorating

Yesterday was spent preparing the living room for the tree. I rearranged funiture and then had to clean. Where did all that dust come from?? Sean informed me last night that I could put up the tree today(Sunday, December 12) and then wait to decorate until -with a shrug- Christmas Eve. He just wanted the tree up - then there is more hope that it will be decoarted eventually. LOL.

That was my plan to just get it up today. I am hoping I make it that far. If I am really good the lights will go on today - but don't expect too much. It is snowing to beat the band today so the mood is set. The only problem is that I am exhausted today. I stayed up late on Friday night to read a really good story without interruptions. Then I put in a full day yesterday with cleaning and splitting wood and no nap. Yes, I am amazing! LOL! Consequently, today I just want to sleep.

I am sure some little person will come along to push and nudge me so that they can at least have the tree up. I am pretty sure that I will accommodate them.

Wishing I had some spiked eggnog.

Blessings to all
Kate

What Have I been doing this Summer???

This was part of my summer. I am painting our kitchen annex which is slowly becoming the kitchen proper. The next post will show some of the work the children and my darlin have done this summer. All the stuff hubby has done won't fit anywhere on the web! He has been just too busy!

Garden Thoughts

The other day I was weeding the lettuce bed in our barn garden. I started at 8:30 am and finished about 1pm. As I was working I heard on several occasions a bird that made the sound of water gurgling. As I tried to figure out what was making the sound I realized that had my teen-aged daughter been out weeding the garden she wouldn’t have heard it. She would have had her iPod blaring in her ears. I am glad that my other
children won’t have that distraction. While I love listening to music when doing some chores, I have become more used to the sound of my thoughts. It is when I try to pray and talk with God. Sometimes I become too distracted with my own thoughts. It seemed the other day that each time I got caught up in my own thoughts that little bird would sing.

Today (a week later) I was once again in the garden weeding. This time a patch of green beans. I know how thrilling. The children were pulling huge weed out of another part of the garden. They were all working together. Every once in a while I would hear “This is a two-fer”. It took me a minute to realize what that meant. It meant that one of them needed help pulling out a really tough one. I don’t know how much of this will stay with them but it did my heart good to see them working together ~ mostly not fighting. I said my thank-you prayers today. Thank you God for the rain yesterday – Larry didn’t need to spend anytime watering. Thank you God for having such a good patch of beans growing. Thank you God for answering a prayer even though I don’t know what the answer is yet. What do you do in your garden? Kate

Threshing Wheat

Threshing Wheat

We harvested a small wheat bed this past weekend. It took Larry most of the day to cut it by hand. He was using a small hand held scythe. He took his wheel barrel loads down to the barn. I set up some sheets and he showed the kids how to thresh it.
The first day they worked on it for an hour at a time. They took a few breaks but were eager to head back out. By the second day they worked for about a half hour and then took a long break. Only heading back out when they were told. It no longer seemed fun to process our own wheat that we would grind into flour to use for our bread loaves, muffins, and biscuits. This was work!
I am sure that many would feel it is too much work to ask a ten and nine year old to do. I disagree. They need to do jobs that are within their capabilities to help out on the farm. This didn’t seem like too much of a stretch. They are capable just not all that willing anymore.
At one point Larry made the mistake of mentioning a threshing party. We could play music and the kids could “dance” on the wheat. This is a great idea and one we may employ on other patches of wheat we harvest, but the problem is now we have this wheat sitting in the barn and no music. Mac just doesn’t want to accept that the dance party comes with the second batch of wheat.
It is challenging to convince the children that these are the jobs we need them to do. Those jobs just aren’t exciting or over with quickly. We have to focus on teaching them how to do what is within their means of physical capability. Sometimes, however, the teaching is more work than just doing it ourselves. Days go by when I think – how did people do this 150 years ago. Then I remember – they had less distractions. It was normal to do many of the things we are doing. The process didn’t need to be explained and reasoned out. Facts were obvious.
Those “facts” have been obscured for many generations. I am sure that if my parents were still alive they would be scratching their heads in disbelief at all we are doing. I think they would be proud of us though. I know that my dad was amazed to watch me care for hens and goats while we stayed with them for their last summer.
He shook his head one day and told me, “I can’t believe my little girl is dealing with chickens and milking goats.” Apparently when I was little, we had bantam hens ~ I didn’t like them.
I have gone out and threshed some wheat to see what all the complaining was about. It does seem tedious but it isn’t difficult. As I sat there I pictured us sitting around the sheet telling stories. That is what is needed another lost art – storytelling. The whole once upon a time variety. Easy to see how those fairy tales came into being.
We just need to create some of our own. I’ll check back in with you later and let you know how that project is fairing. For now enjoy both the sunshine and the rain – they are what make summer smell so sweet.

Kate

Delegation

Delegation - something I don't think my mother taught me. She understandably did much of the work herself. She did delegate cleaning the house and weeding the garden, but not laundry or cooking. You could help her cook but not do the actual cooking unless she wasn't there - which happened one summer. That was not a fun summer - think crash course in hot to put a meal together. We had done lunches for quite some time but that was pretty much opening a can heating it up and setting it on the table. That summer we had to create the meal and make sure it was all cooked so that it ended up done at the same time. No easy feat when you have never done it.
With the creation of our CSA and the prospect of working two jobs for me, Larry and I decided that we needed to delegate some chores to the children. Chores have shifted - Mac is doing laundry, Mary kate and Shannon are cooking dinner. Sean is filling buckets for the fire. Shannon is doing pretty well with the dinner job. Last night was the first night she had to put something together on her own. She came down to me while I was weeding the beets and asked what she was making for dinner. I said, "I don't know." She responded with " You don't know?" "That's right. I don't know." She was on her own.
She did quite well I think. She made a pork roast, creamed noodles and canned green beans. We ate late but that is not unusual. Mac actually made it to dinner. When we eat late he doesn't always make it. It was a very good dinner. She rightfully looked proud of herself. Now if I could just get her to do the chores I assign instead of the ones she wants to do. LOL

Take care!
Kate

Ramblings - Life, children, playing and working

Having lost one part-time job, I now have time to really work with the children and our homeschool program -much to the children's regret. LOL I actually organized a week of lessons and we are following it - mostly. It has been an education for all of us. I am VERY glad we are doing this. Mac believes that he is ruined for public school. He feels that he would be spending all his time in the principals office. I have to agree. We are creating some free thinking seditionists. It is very fun! Shannon comes home and is not always sure what to say. LOL

Now that I am home more, I also have time to help out on the farm. I have very sore hands from splitting wood. Milking the cow is something that my hands have become used to but the splitting adds another dimension. I am sure that eventually I will adjust. In the meantime no knitting with really small needles.

We have been sharing our memories on cartoons and old shows with the children. I plan to share the School House Rock DVDs with them soon. Shannon too - since they don't teach any of that stuff in school anymore. They have watched some Bugs Bunny stuff which they can quote from. They can go through a whole set. It is amazing and a little scary.

I have been knitting some socks - Shannon has yet to bring me back the finished pair so I can take pictures. Really I did make some socks. I started another pair for me this time. The blanket that it becoming a really long project is nearing the end. I will take pics when it is done.

I hope that you get a chance to enjoy the nice weather we are having. Take care!

Kate

ANOTHER THING I MESSED UP

I am reading a book recommended to me more than a year ago. I should have read it then. I didn’t and I am feeling the guilt now. Of course I would have felt guilt then too. It’s another book on which I look at my parenting skills and find myself lacking.
I know in my mind that I did not have the strength to do what needed to be done five years ago. I couldn’t have home schooled then. Of course I might have tried when I realized what the kids were missing. I also could have afforded the materials for some of the things. Sean would have learned to write with his left hand and I wouldn’t have had to argue with teachers about how even though he used his right hand it really wasn’t comfortable for him.
I can still remember the disappointment I felt when I received a call that Mary Kate wasn’t ready for all day kindergarten. I was devastated. I was looking forward to having one less child to have around. Doesn’t that sound terrible? So many missteps I have made.
But I can only go forward from here. I am hoping that I can teach the children the skills that they will need in the changing future. I am getting excited about the prospects of teaching them to think and analyze and question. The oldest won’t be immune either. Just because she is still in school does not excuse her from my new found enthusiasm - much to her regret.
She will be reading over the summer books that should be on her list of required reading but are not. She will also be completing a term paper for me. One in which she won’t just be regurgitating facts on paper, but one in which she will have come to a conclusion about her thesis and prove whether it was a valid thesis or not.
It will prove to be an interesting summer. The younger children will learn that we are “doing school” year round. This may be difficult at first but I think it is doable.
I need to forgive myself for what I don’t know and move forward with what I now know. I told Larry the other day that I would be a really good teacher for our grandchildren. I hope I get the chance to find out.

Happy reading,

Kate

Busy, busy, busy

Springtime on a farm means working yourself into exhaustion every day. Not a day goes by that jobs are left because we ran out of time or energy. My dh is getting better at reading his energy level. I am working at not being the last one in bed since I am the first one up every morning. I have to be as it is my job to milk the cow. We mostly finished the milk shed. It still needs a roof which my dh is reminded of when it rains.

The garden is coming along. I spent the day weeding yesterday. I really enjoy the opportunity to be outside. I didn't use to have that need. I am fortunate because I have children that are willing (mostly) to pitch in and help. This frees me up to do work in the garden or with the animals. The younger ones try to help they just don't have the stamina yet. We're working on that. :)

I have so many things I would like to be doing in a given day that I try to make a list of what I would like to do. Then there are days when I just want an assignment. Those are the days I go to my dh and ask what needs to be done. I chose one or two of the five or six things he can list and work on those. It gives me a sense of accomplishment for the day. This is something both my dh and I need because we don't work outside the home and somedays the need to prove that we are working is great.

In our down moments we read. I went on a field trip this past week with my daughter and two of her friends. We went to Greenfield Village and visited the working farms and craft shops. One of her friends at one point asked me how I knew so much about processing wool. I told her that I have been reading about it a lot. I felt proud that I could share my knowledge.

My break is over. Back to work - which most days I find to be more and more enjoyable. It is empowering to be able to feed your family from the work of your hands.

Changing Tastes

I used to listen while nutritionists and other medical people would say - "Tastes change. you need to keep trying to feed your children new foods." Well, after too many dinners where my children gagged on vegetables they didn't like, I was done. No more trying to make them eat it. When I wanted something besides peas, corn, green beans, or broccoli, I made two vegetables one for my husband and I and one for the kids.
I am not sure when or who started passing both vegetables around the table. At first the bowl of different vegetables just passed everyone by. then one day, one of the children took some - to which my husband and I both were shorted. The real shock was when they asked for seconds of our vegetable! So we started making a little bit more to accommodate the one or two who would eat with us. This went on for about a year.
The other night we made spinach a sure fire make the kids gag vegetable. I remembered that the last time we had it Mac decided he liked it and was disappointed when there wasn't enough for him to have seconds. I also remembered that Mary Kate like it. So we made what we thought would be enough for the four us us, but then discovered that my other daughter, Shannon, enjoyed spinach too. I distinctly remember her gag reflex working very well with spinach when she was forced to try it about eight years ago. I was surprised to discover that she now liked it very much!
There are still a few vegetables that not everyone likes - brussel sprouts, and lima beans come to mind. Who knows how long that will last? I have some confidence that it will be longer than the spinach.
For those of you out there who despair of ever having your children eat more than beans, corn, and peas, remember the best way to get them to try something else is to continue to eat it and enjoy it in front of them.

Take care and happy cooking!

What to write?

I've been ruminating about what to write for my first post. I thought and thought and decided in the end to just write something.
My two boys are on the edge of believing in Santa Claus. We moved recently and I think I may have lost the lists that they "sent" to Santa that I of course intercepted. My younger son obligingly gave me another list which he addressed to Santa. My other son is a little smarter and I fear that even if I ask for a new list he will hold something back to see if Santa really exists. We have always explained for those who are ready to ask point blank that Santa is more of an idea. It is the joy that you get from giving to someone you love. Their joy becomes your own.
I believe this is really true and not just a line. I still remember how it felt to make something for everyone in my family for the first time. I was so excited that Christmas. As the youngest of ten children - no that is NOT a typo there are ten children in my family - it's hard to keep up with the older guys. My oldest brothers - Tom, Mike and Dan - bought everyone a gift every year for what seemed like many, many years. It meant a lot to me to return the favor.
So one year, I made everyone an ornament with popcycle sticks and yarn. I went around and asked for favorite colors. I told them that I was doing a project for school and needed to know. Once I knew the colors, Mom took me to the dime store and I picked out the different colored yarn. Then I proceeded to make yarn oranaments for everyone. It felt so great to hand out my presents to everyone. I felt very grown-up.
I want my children to share that experience so this year I have been looking for ideas of neat presents that they could make for each other. I know that it will mean more work for me, but I think we will all enjoy the results!
Enjoy each day this wonderful Christmas season.