Vacation is here

how nice to officially be in summer vacation, we've been in the mode for a while now.  adam had homework the last week of school and I'm pretty sure it didn't get done!  Some of us have already had poison ivy, many ticks, and a head on mini bike collision so we aren't wasting any time on our summer vacation.

Speaking of vacation, our family has not gone away overnight since last August, and I'm really excited to go away with them sometime this summer...to the beach (I hope) and camping.  Tent camping is not my favorite and I totally pretend I love it for the boys sake.  but they don't read my blog so I can say on here that I really don't like it.  The boys and I are also doing an overnight trip with Grandma soon which we are looking forward to.  they tried packing tonight but I said we aren't packing until we at least have it scheduled! 

We had our traditional Sweet Frog ice cream on Friday after the last day.  The last day of school is the only time we go to this place so it's a real treat.  I let them pick 3 toppings.  Rather gross if you ask me, but they don't think so

Some goals of mine for the boys for the summer are to - Read through Matthew together, do a reading program through the library, get into a routine of brain integration therapy (more on that another time), and put some miles on our bikes.  Lately they've been on the motorized toys and not so much bicycles which take actual pedaling.  They are plenty active in other ways, but still nothing like a good ole bike ride.  There are several rails to trails in the area that are nice to ride on.  They are also taking on more responsibility around the property, Rod is able to include them in his projects and routines a little more each year.

Adam finishes up baseball this week.  Mixed feelings about him playing that sport.  He learned a lot and enjoyed the teammates, more than half were from his school, but it was a lot of standing around and with 12 kids on the team, some games he only batted once.  (5 innings per game)  so overall it felt like a waste of time (games were 2 hours) but I am glad he did it. 
I thought he was the cutest player in the league if you don't mind me sayin'

And I must show you the little animals around here.  everything but the cats get butchered.  I promise, we do not butcher cats. 

These kitties are so wild, but they sure are photogenic.

A couple more weeks to go for these guys, who are much less photogenic than the kitties...

Garden is doing so-so this year.  The kale & brocc were a disappointment and my radishes never got big enough to eat before going into seed.  But the boys planted some and they were fine.  Every year there are different challenges with gardening.  i love it though.  the potato beetles are brutal already.  the boys get paid to pick them off and squish them.

The boys garden, they planted extra seeds i had, plus pumpkins and gourds this year.

They are keeping their play area weeded just by playing in it!

Tonight's pretty rainbow

Happy Summer!

Summer service project

About a month ago, Ben heard on WJTL a commercial about raising funds for Bibles to be distributed around the world.  He really wanted to raise money so people in other countries can have a Bible.  So i called WJTL, since i didn't hear this commercial.  And they were no longer promoting this, but gave me the website for the ministry.  I looked it up and thought it looked really neat (www.bibleleague.org)  But wasn't sure how we would go about doing this.  It's been on my list the last month as a reminder to do something for this cause at some point.

Tonight i felt a peace about an idea for them to collect money.  For the past year or more, when the boys catch me doing my habits, cracking knuckles or picking my lip, i have to pay them.  Knuckles is 25 cents and lip picking is $1.00.  And let me tell you Brad is loaded!  This summer, when they catch me, the money will go straight into the jar.  We will collect for the next 2.5 months and send a check for the total amount.

I think they will have fun with it, and do well too, thanks to Brad who watches me like a hawk :)  If you know us and come to our house, feel free to slip some money into our jar!  We may do other things to raise money in addition, like selling produce at the end of the lane.  Eager to see how much they raise!

7 more days of school!!!

For the boys, it's 7 more days at Farmdale for good (i think).  We plan to transfer them to Lanc.Co Christian this coming school year.  It'll mean lots of changes, but the boys are fine with the move.   Which is ironic for me because they can be so argumentative on little things we choose for them, but on a big school move they were like "ok that's fine".   We are excited to have them in a smaller class setting, christian setting, and more flexibility in schedule and freer evenings.  We all liked our experience at Farmdale, but unfortunately there are changes taking place that weren't the best fit for us.  We are thankful to have gotten to know so many local people and we'll continue to be in touch with many.

We had a low key Memorial day weekend mixed in with a wedding reception at our house.  It was a pretty day Saturday during the reception, so thankful for the gorgeous weather.  Such a sweet couple, we were happy to give her the atmosphere she was looking for.
They made it look very nice!  It doesn't even look like our barn.

the bride made some games for the guests to play

Clay found a preschool friend, small world!

And for dessert- Rita's came! (Island fusion is a keeper)

Tuckered out after the wedding/sugar rush was over.

Sunday and Monday with no plans was such a treat.  Rod and i barely touched the 'to do' lists and just hung with the boys.  Found 3 litters of kitties, played basketball, kickball, mini bike, 4 wheeler, ground hog trapping, biking, campfire, gardening.  My favorite quote of the weekend was me overhearing Rod ask the boys:  "Hey boys, where's the scissors you used to cut the dead squirrel's head off?  I don't want mom to use it when she's cooking".  haha, what a life!

Setting off bottle rockets in the garden...there are no words for this bunch of boys

Except man do i love them

Salad dressings

We've been eating lots of salads here lately with all our hydroponic lettuces being ready for harvest all at once!
I love salad dressings, but unless you're buying the pricey, "all-natural" stuff, dressings really aren't good for you.  Check out this short link below: 


http://www.myredrabbit.com/myblog/5-reasons-you-should-make-your-own-salad-dressing.html

Ok, now I that scared you, here are my top 4 homemade salad dressing recipes right now.  They are easy to make and last a long time in the fridge:


Honey Mustard:
1 1/2 T Lemon juice
3/4 cup mayo
3 T mustard
3 T honey
1/2 T parsley flakes


Asian:
1 lime, juiced
8 T olive oil
8 T soy sauce
2-3 T sesame oil
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 T fresh grated ginger
2 garlic cloves, pressed


Caesar:
3/4 cup mayo
4 T grated parmesan cheese
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 T lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
add a bit of milk or water if it gets too thick


Poppy Seed:
1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup vinegar
2 tsp. onion flakes
2 tsp. poppy seeds
2 tsp. sesame seeds
1/2 tsp. paprika


You can mix the ingredients in your food processor/blender or even mix by hand.  Nice and simple.  Honey mustard and Caesar are our go-to's.  The Asian is nice for something special.  And the poppy seed is delicious as a dressing for spinach/strawberry salad. 

The past several weeks have been really full.  Certainly full of good things, so no reason to complain.  But it's hard to feel at peace when you look at the calendar day after day and see there are many, many things that need done.  This time of year is always that way, but I think it feels more intense this year due to Adam playing baseball, new church responsibilities, greenhouse, and end of the year school parties/trips.  We also have 3 big events (50 or more people each) here in May but that's not uncommon.  I think it's all the things combined that is making it feel like I need more hours!  But alas, I have a plan for next year at this time.  If the boys are playing a sport it will have to be a winter one, our women's retreat won't be in May, and I won't be a room parent, i'll just be on the committee which is less responsibility but can still be involved....There, that should help. 

Some shots of our life here of late..

My first cupcake cake.  It was for Adam's baseball team after their game.  Not my best work, i am aware.

Clay with batch #1 of bunnies, 11 babies!  (batch #2 had 5 babies, #3 had 11)

I love flowers!  And i really love having neighbors that sell them!  

How to keep them this eager to hoe in a month from now?

I think i'm ok with this

Harvesting cucs, lettuce, kale and swiss chard!

Mother's Day, watching the Make-A-Wish parade along Rte 222

A really funny motorized scooter/bicycle combo that a friend of Rod's built.  He and his sons drove it to our house from Marietta.  The power/gas comes from where Rod is sitting and the steering has to be done in the front where Adam is!

Hope you all are having a fabulous weekend, thanks for reading. 

One blessed momma

5K

My first ever 5K race is in the books.  The day was fun, and to finish this thing that i never thought i'd do felt great.  But the real story is in the training.   I ran on and off during our winter of polar vortex's, but really trained hard the 3 weeks before the race.  I had many ups and downs with it, mentally mostly.  Many thoughts of 'who am i kidding', 'i am not a runner' and 'i'm not even out my lane yet and i need to walk' took place.  But there were exciting milestones too, like when i ran to Rod's parents house with all the hills, only walking twice, and running a full 3 miles for the first time on Easter Sunday with some cousins with only sneaking in a little walking when they weren't looking.  Those accomplishments kept me going and gave me hope that i can do this.  

I had to push through some physical issues as well, sore knees and a black and blue toenail, from it rubbing against my shoe!

I finished, without walking, in 28:55.  

The boys were a part of my training.  They often rode bike with me on my route, usually one at a time and they talked and depending on the child, encouraged me.  

There are 3 more 5K's this year that i plan to be a part of.  I hope to be able to maintain my endurance now, and not run every day but run a couple days a week so i don't have to start at ground zero again for my next race!