5 signs of Spring!

• Birds singing!

• Ads on the radio have changed their tune.  Apparently it's 'Time to get a lawnmower!'  'Best time to buy a fireplace - end of season sale!'  And all the seed companies vying for best-seed-for-some-reason-or-other award.  (It's pretty funny actually because they spend almost as much time convincing us that despite what it looks/feels like spring really is nearly here, as they do promoting the product!)

• Sunshine

• Farmers are remembering they have fields

• Only a month and a half left till school is out!  (Let me tell you, the kids are itching already!)

I'm still waiting to see the first green leaf or new blade of grass... and waiting for a sighting of the one other sure sign of spring - the first tractor in the field!

Three weeks ago out our front window - it was a HUGE icicle!

And today (our front yard)... the drippy, slushy, wet and yucky of the very beginning of spring!

Now if the temperature would just warm up...

Amelia's Birthday

BEFORE

The upper right hand corner of the "before" picture (above) is what we sawed down, cleared out and mowed...  

...to make a CAMPFIRE!  Well, that was the incentive.  Naomi has conniving ways of getting child labor to help her clear the jungle.  Um, no, I think that was a bad sentence!  Actually, I was babysitting away from the house for my mother-in-law who was hosting sophisticated dignified ladies such as those attending the homeopathic class.  It just happened to be on Amelia's birthday!  So we went to Ben and Naomi's house.  Because Naomi had some other work that needed to be done... and it's always more fun to work all together, right?!  And a few toddler hands in the mix help get more done, riiiiiiight? :P  

Well we hacked and yanked and grunted and moved fallen tree-logs (with very impressive girl power!), and eventually the job was done!  Then we carried stones and Ben helped dig the pit for our new campfire!  We had many lemonade breaks and made it a "party" by having a treasure hunt all over our property with the kids finding in the end a special gift for Amelia and the makings for s'mores for everyone!  At one point Simeon spied a helicopter not far down the road - it is unusual to have helicopters around here except for medical emergencies airlifted out - so I ran and grabbed my [emergency radio] pager and we loaded up and headed out to investigate!  Soon we saw it was a modern flying sprayer (crop duster) for the fields so we all jumped out and stood in the open prairie space on the gravel roads, surrounded by fields all around and an interesting helicopter above!  It kept coming around and then landing on it's truck to re-fill it's tanks with whatever chemical it was spraying.    EDUCATIONAL MOMENT!!!  Naomi was thinking!  Lol, I don't care if school is done, if kids are with Naomi we are still going to learn, even if it means chasing helicopters!  The cool thing was, we waved to the man in the bubble in the little funny-looking specially-designed helicopter and he buzzed us - lower than the power lines!  It was so exciting and special for Amelia's birthday!  And he did it TWICE!  So, to whoever that was, thank you; you made our day!!!  (Unfortunately my phone was being uncooperative and not working at the time of the helicopter so sorry, no pics of my own.)      

The Work Crew  er... birthday party go-ers!

The girls!  Amelia (turning 12) is in orange.

P.S.

As a random ending to this post, Mom texted us just as we were eating the last of our s'mores and said Pastor was coming to pick up the 15-passenger van (which we were, of course, using)... in HALF AN HOUR!  And it really needed to be cleaned out!  Yikes!  So we loaded up, went back home, got the shop vac and emptied that bus out!  A lot of people must have been missing a lot of things, because in addition to the normal junk of gum wrappers, tissues, and other trash, we found 1 guitar, 13 shoes, 6 winter coats, and a host of matchbox cars, books water bottles and the like!  Welcome to life in a big family! :D

[this day happened on May 16, 2012]

The Dreaded Question

I encounter it at church.  At work.  Neighbors.  My friends.  EVERYONE!!!


"So, how is your house coming?"


It's not that I don't want people to ask (on the contrary, it shows they care!)... BUT it is hard in the stage where progress is less visible to know what to say!  Only the last 5% is really noticeable headway like painting, kitchen cabinets, floors, etc.  Somehow I always (mistakenly) think that behind these words what they're really saying is, "Is it done yet?"

"NO!  I'TS NOT DONE YET!!!  Don't you know A HOUSE TAKES A LONG TIME TO BUILD!!!  And with only ONE man doing it ALL...!!!"

Ok, I apologize.  Rant over.  That is what I feel like shouting!  But I don't.  Because you people really mean well!  (So don't stop asking!)  :)

And now I finally have a good answer!  (Cue Grandpa voice)  Courtesy of Grandpa Berge I pleasantly and calmly say, with a twinkle in my eye, "Rome wasn't built in a day, you know!"


So, that is how the house is coming!

Here is part of last week's project (for me) - mowing the yard!  The grass was growing like crazy!  It just looks so much better now!  And I realized I absolutely LOVE working outside when it's warm and the sun is shining!  One of the happiest things about living in the country is the outdoors - lots of it!  At this point, I even prefer working outside! :)
 

pinks & blues

Pink Easter Bonnet Daffodils for a girl, Blue Scillas for a boy!

We'll meet you in heaven, little one! <3

Home Alone 2

Dad and Mom are gone to Hawaii to visit sister Annika, so we have 10 days home alone!  Not alone per se, with six kids, two big sisters, a Ben and Naomi, Grandma and Aunt B!  This is just the right conditions for...

...PARTY TIME!!!!

actually NOT.  

The youth thought they were coming over for TrueU (Bible study), but had an April Fool's surprise instead - scrubbing floors!  Haha, well, we didn't make them work TOO hard and Ben was the hardest worker of all! ;)

Reuben and Simeon cleaned the boy's room

First asparagus of the year!

BEFORE

AFTER

Tracy's newest hobo  No, I mean, he is being well cared for, well fed and well clothed... ok, maybe not the last one?  Honest!  He's doing great! :D

and the littlest dinner-bell-ringer!

10 Reasons I love Warm Weather

Top 10 list of why I love warm* weather:

*'Warm' being defined as temperatures at or above 65 degrees F and not exceeding 80 degrees F, with no more than 60% humidity, and a breeze 



1.  Open up the windows and let that lovely breeze in!!!


2.  It is the perfect sleeping weather with the windows open (see reason above)!  Just ask my hubby; I can sleep a LONG time in these good conditions!


3.  It is not freezing when you get out of bed.


4.  The toilet seat is not cold.


5.  Sunshine is a great anti-depressant and helps me be in a great mood!  If it rains, as in more tropical parts of the world, it is warm enough to splash in the puddles and run in the soaking rain!  See?  Warm weather is always happy!  :D


6.  There are almost exactly 12 hours of daylight, which is perfect in my book!


7.  The dishwater stays hot for longer.  (Which reminds me, I should get back to that soon! ;))


8.  With short sleeves and less layers than in winter, you feel so light and free!  And if you still want or have to wear long pants, it is not unbearably uncomfortable.


9.  It is warm enough to wear my favorite footwear - barefoot or flip-flops, the closest you can get to natural!


10.  The outdoors just CALLS in this temperature weather!  The birds are back and are singing (and I'm pretty sure all the other kinds of animals are "twitter-pated" :P)  I could just LIVE outdoors!


...but unfortunately I can't.  Dishes, laundry, laying plywood pre-flooring, and a host of other things all require me to be inside.  And I better get back to it now!  See #7 for what I was doing, before this warm weather made my thoughts run faster and the words flow better and I just HAD to come write!  Such a glorious day begs to be appreciated by those enjoying it!

P.S.  For St. Patrick's Day, I will have you know that our grass along our ditches is the greenest around!

It must be Spring!

Last Sunday we were riding snowmobiles and sleds (our 'one day of winter' as it seemed for this year); today we were riding the 4-wheeler and bikes, jumping on hay bales and flying kites!  We even found the first green grass!   Some family members absolutely went berserk when they spotted a robin at lunch - a robin means spring, I learned.  And SOMEONE shyly admitted they were even wearing their swimsuit under their clothes!  Maybe that's a little optimistic there, Erina!

This was last Sunday afternoon, and pretty much all the winter we got!

...and a parting shot of the cutest couple this winter:

And with that, winter is officially OVER!!!!!!!  Sunshine and warm weather, you are invited every day, so just keep on coming!  On the farm is the best place to be in the springtime! <3