Just Suzie…

I am not sure when I will find time to blog consistently again!  I seem to lament about this a lot – not so much online, but in my own head.  I see I am not alone in this lament!  However, REAL life keeps me in the present and away from a keyboard.  Or, maybe it’s the fact that one more little soul in the house leaves less time for idle pursuits.  Yes, in many ways, for me this is an idle pursuit.  I didn’t set out to make waves or gain ‘friends’, or become followed by many.  While I am pleased, blessed and fortunate to have made friends because of this electronic pursuit (and make them ‘in-real-life’ friends), that just wasn’t my goal.  I DID, however, want to record my family life!  So, I suppose my priorities have changed, or in the very least, I’ve adjusted them.  And, that is good.  Besides, posts bulging with pictures are just my speed right now and they will do.
For now, blog posts are caught up to real life.    What better thing to do during a BLIZZARD.  The kids enjoyed playing their electronic gadgets; we ate leftovers when hungry; Eric was the only one to venture outside into the blowing snow after we came home from church this morning; Angelina gave Marcus a bath by himself – he enjoyed it immensely; Eric read to the kids and maybe we’ll be able to watch a movie…cuz we sure won’t be going anywhere tomorrow!  Thank goodness the electricity hasn’t even flickered.
The lower third of the state was covered in red closed roads?  Yes, we won’t be going very far out of the farmyard.
This Blizzard has been in the forecast and predicted and talked about for the last two to three days.  We were in the 8-10 or 10-12 inch range.  Most of us hoped that the weather people would be wrong or that it was a late April Fool’s Day joke.  It’s not joke and the weather forecasters weren’t wrong on this one!  I’m sure we’ve had at least 8 inches, but it isn’t done snowing.  The snow is heavy, wet and sticky.  Drifts are deep.  Clearing it will be a chore, but my husband just said, “However, it probably means we can get the snowmobiles out again.”  Yes, I see snowmobiling being in the plan for tomorrow.
Do we take a snow day from school??  I’m not as sure on that…the kids may drive me crazy if they don’t have something to do for at least part of the day.  I’d sure enjoy it though!
Good night, friends!

Chicks!

 

The coldest April I can remember in recent years, and this is the year I choose to have chicks shipped in April!  The first shipment arrived on Wednesday, April 10.  Fifteen chicks…7 Easter Eggers (green/blue eggs) and 8 Buff Laced Polish (lay small/med brown eggs).  They are as cute a the dickens!

In the above photo, the chick at the bottom is this huge fluff ball.  He/she is bigger than any of the other chicks…maybe it’s a day older or maybe it’s just the feathers.  Whatever the case, it’s darn cute.  The chick in the lower photo is a Polish chick.  They have this cute tuft of feathers on the top of their head…and they will as adults, too.

 

The second shipment of chicks arrived on Friday, April 12.  This shipment included 20 chicks total…10 California White Legorns, which will lay white eggs; 10 Welsummer (brown eggs) and 5 Speckled Sussex (brown eggs).  All the breeds are cold weather hardy and all except the Polish are Good to Excellent egg layers, meaning they’ll lay 250-300 eggs per year.

The chicks were a little scared and all crammed into the corner when I opened the shipping box.  Thankfully all arrived healthy and have remained healthy in these first few days.  I was worried about them this year because of the cool temps and because such a large number died during shipment last year.

We are keeping the chicks in the garage in a water tank.  We have to cover the tank when the garage doors are opened, but the house garage is warmer than any other building right now. 

Please let the May be warm.  We’d planned to move these chicks to move to the Wahoo in May because the broiler chicks will need the water tank when they first arrive!  The broilers ship the first week in May – that’s only three weeks.  Can all this snow be gone in three weeks??  I may be making a cardboard pen in the outside garage for the ‘laying’ chicks.  Argghhhh!  ND weather is crazy.

And we have a winner!

Remember me telling you about the grain/seed samples that the oldest three cleaned to exhibit at the Valley City Winter Show?  Well, all the barley samples are taken out and sent to the State Barley Show.  All three kids had samples that were judged in the Barley Show and all three exhibited samples that won ribbons and prize money.

However, Angelina’s Conlon Barley Sample received First Place in the 4-H Division and Sweepstakes in the Malting Category at the 69th Annual North Dakota State Barley Show.  Her winning sample of Conlon Barley is on display at the ND Barley Council office in Fargo.

March 17-31, 2013

Lent was good.  Even though it didn’t go as I planned, it went as HE planned.  And, His plan is infinitely better than mine. 

In these weeks, Eric and I started teaching NFP again after a 1.5 year hiatus.  Dash competed in the State FFA Crop Judging Contest and received a silver placing.  Our county hosted their annual Family Fun Night.  Lent ended and Holy Week began. 

All the kids, except for Dash and Angelina, took the whole week of school off.  Dash used the week to catch up and Angelina just needed to finish up a couple days in Latin.  I call it our Spring Break; we needed a break!

On Friday and Saturday, we did a bit of baking.  This lamb mold was on sale after Easter last year, and it was fun to use it this year.  It was amazingly easy to bake and decorate.  Just use a large star tip and it’s covered up in no time at all.  I used a black decorating pen for the eyes, nose & mouth.

Angelina and the boys made sugar cookies and frosted them on Saturday.  Each kid had a job – Angelina is very good at organizing who does what!  She sounds like me…I’m not sure that is a good thing sometimes.

And, Marcus is mobile.  He’s not fast, but he uses his hands and his right foot to scoot around and get where he wants.  His left foot and leg are usually up in the air!  It’s too cute.

 

We didn’t dye eggs, we grow them!  The Easter Egger’s lay colorful eggs and then the last two years, I’ve just written on the eggs with food pens.  The kids decorate with stickers…and we’re done!  Colorful, cute and easy.

Angelina had a new dress for Easter; I wish I’d have taken a picture.  I was thankful that I fit into some of my favorite outfits (FINALLY). 

This year, our family attended Holy Thursday Mass, Good Friday services, and the Easter Vigil.  Every. Single. One. Of. Us.  I’m not saying that everyone stayed awake!  This being the third vigil I have attended, I finally felt like the readings made sense or clicked with me.  Probably I wasn’t able to listen the other times I’ve attended…the first I had a busy 1yo (Dash) and last year I was pregnant and kind-of miserable.  This vigil just made an impression on me…makes me want to do it all over again.

Alleluia! 

He is Risen!

Happy Easter!

The kids checked out their Easter baskets on Sunday morning.  The family headed over to Grandma & Grandpa Green Acres’ home for a wonderful dinner followed by a choice of desserts.  The kids played and watched TV while Eric and I enjoyed visiting.

March 10-16, 2013

 

All about Marcus…

Marcus

I couldn't resist this funny pic.  Marcus is growing so fast!  He's quite steady while sitting, but we still put a blanket behind him. 

Started up with cloth diapers a week ago- needed to wait for him to grow into the size I bought.  So far so good on that.

He has terribly dry skin.  It's been challenging to keep hydrated, even though baths are few and we use Aquaphor multiple times a day. 

He had his first cold and fever two weeks ago; actually, everyone was sick...except for my husband who was conveniently (or not, depending on the perspective) gone for the whole week.  I survived, but barely.

Life continues.