{this moment}?

A little rule breaking for me this week on {this moment}. I figure I've already been breaking the rules for months of this being a weekly ritual. Why not step up my naughtiness this week with words? I've asked myself lately why I have been so absent from this space of mine. I love it so, and I love the creative process of telling my stories, the memories I am saving for our familly, and the time spent appreciating the important things here. I love that there are some of you who follow this or check in often to catch a glimpse of what we are doing, also. The answer I have come up with in my questioning is that we are so busy living life at this moment that I feel I foget to take time to jot it down. And I think I'm okay with that. We are in such a beautiful yet hectic place in life. We are deep into homeschooling the oldest two (although the younger two get their share, I have two registered homeschoolers now), so we are learning all the time. We are building a barn into a home. We are on our own Monday through Thursday while Adam leaves at 6 am and returns home at 9 pm (if he returns at all some nights). We are scrambling to finish Christmas gifts for beloved friends and family. We are packing and downsizing in preparation for the day we get to move to our farm. Little Number Five will be here before we know it, and some days I just need to rest. Life is so full. There will be another side to this chaos. I know it will be just another form of chaos, with new garden plots to prepare, chickens to hatch and raise, and still a barn above our heads to build into our home while we camp out in our basement space. But perhaps it will afford some more time to just slow down and take it all in a little better. Until then, I will do what I can here and in every other aspect of what it means to be me/us right where I/we are.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual inspired by SouleMama. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual inspired by SouleMama. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Ten Good Things

I've been working little posts in my head. Simple little posts that let me get done quickly, share a moment in our time, and be done. But so many of them run into frustration and downfalls, and that's now where I want my focus to be. I want to write about the beauty of where we are here and now. I sit down this afternoon to do just that, and first read SouleMama's most recent post all good ~ simply ten. Perfection. Just the inspiration I needed to sit down and finally make my way back into posting. Thank you, Amanda. So today I'm sharing Simply Ten Good Things in our perfectly crazy here and now.

My simply ten:

   growing a little acrobat again
   one sleeping soundly and three playing happily together
   monarchs and caterpillars to care for and release
   rained-on playdoh paint on my door
   the feel of wool on my needles again
   singing Happy Birthday in a barn
   said barn beginning to look like a house   
   finally autumn sun
   four children sheltering under pines
   an 8-yr-old princess finding a furry new friend

And that is exactly what I needed today. A quick focus on the beauty and blessings that I am surrounded by.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual inspired by SouleMamahttp://www.soulemama.com/soulemama/. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Happy 8th, my Bean.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual inspired by SouleMama. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual inspired by SouleMama. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Happy weekend to you all!

Trying

To get back into the swing. Figured I should start small. Around here, it's a happy, happy day when Papa comes home before everyone is asleep. Even if they're all already in bed, they come rushing out to grab a leg or anything they can latch onto. Then there's happiness all around.

{this moment}

Once again, I'm posting two weeks worth of...

{this moment} - A Friday ritual inspired by SouleMama. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual inspired by SouleMama. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Happy weekend to you!!!

Greeny-Head Grows!

Greeny-Head is growing by leaps and bounds. We feel so blessed to watch "her" amazing growth. Of course, we will not know until Greeny-Head emerges from the chrysalis if "she" really is a she - we just have a feeling. Here she is, on the same size leaf as the last photo I posted of her.

Such brilliant colors. Those brilliant colors are there for a reason. Instead of being camouflaged and blending in to her surroundings, Greeny-Head takes the "BACK OFF!" approach to life. This is because a monarch caterpillar feeds solely on Common Milkweed (Asclepias syrica), which has a chemical compound in its leaves that makes her poisonous to any would-be predators. And showing that poisonous side of her off helps keep her safe from caterpillar eating birds.

Here you can see how much of the leaf she has eaten overnight. I took this photo on Sunday morning, and just Saturday evening I took a drive to pick her another milkweed plant.

























The results of her leaf munching is a healthy pile of caterpillar droppings on the leaf below. Always a happy sight when you're raising a caterpillar.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Happy Weekend to you!

Nothing But The Kitchen Sink

There is a new and exciting development at the homestead. As of yet, we have had nothing in the way of certain modern comforts - no bathroom, no running water, no electricity. Those are the things that we are working on as our first projects - the septic system will go in, the electricity will be run, the basement plumbing and electricity will be run, the chimney and basement stove will go in - so that we can move in as soon as possible this autumn. But now that "nothing" has turned into "nothing BUT the kitchen sink." Yes, as of this weekend, Adam and our friend Jay whom has been helping out on our homestead project have installed a kitchen sink.

(It's not your average kitchen sink, but I think I prefer it. Who can beat a kitchen sink in the wide open this summer, with a view of clear blue sky over my head and wide open air around me? Suits me just fine)

When we pulled up to the homestead with dinner Monday evening, there was a very freshly plumbed well pump, and I couldn't be more thrilled. We now have a safe well site, with access to water for washing dishes and poison ivy covered legs without walking down to the creek with a bucket and dishwashing liquid.

Max learned quickly how to make that gorgeous red pump work to bring us cool, crisp water for washing.

Such a brilliant red, isn't it?

These hard-working men chiselled a whole into a large patio rock, placed it over the well, arranged the plumbing to pull that water up to the pump, and to top it all off, they built a stand to hold the old cast iron sink from the farmhouse.



































They even rigged the old rusty gutter up under the sink as the drain, so the water doesn't drop back down into the well immediately.



































Max was even excited to find that the skid steer had uncovered a batch of daffodil bulbs. "Look, Mama, they found me something to chop up!"

Mona helped as she could, but had to watch out for a nose-choppin' hammer.

I let him chop away.

I think I can spare a few. Plus, a happy Mama with a new outdoor kitchen sink is pretty relaxed about daffodil bulb chopping.

Caterpillar Rescue

I did not make it to the farm last weekend before the brushhog hit all of the fields. Bummer. My plan was to go through all of the milkweed plants and search for Monarch caterpillars so I could save any I found. Instead, my sweet husband gave his tour of the farm to his younger brother, Uncle Mikey, and his girlfriend Giovanna, with four kids tagging along, while I spent 45 minutes pulling every milkweed plant out of the chopped grass to search each leaf for caterpillar or egg.

Talk about tedious work. The picture above was one of the few plants that was still growing and just bend over. Most were chopped off and lying under piles of grass. Individual leaves, sections of plants, creamy white milk from the plants sticking grass leaves everywhere. I wasn't expecting large caterpillars, as the brushhog made a pass a couple of months ago, so the milkweed was just growing back. And I certainly did not find a large caterpillar. I found a very teeny caterpillar, perhaps hatched only that day or the day before, on the broken-off top of a very small milkweed plant.

Max has named her Greeny-Head. Lovely, I think. She was so small that she was barely visable, and there was only a tiny hole, which you can see in uppermost leaf in the above picture, that was testiment she had been arond for not so long. Saturday was the day of caterpillar rescue, and today, three days later, I finally got to take Greeny-Head's picture.

I am functioning on a mostly caput battery, which will only let me take a few photos after hours of charging, so my photography has been limited (which is driving me bonkers, as I'm sure you can imagine). Greeny-Head has at least tripled in size since we found her three days ago. For reference for the above photo, her milkweed plant is in an old baby food jar of which there are many at the farm, and the leaf that she is chewing on is 3 inches across where she is resting.























Here is a closer crop for you. She is absolutely precious in our minds. On a sad note, I actually found two caterpillars Saturday. The second was on a larger plant, but even smaller in size. While transporting them both, the ride was bumpy, so I had Kane and Max holding the jars. When Max fell asleep and Bella took over his jar, that caterpillar was missing. By the time we made it home, all four children were sound asleep. Within minutes of looking I found the caterpillar clinging desperately to Max's seat belt. I managed to get her off and back onto the plant, which is not an easy job with a caterpillar that is barely visable, let me tell you. But in the morning she was nowhere to be seen. I have not been able to find her on the plants, although there is some chance that she is down in some of the smaller plants, as there are many in that jar. I wanted to make sure they had plenty of plants to munch on while they grew. I'm hoping that we find signs of her survival soon.

Greeny-head will grow for another 6-10 days, in which time she will go from her 1/8 inch size to her full 2 inch size, before she is ready to build her beautiful minty green chrysalis with its golden decorations. We are excited to have the ability to watch her grow and see her emerge as a graceful Monarch, and we look forward to sharing that experience with you here. We are heading out in the morning to stay with my parents, as Bella and Kane are in Theater Camp there. We then have to prepare for Kane's 6th birthday party the day after we get back, so I wish you all a happy weekend, and we will send an update on Greeny-Head as soon as we can! Stay tuned!

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual inspired by SouleMama. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Here's wishing you a blessed weekend!

Avocado Ice Cream

My wonderful Mum recently gifted me a subscription to Mary Jane's Farm Magazine. (Thanks again, Mom!!) I am thrilled with the magazine. With the temperature of this near-summer weather really heating up, we tried our first recipe from the magazine - Mary Jane's Avocado Ice Cream. We love avocados around here, so the thought of Avocado Ice Cream thrilled us all. And we're talking about an ice cream recipe that doesn't take an ice cream machine. We were not let down. Here is the recipe, as it appeared in the June/July 2011 issue, with our dairy-free substitutions in parentheses. Trust me. Try it. You will not be disappointed. MaryJane's Avocado Ice Cream
Prep Time: 15 minutes / Makes 3 cups

1 large avocado, peeled and diced
1 cup half-and-half (we used coconut milk, full fat)
2/3 cup powdered sugar (we use Private Selection Organic - they use tapioca starch, which works for those of us with corn allergies, or who are just trying to avoid all that GMO corn out there)
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1. Combine avocado, half-and-half, sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a blender. Puree until completely smooth.
2. Poor mixture into a 2-quart baking dish.
3. Cover and freeze until firm, about 4 hours. (Can be transferred to an air-tight container and kept in a freezer for up to one month.)
4. Before serving, let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes. Use and ice-cream or watermelon scoop to serve. Top with fresh fruit or mango salsa.
Those are the official guidelines. I would add something. Like, test often so that you can eat it the second that it is firm enough.





















And serve in adorable little ice cream sundae cups, with each child having their favorite color. Very important detail. And, if you so desire, top with some gluten/dairy-free cookies for a perfectly wonderful Sunday sundae. Yum.
















































































The results with the coconut milk were delectable, as you can see. Laini was pleased with her first try of ice cream. And Mama was pleased that all her little ones were getting good, homemade, organic ice cream with a lot less sugar than anything that can be bought locally. Perfect summer goodness.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual inspired by SouleMama. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Have a blessed weekend!

So Many Toughts

There are so many posts floating around in my head and in files of photos on this computer, but seemingly no time to put them on here. But I've made a decision. I have been beating myself up lately because I'm not posting enough, and it's been worse since we found Kane's 1st year calendar. There are so many little tidbits of info on there about his daily life that we are loving reading back about, and I have nothing like that in writing for Maxwell or Helena, but I have this blog. I'm having to remind myself that although I love to have readers stop by and enjoy my blog, it's just as much about logging our daily lives for the future for us. So I'll be trying to make more, simple, short posts, just so I have a record of some of our daily happenings to look back on with the kids one day.

To start, how about some pictures of Helena's new talent? 

The best part is when she makes it and does her "I DID IT!" stomp dance on the table top. Clearly, we now have to make sure that the chairs are always pushed in to the table.

{this moment}

Once again, two weeks of...

{this moment} - A Friday ritual inspired by SouleMama.. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Here's wishing you a blessed and peacefilled weekend.