The sounds of Silence

Dear Mother Nature,

Thank you for ever so kindly considering my request to cease the wind. This afternoon was quite pleasant.

Children played outside.

Children took long, well needed naps in peace.

Husband fixed the grill that has been thrashed about the yard by the afore mentioned wind.

The house breathed a sigh of relief and peacefulness.

Thank you.

Now, let's talk Spring....

Happily Calm,
Me

Auntie Em, Auntie Em!

Dear Mother Nature,

I do not know to what extent I have offended you, or have made you so terribly put off, but I am so sorry for what ever it was. Please make the wind go away.

My household would like to sleep again. Except for Brad, he is using ear plugs at night.

My children, the two little ones, want to go outside without being afraid of being blown away. Ellis truly is developing a fear of this and I don't know why.

My hair is tired of looking like I used a blender to fix it each day.

We had such little snow this year and now most of it has blown away. I'm not entirely sure where. It may be in Russia. I'll ask Sarah P. to look out her window and check.

Please make the wind go away.

Pretty please with sugar on top.

You're pretty and your hair smells good.

Pretty, pretty please with a cherry on top.

I don't think this is Kansas anymore, or Oklahoma, or southern Alberta, Canada (it is crazy windy there, and that is normal).

Please make the wind go away.

Sincerely,
me

Ellis is 5!

Today Ellis turns 5! It is really hard to believe that he is that old! I was going to do pictures of Ellis in review of the past 5 years, but that became too many pictures to post. So instead I have complied some pictures of Ellis in his element...the natural sciences...

Ellis asked for a real brain for his birthday so he could "cut it open and see how it works". We explained that we would not be able to provide that, he would have to go to medical school to do that. But, perhaps we could find a model. "Ok", he says, "maybe you can get some real guts instead." HA! Always thinking that kid. I suggested he wait until hunting season and he could go to work on someones moose. He said he would think it over.

So here are the pictures of Ellis' never ending interest in science and how everything works.


3 years old. Poor minnow. He didn't know his life would end in the hands of a very curious 3 year old.

Learning about Aunt Barb's chickens.

Baby rabbit only a day or so old at Aunt Barbs.

4 years old. The things you can find in Alaska lakes. This one had a mussel in it. He tried to open it, but the mussel was not going to give up the fight.

Blueberries, easy target. Best way to learn about them is to wear them I guess.

Birthday today. Aunt Jessie and Uncle Jason send Ellis some bees, beetles, moths and grasshoppers to investigate. It came with this bug collection station that is portable and his very own pair of forceps for holding or examining the insects. He had asked this fall if he could poke a bee while it was sleeping to see what was inside. He said that if he did it while it was sleeping, it wouldn't hurt it. All of our insects were gone for the season so Aunt Jessie and Uncle Jason found some innocent insects that gave their lives for the sake of science.

Ellis is always curious and can't wait to learn more. School will be a blast! Happy Birthday my little scientist!

Aaahhhh....

Aaahhh, I finally found some time to create. I really think that this is what I need to do full time. Unfortunately we need things such as health insurance, money to pay the electric bill, and food in our bellies. So, I suppose I will continue to work my current job and carve time after the kids go to bed to let my creativity flow.

All the fabrics I used here were from other projects. Two of the flags are from my Aunt Annie's fabric stash from long ago. This was a fun project I have been wanting to try for some time.

I had seen something similar at a posh "antique" store and they were asking $10 per flag. This cost me nothing but time. All made from scraps! Too fun!

This flag is from Aunt Annie's fabric and the C is from the first Baby O bag Mom and I made for Ocelia.

Of course, since I was doing this project...This is what happend to the bonus room....Can you guess what I am doing this week?

Sunday Dinner

The kids helped me cook dinner tonight. Avery insisted that I fry chicken tonight. I don't fry. He should know that. Isaak jumped on the boat and insisted on buttermilk biscuits. I don't own shortning. He should know that. He stepped up and said he would make the biscuits. He followed the recipe himself. Even turned regular milk into buttermilk.


Celie peeled carrots. Avery and Ellis cut carrots and made a glorious salad. Avery is a pro at salad creation. We had a great time. And, dinner was delicious! It always tastes better when everyone helps!

Kid's rooms

The kid's rooms are basically done. With my mom being here, it was much easier to decorate 4 bedrooms in a short amount of time. Needless to say, we were both just about done with decor when we finished the last room. Each child had a very distinct idea of what they wanted in their room and where they wanted their things. There were some compromises, but for the most part, the rooms were designed by the kids with direction from us. They didn't do too shabby!


Isaak chose Mizzou wrestling and guitars. He really wanted a Metalica room, but I quickly closed the door on that one. We were able to hang his electric on the wall and give him space to play as well. He had many ideas for what he wanted and where. I think he chose well.

Avery went with muted browns in a drawing and art room. He is equipped to draw hour after hour, have inspiration and places to hang his ceations. He is very much the simplifier when it comes to decor. Very well thought out for his needs.

Ellis is all about science lately. He and my mom painted the three pictures on the wall below. We still have a large earth poster to frame for next to his bed.

The table is Ellis' science table. He has already caught a spider for his bug habitat and is frequently found studying something under the microscope. He requested something to put his science ideas on, thus the clip boards. He is so cute at that table!

Ocelia's room was the hardest! I had such a hard time wrapping my head around decorating a girl's room. But, mom has made her a quilt with material from the 30's, so we went with a vintage room. There are a few items left to put on the walls and the quilt is almost finished.

We have worked on other rooms, slowly, so I will post pictures as they are done. We spent some of the holiday break installing wood flooring in the bonus room. We now have to get some carpet bids to finish it. That will make some of the main living furniture change around a bit. So, pics to come later....

Fine, I'll post

It has been brought to my attention that I am being out-blogged by my siblings. Well, I have had a bit on my plate lately. But I intend to up my participation level to that of C quality work for the remainder of this year. And then pledge to do B- level work to start the new year.

As for today's post I will simply put in some pics of events happening around here since we moved into the house 3 weeks ago. Not really any of the house, but you can see some of it in the background.

Christmas came early for me (thanks to Costco and the awesome coupon for kitchen aid mixer!). Ellis and Celie helped me break it in with some rockin' M&M cookies.

Angry cook?

Went to the local toy store with the kids on Saturday. This was taken as we were leaving 1 hour after arriving! There is nothing more challening than taking 4 kids to a toy store at Christmas and ask them to chose gifts for others, while trying to keep your list in your head straight about what they are looking at for themselves! The kids did GREAT! We even made it through Target happy and without any pestering. Things were going so well, I attempted to take the kids out for a special Christmas shopping lunch at Chili's. They were awesome! We had a great day!

Just a note, Brad was at the state wrestling tournament all day. I did this ALONE and I would totally do it again!

This is a giant Playmobil Santa. It may be the only one we can get Celie anywhere near this year.

Still Saturday. Brad picked up a tree on his way home from wrestling. Put lights on it, Brad went back for finals, fixed dinner and let the kids watch White Christmas (my FAVORITE) while they ate. This picture explains why when the bonus room is finished, there will be no TV in the living room. HA!