super mason

Mason got the coolest (handmade) super hero cape from his Aunt Caroline for his birthday.  Just the other day it was a little breezy outside and he brought it to me saying..."Mom, if I put this on and we go outside in the wind, do you think I can fly??"  

 

Yes, buddy.  You can fly! :)

beets and peas

Just a little peek at what's been coming out of our greenhouse.  Mason and Emma love to pick the peas.  Mason usually picks them off the vine and Emma is our resident pea-sheller, even though more make it into her mouth than the bowl.  The peas are going straight into the freezer.  

 

This was our first harvest of beets.  We've been enjoying the greens in our salads too. 

 We used some of them for beet rolls from a book I had gotten from the library.  Total fail.  The chickens enjoyed them. 

 We used some more in quinoa beet pancakes, which were really good.  Ryan and I liked them better than the kids, but they did eat a few each. 

The rest of the beets we just roasted with balsamic vinegar and had with dinner a couple nights.  The kids love them this way.  As Mason would say, "We are just chowing down on these!"

We're ready to pick the rest of them in the greenhouse.  We're probably going to pickle them and can them.  We planted a ton of beets in our garden and they are just now sprouting.  They took longer than everything else.  We're crossing our fingers that we don't have an early frost. 

In other greenhouse news: the tomato plants are flowering, we have more salad greens than we know what to do with, and the basil is calling out to be made into a couple batches of pesto. 

pickin' wildflowers

We have plenty of wildflowers here around our house,  and their new favorite thing to do is pick a big handful of them.  

 

 We often have a jar of them sitting on the kitchen table.  We are learning all the different names of the different kinds.  They are also starting to recognize them in other places too.  We just spent a couple days camping down by our bunkhouse and they walked all over looking for different kinds of flowers. 

If I need five more minutes to finish dinner or fold the laundry I send them out and they return all smiles with their hands full of these simple flowers. It really doesn't get much better.

two ponies

Most of the time Emma's hair is just wild and free (to better match her personality!) but every once in awhile she will bring me her comb and two tiny pony tail holders and ask for "two ponies."  She sits surprisingly still and counts as we wrap each one around four times.  Then she has to go look in the mirror.  Most days she actually keeps them in too.  I love it! 

 

fishing

Daddy took Mason fishing Monday evening while Emma and I went to bible study. Mason couldn't wait to try out his new fishing pole.  They didn't catch anything, but did have a few bites.  He sure had a blast though.  

 

I love that he's using Ryan's Woodstock tackle box from when he was a kid.  Mason spent the morning cleaning it up and organizing it.  I guess he loved carrying it around too. 

When he got home he told me that he couldn't wait to go again, but that me and Emma should come too.  Sweet boy!

what happens when

This is what happens when you ask your brother to zoom you to the library. 

 

four

 Happy Birthday Mason man!  It's really hard to believe that you are four!  You are becoming such an amazing young man.  You have grown so much this year in so many areas. 

 You have such a sweet, caring spirit.  You are very aware of how others are feeling.  You are the first one to give a hug if someone in our family gets hurt.  You love to help around the house.  You are amazing at cleaning and organizing.  Sometimes when it's time to clean up, you ask me to leave the room because you want to surprise me.  When everything is put in its spot, you proudly come get me to see "how clean it is." 

 You are becoming more outgoing (I think because of Emma).  Just over the past couple months we have watched you become more adventurous.  You are still a cautious person, but are learning to love the thrill of new things (usually after watching Emma do it first.)  Just last night we heard you both laughing and screaming with glee as you rode your bikes down the dirt hill and crashed into the patio.  Over and over again.  You are still a rule follower though...and love to make sure everyone else is following the rules.

 You love to be outside.  You love watching the chickens, helping around our little homestead, and most recently, playing with Indie.  You two are pretty much inseparable.  You are patient with her and love to help train her.  I think you two are going to be buddies for a long time. 

 I can't believe you are going to preschool this next school year.  You are excited mixed with a little hesitation.  But once you get there I know you will love it.  You love to learn and are so curious about the world around you.  You love love love numbers.  You can count to 100 (and sometimes beyond).  You can count by tens.  You can add 1 and 2 to any number and you know all your double addition facts.  Counting is definitely your thing. 

You also have a great memory.  I can usually ask you to remember something we need at the store or where I last put something and I can count on you to tell me.  You memorized over 20 bible verses this year at Awana.  You can hear a book read one or two times and then retell the whole story without missing a beat.

It's fun to listen to you play.  You are very creative and love to build things.  You can turn anything into a tool.  You love to do art projects and right now your favorite thing to do is paint with watercolors.  You are good at writing all your letters and love to make lists. 

You are so fun to be around.  You make us laugh with your clever sayings.  We never know what you are going to come up with.  We love you so much, buddy.  We are excited to see what this next year will hold for you.  Thanks for all the hugs, kisses, songs, and laughs.

xoxo,
Mommy

steamboat

We made it back from a fun little vacation to Steamboat Springs on Wednesday.  It was so fun to chill out with the cousins and my mom and sister.  I was a little nervous about doing the almost five hour drive with just me and the kiddos, but they did amazing!  We enjoyed the beautiful drive, sang songs, they played with magnets and dry erase boards, and counted trains and windmills. 

 

 

I actually didn't take too many pictures, but I love all their smiling faces in these.  

 

 We hiked to Fish Creek Falls the first full day we were there.  Mason really loved the waterfall.  We saw a bunch of small "waterfalls" on both sides of the trail on the way up and he would get so excited for each one.  Him and Nana also were on the lookout for all the different flowers they could see.  My sister and I got major workout points for pushing the double strollers after already going for a run that morning.  Hello sore legs. 

 We spent most of the time swimming.  All four kids loved the pools.  We loved the hot tub!  We had our own hot tub on our deck so we soaked and soaked after the kids were tucked in for the night.  And during nap time. 

Such a relaxing trip.  No huge plans.  Just family time and sunny weather! 

summer begins

Another year with my sweet second graders has come and gone.  I'm all checked out of my room and ready to relax.  My {little} cousin is all graduated (so proud of you, Karly!)  A house full of family and celebrations over the weekend is slowly moving into our summer routine.  

 

 Sometimes the best place to play is the biggest dirt pile you can find. 

We're busy cleaning and organizing the house.  We're packing for a weekend away with my mom and sister in Steamboat, which Mason keeps referring to as Hotboat. We're hoping the wind will die down so we can finish planting our garden.  All signed up for the summer reading program.  More than enough sewing projects keeping me busy late into the night.  So many summer plans....let the fun begin!

planting potatoes

The weather was so nice this weekend (except for some wind).  We finally got our potatoes in the ground.  We planted three long rows along the back of the garden and did four boxes along the west side.  We've had pretty good luck with the deer leaving the plants alone, so they are outside of our fence once again.  

 

 Mason was a big help.  He actually planted about 90% of the potatoes.  Ryan was digging the trenches, I was cutting our seedlings and Mason put them in. 

 Emma kept herself occupied by bringing one tiny weed or piece of grass at a time to "my baby chicks."  That's how she always refers to them.  Even though they aren't really babies anymore.  They're past the akward teenager stage and have moved out of the garage into their own coop.  Emma and Mason both love to check on them and make sure they are doing well.  In fact, every day when we get home they go play with them before coming inside. 

We also discovered that our rhubarb is starting to grow and several lilac bushes that we planted last fall are starting to sprout.  So ready for summer and long days spent outside!

meet Indie

Somehow the last month just sort of went by in a blink and here we are in the middle of May.  I've been missing documenting the little day to day happenings here on the blog, but my days have been filled with lots of things besides the computer (unless you count the many pages I've been typing and scanning to finish up my National Boards). 

 

 

Plus...we've added a little puppy into the craziness.  Here's Indie.  She's such a sweet dog and we've been having so much fun (mostly) playing with her, training her, and waiting for her to start sleeping through the night.   

 

 The kids love her, especially Mason.  Emma has finally stopped screaming every time she so much as enters the room.  Indie follows Mason everywhere.  It's pretty cute actually. 

Daisy's loving having some company.  She even makes her way into the kennel some nights and sleeps with Indie. 

Only one more week of school!  We are so excited for summer.  Hopefully it will be easier to keep up around here too.