Farm Life

As Thanksgiving nears, my heart continually swells with gratitude for this country spot we now get to call home. 

When we first looked at the hobby farm last spring, everything felt right: built on a hill, perfect number of acres for us (12), peaceful view, no close neighbors, and a parcel of woods in the back for hiking, hunting, camping, and fort-building.

After looking at several other properties and realizing nothing else "clicked" like this one, we made our offer. October 1st we had the keys in hand!

We moved during harvest time, and the kids stood by the windows for hours, watching combines and grain trucks zig-zag back and forth across the vast fields. The first day's tractor-to-car ratio on the little road in front of our house was 13:1, much to our delight.

The sky seems bigger here. The stars crisper. Many nights we stand on the back deck and gaze up at them. No car horns or neighbors' radios punctuate the stillness. Nothing but a soft breeze rustling the trees.

The neighborhood feels old-fashioned in its friendliness.

"Use the trails in our woods anytime. There's a trampoline back there...jump on it if you want."

"Here's a jar of syrup for you. Mind if we tap your three trees that border the fence line?"

"On behalf of the church, feel free to use our playground anytime."

"Do you have a helmet, little guy? Next time I come around on my four-wheeler I'll take you for a ride."

This is how things used to be--how neighborhoods are supposed to be. We feel so privileged to call it home.

A few Saturdays ago Mike and I sat down with our coffee and a notebook. Pages soon filled with diagrams and dreams...chicken coop, swingset, garden, clothesline, pole shed, sheep fence. With a lifetime of farm ideas ahead of us, the hardest part is knowing where to start.

We're so excited to raise our children in a place where they will know the hopefulness of a sunrise, the roughness of a calf's tongue, the satisfying soreness of a full-day's woodpile. Where they can fill a knapsack with books and peanut butter sandwiches, say good-bye to Mom, and go on daring adventures in the woods. Where they can learn to appreciate the beauty of tender corn shoots poking through soft spring dirt, deer grazing on the fence line in that blurry time between day and dusk, and blustery snow blowing unhindered across an open field. 

And most importantly--we're excited to have plenty of room to host family and friends. Let us know when you're coming, and we'll throw and extra burger on the grill!

Here's to a lifetime of happiness in Beldenville--we hope to live on this little plot of land until we're old and gray! 

Summer Garden

One of my favorite parts of summer was watching how much the kids enjoyed our little garden. 

They filled their gator with lettuce

Showered the Zinnias with affection

Dug in the dirt to their hearts' delight

Picked a wagonful of onions (When I only needed one!)

Helped Daddy pick beans for supper 

Learned to identify that pesky "Creaking Charlie!"

Hoed some flowers (and a couple weeds)

Chowed down on all the red tomatoes before we could even get them into the house

And begged to water whenever possible

If there's a happier place than a garden, I don't know what it is!

Happy 2015!

Happy New Year to you and yours! We celebrated the first day of 2015 by cleaning the house from top to bottom (nothing like a fresh start!) and then rewarded ourselves by sledding at a nearby hill. I think Mike and I enjoyed it more than the kids did (sledding still makes them a little nervous), but I'm sure it won't be too many years before their jumps and crazy stunts will make me wince and close my eyes!

Here's hoping the new year brings you peace, prosperity, and an ever-growing circle of friends and family to share in it all.

Thankful

When I looked out the window and saw this idyllic little scene, I made a mad dash for the camera. My heart is full!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

Reflecting on Fall

We Midwesterners were thoroughly spoiled by a long and lingering fall. Here's a glimpse into some of our favorite moments:

Fresh Butterfinger doughnuts. How did we ever survive before owning a doughnut pan?

 Cool mornings call for warm kitchens and an eager Cook's Helper. 

Can you tell which buns are his?

 So pleased with his creations! He put them in his own kitchen to cool. 

Sharing kombucha by the back porch.

 Evening hikes on my sister's farm. 

Watching the harvest.

Introducing the kids to my favorite children's musician, Jack Pearson, at our local book festival. 

Enjoying family time at our annual church convention.

These two make me smile every day! 

Lots of hikes in the refreshing fall temps.

 Gray and his straw hat are inseparable these days! 

Gray fashioned a "bow" from a strip of plastic off the saran wrap box and turned his guitar into a violin! 

 Introducing Rain to her Auntie Kayla.

Canning applesauce.

Discovering a yummy organic orchard not far from home. 

Harvesting our garden.

Special treats to celebrate Kayla's visit home. (These chocolate-filled croissants from Trader Joe's were AWESOME!)

 Family time at Frontenac State Park.

Enjoying my parents' new puppy--the sweetest Great Pyrenees / Anatolian Shepherd.

Frolicking through the leaves.

Trick-or-treating with two little giraffes.

Strolling around our little town on crisp nights.

And just like that, frosty turned to frigid, and brisk to blustering. Oh well, we enjoyed fall while it lasted!

Costco Apple Container Art

For the longest time I felt guilty whenever I tossed one of these Costco apple containers into the recycling bin. Not just because they're a giant waste of packaging, but because they're positively bursting with artistic potential. Just look at all those little compartments!    

If you haven't spent time with a toddler lately, I'll remind you that little people are the world's biggest hoarders. They move piles of stuff around, reorganize it in containers, and then relocate their treasures to a new location. 

I decided to play off of Gray's rearranging instincts for this activity. I filled the apple compartments with paint and "found objects" like flowers, leaves, and rocks, and let him have at it. 

 He spent a long time dabbing, mixing, and rearranging. 

Then he took a little break to visit the hens. (And maybe gather some inspiration for his masterpiece?) 

I think he looks like a little monk in a robe! Maybe a punk monk, with that dash of pink in his hair.

Here's one of the finished products. Kind of pretty, no?

I love having a child who's old enough for art projects and young enough to still think Mom's ideas are fun. And I especially love when cheap project ideas arise from unexpected places. Thanks, Costco! 

Gray's First Kayaking Expedition

Gray and I embarked on his maiden kayak journey Labor Day afternoon. Having never taken a two-hour paddle with a two-year-old before, I was a little apprehensive. Would he kick and thrash twenty minutes into the journey, sick of being contained in the small boat? Would he loudly protest the sun in his eyes and life jacket's brace-like restraint around his neck, forcing us to bail and hitchhike home with some old farmer?

Gray's typically hour-long nap had been reduced to a ten-minute catnap on the way, giving me even more reason to be nervous. This wasn't just a kayak trip with a toddler, but a two-hour "bonding experience" with a tired toddler--yikes.

Ten minutes into our journey, we passed Mike along the riverbank. (He had driven downstream to snap our picture.) Gray had already said he was "stuck" (he was somewhat scrunched between my legs), and I was seriously tempted to call it a great first trip and send him home with Daddy. But I summoned my sense of adventure, and we waved and continued on our way.

The afternoon could not have been more perfect for kayaking. We were simultaneously warmed by the sun and cooled by the breeze. Cicadas and grasshoppers sang in the grassy riverbanks, and enormous cloud mountains towered above us, punctuated by the occasional eagle. Three turtles jumped off a log as we passed, their formation mirrored by a cluster of jets in the sky.

Gray narrated the river's every twist and turn and kept exclaiming, "The pyrex is swimming!" (He calls the kayak a pyrex, much to our amusement.) He also sang, "Mare, mare, mare the boat, gently down the stream," in his signature toddler falsetto. (He gets the "merrily, merrily" chorus a little confused with the "row, row" part--ha!)

In Gray's mind, the trip's highlight was pulling our boat to shore and eating our jerky and dried mangoes on a log. (He is all about the food, that boy.)

In Mommy's mind, the trip's highlight was that I kept us afloat and happy for two hours. No tipping! No tantrums!

All too soon, we arrived at the boat landing, and there was Daddy, ready to load our muddy kayak into the freshly vacuumed Caravan.

Gray's first kayak trip was a success, and I'm enjoying it even more in retrospect (as we often do with things that make us a bit nervous!). Can't wait to go again!

Mike kayaked the rest of the river into Red Wing later that afternoon. Here's Gray and Rain,
watching for Daddy to round the Mississippi's big bend and dock at Bay Point Park.