Dirty Girl

I just had to post these pictures of Lauren today because she made me laugh so hard. I about died when I saw her walking up to the house looking like this. She loves playing outside, (it's like a whole new world of discovery for her). She gets pretty grubby while she's out there, but I think today she even topped herself! I just love my dirty little girl.
You'll have to click on the picture to get the full effect.

Goats

L ast night we got two pygmy goats (a mother and a daughter). They're about 2-3 years old and are so cute! I wanted to get sheep for the property but apparently goats are much better brush and blackberry bush eaters, (which is what we need). Anyway, the kids love them, especially Lauren.

The other day when I was outside cleaning out the shed to get ready for the goats, the boys were helping and I kept thinking about what hard working boys they are and how grateful I am that now we have a place where there'll always be plenty of projects and animals around to keep them busy and teach them how to work. I'm reading the Little House on the Prarie series to the boys at night and right now we're on the second book "Farm Boy ." I love reading it because it has such great stories and the boys get to see what life was like for a boy their age a couple hundred years ago. I think it helps them realize that the chores they're asked to do around here are nothing to complain about. I told them this morning at breakfast that now that we have goats they are official "farm boys."

Eventually, we'd like to get some chickens (I love fresh eggs) and maybe when we get the property fenced some miniature ponies. I found an ad on craigslist for hobbit horses and they're for such an incredible price it's been hard to resist. I think it's probably best to pace ourselves with the animals though. It's just so much fun to be able to do these things now.

Keeping Busy

I've been keeping busy with projects around the house. Aaron just finished completing all of the molding and baseboard trim in the living room so I've been painting, painting, painting. I also stripped, sanded and painted the old door in the living room that leads to the office and was very pleased with how nice it turned out. I'll try to attach a picture of it to this post.

So Aaron worked from home today and during the kids naps I took advantage of that and and went for my run outside instead of on the treadmill. When I got back Lauren was awake and she had cream colored paint on her face and hands and there were dozens of paint drops all over the hardwood floors. I followed them to the living room where there was a smudge on the new rug and I saw an abandoned paint roller on the floor by the fireplace. Aaron was sitting on the couch busy on his laptop while on a conference call......... Hmmmmmm, maybe I should leave Jacob in charge next time I leave the house. (: Okay, so it's not entirely his fault, I was so tired of painting last night I left the tray and brush with water in it in the bathtub. Apparently when Aaron took a shower this morning he just took it out of the tub and "forgot" to put it back in. Lauren's favorite room in the house is the bathroom (she drinks from the toilet daily) and imagine her joy when she saw a tray of paint and no mommy around.

Anyway, I have also been working on a wall collage of family pictures that I am putting up. I am not using all of them but as I was going through them I just thought I'd post some of them here because I think they are so sweet.


Here they are..........

Smart Boy

I found this piece of paper today in the office (you have to click on the picture to see the writing). During the kids naps Jacob will often write, draw or color pictures, (he has AM Kindergarten). Anyway, I found this paper among others on his table in the office, he must have been working on it while I was putting the kids down for their naps. I am so amazed at how his little mind works. He has always loved math and asks us to "do math" with him while we're driving in the car. He can add and subtract such odd numbers it's amazing. Often times Aaron will give him a math problem and he figures out the answer about the same time that I come up with it in my head. I showed this paper to Aaron tonight and he asked me to scan it and send it to his e-mail address at work so he could show it to his co-workers. Apparently, he has the mind of a programmer or something computer related like that. All I know is he doesn't get it from me......