Since you've been gone

Since you've been gone

I've been playin cinderella
I've been wearing your big hat
helping mommy at the barn
No, we're not afraid of the dark
I've been drawing pretty pictures
of mommy just for you
I've been playin' daddy
with all the tools I can find
Been holding mommys hand
in the store just like you
I remind her of the candy
you would have bought were it you
We've been waiting by the phone
We've been swallowing our tears
You take care of mommy
Now we're following your path
I've been standing tall and straight
Trying to be a man like you
I remember how you are silly
and you made mommy laugh
Whenever she cries I do the same as you
I'll dance and laugh
I'll wear that hat and try to wear your boots
I'll be the man, I promise dad
I'll make her laugh, I swear I'll try
Since you've been gone.

Best friends

Had to add at least one picture, Frank did a "camping trip" for the kids in our big back yard before he left. It was what Tad wanted of him before leaving. Nathalie, being slightly fluffier just wanted him to jump on the trampoline each night so he did... This is the kids at during our camping trip, not a perfectly centered picture but not on auto, so there you go. I love how happy they look.

I just found my best childhood friend again! I am so excited... I had to blog! Yesterday I was on renees blog, a bakers dozen. She had a friends picture on their and said it was Kendra's children. The oldest looked like my friend had looked as a child and her name was Kendra also. I emailed Renee right away and asked her to please find out this womans maiden name in case it was my friend I had lost.


I then spent 2 hrs looking online for every permutation of her name I could think of. I finally gave up and went to sleep. Tonight I got onto my blog and scrolled through old posts, looking at pictures of Frank. I was reading comments and came accross one by the very friend I had been searching for. I was amazed! God surely works in mysterious ways. How could this be a coincidence? How did she find me the day after I searched for her?


I commented on her blog, and hope she will email me soon. I am so pleased to have found her. She was my very best childhood friend, I have millions of memories with her in them. I spoke with her when we both had our first babies, and lost her after that. I cannot say enough how pleased I am to have contact with her again!

Stinky

Here is what I have to wonder, why do my bathrooms smell like urine? I go about them sniffing in all areas, I have clean trashcans, clean floor, counters and sinks wiped down with cleaner, and most of all a clean toilet. So why I must know, does the kids bathroom smell like urine??? My bathroom does often as well. We have 4 bathrooms, and the 3 used ones smell...
Maybe there is something wrong in the plumbing? I have never had this experience.
On a better note, did you know you will save aprox 11 $ a yr for ever full multi strip that you turn off at the main switch at night? We have most of our things on multi strips now for example, TV, DVD player, speakers all on one and its turned off for long periods of time. We dont use it daily when frank is gone. My microwave, coffee pot and toaster are on another. I only turn it on to use it. My sewing machines are on one and I can plug my computer or cell charger in for just a short period of time (1.5 hrs per) and they are fully charged for about 20 hrs.
My electric bill is surprisingly low even though I have a rather large house.

Blog commenting

You know, I read a blog regularly written by a mother of 13 children. Reading it is like reading my own personal nonfiction! She is a great writer, great photographer, shares wonderful recipes and I love reading about her children and the things they do. It gives me ideas for my own children, and I have had several homeschool tips from her that paid off.
It is her blog, and her life that she is sharing. Other people go on there to read ON PURPOSE, and most kindly comment or I assume are silent be they pleased or not. I would say that it seems 99 % of people who read her blog enjoy it.
So what about the 1 %? They are rude in comments! They dispute her as if they count... I mean seriously, its HER online diary, why would they be ugly? While it is made public by her publishing it, she obviously doesnt do it to make these few people angry. They are rude and unkind and say unecessary things. I honestly mean 1 %, possibly less! I often enjoy the funny commentors as much as the blog and most people are supportive and kind.
Why would they care about someones birthing choices for example? People who dont like someones blog could just GO AWAY. This isnt an issue for me as I dont have a super popular blog (maybe I should have 11 more kids??? Just kidding, well only bc hubby would say no...). She is a wonderful woman leading a fascinating life and I dont understand the bitter people who have to put in their ugly words.

Homemade

So for several posts, I will have to exhaust my hard drive of all pictures I have of my husband. I dont think he will mind. He did ask me not to put a large sticker on the back of our minivan that says, our soldier, my husband, my hero... he says thats "cheesy" and "a bit over the top" for him. He did list some facts I was allowed to proudly post about him on our vehicle, none of them appropriate for the good christians, agnostics, atheists, buddhists or daoists in the community. (not that you all exist, I just dont want to leave any one out and assume that any group would be savvy with my husband choice of bumper sticker).
Incidently he took this picture himself. It would have been better had I not been laughing. We were in the goat yard, what do you expect?
Off that topic, I was feeling proud and thought I would post it. My children complained today that they had eaten all the bread with breakfast (cinamon sugar toast is tads specialty) and they now wanted a sandwich (it was 11 and that isnt time to make bread.) As I make our bread, I had to prepare something else for lunch. They were pleased with homeade noodle and veggie soup as was I.
However, we have a big day tomorrow so in preparation, I strained fresh milk, refridgerated, made fresh bread, sliced and bagged for the am as they cook breakfast wether I am awake or not and boiled eggs that OUR chickens laid (or "pooped out" as my family calls it) to make egg salad for tomorrow packed lunch. Nathalies request, she said she deserved the request as she cannot make toast. Which is of course because Tad spoils her.
We are going tomorrow to Lowes to buy 2x4s for the plastic framing of the chicken coop windows due to the near freezing temps, although if I find one dead from weather, we will use it as dinner.
I also need a heater as I am not manly enough to work in my husbands super organized tool filled shop that would make any man drool in this near freezing weather and I have several woody projects to complete. (has anyone made a baby gate without their husbands help???)
So we are off tomorrow after homemade granola, our milk, homemade bread with my ground wheat, and packed lunchs with our eggs to go shop in the mens store-Lowes.

Iraq

Frank left Saturday, Oct 11 for Iraq. (moments of silence and a few more tears) The children and I are feeling a little better today though this will not be an easy transition. We have been his shadow since May.

He is the best man I know. He is brave and courageous, he always thinks of us before himself. He would save another to his detriment. He is a man that his children and wife can be forever proud of. He is attentive to his children, affectionate and always teaches them things. He gives them his time even when he is tired.

I will miss him, I will miss his voice and his presence. The air around him has more oxygen than the air around anyone else. My breathing is constricted, and surely that is why. I miss his laugh, his silly sense of humor. I miss the way he looks at me, how he chooses to be with me anytime rather than any other. Most of all I miss his hands and the way he smells. The smell of soap and smoke and corona.

He is my favorite person in the world. I will miss him desperately and count down the days to see him again.

More apples and milk

These are (some) the apples from our own tree! It was here when we moved in, it is in its last couple of years though Frank fears. We will be planting 2 new ones and I hope this one will produce for us for a couple more seasons. The apples are sweet and tart at the same time and make great applesauce.



This is one apple peel, we borrowed a peeler/correr/slicer from a friend for this event, Frank has been using it and I have been cooking them down and we have canned them together.

This is my first real canning venture as an adult! We did this all summer every summer when I was a kid, canned hundreds of jars of tomatoes, beets, green beans, peaches, applesauce etc, for winter. I have not attempted in on my own and thankfully Amanda (www.harmonyacres.blogspot.com) has done this all summer and gave invaluble info.

My 2nd day of milking yeilded 1 gal of milk. We are not drinking it yet, am waiting for tests to come back from vet. Its smart to do fecal and milk samples on all new farm animals if you want to drink the milk. Goats can be carriers of a couple of diseases and they can have parasite problems just like cows and sheep. We will be doing a treatment for this just in case and then moniter every 2 months. We have found a wonderful vet who even does house calls!

This is the finished greenhouse, you can see a part of our homemade table along the wall. Frank and I made tables, more him than me but I did suggest the door tops... from 2x4 frames and 1.5 doors per table for a top. There were 3 old wooden doors in the shop when we moved in and we love to recycle. There is an old metal table with drawers as my island for working in the greenhouse, that was also here. We need to do shelf tables on the back wall as we get the western sun there. On the side walls and front, we should put only one level so as to not rob any plants of sun. The back wall can have shelves bc its western sun-thanks for the info to Franks Dad, Frank.

Goats, birds and us

Close up of nona





Frank and Nona


New guineas, these are good bug eaters but they have to stay caged for 1 mo in a new home so they dont fly away and become owl bait!

Goat people

This is nona and Frank, nonas name is wynona but we like nona better. She has one horn because her owner taped them to keep them from growing and this one didnt work. She does use it against pepsi but not us.

Nathalie is with nona and pepsi is on the lower edge of the photo, she was walking away from me as she doesnt like the clicking of the camera.

Tad, Nathalie and Nona. Nona is more friendly than Pepsi. Pepsi was not handled as much when she was small, she isnt mean at all just more skittish.

A picture of me in the goat yard.

Nathalie, Nona and Me. Nathalie loves the goats very much. The day that we bought them, we spent many hours at the farm they were at. The lady and her husband have many goats, sheep, ducks, chickens, guineas and a dog. We bought 2 goats so that they have a friend, they were used to being with so many. We are getting almost a gallon of milk a day and Pepsi is only putting out 2 qts aprox. She is a lower milker right now, she has kidded once but her kid was sold a few days before we bought her.
My milking days were long ago as a child and I am not so good at it now! I can accomplish the mission but I am super pleased that the goats are patient. Frank fixed a milking stand that the other lady gave to us and I can close their head up in the front. They eat breakfast and dinner here, they have a feeder for alfalfa and they snack on lots of weeds and leaves in the goat yard. They have an enclosed area in the barn yard, but largly walk about the 2 acre fenced in area that has all of the barns.
We are enjoying this next step into farm life and self sufficiency!