In my next life,

I'm going to be a fairy and live in the center of an iris.....

Have you ever......

Have you ever seen the end of a "dream"?  Have you ever longed for something and had little fancies of how it would be and so you play with reality....you try and mold it and shape it and make it exactly what you want it to be...but it doesn't stay that way....  You put on your rose colored glasses and look at things through those for awhile and imagine that what you see is what you want it to be.  You imagine that the things you desire in your innermost being have come to fruition.  You twist it and turn it and in the end, you watch it uncoil and be exactly what it is.  And you sigh and say, it's okay....that's just the way it is.   And you swallow past the lump in your throat and you lay down the dream and you turn your eyes forward.  No, you don't lay it down...you tear it off like a bandaid....or like a plant from the ground....that has deep roots ...and when you pull it up, with it comes grass and dirt and roots and whatever else was embedded there.  It smarts.
This can be releasing the idea or dream of a perfect job, or a perfect church, or a perfect reality...whatever fancy you have.   Is this giving up?  Or is it learning to be content with reality?

Me and Mine....

I love you, honey.  I want you to know that sometimes things get all shifty and chaotic in life...and sometimes we forget why we love the ones we do.  And maybe we even forget what sparked that love in the first place.  But, almost 13 years later, I reckon I still love you....and always will.  Thanks for putting up with me....Thank you for going to work everyday and providing for your family....Thank you for being such a good daddy to our children....Thank you for being a wonderful husband....Thank you for all you do around the little farm.....Thank you for all your efforts....Love, Michelle

Snugglin'

Me and little Isaac.....my snuggler...who just happens to have the BEST kisses!!  xoxoxox

Goodness Grows in My Backyard....

The garden boxes are doing well!!  LOVE being able to go out and make a green salad from the backyard...

We've never grown broccoli, so we are all excited to see Malachi's getting little florets on it....  :)

Sarah and Jacob bought watercress for their gardens...pretty tasty...peppery...like a radish.... and cute little flowers to boot!  :)

The spinach is the most popular among the kids! How funny is that?!?!  They go out and pick some everyday and tell me over and again how tasty it is....and that it is "so much better than the kind at the grocery store, momma!"  soooo cute!!!  I love this time of year when they get excited about growing their own food and feeling the ownership....they take really good care of their own little plots...weeding and watering...it just doesn't get any better than that...  :)

Seeing the Light At the End of the Tunnel...

The chairs are painted....
The table is stained....
The prep center is painted....
The walls are textured and painted....
Hmmmm....any ideas for the wall decor?  I have some black metal words to put up "Live" "Love" "Laugh" and thought about arranging black and white candid family shots around those...or to the side of those...I'm now at a loss....  :)
I would really LOVE to get rid of the carpet....since I think it kills the simple country house look....I'll probably have to be patient and bide my time on that one...  :D

One down...

Finally got the prep center (aka homeschool stash center...lol)  ...painted, sanded, gel stained, and sealed.  Didn't take me too long..considering we purchased it last summer!!  I know, I know...I was staining the table and painting and distressing the chairs....give me a break....lol....anyway...I chose creamy buttermilk as the color - it coordinates well with the walls... here it is...

One more piece of furniture to go....yeah, baby!!  :)

This could only mean mischief.... LOL

Little Boy Blue

Isaac is loving the little chicks....  I'm loving Isaac.....  <3

Sweet, chubby little boy fingers....

A New Batmobile

I had many, many adventures in my van...for many, many years....many, many years.  It got us from A to B...most of the time....and sometimes in comfort...sometimes not.  Take for instance the A/C that just couldn't quite get it going.... as a matter of fact, we drove to Norfolk, VA the end of July when I was 8 1/2 months pregnant with Isaac...with no A/C ...that was immense fun.  But I will tell you a secret...you know how many times you normally stop for a bathroom break with three kids??  Well, that just didn't happen on that trip...the poor little troopers rode the entire way home without having to stop because they were sweating it all out!!!  I was an unhappy pregnant woman by the time we finally returned home.  Another thing about having no A/C in a van - when you're driving down the road with the windows down and one of the kids says something from the back, you can't hear....sooooo, you roll up the windows, say, "what?"  ....have the convo and then roll the windows back down before you suffocate.  And then five seconds later, someone else wants to say something, so you continue to repeat the process over and over and over and over and....well, you get it....lol....
Another thing about the van is that the side window would fall out on occasion if you shut the sliding door hard enough....which is for real not cool.....not cool at all.  We had gone to pick some blueberries (I called ahead to make sure they were available) when we arrived they were watering them and so we couldn't pick...WTHeck??? Why not just tell us that on the phone....and that was the second time something similar to this had happened on this particular farm....Darren was not excited...so much so that when he slammed...I mean, shut, the van door, the window fell out...talk about adding insult to injury.  Anyway....
There was also the intermittent windshield wipers that did not possess any intermittent quality whatsoever.  They would fly across the windshield in a herky jerky race to eradicate all rain drops or they would lazily knock one off every two minutes or so....you just never knew....
We blew out a tire on a four lane going 80 miles an hour beside a tractor trailer...that was fun...
We blew out a tire on a side street in VA, thanks to a triangular piece of metal....
The right tire/brakes/something on the right side :)  would get all hot and smoky on occasion....
I actually lost a few pieces going down the road once....looked in the rearview mirror and saw them bouncing on the road....seriously...and no..I didn't stop...it was a busy road....
And speaking of rearview mirrors...it wouldn't stay on the window...so, on occasion, I'd just pick it up off the floor and hold it up to catch a glimpse behind me....LOL...
I could go on but I will spare you...the point of this story is to celebrate the fact that I am the proud new owner of a hot new batmobile!!!  I can't believe we *finally* gave in and got a sparkly new vehicle...I'm so excited....I just had to share....  <3

A party with tropical flair...

Fondant Hibiscus flower cupcakes.....

Fruit kabobs....yummy!! :)

A special cupcake for a special birthday girl...  <3

Birthday girl reading the cards...

My sweet, sweet little breath of heaven....  Happy Birthday Girlie!!!

Adventures in Texture Paint...

While texturing the kitchen, I decided to let the kids put their handprints in the paint in an inconspicuous place....a little memento of that moment in time....  a beautiful little snapshot of little hands....

And of course...the mess...everywhere....

I decided to spare you...(and not embarrass myself LOL).....and only post this pic....not pictures of the floor, the cabinets, the trim, the countertops......
I did finally get the living room/dining room, hall, and kitchen completed.  I put the glaze over one corner of the wall and I didn't like it...it made it too dark and I was loving the light natural stucco look...so, I painted over it and decided to forego the darker glaze.  Yay!  Less work and I like it better!!  The paint in the kitchen really goes well with the countertops...and although the texture paint was some work, I'm really glad I did it.

(The counter tops with the new texture paint and color)

(close up shot...)

I have the den to texture and paint and the boys' room to paint, and the entire house will have had a fresh coat of paint!!  Only two more rooms and one piece of furniture to go....well, and one mirror....  :)  I'm excited....

Timber!!!

While I was busy helping the kids plant their garden boxes a couple of Saturdays ago, Darren stayed busy cutting down trees.  Most of our land is wooded...we'd like to clear a little more of it off so we'd have more garden space.  We decided quite of few of these could go as they tend to shade the lower portion of the garden too much in the summer.  You know what this is a picture of, don't you?  It might look like just a bunch of felled trees, but I tell you - it's more than that....much more....it's work.  Lots of it...now that they are all on the ground, they've got to be cut and split and then hauled.  And you know I just love moving wood piles....  :)

It was all going pretty smoothly till the last couple of pines.....  one in particular.  The one that stood 60-70 ft - head held high in the clouds...a proud pine...full of sap....the one that stood close to the right side of the house...a little too close.  I decided to stay outside and watch just in case....just in case I needed to run the kids out of the house.  Just in case I needed to call 911.  When he started cutting, the tree lovingly leaned toward the house.  Or was it maliciously leaning?  I don't know....  who really knows when it comes to trees?  At any rate, Darren asked me to call his dad and tell him to bring his chains and come along.  So, I promptly called and told the kids to please make their way outside to stand in a safe place.  (you know I was sweating...I mean, what if that tree hit the house and messed up a perfectly new paint job on the inside walls?!?!?!? LOL)

With the help of his dad, they managed to get the tree to fall away from the house.... thankfully...and the adventure was over.....

I have to tell you that I absolutely love the trees surrounding our house....but there just isn't anything like the sound of a tree 60 or 70 feet tall coming swooshing through the air and hitting the ground.  Love that sound...

The Barn Has Doors! :)

I think the barn doors were finished around the end of February or first of March....(which is why it still looks like winter in the picture)  and I'm just now getting them on....

Don't they look great??  ;)

Darren got the bottom doors on with the help of the kids.  When it came time to put the top door in place, he requested my help..... MY help....the one who is afraid of heights and does not like to get a foot from the edge cause it makes me queasy.  Nor do I like to see the kids sitting on the edge, as a matter of fact.  Anyway, I say, "I'm on it"....The plan was...I'd go up in the loft (just my luck) and hold onto the rope that is tied around a stick so I can get a better hold on it...and brace myself ..while he stands on a ladder hefting the door...I pull, he pushes.....  Nice...just as long as I don't go sliding out the opening with the door and land on top of him and the ladder, right??  Anyway, the adventure begins...it's going okay until the door slips out of his grip...my superhero instinct kicked in and pulled hard on the rope so the door wouldn't drop suddenly and hit him in the head.  I'm thinking it's a good thing I like him...there are many times when his poor life has depended on me....the truck...the barn door hoisting.... ;)   Anyway, thankfully, the peril was all over in a matter of seconds or a minutes..  We got it up the front of the barn and into the opening.  I'm good with it staying shut.  I just know if I go to open it, it will swing out and take me with it or something and I'll be dangling in the middle of the air, clutching the barn door, screaming for my life... shiver....I sooo do not like heights....LOL.....

virtual dandelion

It's your virtual dandelion!!!  ....put here just for you to make a wish....  so, go on ....take a moment, close your eyes...make a wish....and blow it!  (just swallow your cracker first... LOL)

....lots of running to do today....

....and house cleaning....to make up for all the cleaning and laundry that was neglected while painting....

....plus, it's supposed to rain tomorrow, so we're going to attempt to plant some green beans, corn, and tomatoes this evening....

....and there's all that tape to take off the walls...and *stuff* to be put back in it's proper place....

so, darn it...while i would soooo love to blog and tell you the latest, i have to git r done....  but i will return....and tell you alllll about it....LOL.....  :)

It's birthday day!!!  Happy Birthday to my sweet little Sarah....such a little diamond...  ;)

Finally made it to bed at 3:30 am .... Sarah was awake, singing "happy birthday to me", and giggling at 7:30....if I fall asleep in my cupcake today, just leave me drooling in my pillow of chocolate....

My to do list is seductively calling to me to get started.... if it would give me a massage, I'd be more excited about beginning.... 

Hmmmm...I wonder if I can get the glaze on the living room/dining room, the paint on the hall and kitchen, cupcakes made, the floor shampooed, and the party ready by 5 pm?!?!  That's not asking too much, is it? I must admit, I am ultra sore today....I don't think there is a place on my body that isn't yelling at me...

Ah well.....let the day commence!!  Time's a wastin'....  :D
 

It's 1:32 A.M.

It's 1:32 A.M.....do you know where your blogger is?  Of course you don't.... :)  But you *know* I'm going to tell you....  ;)

I began working on painting again today around lunch time...I am just now finishing up for the day.  The hall got a texture paint makeover ....as did the kitchen.  I think if you could skip moving furniture and appliances and taping every daggum thing, it would certainly go a lot more swiftly.  I'm relatively sure that if I were to attempt stepping up on the counter stool even one more time to trim around the molding, I would be an excellent candidate for the "Help!  I've fallen and I can't get up" commercial.....

Speaking of falling....I fell outside today....how crazy....I can't remember the last time I fell...

Well, there was that time a couple of years ago that I tripped over a piece of twine we were using to mark rows in the garden.  I was pitchforking hay around the tomatoes ...not paying attention to where I was stepping...and SNAP!  My ankle found the twine..or the twine found my ankle..or whatever....  And I landed on my backside...still holding my pitchfork of hay, mind you.  My children and husband were all standing around...did anyone rush to my aid?  Did anyone ask in concern if I was okay?  Heck, no!  They laughed.  I earned a softball size bruise on my calf muscle that stuck around for about a year...

Don't ask me why I tell you these things....

At any rate, as I was making my way from the goats pens today, three empty buckets in one hand and an empty bowl in the other, my flip flop slid on the pine needles and the next thing I know I'm on the ground.  I must admit the first thought that popped into my mind was, "If I would have had on my cape, that wouldn't have happened"....which may not be entirely true....I mean, maybe I just should've had my muck boots on....  And can you believe it???... I even skinned my knee.  How weird....I have new sympathy for my kids ....you know with the first one, every time they fall, you run in the house, grab the antiseptic wash, softly pat it with a washcloth, put enough triple antibiotic ointment on it to cure all Africa of germs, put a six inch square bandage on it, and check on them at night to make sure they are okay and not burning up with a fever from infection....
By the fourth one, you kinda have the tendency to not even bat an eye....you find yourself saying, "Are you okay?"  and "Dust it off...you'll be alright"....and "Wow! You're tough...you're not even crying" when they are, in fact, screaming at the top of their lungs.  (Just so you know...I do comfort my children when they get hurt....) But after today, I may revert back to my former compassion.  Okay, maybe not quite that far back....

It is rather traumatic to be walking along with your feet firmly on the ground and suddenly...Bang!  ..you're on your backside...one leg stretched before you, one behind you, buckets rolling down the hill....and blood on your knee.....and those little skins smart.  Okay...mine was tiny...I won't lie....but it did smart.... LOL....I've decided why God allows us to fall so much as babies....it's because we are closer to the ground in our youth.  And we don't have as much area to skin.  Oh yeah...and cause someone is there to pick you up when you fall.....  :)

Having shared all that....I must now bid you adieu ....Sarah's birthday is tomorrow.  She wants a tropical party.  I usually make their cakes/cupcakes.  I thought that this one time, since things are so hectic, I might purchase one.  I offered that option to Sarah...to which she looked offended and told me store bought cakes were nasty.  LOL....So....I am going to make chocolate cupcakes and ATTEMPT to make fondant hibiscus flowers to put on top....they will be soooooo cute if I can pull it off...we shall see.  I have to do them tonight...I'll be stressing tomorrow trying to get the house in some semblance of order.

Good night or good morning to you....  hope your day makes your heart smile.....  <3

Brand Spanking New :)

I'm finally getting a picture of my new countertops on here....I've been quite busy, you know.... :)
I really love them....and I have to tell you the coolest thing...(don't laugh....well, really, it's okay if you laugh)  when you sit a glass down on quartz countertops, it sounds like glass hitting glass....  Which I like...  okay, ahem...on to the pictures...

Don't those look all nice and shiny?!?!?!  Normally, I have lots of stuff sitting on my counters...cookbooks, microscope, basket with pens and papers...you know...vital stuff....lol...BUT, these countertops are tempting me to swipe them clean...can I manage that??  I don't know...we'll see...
Oh, and nevermind the paint on the walls...I am well aware that it clashes....I'm not worried....because that room is next on my to-do list! :)  And this a.m. I am most pleased to announce that I am checking things off my list...I'm meeting my deadlines, baby!!!  Yay!!!  Now....if I could just get ALL the painting finished by Saturday...which is my sweet little Sarah's bday.  Jacob told me yesterday that I was "pushing the limit"....LOL....this from a nine year old.  Ok...well, anyway...I have lots of errands to run today (and more painting to do, of course)...I better get a move on...

Oh, wait.....here's an up close pic of the countertop....

The Morning After....

Okay...I can do this.  I'm in a slightly better mood than last night.  I am presently re-trimming....the part that takes the longest.  The rolling will be done in no time, right?  And the installers are here putting my countertops in...yay!!!  They are looking soooo good. I'll post a pic ASAP.  Back to painting for me....  ya'll have a bodacious day!!  :D 

A Princess

I started putting the faux finish on the walls today...and guess what?  It wasn't blending correctly.  So, I look it up and find that the number one thing to remember when doing faux glazes is that you never use flat paint.  Wanna take a guess at what kind of paint I just put on the walls?  Yeah, it's flat.  I sure wish I would've known that.  I've never used flat paint.  But I was thinking that with an old stucco wall, you wouldn't want any sheen or shine.  Sigh...

So, at 9:15 pm, I'm going out to buy some more paint.  I'm tired.  Sometimes a girl doesn't want to be Batgirl or Super Farm Girl.   Sometimes a girl just wants to be ..... a princess. Oh well, where's my cape??  I have things to do....fairy tales will have to wait.....

Base Coat Completed...

This the the base coat of paint on the textured walls.  Not sure you can see the color, but it's here...like a creamy whitish/yellow color....  it's called Navajo White.

Close up of the color....again...not sure you can see it....  but I like it :D

Demolition!!

We are in the process of getting new countertops....  I'm excited.  Gone are the days of my mauvish/purplish backsplash tiles ....gone are the days of the chipped tiles on the edges where Isaac got a little happy with my mini scrapbook hammer....(btw...the guy who measured for the new countertops said he had never seen anyone put tiles on the edge of laminate countertops...who knows what the installers were thinking??)  At any rate, in order to install the countertops, we have to have the tiles and old countertops off before they come tomorrow.  Darren said he would do this and took a couple off last night.  I walked by this a.m. and saw the tools lying there....tempting me...to pick them up and play with them.  I was only going to do one....just to try my hand at it.  Well, the tiles are all off now.  Look...I've been painting for weeks...painstakingly trying to avoid getting paint everywhere...well, okay...maybe not painstakingly...I forgot you've seen pics of that ....  So, forget that I said that....nonetheless, painting is not an aggressive sport.  Taking a paint tool and a hammer and prying off tiles - well, that's a horse of a whole nother color....   I found it immensely satisfying.... I'd like to move up to something more aggressive to work off some frustration...but alas, we have no need of a wrecking ball.  But, I'm not shortchanging the hammer....not by far.  It is a most useful tool... so, I can't drive a nail in straight!?!?!  I no longer care!!  As of today, the hammer is now considered part of my arsenal.  There is a job it performs well when in my hand....  :)

 The old countertops....here today....gone tomorrow....  :)

Okay....that was fun.....  yee-haw, baby!!  :D

Okay...so, there's was that hunk of dry wall (is that what that is??)  that came out with that piece....Darren might not be impressed with that one....  but all is well...the new backsplash will cover it, right??  ;)

Enchanting...

My driveway is so enchanting.....  doesn't it look magical to you?? 

Choring....

The milk stand....in its new location...full sun and rain :D

A behaving Annie....her back legs are on the stand...without me having to put them there....

There is, however, a small problem.  This is the side I am accustomed to sitting on to milk...and well, there's a small tree in the way...  I get to sit around it now...so I hug the tree while I milk....I am soooo one with nature...LOL....

Annie and the horned Sugar fighting over grain....sheesh, girls...can't we all just get along?? :)

Yep....that's the milking process....LOL

Frothy, fresh, farm furnished milk... (alliteration rocks...LOL :D  )

 Oh!  look!  I thought I was done....but I was mistaken.  While I was busy milking, Isaac was busy putting grain in one of the water buckets that I just toted up the hill.....what a little farm hand he is ;)

That's okay...we'll walk all the way back down to the spigot to get more....

Before we leave the pen, he pats Annie and says, "Thanks, Annie!"...I kid you not...he thanked the goat...he redeemed himself...LOL....

The absolute cutest little farm hand....

And so we travel, Isaac and I, hand in hand to refill the water bucket...and the sun is shining...and he is smiling...and his little hand is clasped around mine....and my heart skips a beat because I am so blessed to have the children I do....they are truly treasures....they bring me joy.....  ;)

Woodland Gummies

Okay....  I just had to show you the absolute cutest little gummies the kids got in their Easter baskets!  OMGOSH!!!  It's little woodland creatures!!!  Look how adorable the hedgehog and owl are?!??!  I love to scrapbook...love papers and colors and cute little embellishments....the last time I was perusing new scrapbook materials, these cute little characters were showing up everywhere ~ especially the owls!  So, this is like scrapbook meets munchie!!!  I know...I know..... it doesn't take much to excite me....but seriously...they are sooooo cute!!  <3  :D

Wall Texture

This is an up-close shot of the texture on the walls!!!  (with the sunbeams coming through my wooden blinds <3)  OMGosh!!  I soooo love it.... it almost makes me feel like I am in an old cottage or monastery ...  I'll post another pic when I get the color on....  I am really, really happy with the results.  When I finish the living room/dining room, I'm going to do the kitchen.  Yeah, that's on the list......    :)