down on the farm

Yes, Yes indeed, we have alpaca now. And yes, yes indeed, we did haul them in the Honda Element. I know, it's just hard not to be jealous of my life, but not everyone can live the dream!! These guys will live with the rest of the animals out in the pasture. They are great for mowing and for guarding, which is the main reason for having them at this point. We have been losing poultry at an alarming rate. They both have good fiber, so it will be fun to play around with the fiber and see how that goes.

It's four-wheeler time in the country. The four-wheeler wouldn't run so the guys hauled it in for a tune-up. Now that it's back, our driveway will never be the same. It's really a lot of fun and like the little C says "We're back into 4-wheeling again."

The other picture above might not show it too well, but he has a black eye courtesy of his younger sib. I wasn't home when it happened so that absolves me of bad parenting, right? Actually he is pretty proud of the shiner and had to point it out to everyone. It's on the yellow side now and on its way to fading out completely.

I spent a couple of days last week on a field trip with the Middle School. We went to the beach for our oceanography unit. It was super rainy the day that my group was inside doing labs and nice the day we went on a 4 mile hike. The day the other group hiked, it rained 2.5 inches. They had water running down the trail. More kids came back muddy than not. It was a good hike and we could see where the estuary went into the ocean. I don't have any pics from that trip but it was a lot of fun.

On the crafty news: I'm almost done with a super cute knitted dress that will be a baby gift. Almost done with a scarf that I started in Montana and started a scarf for a family member that I'll see this summer. (Jason, you can wear it with your leotard...the pink one). I'm off to pick up the Little C from a rainy baseball practice.

Aprons and cowboy quilts

Here is our sewing group. We made aprons which is quite obvious. They are all reversible, which is really snazzy. We had a great time. It's really sad that my hair looks like crap and I look pregnant, but really, it's just the apron...

Here is my third quilt of the year and the recipient. Her name is Dulsanna and she had Ian this last Tuesday. I think she liked it. It's nervewracking for me to make a quilt for someone when they haven't chosen the fabric. The back is cowboy flannel and I couldn't get that picture to upload for some reason. You can see it sitting on a chair in the apron picture, though.

It's supposed to snow this weekend so I'm going to build a fire now. I think it's the latest in the year that I've ever built a fire. I think I'll go recover now for posting so much in such a short time...

This whole life thang

Today I went to a funeral for the mother of one of my friends. Her mother was 85 and lived a great life. The family took up most of the chapel and there were very few other people there. I had taken the lads with me and they were sooo good!! As the speakers talked about this woman's life, I wondered what would be said about me if I were to have a funeral today (weird, I know...just consider the source). Would it be said that I hated getting up in the morning and was grumpy for about the first hour of waking? Would it be that I was just some crazy woman about 5 seconds from directing traffic in my nightgown? Well, I asked the lads...They said they would say that I'm a good mom, not too strict and not too much on the spoiling side. It really made me smile to realize what would come to an 8 and 12 year olds mind...Little C also said that I was a hard worker and big C said that I'm grumpy when I'm tired. I really love these guys, especially when they aren't punching each other in the stomach or having some kind of flatulent contest. At the end of the service was a beautiful song about a woman meeting Heavenly Father again. I might have had a tear or two going down my cheek and the boys were very tender toward me. It almost made me cry harder. They held my hands and told me I would be ok. It's nice to know that they can be so sweet and loving.

So this whole life thing is incredible. I've held an hours -old baby this week and attended a funeral of a woman considered a great and loving mother by more than just her children. I think we sometimes underestimate the impact we can make during our time here. Just something to think about...

Oh, Baby

It seems this whole life thing is quite cyclic. I suddenly find myself surrounded by a lot of pregnant acquaintances. Most of them are young and having their first. Two of the women I work with are pregnant. Well only one is now and the other brought in her baby today for a quick show-and-tell. I forgot how beautiful a newborn is. I love that when I held him out from me he stayed all scrunched up with his legs pulled in close to his body. Another friend is 45 and had a boy today. She also has boys that are 22, 20 and 16. Surprise surprise!! I've thought a lot about her in the months since she told me that she was expecting. This is not a curve ball that life has thrown at her. This will be a huge change in everyday life for her and her family that is still at home...It really brings to home the fact that we are subject to the Lord's will. I'm excited to go to the hospital this evening and meet this new life...