I say "poe tay toe", You say "poe tah toe" . . .

For the past few weeks, we have been watching the trucks full of potatoes zooming past our home on their way to the sorting cellars and beyond.  Soon enough, the field right outside our front door was busy with the bustling, booming sounds of potato harvest.  Once we saw past the clouds of dust, and thankful for the wisdom of the previous owners to plant trees all around the house to keep the dust off, it was fun and intriguing to watch the process take place.


We were lucky enough to glean after the harvest, with permission of the owner, of course. ( We want to maintain a good, healthy relationship with all our new "neighbors".)  Between all 6 of us and about 3 hours of work, we were able to glean about 60 gallons of the russets to share with friends and family and give us a good supply for winter.


The kids had a great time and they worked really hard.  It is always a sign of hard work when you start taking off your jackets and hats in 55 degree weather.  It was rewarding for them to get to deliver it to Dad's work for some very happy and appreciative co-workers. 

This is one of the many stamps
from around the world showcasing potatoes.
This one is specifically for Uncle Devin!

I decided it was a good time to get to know a bit more about our state's famous crop.  So, we visited the Potato Museum in a neighboring town.  It was very interesting and informative.  We all learned so much about the potato, it's history, growth, and uses.  The kids all laughed when we read that originally it was popular in Europe and England for it's blossoms and not the potato itself.  Marie Antoinetter even reportedly wore the potato blossom is her hair. Darling Helper really like that she now knows that french fries are truly french, made originally made by french chefs and possibly first introduced to America via Thomas Jefferson.  Peaches liked the models of the horse pulled carts carrying potatoes.  Bubba liked the tractors and implements.  Dreamer liked all the different varieties of potato mashers.

Hundreds of different potato mashers!

It was also interesting to find out that even though our state, today, produces one-third of the potatoes in the USA, potatoes were originally from South America, more specifically Peru in the Andes mountains.  The museum was self lead, simple, but very informative and worth the short drive there.  I think we all came away from it more appreciative of the spuds. Enjoy!

Home, Home on the Range . . .

. . .where the bunnies and coyotes play.

Yes, we have bunnies which I think in turn means that with them comes coyotes.  We have listened to their sullen tunes almost every night since we have been in our new home.  Since it has gotten a bit colder, it has been less and less, but instead of being fearful or negative about them, I actually find myself grateful because their presence has a lot of meaning; rural, nature, life, adventure.

So we are finally in our new home.  The kids refer to it as our farm, and even though it is lacking in many of the things that would define it as such, that is what we dream for it and so that is what it will be referred to as.   We have been doing some remodeling and updating immediately and so things have been a bit messy and chaotic.  Each I find myself consumed by the mess, I step outside into our beautiful yard and listen to the leaves rustle on the trees.  This afternoon, I sat by a window a bit longer just to listen to the birds outside.  It was wonderful!!  We are all so excited for our future here and for the potential and work that is ahead.  The kids have all made their own plans and it is fun to listen to their thoughts and ideas.

I will share a lot of before and after pictures of our remodeling when it is done and we are back to a slight routine.  Needless to say summer break had to be extended and fall break started early, but hopefully we will soon be back to "normal".  Enjoy!

Homeless . . . at Grandma & Grandpa's . . .

We spent a few days of our "homeless" two weeks at Grandma and Grandpa's farm.  We all love spending time there, especially the kiddos.  The first evening there, we went to tell Great Grandpa happy birthday.  He celebrated his 94th birthday with some of his family and beautiful bride, our Granny ( 89 years young herself), by his side.  It was great to be there and the kids loved seeing them and trying to understand how old 94 really is.  It was sweet to see him sitting side-by-side with Granny holding hands and giving support to one another.

The next day, we spent an entire day outside in the sun.  It was a beautiful day and Grandma and Grandpa have a beautiful yard to enjoy it in.  The kiddos had a great time looking at all the flowers, bugs, birds, clouds, etc.  They each took a turn describing to me what the saw and heard.  Dreamer asked if she could draw a picture of what she saw and that instantly got all the kids excited to do the same.  It was a great afternoon.

 They each spent time with some of the animals on the farm also.  Bubba has quite a relationship with Lady, Grandpa's dog.  He is always so excited to see her when we get there and they spend a lot of time together in the yard playing and exploring.  Lady had been digging and got her paws all dirty.  Bubba was quite concerned about this and after a very sincere, " Ah, Laney (this is how he says it, can't convince him otherwise) look what you did to yourself!" He went about cleaning her paws.  It was a very sweet moment.

While saying hello to the cats at the farm yard, the kids helped Grandma with some doctoring of one of the horses.  It had somehow got a cut around it's eye and needed some antibiotic and eye drops, so they thought it was great to watch Grandma be a "horse doctor".

We were able to help get their garden harvested and cleaned out.  The kiddos liked digging the potatoes and finding the spuds in the dirt.  They would get excited for each dig, not knowing just how many potatoes would be found and racing to collect them. It was a hard working, enjoyable time.  Enjoy!

Big Changes . . .

Well, after a very rocky start to our summer, we had settled in to the fact that we needed to enjoy the rest of the season and start life again.  We "moved" back into our home ( ok, so I just had to unpack the boxes ), and took some little weekend vacations.  I was settling into a nice routine and plan of what our August would turn out and then . . . things changed.  

My house is half empty and the other half is half full of boxes.  For the second time in 10 weeks, we sold our house.  This time around, things have gone swimmingly; inspection passed and DONE, appraisal DONE, and being able to receive updates from a neighbor, who just happens to be our buyers loan officer, we are confident that a closing will take place Friday morning.   So what does this mean for us?

Well, for the present it means packing, moving, cleaning, waiting.   We have to move out of our current home by Friday, but things for our "new" home won't be complete for another two weeks.  So, I have gratitude in the fact that the in-laws have room enough to store our belongings and that my parents live a reasonable distance away and have plenty of room for our family.

Things have worked out so surprising and well that it would be foolish of me to not recognize the hand of the Lord in our lives.  So, over the next few weeks, we will be in a state of transit and change.  The timing has thrown a bit of a kink in our plans to start formal learning after Labor day, but we will get by.

I have been horrible at writing and keeping updated, but I am hoping that a month from now, we will be one giant step closer to our hopes and dreams for our family.  I did want to share that throughout the last three months, I have experienced a myriad of emotions from happiness, doubt, sadness, frustration, uneasiness, and now peace.  I have been humbled and reminded through scripture reading that it is the Lord's plan that brings us happiness in this life and that we must include Him always in our lives and ask what He would have us do; where He would have us go.  I was especially inspired by some of the articles in the June and July Ensign ( this is a magazine published by our church).  Once we turned it over to the Lord, everything made sense.

Enjoy!

"Happiness Happens Month"

Do you know that August is "Happiness Happens Month"?  I didn't.  I am glad I know now and that I have been inspired and enlightened by the tale that explains it.  Follow the link below and read the story of "The 9 Nanas".  

"The 9 Nanas"

Very Insightful . . .

I just wanted to share an amazing post from Julia at Classroom Free.  It is well worth the read . . .

But How Do You Know They Are Learning?

Enjoy!!

Getting back . . . to Nature

Monday was very hot and the weather for the whole week seemed stifling, but I decided that if we didn't get out into the fresh air, it may not happen.  As soon as I could get all the kiddos ready, we set out for the mountains.  It was later than I wanted in the day, so I chose a short and mostly shaded hike that we had been on a couple of years ago.  The littles wanted to lead out, so we started on the least shady side of the trail.  



Immediately we were happy to see that everything was still green.  It has been such a dry spring and summer, but the shade of the forest kept the grass and flowers green and blooming.  All of us has noticed an increase in butterflies and moths flying about and there was no shortage on this hike.  Bubba found a butterfly hiding below that grass as we walked by.

Flowers in the sun had long dried up as were berries, but we found some hanging on.  We made it to the half way point that gives us a beautiful view of the valley that we live in.  We all rested in the shade and drank some water before moving on.

The last half of the hike was in the shade.  It was nice to enjoy the coolness and be outside.  The kids did a great job of quietly observing.  We were able to watch squirrels and birds.  We watched a woodpecker scurry around a tree pecking at bugs.  We had a great time. 

Enjoy!!