I figured it out...

There are several blogs I read and forums I watch about mothering, staying at home with small children, raising children, yadda yadda on top of the sewing and craft blogs and farming/sustainable living blogs I love to read. When I read these blogs or forums, it's easy to feel overwhelmed and wonder, "now really why can't I get that much done throughout the day."

I figured it out....

They don't have this boy distracting them by thinking the best way to play the piano is with your butt...

This little boy woke me up this morning when I heard loud banging from the piano only to come downstairs to find this little boy sitting on the piano, taking money out of his daddy's key/wallet/junk dish to put into his piggy bank....

I spend half of my day chasing this little boy off of the back of the couch, out of window sills, off counters and tables, standing on the toilet or sink or catch him dragging his step stool all over the house because he thinks as long as he can reach it, it's fair game.

Time management for mother's with little daredevils is not blocking your time so that you can get an hour to do a certain task. It's finding tasks that you can complete or partially complete in 5 minutes. I know this because this typically the amount of time I have before I have to answer the phone, the door, get juice, let the dog in or out, chase a child, kiss a booboo, break up a fight, find a toy, pick play dough out of someone's ears, nose, or mouth, find a snack, wipe up juice or food that mysteriously appeared down the back of the couch, mashed into the carpet, or smeared on the dog or cat.

But really...I love this little dude and wouldn't trade him for the world...

Going for a walk...

Considering it is October 11 and absolutely gorgeous (it has to be at least 80 degrees out), we went on another little hike and this time I actually remembered to bring the camera!

Em racing to catch up with Daddy.

Daddy's beehives.

Emily's picture of Mommy (my hair usually doesn't look

like this but I haven't showered yet today!)

Con hamming it up for the camera.

Found treasures.

Almost harvest time.

Daddy and Con.

Such beautiful colors found everywhere.

The old apple tree.

Sweet Pea.

The toad the kids wanted to bring home.

One of the 3 stooges.

Look what we found the other day!

Fall Findings

I love fall. I love all of the things that come with fall - the cool crisp air, the smells, the cool nights and flowers and trees and pumpkins. I love when the big sunflowers start bowing their heads from heaviness. I love the brightness of the pumpkins and gourds and how the trees slowly start changing from vibrant green to deep, rich colors. Some of my favorite pictures from the other day from around the farm.

The last picture is one of my favorites. We picked some red flowers the other day and Em wanted to pick the swiss chard also. We stuck some of the swiss chard in with the flowers and it turned out really pretty. I forget that kids see things through entirely different eyes and see beauty where we forget to see it.

Now I'm off to create some halloween fun with this cute fabric.

Through the eyes of a child...

Emily lately loves taking pictures with the camera. I tried letting her use the old digital camera but without the memory card, she can only take about 10 pictures. So I've let her use our digital camera. When I was downloading pictures this morning (after finally getting new batteries for the camera!) these are some of the pictures that I found. I love looking through the camera and finding the pictures that she's taken. Well, except for when I find a random shot of my butt.

I love the imagination and creativity of my kids!

Nesting a bit early...

I've never understood the term nesting. I nest throughout my pregnancy as well as when I'm not pregnant. I'm constantly tinkering, fixing, primping, touching up this or that. However, we have had an ongoing debate in our household about the bathroom. See, we've always planned on tearing down this house and building a bigger one. Right now we only have two bedrooms and the house in general in small and old. So, it's always hard to spend money on this house when we don't plan on keeping it.

However...being a woman, I think it's in my nature to make things pretty. Most of all the bathroom, because I C A N N O T stand an old bathroom. It makes it feel dingy and dirty. A couple months ago, we redid the tub surround but in doing so, it left an exposed wall. Last Thursday morning, I'm not quite sure what got into me, but the bathroom got torn apart. The window finally got framed in and drywalled, the bare wall got framed in and drywalled. Old wallpaper was torn down, new was put up. All the trim was painted a beautiful bright white. I put up new contact paper in the closet to cover the contact paper from 1954 (did they make contact paper in 1954??).

In reality, the bathroom make-over cost me very little money. We had 2x4s in the shed which I used for framing the window and wall and well as a piece of sheetrock. I used 1x4s for the new baseboard trim and we already had the new faucet. I had bought two boxes of peel and stick floor tiles at a garage sale for $5 and the white paint was from another project. I painted the vanity a dark blue and that paint was also from another project. However, it was too bright for what I wanted but the hardware store added some black to darker it for free when I bought a new paint brush. I would have spent $5 on the entire bathroom make-over but yesterday I decided that I was not in the mood to sand the walls so they were all even from where I pulled off the old wallpaper so I made a trip to Menard's and bought new wallpaper for $40.

I still have the put down the new floor and put up 2 more pieces of trim but I am truly in love with my new bathroom which cost me $60 (Wallpaper $40, contact paper $10, paintbrush $5, floor tiles $5).

I learned so many things with this project. How to use a drill and a jigsaw as well as how to measure properly and cut sheetrock. But the thing I learned most is that you can make something beautiful for so little by just using your imagination.

Sweet Corn...

Last night at we had a sweet corn supper at church. One of my favorite things about rural country living is church suppers. You don't even have to belong to a particular church to come. Our church does 4-5 suppers a year and it is always free will offering. Last night's supper consisted of fresh sweet corn from a member's field, sloppy joes, potatoe salad, bread and butter pickles and lots and lots of rich goey yummy bars.

The guys had picked quite a bit a corn and at the end of the night there were still 2 coolers full and one got sent home with me. So....today I'm freezing sweet corn. I have to admit it was a pretty special treat since my kids ate 6 helpings of sweet corn a piece last night!

Canning does give corn a creamier texture but I do like the simplicity of freezing. After blancing the corn for 4-6 minutes, soak in ice water for another 4-6 minutes and then cut off the cob and store in freezer bags. I love using a bunt pan for cutting the corn off the cob because it helps contain the mess. I always bag vegetables in two sizes of bags. I use quart size freezer bags that are perfect for a dinner meal, but I also make two gallon size portions that I store in the freezer in the kitchen. It makes it very easy to grab a handful to heat up for the kid's lunch or to toss into soaps or casseroles!

Bubble Bottom Skirt

Em has been wanting to sew. She's asking for her own sewing machine already and I tell her maybe for Christmas. She did go through the patterns yesterday and the material box (es) and picked out Figgy's Bubble Bottom Skirt and some Amy Butler Love material. The results were beautiful and both of us love the skirt. Em especially loves how it swings.

It is a very simple pattern that went together quick. From cutting to sewing it took me under an hour. The directions are a little confusing (at least to me) but if you just follow basic instructions for attaching a skirt with a lining and a yoke, you'll fly right through. The only thing I'd do on the next one is make the elastic slightly longer (maybe just an inch) on the bottom and make the elastic around the waist slightly shorter.