to pet or not

We promised the girls when we moved to the farm that they could get a dog or two—eventually. It was just too much to take on right now with a new baby, so we told them they would have to wait.

Actually, we have plenty of dogs around already.

The dog on the left is Polly. She belongs to my Mom and Dad. Polly came from a litter that belonged to Tom's parent's old black lab and golden retriever, and Tom and I surprised my parents by bringing her up one Easter weekend when we were newly married.

The dog on the right is Sammy and he lives at my Uncle Bob's a mile down the road. Whenever they leave home he comes over to visit. I don't mind seeing him come around once in awhile as I am very entertained by how smart he seems to be.

And finally, this is Belle. (Coincidentally being led around by Sarah dressed as Belle). She belongs to my Uncle Darrel, who brings her out with him when he comes to work. You may know her as the sandwich thief suspect.

At least now we know Sarah loves dogs!

Oliver

Now that we live closer we have enjoyed some visits with my nephew Ollie (and his parents, of course).

whooo whooo

The other night we had a visit from this owl outside our living room window. We were pretty sure he was watching us through the window.

As a funny coincidence, we had this book sitting on our coffee table:

You don't get to see wildlife like this in the city. So far on the farm we have seen lots of antelope, foxes, a badger, rattlesnakes (ew!), a grizzly bear (well, our neighbor saw it), a coyote, a garter snake, a toad, an eagle, deer, porcupine, cows... (O.K., now I'm running out of wild animals)...

Sweet sisters

The girls adore their little sister. Abby has learned how to change her diaper and loves to be the first to rescue her and pick her up when she starts to fuss.



Sarah loves to make her smile. There are times, though, when she misses being Mommy's baby. The other night she asked "Can you put Eva away and come cuddle with me"? Me: sad face. How do you keep up with 3 (or more, heaven forbid) kids and give each one the attention they deserve? I know this baby stage won't last and things will get easier soon, but I definitely feel like my older two are getting the short end of the stick at the moment.

Oh happy and glorious day!

Yes, you are seeing this right. Eva is taking a pacifier!

She suddenly decided she liked it one day last week and has been taking one ever since. If you've never had a baby that used you as her only means of pacifying, you might not get my excitement. But believe me, this is huge.

diaper update

Eva's new diapers arrived on Monday, so we have been trying them out for a couple of days.

I settled on these Bum Genius Elemental diapers. One-size (so we don't have to keep buying them as she grows), all-in-one (because you all advised that this was the handiest option—thanks!), and organic (not the reason I bought them, but a nice bonus.) For the most part, I like them. They are easy to use, and they clean well in my washing machine. I even like using the cloth wipes. Easy peasy.

They come in a lovely array of colors. (They look pretty cute all strung out on the line!) I'm afraid I'll need a few more than 12, however, if I go for this long term.

And, they are pretty stinkin' cute on my chubby baby, I have to say.

But, I have one (not-so-minor) complaint. I'm not sure Eva likes them. The last two nights she has woken up every 2-3 hours, which is no picnic after she has been consistently sleeping for 5-7 hours straight a night. She isn't napping as well during the day either. I'm thinking these don't whisk the moisture away as well as disposables and she might find them a little bulky/uncomfortable. Anyone else have this problem? I am going to try disposables tonight and see if it makes a difference. If it does, I'll trade off a few more times just to make sure that is what is causing her to wake up.

In any case, the jury is still out on whether or not this is the solution for us. I'll keep you posted.

school days

Abby started second grade yesterday! She had seemingly no fear considering it was her first day in a new school (new state!). We offered to take her on her first day, but no, she wanted to ride the bus. And she did great!


She has the same teacher I had in Kindergarten—same desks, same classroom . . . It was a blast from the past to take her in to back to school night and see many familiar faces. Here she is showing off her new backpack.


Sarah starts preschool in a couple of weeks. This move has been the hardest on her, so we will see how she does. I can't believe how big she is getting!

supper at home

We also had many harvest dinners in our house, since it is conveniently located to many of the fields we were cutting. My new dining table got a great initiation, and I think we stretched it to hold 14 the other night.

Here it is, set for dinner.


A special friend gave me this vase as a gift a while back, and I found just the perfect thing for it to showcase. :)

Harvest supper

We sometimes bring harvest supper right out to the field so the guys don't have to shut down too long to eat. It takes a little extra effort to bring chairs, tables, hand-washing supplies, and all the food out, but it is always fun and festive.

This year, I shared cooking responsibilities with my mom and my aunt Ruth. We took turns providing the entire meal each night, which meant the other nights we had the night off. I really enjoyed doing it this way.

My dad always comes in for dinner and steals the baby. Sarah always gets after him about it because she thinks he is too dirty to hold the baby. :) He washes his hands of course...

And Eva doesn't mind, obviously.

It's a great opportunity to catch a quick cat nap. They always go back out after dinner and work until the wee hours of the morning.

Yummy deserts follow every meal. We certainly can't keep up this habit. It isn't so good for the waist line. Sarah wanted a fork for her brownie and a spoon for her ice cream. You use both at once, right?

Abby enjoys her brownies and ice cream while listening to her tunes. Hmmm.


The evening light is a perfect time for photo ops, so we try not to forget the camera.

Harvest time

I've had fun showing you our house over the last few days, and I'll be back next week with more photos.

But for now, I thought I'd dedicate this week to catching you up on our busy life around here. Harvest is almost wrapped up. It is a festive time and takes everyone's time and energy and long hard days to complete.

The bins are full of pure gold—golden wheat that is, and our overflow quonset is full clear to the front. Trust me, this is one huge pile of wheat.

^ This is the quonset from the outside, but this picture doesn't really do it justice.

^ Unloading the combine out in the field.

^ The girls enjoy the occasional ride in the combine after we bring supper out to the field. More about harvest dinners in another post.

^ Here they are after a trip around the field with Grandpa.

Happy 13th Anniversary, Farmer Tom!

Hello, my favorite farmer! (Never thought you'd be called that, did you?) Thirteen years has brought us full circle back to Montana, and I couldn't be happier.

Thank you so much for taking this leap of faith to move home to the farm, to a place we believe will be so great for raising our precious family. I know it isn't your home, but I hope it will feel like it eventually.

Thank you for taking on a brand new career you know nothing about and diving right in.

Thank you for working these long, hard, harvest days and still coming home and pitching in around the house.

Thank you for being such a great daddy to your little girls.

Thank you for not getting angry when I wake you up and tell you to roll over so your snoring won't wake the baby.

Thank you for being understanding about how little I have been able to accomplish during the days when you are out working so hard.

And thank you for always cracking jokes at the dinner table and making everyone laugh. I love you so much for that.

Thank you for 13 amazing years, and may there be many more!

County Fair

We ventured out this afternoon to check out the County Fair.




I must admit, however, we were a bit disappointed. No carnival, not many vendors, and even no cotton candy! It certainly wasn't what I remembered as a kid, but then I could have been seeing it through candy coated eyes at that time. Tom was hoping to get Abby excited about the possibility of joining 4-H and we were all hoping to experience a bit more small town spirit. Maybe next year we can get our kicks at the state fair!

Atomic Ranch

A friend told me about this magazine that specializes in mid century homes in rural areas. How perfect is that? (Thanks, Tanya!)

The description reads:
Atomic Ranch celebrates midcentury houses—from 1940s ranch tracts to 1960s architect-designed modernist homes. With an emphasis on affordable solutions and homeowner renovations, our quarterly magazine shows you how to make your house cool, both inside and out.

So, of course I subscribed.

eat. sleep. poop.