Settling in, week 1

It always takes a few days for everyone to unwind and get used to the new swing of things. We stayed home a few days to give everyone the chance to do just that. Our first week started off slowly easing into the fun. Our first adventure was a trip to the Mattoon Library for a Very Hungry Caterpillar party which was the kick off to the summer reading program. The girls had a great time and of course the best part to them were the green cupcakes. We had already signed them up for the program and they got their first prizes that day. It was big stuff. 

We still made it to our normal story time on Wednesday at the Sullivan Library. We had packed a picnic and spent a bit of time in the park. Somehow we avoided the playground area and went to the pond side, turns out it was just as fun for them to do that. 

We pulled out the slip n slide for the first time this year. All 3 kiddos got to help me wash it, yes it was enjoyable for them. Then they gave it a go. They definitely did not have the hang of it still but to each his own. Tanner likes to walk down and then wait at the bottom like he does for slides and can't seem to grasp why it's a bad idea on this one. 

The little ones spent a lot of time just playing and exploring outside while I worked in the garden. Cody got the new roost built for the chicken coop; it's our plan to not let the chickens get eaten. We got the treehouse built and ready to play in. It's pretty fun I have to say. 

We spent Friday night at the library for Furry friends night. Each child got to take a stuffed animal and hide it after the story time. They got snacks and then left the animals there over night. We then returned Saturday morning to pick them up and they each got pictures of what their animals did while staying at the library and what kind of trouble they got into. They were served breakfast and then we headed out. They all seemed to enjoy the activity.

I have to add a bit about one of my favorite things of summer. I love my garden. While yes it's almost midnight and I'm writing a blog entry because I'm in the process of canning the first set of green beans in the pressure canner and obviously can't leave them unattended, and yes I'm tired, I'd rather be sleeping, but there is canning to be done and it's so blasted hot, I didn't start until after the kids were in bed, but it's a small price to pay. I think my favorite part has been the kids eating fresh peas. They think it's a snack, which it is if it's not eaten at a meal, right? They love to go stomping through the rows of peas and picking their own and then just sit and shell and eat them. When they are done they get to feed the shells to the goats. It was a daily event for a couple of weeks. They downed a lot of peas. But since I'm the only one besides Lilli who likes cooked peas, it's the only way to get them to eat them. I should mention fresh, uncooked peas are much sweeter and taste different than cooked peas and the whole family, Cody included, loves them straight out of the shell. Unfortunately, the weather and lack of rain, despite sprinklers is going to get the best of them in the next few days. So we will move on to another crop being the highlight of the garden for them, not sure what that will be yet, but they will find something. 

Chicago, Chicago

We headed up to Chicago for the day on June 3 to go pick up the Lilli. It was a day of firsts. It was her first trip flying as an unaccompanied minor, which after picking her up and nerves were settled, we found out went well. She was "entertaining" according to the flight attendants and put in Lilli's reaction and words, "It was AWWWWEESSOMMMME!!!!!!!!!!" 

I haven't been to Chicago other than to change planes 1 time in my life, so I was excited to go up that way. I am definitely spoiled living out in the country from a small town. I despised the traffic, though living in Atlanta made us remain ok and comfortable, I do not miss wasting time because you are sitting in traffic for some dumb reason. After getting Lilli, we headed out to Navy Pier where we ate lunch and explored what they had to offer. In my opinion, now I can say I've been there and couldn't care less about returning.

The best part by far was heading over to one of the parks with a beach on Lake Michigan. We had a great time playing sand and splashing in the frigid water. The kids got to run around and use up oodles of energy before heading back on the 3 and half hour ride home. I had taken up sand toys and extra clothes for the littles as well as towels and extra drinks. We were pretty well covered, though an extra pair of clothes for Cody and me wouldn't have hurt my feelings. That water was freezing and my pants were wet from playing and shirt wet from carrying a wet Tanner to the car. You learn things as you go though.

Though it was a long day with the driving/riding, it was a fun day for all of us. The girls really enjoyed playing at the beach and Tanner screamed as we were leaving, so I'd say he agreed with them. Why waste money sight seeing when you can just go have fun....another lesson learned.  

**Excuse the number of running pictures in the water, the faces crack me up and even if a little blurry were worth saving. 

Finishing up May

I shall begin this by noting that I have been attempting to take more pictures....lucky for you it means I can talk more :)

We had the conclusion of our year for Teen MOPS at the beginning of the month. It also will be the end of my volunteer work in the program for now. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with the girls and adjusting the program to where it fits better in comparison to the needs. It was with oodles of thought that I decided my time was done and to focus on one, having a new child and two, Baylee's home school. If you know me, you know I will miss this great program. I am glad that in the end, I have the opportunity to put my family first and know when that is a priority. We had a family luau in the park for our final get together. We had a great time just hanging out. Baylee and Tanner had fun playing with the decorations and such prior to the meeting. We also joined with the MOPS group for their last meeting in which we went to a family fun center and went black light miniature golfing. Baylee loved it, Tanner loved making his own game out of miniature golf and attempting to bat things with his golf club, Yay for boys! and Cody and I enjoyed the time in which I was not in charge of the meeting and got to enjoy the activity.

We had many, many days of playing outside in the sun since we have had little rain. My days are filled with weeding the garden and trying to stay ahead of it, which is kind of just an evil joke. We got to have lunch with our Amber twice this month, once going to eat then heading to the park to hang out for a bit and once she made the trek out to us and hung out for the afternoon. It was a treat to be able to get our schedules to work out with one another since she just started a new accounting job with her fancy new degree. We always love Amber time! Even Tanner loves the Amber, which says more than any amount of words.

Baylee and Tanner also have spent a few nights with what are called the duck chests, aka, a ball under your shirt. They jump and run around like this, sometimes crashing into each other, cracking up the whole time. To Tanner they are quack quacks, but he loves to play the game his sister taught him. I will probably never quite understand the fun in it, maybe it's because I'm old and feeling much lazier these days, but the required energy is off the charts. It seems to come out right before bedtime most nights. They are artists at evading bedtime.

And as a recent Facebook post told everyone, Baylee got her ears pierced. She thought she was hot stuff for days and even weeks later, still just loves them. She was tough without even shedding a single tear. She is counting down until the time she can take them out and change them. I should have known letting her pick my jewelry for me most days was the start of something.

The other main exciting part of May for us was that we finally located some baby pygmy goats. It has taken me since the beginning of the year and many dead end phone calls but we finally lucked out. Even better, they are close. They are probably less than 5 miles from us and here I was even willing to go 2 hours each way to find some. We have 2 females and finally got a male as well. They are staying with the owners until they are weaned and we look forward to having them come home with us. We have stopped by a few times to pick out the ones we wanted and to check on them. They are so much fun and we can hardly wait for them to come to our home hopefully at the end of June.


And last of all, of course we need pictures of the farm animals. The ducks are growing like crazy, as are the chickens. We had a temporary box turtle living at the house and had a foster goat. They are both gone now. Who knew a turtle could/would eat a chicken? It drowned first but still we decided after a few days, we don't really need a turtle anyway and set it free in the waterway across the street.

Strawberry picking

At the end of May we got the chance to go strawberry picking with Hannah and Izzy(yay for being out of school). We traveled down to a patch about half an hour from us and had big plans for the picking. Baylee picked about 20 strawberries and was done. Tanner picked and squished 3 and was done. Baylee  says she had a good time though. The 3 kids ended up going down to the end of the row and sitting in the shade while Hannah and I picked berries. They were chatting it up with people walking past going to pick. While you teach your children not to talk to strangers, etc, Tanner was ready to go home with a lady that stated she had a tractor. This would be a magical land for him since he loves riding even the lawn mower with us. Luckily, they were close and the nice grandmother is a school bus driver and was really good with children.

After the short ones lost patience, we headed to Culvers for lunch and ice cream and then of course had to stop by Kohls since we were in the area.

Turns out, while I thought lacking in the berry department upon arriving at home, I actually had enough to make 3 batches of strawberry freezer jam and a large batch of strawberry milkshakes that were to die for.

Splishin' and Splashin'

While we had previously pulled out the pool and it was nothing spectacular, it was our first time of the year to slide to the pool because it warmed up(a bit). Well water never truly warms(as you can tell in their faces), but it was at least given a chance with the heat of the day and their truly awesome mom trucking hot water out of the house and warmed it a bit. Tanner and Baylee had such a fun time playing in the pool. For lucky little Tanner it meant delaying nap for almost 2 hours that day, which in and of itself was just pure fun for him. By the time we went in, he went willingly, that is a very rare occasion for our outdoor lover. He was so funny thinking he was sliding down the slide, when really there was not much action taking place on his turns. Of course, we still cheered his tiny self on. And while yes, I am quite partial, they definitely make me laugh.