Dad's Day

To three of the most important dads in our lives...

Thank you for the rich heritage that you are leaving for the next generations.

We love you. Happy Father's Day.

Selah's eatin'... sort of.

Selah is almost 6 months old! She had one little tooth that has poked through her bottom gums and from the way she's chewing on things, I don't think it'll be long before another tooth joins the first...

I just started giving her "real" food in the last week or two. I didn't intend start yet because, well, once you start, there's no turning back. Why add one more thing to my "to-do" list when I don't have to? There's an added "bonus" with waiting. After they start eating food, "the baby has a stinky diaper" takes on a totally different meaning.

It's been years since I bought jar baby food. When Caleb was a baby, I went to a class that taught how to make you're own baby food. It was a revelation! In retrospect, I think "Duh, that's common sense", but at the time, I just assumed that Gerber new more about feeding my baby than I did. Eventually I just started mushing up the veggies that we cook for our own meals and voila!... baby food.

Our baby food keeps getting more and more unconventional. I have learned with the last few babies how good soft boiled egg yolks are for their first food (from Nourishing Traditions Cookbook), so that is what I intended to feed Selah. I'll still be feeding that to her when I decided to spoon feed her, but for right now, her food is also her toy to keep her hands busy. As she sits on the counter while I make meals, she gets bored playing with the measuring cups and spoons, so I've started handing her fruit and veggies to knaw on and suck. She loves it! A peeled carrot, apple or pinapple cores, mango seeds... whatever I have on hand that is big enough not to break off into small pieces.

Sucking on the juicy flesh that's left on the mango seed (mangos are very slippery so I wrapped the bottom in a paper towel)

Mmmm, snacking on a pinapple core. (side note: the core of the pinapple is full of Bromelain. What's that, you say? It's a mixture of enzymes that are known to help clear the sinuses along with other things. So next time you have a cold...)

A favorite summer treat for all of us are Banana Pops. We buy bananas in bulk and leave them on the counter to ripen. Once they're overripe, but before they turn brown, we peel them, cut them in half or thirds, and insert a wooden craft stick into the cut end. (Hobby Lobby sells 1000 of them for about 4 bucks.) We lay them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and stick 'em in our freezer. Once frozen, we transfer them to a gallon ziplock and stick them back into the freezer for later (after we all have one, of course). No food coloring, no added sugar, just an inexpensive, healthy treat for a hot summer day.

Selah loves them. They are cold, which helps her teething, yet not as cold as an ice cube. Weird but true. They thaw and mush up as she sucks on it, and she can hold the stick without getting her hands cold. Selah's happy with her treat, and momma's happy because I have a happy baby and two free hands to keep cooking!

The Boundary Waters Trip 2011

Sometimes I find it hard to understand how or why it's fun and enjoyable to brave the great outdoors that are filled with mosquitoes, ticks, rain, lack of a nice comfy bed, rain, a hole in the ground for a toilet, rain, and, this year, nasty biting black flies. Oh, did I mention rain? I guess that's the "girly" part of me. Someday I may just tag along on this guy excursion just to find out what the insatiable draw really is.

For now, here's what I understand the general outline of their trip to be (...or what could actually be revealed to an "outsider" like me).

First, the weak and feminine are weeded out and only the truely rough and tough load into the van. Then they head north for 11 hours in search of untouched wilderness (as untouched as you can get around here). Before their encounter with nature, they stop by the "outfitters" to be fitted with a few needed supplies (maps, permits, ect.) and within another hour's drive, they finally reach their destination.... a parking lot that's a half mile away from water. (You're probably thinking the same thing I am right now... ) They unload their fishing equipment, canoes, and packs (filled with food, cooking utensils, clothes, raingear, tents, sleeping bags, tools...) and carry everything the half mile to the water's entry point. (OK, it's not sounding so fun at this point, but let's go on...)

Then they load everything into two canoes (while still saving space for six people to sit in those canoes) and paddle for 4 hours to reach their first campground. The four hours of paddling were interspersed with lovely things called "portages"...

A "portage" a fun 'game' where the lake or river runs into rapids and everyone hops out of the canoes and makes several trips to carry all the gear, packs, and the 85 lb canoes over the land, past the rapids, to canoe-able water again. These portages can be anywhere from 300 feet to half of a mile (on this trip). (Hmmm, sounding any better yet?)

Once they reach their site, they set up camp. They put together their tents and ready their sleeping areas. Then it's dinnertime! This first night is the night of luxury. They eat steaks brought from home (that were frozen and thaw enroute), cookies, lemonade and popcorn because generally, they don't have time to fish for their dinner that first night. (It's sounding a bit better...) Then they tuck into bed as the sun's starting to set to be refreshed for the next day (...and to get out of the mosquitoes, I think).

Ahhhh, they wake up bright and early, light the morning fire, and mix up a batch of "just add water" pancake mix to cook on a griddle. Caleb made up the mix before they left... whole wheat, dried milk and eggs, sugar, ect. Mmmm-mmm, tastes just like home...

Then they head out to catch their dinner....

They fish from the canoe...

They fish from the shore...

They fish in the cold...

Then they fish some more...

And every once in a while, they catch something....

Some big somethings...

And some bitty somethings...

Then, it's fish fry time!!
After a day or two at that campsite, they pack up all the gear and canoe/portage further into the wilderness to set up camp all over again. From what I understand, they repeat this process several times throughout the week. They also had some new experiences this year...

It rained alot this year. It would rain on and off throughout the day... EACH day. It was also super windy on at least one of the days. In fact, here at home, my dad and I wondered how they were fairing since there were tornado warnings up in their area.
Their new rain gear got lots of use this year...
On one of those windy days, while they were fishing on the opposite side of the island, their canoe (which was tied down over a rock at the camp) broke free, rolled into the water, and started floating downstream. Thankfully, a stranger saw it and found the guys and asked if they were missing a canoe. It was full of water, but amazingly, it floated right up to the shore and they didn't even have to get in the water to get it. It suffered only a small leak (which was repaired with their supplies) and a dent.
There are some very beatiful areas that they venture into. The views of huge boulders, rushing streams and animals in their natural surroundings are part the reward for all their hard work. Paul heard a Trumpeter Swan which apparently really sounds like a trumpet. They saw a variety of critters. They even had a bald eagle's nest right over the "throne" (code-word for "hole-in-the-ground toilet").

The sunsets are incredible.

I love this picture of the golden sunset shining on the opposite horizon and reflecting in the water.

Ken and Matthew Thomas (above) joined the manly adventure this year.

The boys find the firewood and the dads split it.

Every lunch is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and they have a pasta dish with every fish dinner. They fill in the hungry in-between times with beef jerky, a cheese stick, trail mix, or dried cranberries.

As I asked the boys what their favorite part of the trip was, they came up with answers like, "catching fish" or "not the ticks!" or "exploring the new campsites!" They all agreed that one of the things they like the most is the time with eachother and with their dad. I am so thankful that they have a dad that is able (and willing) to spend time and energy to "bond" with his boys. Through his words and actions, he is teaching them how to be a "man". He's certainly leaving them some big shoes to fill.

Ellie

The guys are back, but I have one more post before I blog about their oh, so awesome canoe trip...

This one's about ELLIE!

It took a good few days with the older boys away to realize how much Ellie is maturing. Because one of the older boys usually make pancakes (or some other breakfast food) in the morning, I didn't even consider that Ellie was old enough to start making them. I believe each of the kids started at 6 years old, or maybe even 5, but I completely forgot to teach my future replacement!! I showed her the "picture" recipe that has worked well for the boys, and how to read it, and she took to it like an old pro. I enjoyed seeing her excitement as she made them by herself for the first time!

I also had time to talk with her. Not just to her, but with her. She is quite the thinker and she picks up on things quickly. We had an enjoyable time together and I'm looking forward to having many girly talks with her throughout the years. She adds quite a bit of lovely (and much needed)femininity to the crowd! Love it!

Fun times!

All in all, the girls, Nathan and I had a fun time this week without daddy and the bigger boys. I thought I could get sooo much work accomplished around the house. I did get some things done, but not nearly all that I wanted. It was actually getting pretty stressful trying to get my projects done. Nathan didn't have his brothers there to do the typical boy things with him, so he was a bit more demanding with attention, and Selah seemed like she wouldn't take much of an afternoon nap and wanted to be with momma. I would try to get things done when I did have free hands, but it would get frustrating when I had to stop in the middle of something to tend to somebody. After 3 days of that, I decided to relax a bit and have more fun with the kids rather than work on projects....

One of the first things we did was to buy a large can of whipped creme. You know, the aerosol kind that is so fun to spray directly into the kids mouths. Our dessert was a cookie piled high with the foamy stuff. Messy but so fun and yummy.

Selah, helping mommy work.

TEA TIME

Both Ellie and Grace have a tea set that is was brought back from Romania (when Paul and I "met") I've gone back and forth on whether to actually use them or to stash them away in a box so nothing will happen to them. I've decided that not using them is worse. That's what they're for. It's a snowball effect. I don't use them because they're fragile, and pass them on.... My daughter won't use them because they're fragile and sentimental, and they pass them on... my grandaughter won't use them because their fragile, sentimental, and old, and they pass them on... where does it stop? Things are meant to be used. Sad if they're broke, but life WILL go on.

Anyhow, all that to say, we got out Gracie's tea set for the first time this week. She was very excited and she set the table with Ellie. We had just watched "Felicity" the night before and it had training on tea time manners. They were even instructing me on how to offer the tea. "Would you care for tea, Ellie? Cream and sugar, Ellie?", said with a very "proper" accent.

Wednesday was our Strawberry Shortcake night. We baked the short cake (whatever that is? Is that supposed to be a cake that doesn't rise? short?) and cut up the strawberries and soaked them in a tablespoon or so of sugar to pull out the juices. Then made a VERY large strawberry shortcake. We decided to make it in one big dish instead of a bunch of small ones. We piled it high with the whipped cream and settled in to watch a movie.

One of these last few nights, we soaked our feet and gave mani- and pedicures. The day was so busy that we didn't even start until 10! (Actually every night has been a late night and poor Nathan has started asking me to put him to bed) The girls put sparkles on their toes along with the polish...

THIS is probably my favorite place to sit at the house. It's our back porch swing. It's in a breezy area where I can watch the kids play, look at my garden, watch the sun set, read, or enjoy a warm rain. LOVE it. We spent alot of time out here this week. Nathan loves it too. He likes to hang a stick over the edge and pretend like he's fishing. I'm amazed at the good stock of fish he pulls out of the garden below us :)

And lastly, this is "the old red hen". She escaped the spring trip to the chicken butcher. The night we snagged all the sleeping birds to cage up, she was sleeping in the barn instead of the chicken coop. We have about 30 younger laying hens that aren't laying yet, but I hesitate to put her in with them because as the "new comer", I think they'll pick on her. She roams the yard looking for food and hanging out with the lone guinea hen. For some reason, she came up to the back door and just parked it. She was lapping at the water that was spilled on the porch, so we gave her a little bowl of water and she drank it happily. Several times, we tried to shoo her off the porch, but she just walked around our shoo-ing legs and stayed put. She's starting to act a bit more like a dog than a chicken....

Projects...

Well, I've accomplished a few things while the boys were gone...

Project #1: Shelving in downstairs bathroom

In our downstairs bathroom, we have a little closet built into the wall next to the sink. When we were buying the house, one of the things the owners commented on was how LARGE the closet was. It is in fact large. Though the doors together are only 2 foot by 2 foot, the back of it meets up with my pantry (about 4 feet back). It was huge with no shelving whatsoever and if you put something too far in, it dropped through a hole and would wind up in a closet beneath our stairs. When you look at this box, that is precisely how it was in the closet. Everything just thrown in hodge-podge. After taking everything out, I assessed the situation...

In the back, you can see the big pit that leads to underneath our stairs. I virtually halved the closet, put a wood across the back and added a shelf. Now, things fit quite nicely (below). And as for the back half of the closet, I figure it would make an excellent hide-and-go-seek spot. In fact, I'm thinkin' someone could be in there for days and never get found....

Project #2: Butterfly Garden

This "before" picture is not quite fair. It actually started as a 10 x 10 patch of grass that was a pain to mow. We started to dig it out a couple weeks ago, but found that under the grass was a gravel pit. I don't know how the grass was growing there, but there was NO dirt other than the first inch or so. It took forever to dig out the gravel/clay, but we did and this week, my goal was to get dirt in it and get some flowers/herbs planted.

Voila! Mission accomplished! We have purple coneflower, parsley, thyme, basil, oregano, cilantro, lavender, chamomile, and a variety of flowers! I put pea gravel down for the path. That was a mistake. Not more than 2 minutes after it was nicely spread, Nathan was using it like a sandbox. Ellie was making designs by piling it on the bricks that lined the sides, and the chicken was scratching my mulch into it! Still, it's a mistake that is going to stay (for a while at least).

Project #3: Compost Bin

Since we took all of our laying hens in to get butchered (our new chicks aren't laying yet), I haven't had a spot to throw our food scraps. Normally, I'll throw any veggie peels, cores, rinds and leftovers (minus meat) to the chickens, but whatever they don't end up eating tends to make a mess. For now, I'm going to compost our scraps. I've tried making a compost pile before, but didn't quite get the jist of it. I've read up a bit and am going to try it again...

We put the posts in next to our veggie garden and screwed boards all around the bottom. Then I got out the paint.

I know from experience that painting this sort of thing is completely pointless. I'll just have to paint it again next year (which I probably won't do), but I had a bigger objective. I needed to keep little hands busy while I finished the project. We were outside, they were in paintable clothes, and they wanted to help. Enough said.

Selah kept herself busy in her excersaucer, and when she fussed, the girls decorated her with flowers. I'm not quite finished with this project... still have to get fencing to wrap around the poles, but it's there and we've already started a nice little pile of scraps, weeds and grass cuttings.

I still have quite a list of things that I don't think I'll get done by the time the guys return. Tis a shame (but at least then I'll have some strong farmboys to help me).
Can't wait til you get back, boys! Have I got plans for you...