My house has finally gotten sheet rocked!   I can't believe how excited I am! 

  Mr. Tape and texture guy has been here all week and is almost done with the basement.  He is  nice and easy going.  He says things like, "Oh it's no big deal," and "We can figure out a way to make that work." 

  You don't know how I love to hear those words! 

 The only thing he and I disagree on is that I want smooth ceilings and walls, and he wants them heavily textured.  I told him that wasn't the look I was going for, but he is not getting me.  Most the people who have been involved in this process don't get my style.  In fact I am not sure I always get my style, I just know when I like something and when I don't. 

  That doesn't make for an easy explanation. 

  So, needless to say Mr. Tape and Texture guy and I are having terminology difficulties.  I say contemporary and he thinks I mean brand new house type of feel.  I don't want it to feel like a new house, but a contemporary home mixed with some aged qualities.  A bringing together of old and new, masculine and feminine, chrome and flowers (but only certain flowers like BIG statement types.)

  Maybe this will help you get my vibe....

  This look is inspiring me right now: (from apartmenttherapy.com)

I love the earthiness and clean lines with little pops of color.  I also am in love with the stained concrete floors.  I am so going to do them in the basement, but am not sure on the color.  This is a vote that will soon come your way.  I am thinking my scheme will have lots of earthy tones with orange and turquoise.  It seems that is what makes my eyes happy.

 
I may just completely copy this room.  I LOVE simplicity.  It makes me go Ahhh. My dilemma is that I have an orange comforter very similar to this one, but I am also thinking of a purple bedroom.  Maybe I could combine the two?  I can imagine a lovely purple pillow in front of those orange pillows.  Hmmmmm thinking.

Love the barn door feel, and I actually will be using one on our bedroom door because of the narrowness of the entrance.

I want to sleep here

MASTER BEDROOM

  BOYS ROOM

GIRLS BATHROOM

HALLWAY

CRAFTY CRITTER ROOM

ENTRY WAY  (and a peek at the kitchen)

THE KITCHEN (but looking at the craft room, the entry way, and the stairs to the upstairs offices)

DINING ROOM

PANTRY (no more stacking and shoving, yippee!)

FAMILY ROOM

  I know I've been saying this for a long time, call me hopeful, but.... I actually think I will be needing your opinions VERY soon.  The basement will be done tomorrow, and then I will be able to paint.  That is of course if I can settle on colors.

  Thanks for your help!  I am so glad I don't have to make all these decisions alone.  I do have my husband, but he really doesn't care.  I am serious when I say that. 

  Once in awhile (and I truly mean once in a very LONG while) he will say, "Is that going to be in the house?"  I have come to realize that that statements translation is: "That is something I would like can we do that in our house?"  

  So, when I hear, "Is that going to be in our house?" I stop and take note. 

  Tonight he used that statement in regards to a fireplace.  I quickly scooped up any pictures that I had that resembled what he liked knowing that I had about two minutes.  After two minutes his mind goes back to mathematical calculations and business transactions.  I suppose it is only fair since whenever he begins a financial talk my brain immediately travels to a far away place.  It somehow works for us.  He tells me how much I can spend, then I get creative.  No nagging each other or looking over each others shoulder.  He trusts me to not max out a credit card, and I trust that I will not come home to a lime green rearranged living room. 

                                                                               Sweet oblivion I tell you!

                                        And it looks like the trophy is going to make it home safe.

  Yep, it happened again, the kids came up with yet another activity that is cheap and hickish.  While the girls and I were in the garden harvesting the last of our garden the boys were off "building."  They of course were suppose to be helping in the garden, but somehow managed to make me forget about that.  They often come up with big ideas when they are suppose to be helping me.  They know that I love when they build and create, so it is an instant get out of work card for them. 

  As we were plucking the green beans the boys came running over boasting of their new design.  They insisted that they needed my stakes in order for this "thing" to stay up.  They informed me that they were going to put it up right then, and in my yard. 

  I've dreamt of a yard that looks like Martha Stewart's, but with these two boys around I am pretty sure that is going to just stay a dream.  My yard often looks like a rednecks, and while looking like a redneck is not that appealing to me, BEING  a redneck draws me in a bit.  I like that rednecks really don't care what anyone else thinks.  If rednecks think something is a good idea than they do it.  They don't care if it is an eye sore or if the image isn't perfect.   In fact I don't think most rednecks are even aware that something is an eye sore. 

  Boy wouldn't that be nice.

  So, here I am stuck between being a recovering perfectionist (haven't been perfect for nearly 9 years now), having two very redneck sons, and  living a secret life of wanting to be a redneck myself.  How does one balance this?  I mean perfectionism and redneckism do not go together, in fact I think it might be a recipe for a psychological disorder.  I don't know how I am going to work this internal struggle out!??

  Anyway, back to the boys and their boastings.  They pleaded with me to come and see this amazing "thing" that they had just built.  I walked over to where they were intending to place this "thing," and observed their creation.     

  "Nice," I commented.  "Really great."

  "Mom, we need to put it up in the yard and dad said we couldn't put holes in the ground," they responded. 

  I thought at that moment that I could just kiss hubs, but then was quickly interrupted by my own redneck thought.

  "Hey, why don't you grab the cement blocks and use those to hold it up.  I think it would be perfect," I said.  (I think I am beginning to see how this redneck perfectionist thing could work out after all.)

  Their eyes lit up, and for just a moment I was the best redneck mom in this side of the county.  When the boys were all done assembling this "thing," this is what it looked like. 

Can you guess what it is?

                              Okay okay, I'll give you another clue.

Now this is a dead give away.

                                                                                                      Setting the ball holders up.

Not sure the ball holder is doing its function since it needs someone to hold it up as well, but this is not something you tell inventive young boys.

Going for the kick.

             What does one do if they don't quite make the goal?

They blame it on the ball holder, and go to plan B:  Which entails getting a spoon and digging a hole in the yard in which the ball will sit.

                                                                                                 So pleased with himself.

                        Try...try again.

So close, but still no good. 

                                                         Plan C:  The ball holder without the human ball holder.

           They kicked for a long time trying to make that goal. 

I think a greater goal was accomplished...  they worked as a team to get this project done.  I had been asking them to work together all day, but somehow when it is their idea it works much better.

Now get on out there and have you some good ole cheapick fun!!!!!!!!!!!!

  Here is a conversation that took place today in our home:

 "Aziah, what in the world are you going to do with three sisters?" I asked with excitement in my voice. 

  I had expected an answer like, "I would protect them from dragons,"  or "I would make forts with them."  Instead I got this:

  "Oh, I would just pin them to a donkey." He responded with certainty in his voice as he continued playing.

  "A donkey? Aziah, why would you want to pin your sisters to a donkey?" I questioned.

  "Well........(he always says this, then takes a long pause, and then comes out with his profound statement) I would either do that or change them into donkeys."

  I thought, "What in the world," then said, "But why would you want to pin your sisters to a donkey?"

  "Well..........(long pause)...........sometimes they are mean to me, and I wouldn't want them to die so I would pin them to a donkey or change them into a donkey." He replied.

  I could see the conversation was going no where fast, and it seemed ridiculous to try to lecture him about something that couldn't possibly happen.  I mean how does a mom keep a straight face when trying to explain to a five year old boy that pinning his sisters to a donkey or changing them into one would be very wrong.  Sometimes there is just no point to discuss such matters to a five year old boy. 

  Things have been a bit crazy around here.  We have started home schooling , football games, soccer, and are trying to harvest the last of our garden.  I would love to post a bit more often, but lately time has not been my friend.  I also am moving at a different pace than usual, being 7 months pregnant has slowed  normal activity down a lot. 

  We are getting very anxious for baby around here.  Although, life seems to be a bit disarrayed for me right now.  We still have not gotten into our home so I haven't prepared a whole lot for the baby as far as a room goes.  

  I have of course thought about her a lot.  She kicks me mostly in the early morning which leaves me nauseous almost every morning when I wake up.  I have been taking early morning walks, as the fresh air seems to help with the stomach uneasiness. 

  This past week Tony lost his last living grandparent.  She had been in a nursing home for awhile now, and had slowly gotten worse.  The staff had told Tony's mom that she was "transitioning" last week.  I thought that was such an interesting way to put it, but was so thankful she knew Christ and would be "transitioning" to her real home.

  Death always has a way of putting life into perspective.

As I listened to Tony's grandma's life experiences being retold I couldn't help to think of the life inside of me.  It stirred me up inside to ponder the "bigness" of taking care of another eternal being. 

I wondered what mark will this child leave on this world? 

What memories will her grandchildren have? 

  My hope is that she will live a life of purpose.  A life that makes a difference in the lives of others.  Most importantly, a life that glorifies the one who is truly responsible for this baby forming in my womb.

And then my own life was magnified.

I thought....am I living with purpose?  (I know it sounds so cliche.)

Am I living for God or for temporal things that in the end won't matter anyway?

What memories will my kids and husband have of me?

  And then I prayed right there that they would have amnesia from all the times I have lost my cool, and not been the mother and wife I so desire to be. 

  As my boys ran for touchdowns in their games this weekend I thought..."Yes they are good, but what if they never live for God what would it matter?  What would the purpose be?  To get a pat on the back?  A big hoorah? 

   A false security from something that will end someday?

   I pray that their lives will have eternal meaning.  That my kids and my family will live beyond today's rewards and accomplishments, and live for the purpose of worshipping a creator that is truly beyond our comprehension.

  I pray that our lives will not be like the remains in a landfill......used up and useless. 

Oh God may we live for you!

"Mom, (totally serious and very excited)  I haven't even sinned once ALLLLLLL day!" 

                                  -AJ one hour after waking up

(I love this photo of him...not because of its great quality, but because he thinks he is looking so cool...we told him after the photo about a big glop of stuff on his face that was remaining from dinner.)

 Yep he was laughing too.

  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*This conversation takes place while driving in the car to the Iowa State Fair.

"Ere babies get money?"  Ava questions.

I look at Tony. "Did she just say what I think she said?" I ask.

She then repeats herself.  "Mom 'ere babies get money?"

I try to hold back the laughter so I can actually see where the conversation is going.

"Ava did you just ask how babies get money?"  I question of my much too old for her age two year old

"Yeah, how'd babies get money?" She asks persistently.

"Well, they work." I reply.. thinking this will be enough to satisfy her curiosity, and assuming she doesn't REALLY know what she is asking.

"How babies work?" She responds.

A ....good question I think to myself. 

"Um well... I guess they do things around the farm like pick up things, and maybe clean up their room."  I reply.

"Mom, how babies pick up their room?"  She asks VERY seriously. 

I had to chuckle at this point.

"Their mom's teach them Ava."  I answer.

  I could tell she was really trying to figure out the process of how a baby could actually pick up their room, and I could also see in her face that she thought it was ridiculous that that is how she had to get money. 

  She had been wanting two new babies, (even though she has about 10) and I told her she only had enough money to buy one, so she was not joking around about this money matter which made it all the more cute....well and the fact that she was talking in third person.

 Oh these are the days...

  So, this has been an extremely busy week for me.  As I sit here typing I am trying real hard to ignore the corn splattered floor waiting for me in the kitchen.  That is sort of the way it has gone around here this week, it seems if I want to get a fun activity in I have to pretend the mess is invisible.  This isn't that easy for me to do, but I have come to realize that avoidance is sometimes necessary to my sanity.

  The older kids all joined Tony tonight at AJ's  football practice, and Ava fell asleep early, so I am left alone......well as alone as it gets with four children. 

  I finished up freezing the sweet corn that all of us picked today.  I have a lot of garden left to freeze, but I always feel great knowing my kids are getting great veggies all winter long. 

This knowledge helps offset my guilt, since McDonalds seems to rescue me from kitchen duty quite often during the football season. 

  The summer is coming to an end much quicker than I would like.  We started school back up in July, mainly because the kids like to harvest and plant with Tony in the field, and so we take it easy during those times of the year.  We of course consider tractor time school as well.  I actually prefer life skills, and "real life" learning to bookish school anyway, but I do make them do the workbooks to help make sure my bases are covered. 

  I have so many pictures from the past week that I am having a problem narrowing down what I want to share.  I suppose I could just give you a daily glimpse of each day, and hope you don't get too bored. 

 (Yep, that's what I am going to do.   I will start with last Friday and work my way through the week.)

Friday:

  Last Friday AJ's track relay team participated in the AAU Junior Olympic Nationals.  They had a great day running, but unfortunately didn't make the finals.  The boys had a great time, and were amazed to see the talent that was displayed.

I love this picture because only two of them are not distracted by all the people.  I only took pictures for a few minutes, and they could barely stand still that long.  They were either looking away and smiling or looking at me and frowning.

Uncle Craig, (my brother) showed up, we were so thankful he traveled just to see 1 minute of running.  He had a hard time sitting still for the picture as well.  See he is smiling, but not looking at me!!  I felt like I was doing a toddler shoot.  "Here everyone look at me....no Craig not at the track at me.......AJ smile, Alec stop looking weird, okay everyone at the same time."  I think if I would have brought a squeaky toy maybe I would have had better luck.

Saturday:

  It was the county fair all last week, and we were there a lot.  AJ is in 4-H and Ana and I took a few projects in open class.  I don't even think I like the fair, but you can't live here and not take part.  I suppose if I didn't really HAVE to smell cow manure everyday, and HAVE to see 2000 cows everyday I might ACTUALLY enjoy seeing the livestock. 

  The projects are similar in my opinion.    For instance, kids can make projects out of weeding the garden.  I am thinking AJ does not have time to do a project about weeding the garden because he ACTUALLY needs to help weed the garden,  if he is doing a project on weeding the garden he is taking time away from ACTUALLY weeding the garden.

Am I making any sense at all? 

See when I lived in town as a kid and  was in 4-H, doing a project made more sense because I didn't have many projects to ACTUALLY do.  I had to do a project because I didn't understand how to do many things that farm kids naturally did because it was real life for them.  But, now that I live on a farm we ACTUALLY have projects that need done, and it seems odd to make a project out of an ACTUAL project.  I hope that is now very clear to all of you.

  This is my niece Halle, and nephew Alec.  They are sheep peeps.  I laugh at my sister every time because she said she would NEVER marry a farmer.  Actually, we both said that, and now we are both married to farm boys.  I don't know much about sheep, but I do know that their sheep have some of the straightest backs in this part of the country.  And yes, I guess that is a good thing.

 This is the goose guy.  He says the geese saved his life because he use to weigh over 300 lbs, and since he began walking everywhere with them he has lost a ton of weight.  He has trained the geese to drink pop, which I find an odd repayment if we are talking about life longevity here......anyway just saying....

These dresses were my favorite thing at the fair.  They were reversible and made of vintage looking fabric.  They could be worn 50 different ways.  I loved them so much that I bought..........NONE.   I do weird stuff like that, sometimes if I am totally enthralled with something I end up not getting anything because I am overwhelmed by all the choices.  Maybe next time........

Sunday: 

  We went to church, worked at the fair, and had our last track meet.  I am so glad track is FINALLY over even though I really do enjoy the sport.

Monday: 

  It was a very low key day.  However, my back and hips felt like someone stabbed me with a knife, so Tony thought maybe I should go to the chiropractor. 

When I went there the chiropractor mentioned that one of my legs was longer than the other one.......and that he should probably fix that.  I heard a snap as he put things back in place.   

The bad and good part was that the snap didn't come from me, but one of my FAVORITE pair of shoes.  My shoe went flying off.  The guy looked at me in embarrassment, and asked,

"Did I do that?" 

"Ugh yeah," I reply while laughing uncontrollably.

We both begin to laugh.....and laugh and laugh....

He tells me that maybe I should take the other shoe off.

So I do.

He then says,

"Now you REALLY are PREGNANT and BAREFOOT."

"My husband is going love this," I say.

I walk into the waiting room with no shoes on, and looking very pregnant indeed.  The chiropractor feeling a bit uncomfortable tells the receptionist what happened, and asks her to see what she has in her desk that could repair my shoe. 

She of course begins to laugh as well, as he apologizes profusely to me.  She finds a tool, but regretfully informs me that without glue the shoe probably won't "stay fixed."

I pay the bill (nope no discount for the broken sandal), grab my shoe, and walk out the door to meet husband.  He sees me coming, and I can see him shaking his head.  He is not surprised,  after all it is me, and strange things ALWAYS seem to happen to me.

Tuesday:

  Aw shucks...yep lots and lots and lots of them.

Aziah thought it was funny to make the ears of corn like real ears.

Wednesday:

  Princess Party!!!  One of my friends invited us down to the river front for an all girl princess party.  Each girl was to wear whatever they wanted....  I loved what each of their little creative brains came up with.

Ava choose a sassy outfit.

While Ana took a more elegant approach.

The moms dressed up too.

And dessert to end the day.

Thursday:

  The ROOF Is ALMOST done!!!

(Oh, and see the right hand side of the house with the door and the dog house looking architecture?  Well, the dog house part is going to be built up to the same height as the rest of that area, and I want to add windows, but because the roof line is lower the windows would have to be lower than the other windows...so I am wondering if I should put three tiny square windows in there or if them being the same size but lowered a bit would be unnoticeable.  What do you think?  Or do you have a different idea?  The door is not going to be there anymore. Help PLEASE.)

I made these today.  They are refrigerator pickles, and I adore them.   Here is the recipe adapted from Martha Stewart's original recipe:

REFRIGERATOR PICKLES

Makes 2 quarts

• 2 pounds Kirby cucumbers
• 3 tablespoons coarse salt
• 3 cups water
• 2 cups distilled white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon dill seed
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 bunches fresh dill, coarsely chopped
• Hot pepper flakes or fresh hot peppers (these are optional season to your taste)

Directions

 I hope I didn't lose you in the longness, have a fantabulous rest of the week!!!

  These here kids of mine NEVER stop making my jaw drop at the sorts of things they come up with. 

One of my friends came over today, and as we were talking she noticed kids heads moving very quickly across the lawn.  We figured they couldn't run quite that fast, and decided to check out what we "thought" we saw. 

  It turns out that our eyes did see correctly.... a new type of Iowa sport was in the making. 

We have no oceans or big bodies of water around here so what else other than.........................

Cheapick Activity #1:  Land Skiing 4 Wheeler style

There was a down side to this activity

I particularly love that AJ was trying to do the moonwalk while skiing as well.  Notice the one glove. 

So, while I am not in love with the idea of my son thinking Michael Jackson was so cool....even though I must admit I am a bit of closet fan, in spite of his weirdness....one must come to terms with his outstanding contribution to the world in the form of his moonwalk.  I mean seriously how would the astronauts know how to walk on the moon if it hadn't been for him? The gravity use to get the best of them, but not anymore. 

Besides that, think of all the hours parents didn't have to say, "Find something to do."  Kids will spend hours trying to figure out how to do that one move....seriously it was BRILLIANT. 

This may be random...........but..........can any of you out there actually do the moonwalk?  I have tried and still not succeeded.  If you can do it...............oh my gosh you are SO cool.

They did figure out a way to increase their chances of hanging on.

Cheapick Activity #2:

The 2nd cheapick activity came from Ava today.  This activity requires a mother who is not paying attention, and some good ole liquid color material.  Paint was the liquid of her choosing today.  We will call it:

"Shoot the paint down the stairs"

Yep, that pretty much explains the whole activity. 

 Now why don't you all go out there and have ya some good ole cheapick FUN!!!

*For those of you who don't know what cheapick means you can click on my cheapick tag to find out

  It is Friday, and I can hardly believe it.  The week long daily web blog journey is almost done.  Will I continue to daily blog or will it be too much, that is the question!?

  Since the summer started things have been a bit crazy around here on Fridays.  Our commitment to do the local farmer's market has lead us to Friday being the day when we prepare for market on Saturday. 

These were some of our Ashley Acres garden finds today:

Happy Feedin' to ya!!

  My house has finally gotten sheet rocked!   I can't believe how excited I am! 

  Mr. Tape and texture guy has been here all week and is almost done with the basement.  He is  nice and easy going.  He says things like, "Oh it's no big deal," and "We can figure out a way to make that work." 

  You don't know how I love to hear those words! 

 The only thing he and I disagree on is that I want smooth ceilings and walls, and he wants them heavily textured.  I told him that wasn't the look I was going for, but he is not getting me.  Most the people who have been involved in this process don't get my style.  In fact I am not sure I always get my style, I just know when I like something and when I don't. 

  That doesn't make for an easy explanation. 

  So, needless to say Mr. Tape and Texture guy and I are having terminology difficulties.  I say contemporary and he thinks I mean brand new house type of feel.  I don't want it to feel like a new house, but a contemporary home mixed with some aged qualities.  A bringing together of old and new, masculine and feminine, chrome and flowers (but only certain flowers like BIG statement types.)

  Maybe this will help you get my vibe....

  This look is inspiring me right now: (from apartmenttherapy.com)

I love the earthiness and clean lines with little pops of color.  I also am in love with the stained concrete floors.  I am so going to do them in the basement, but am not sure on the color.  This is a vote that will soon come your way.  I am thinking my scheme will have lots of earthy tones with orange and turquoise.  It seems that is what makes my eyes happy.

 
I may just completely copy this room.  I LOVE simplicity.  It makes me go Ahhh. My dilemma is that I have an orange comforter very similar to this one, but I am also thinking of a purple bedroom.  Maybe I could combine the two?  I can imagine a lovely purple pillow in front of those orange pillows.  Hmmmmm thinking.

Love the barn door feel, and I actually will be using one on our bedroom door because of the narrowness of the entrance.

I want to sleep here

MASTER BEDROOM

  BOYS ROOM

GIRLS BATHROOM

HALLWAY

CRAFTY CRITTER ROOM

ENTRY WAY  (and a peek at the kitchen)

THE KITCHEN (but looking at the craft room, the entry way, and the stairs to the upstairs offices)

DINING ROOM

PANTRY (no more stacking and shoving, yippee!)

FAMILY ROOM

  I know I've been saying this for a long time, call me hopeful, but.... I actually think I will be needing your opinions VERY soon.  The basement will be done tomorrow, and then I will be able to paint.  That is of course if I can settle on colors.

  Thanks for your help!  I am so glad I don't have to make all these decisions alone.  I do have my husband, but he really doesn't care.  I am serious when I say that. 

  Once in awhile (and I truly mean once in a very LONG while) he will say, "Is that going to be in the house?"  I have come to realize that that statements translation is: "That is something I would like can we do that in our house?"  

  So, when I hear, "Is that going to be in our house?" I stop and take note. 

  Tonight he used that statement in regards to a fireplace.  I quickly scooped up any pictures that I had that resembled what he liked knowing that I had about two minutes.  After two minutes his mind goes back to mathematical calculations and business transactions.  I suppose it is only fair since whenever he begins a financial talk my brain immediately travels to a far away place.  It somehow works for us.  He tells me how much I can spend, then I get creative.  No nagging each other or looking over each others shoulder.  He trusts me to not max out a credit card, and I trust that I will not come home to a lime green rearranged living room. 

                                                                               Sweet oblivion I tell you!

                                        And it looks like the trophy is going to make it home safe.

  Yep, it happened again, the kids came up with yet another activity that is cheap and hickish.  While the girls and I were in the garden harvesting the last of our garden the boys were off "building."  They of course were suppose to be helping in the garden, but somehow managed to make me forget about that.  They often come up with big ideas when they are suppose to be helping me.  They know that I love when they build and create, so it is an instant get out of work card for them. 

  As we were plucking the green beans the boys came running over boasting of their new design.  They insisted that they needed my stakes in order for this "thing" to stay up.  They informed me that they were going to put it up right then, and in my yard. 

  I've dreamt of a yard that looks like Martha Stewart's, but with these two boys around I am pretty sure that is going to just stay a dream.  My yard often looks like a rednecks, and while looking like a redneck is not that appealing to me, BEING  a redneck draws me in a bit.  I like that rednecks really don't care what anyone else thinks.  If rednecks think something is a good idea than they do it.  They don't care if it is an eye sore or if the image isn't perfect.   In fact I don't think most rednecks are even aware that something is an eye sore. 

  Boy wouldn't that be nice.

  So, here I am stuck between being a recovering perfectionist (haven't been perfect for nearly 9 years now), having two very redneck sons, and  living a secret life of wanting to be a redneck myself.  How does one balance this?  I mean perfectionism and redneckism do not go together, in fact I think it might be a recipe for a psychological disorder.  I don't know how I am going to work this internal struggle out!??

  Anyway, back to the boys and their boastings.  They pleaded with me to come and see this amazing "thing" that they had just built.  I walked over to where they were intending to place this "thing," and observed their creation.     

  "Nice," I commented.  "Really great."

  "Mom, we need to put it up in the yard and dad said we couldn't put holes in the ground," they responded. 

  I thought at that moment that I could just kiss hubs, but then was quickly interrupted by my own redneck thought.

  "Hey, why don't you grab the cement blocks and use those to hold it up.  I think it would be perfect," I said.  (I think I am beginning to see how this redneck perfectionist thing could work out after all.)

  Their eyes lit up, and for just a moment I was the best redneck mom in this side of the county.  When the boys were all done assembling this "thing," this is what it looked like. 

Can you guess what it is?

                              Okay okay, I'll give you another clue.

Now this is a dead give away.

                                                                                                      Setting the ball holders up.

Not sure the ball holder is doing its function since it needs someone to hold it up as well, but this is not something you tell inventive young boys.

Going for the kick.

             What does one do if they don't quite make the goal?

They blame it on the ball holder, and go to plan B:  Which entails getting a spoon and digging a hole in the yard in which the ball will sit.

                                                                                                 So pleased with himself.

                        Try...try again.

So close, but still no good. 

                                                         Plan C:  The ball holder without the human ball holder.

           They kicked for a long time trying to make that goal. 

I think a greater goal was accomplished...  they worked as a team to get this project done.  I had been asking them to work together all day, but somehow when it is their idea it works much better.

Now get on out there and have you some good ole cheapick fun!!!!!!!!!!!!

  Here is a conversation that took place today in our home:

 "Aziah, what in the world are you going to do with three sisters?" I asked with excitement in my voice. 

  I had expected an answer like, "I would protect them from dragons,"  or "I would make forts with them."  Instead I got this:

  "Oh, I would just pin them to a donkey." He responded with certainty in his voice as he continued playing.

  "A donkey? Aziah, why would you want to pin your sisters to a donkey?" I questioned.

  "Well........(he always says this, then takes a long pause, and then comes out with his profound statement) I would either do that or change them into donkeys."

  I thought, "What in the world," then said, "But why would you want to pin your sisters to a donkey?"

  "Well..........(long pause)...........sometimes they are mean to me, and I wouldn't want them to die so I would pin them to a donkey or change them into a donkey." He replied.

  I could see the conversation was going no where fast, and it seemed ridiculous to try to lecture him about something that couldn't possibly happen.  I mean how does a mom keep a straight face when trying to explain to a five year old boy that pinning his sisters to a donkey or changing them into one would be very wrong.  Sometimes there is just no point to discuss such matters to a five year old boy. 

  Things have been a bit crazy around here.  We have started home schooling , football games, soccer, and are trying to harvest the last of our garden.  I would love to post a bit more often, but lately time has not been my friend.  I also am moving at a different pace than usual, being 7 months pregnant has slowed  normal activity down a lot. 

  We are getting very anxious for baby around here.  Although, life seems to be a bit disarrayed for me right now.  We still have not gotten into our home so I haven't prepared a whole lot for the baby as far as a room goes.  

  I have of course thought about her a lot.  She kicks me mostly in the early morning which leaves me nauseous almost every morning when I wake up.  I have been taking early morning walks, as the fresh air seems to help with the stomach uneasiness. 

  This past week Tony lost his last living grandparent.  She had been in a nursing home for awhile now, and had slowly gotten worse.  The staff had told Tony's mom that she was "transitioning" last week.  I thought that was such an interesting way to put it, but was so thankful she knew Christ and would be "transitioning" to her real home.

  Death always has a way of putting life into perspective.

As I listened to Tony's grandma's life experiences being retold I couldn't help to think of the life inside of me.  It stirred me up inside to ponder the "bigness" of taking care of another eternal being. 

I wondered what mark will this child leave on this world? 

What memories will her grandchildren have? 

  My hope is that she will live a life of purpose.  A life that makes a difference in the lives of others.  Most importantly, a life that glorifies the one who is truly responsible for this baby forming in my womb.

And then my own life was magnified.

I thought....am I living with purpose?  (I know it sounds so cliche.)

Am I living for God or for temporal things that in the end won't matter anyway?

What memories will my kids and husband have of me?

  And then I prayed right there that they would have amnesia from all the times I have lost my cool, and not been the mother and wife I so desire to be. 

  As my boys ran for touchdowns in their games this weekend I thought..."Yes they are good, but what if they never live for God what would it matter?  What would the purpose be?  To get a pat on the back?  A big hoorah? 

   A false security from something that will end someday?

   I pray that their lives will have eternal meaning.  That my kids and my family will live beyond today's rewards and accomplishments, and live for the purpose of worshipping a creator that is truly beyond our comprehension.

  I pray that our lives will not be like the remains in a landfill......used up and useless. 

Oh God may we live for you!

"Mom, (totally serious and very excited)  I haven't even sinned once ALLLLLLL day!" 

                                  -AJ one hour after waking up

(I love this photo of him...not because of its great quality, but because he thinks he is looking so cool...we told him after the photo about a big glop of stuff on his face that was remaining from dinner.)

 Yep he was laughing too.

  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*This conversation takes place while driving in the car to the Iowa State Fair.

"Ere babies get money?"  Ava questions.

I look at Tony. "Did she just say what I think she said?" I ask.

She then repeats herself.  "Mom 'ere babies get money?"

I try to hold back the laughter so I can actually see where the conversation is going.

"Ava did you just ask how babies get money?"  I question of my much too old for her age two year old

"Yeah, how'd babies get money?" She asks persistently.

"Well, they work." I reply.. thinking this will be enough to satisfy her curiosity, and assuming she doesn't REALLY know what she is asking.

"How babies work?" She responds.

A ....good question I think to myself. 

"Um well... I guess they do things around the farm like pick up things, and maybe clean up their room."  I reply.

"Mom, how babies pick up their room?"  She asks VERY seriously. 

I had to chuckle at this point.

"Their mom's teach them Ava."  I answer.

  I could tell she was really trying to figure out the process of how a baby could actually pick up their room, and I could also see in her face that she thought it was ridiculous that that is how she had to get money. 

  She had been wanting two new babies, (even though she has about 10) and I told her she only had enough money to buy one, so she was not joking around about this money matter which made it all the more cute....well and the fact that she was talking in third person.

 Oh these are the days...

  So, this has been an extremely busy week for me.  As I sit here typing I am trying real hard to ignore the corn splattered floor waiting for me in the kitchen.  That is sort of the way it has gone around here this week, it seems if I want to get a fun activity in I have to pretend the mess is invisible.  This isn't that easy for me to do, but I have come to realize that avoidance is sometimes necessary to my sanity.

  The older kids all joined Tony tonight at AJ's  football practice, and Ava fell asleep early, so I am left alone......well as alone as it gets with four children. 

  I finished up freezing the sweet corn that all of us picked today.  I have a lot of garden left to freeze, but I always feel great knowing my kids are getting great veggies all winter long. 

This knowledge helps offset my guilt, since McDonalds seems to rescue me from kitchen duty quite often during the football season. 

  The summer is coming to an end much quicker than I would like.  We started school back up in July, mainly because the kids like to harvest and plant with Tony in the field, and so we take it easy during those times of the year.  We of course consider tractor time school as well.  I actually prefer life skills, and "real life" learning to bookish school anyway, but I do make them do the workbooks to help make sure my bases are covered. 

  I have so many pictures from the past week that I am having a problem narrowing down what I want to share.  I suppose I could just give you a daily glimpse of each day, and hope you don't get too bored. 

 (Yep, that's what I am going to do.   I will start with last Friday and work my way through the week.)

Friday:

  Last Friday AJ's track relay team participated in the AAU Junior Olympic Nationals.  They had a great day running, but unfortunately didn't make the finals.  The boys had a great time, and were amazed to see the talent that was displayed.

I love this picture because only two of them are not distracted by all the people.  I only took pictures for a few minutes, and they could barely stand still that long.  They were either looking away and smiling or looking at me and frowning.

Uncle Craig, (my brother) showed up, we were so thankful he traveled just to see 1 minute of running.  He had a hard time sitting still for the picture as well.  See he is smiling, but not looking at me!!  I felt like I was doing a toddler shoot.  "Here everyone look at me....no Craig not at the track at me.......AJ smile, Alec stop looking weird, okay everyone at the same time."  I think if I would have brought a squeaky toy maybe I would have had better luck.

Saturday:

  It was the county fair all last week, and we were there a lot.  AJ is in 4-H and Ana and I took a few projects in open class.  I don't even think I like the fair, but you can't live here and not take part.  I suppose if I didn't really HAVE to smell cow manure everyday, and HAVE to see 2000 cows everyday I might ACTUALLY enjoy seeing the livestock. 

  The projects are similar in my opinion.    For instance, kids can make projects out of weeding the garden.  I am thinking AJ does not have time to do a project about weeding the garden because he ACTUALLY needs to help weed the garden,  if he is doing a project on weeding the garden he is taking time away from ACTUALLY weeding the garden.

Am I making any sense at all? 

See when I lived in town as a kid and  was in 4-H, doing a project made more sense because I didn't have many projects to ACTUALLY do.  I had to do a project because I didn't understand how to do many things that farm kids naturally did because it was real life for them.  But, now that I live on a farm we ACTUALLY have projects that need done, and it seems odd to make a project out of an ACTUAL project.  I hope that is now very clear to all of you.

  This is my niece Halle, and nephew Alec.  They are sheep peeps.  I laugh at my sister every time because she said she would NEVER marry a farmer.  Actually, we both said that, and now we are both married to farm boys.  I don't know much about sheep, but I do know that their sheep have some of the straightest backs in this part of the country.  And yes, I guess that is a good thing.

 This is the goose guy.  He says the geese saved his life because he use to weigh over 300 lbs, and since he began walking everywhere with them he has lost a ton of weight.  He has trained the geese to drink pop, which I find an odd repayment if we are talking about life longevity here......anyway just saying....

These dresses were my favorite thing at the fair.  They were reversible and made of vintage looking fabric.  They could be worn 50 different ways.  I loved them so much that I bought..........NONE.   I do weird stuff like that, sometimes if I am totally enthralled with something I end up not getting anything because I am overwhelmed by all the choices.  Maybe next time........

Sunday: 

  We went to church, worked at the fair, and had our last track meet.  I am so glad track is FINALLY over even though I really do enjoy the sport.

Monday: 

  It was a very low key day.  However, my back and hips felt like someone stabbed me with a knife, so Tony thought maybe I should go to the chiropractor. 

When I went there the chiropractor mentioned that one of my legs was longer than the other one.......and that he should probably fix that.  I heard a snap as he put things back in place.   

The bad and good part was that the snap didn't come from me, but one of my FAVORITE pair of shoes.  My shoe went flying off.  The guy looked at me in embarrassment, and asked,

"Did I do that?" 

"Ugh yeah," I reply while laughing uncontrollably.

We both begin to laugh.....and laugh and laugh....

He tells me that maybe I should take the other shoe off.

So I do.

He then says,

"Now you REALLY are PREGNANT and BAREFOOT."

"My husband is going love this," I say.

I walk into the waiting room with no shoes on, and looking very pregnant indeed.  The chiropractor feeling a bit uncomfortable tells the receptionist what happened, and asks her to see what she has in her desk that could repair my shoe. 

She of course begins to laugh as well, as he apologizes profusely to me.  She finds a tool, but regretfully informs me that without glue the shoe probably won't "stay fixed."

I pay the bill (nope no discount for the broken sandal), grab my shoe, and walk out the door to meet husband.  He sees me coming, and I can see him shaking his head.  He is not surprised,  after all it is me, and strange things ALWAYS seem to happen to me.

Tuesday:

  Aw shucks...yep lots and lots and lots of them.

Aziah thought it was funny to make the ears of corn like real ears.

Wednesday:

  Princess Party!!!  One of my friends invited us down to the river front for an all girl princess party.  Each girl was to wear whatever they wanted....  I loved what each of their little creative brains came up with.

Ava choose a sassy outfit.

While Ana took a more elegant approach.

The moms dressed up too.

And dessert to end the day.

Thursday:

  The ROOF Is ALMOST done!!!

(Oh, and see the right hand side of the house with the door and the dog house looking architecture?  Well, the dog house part is going to be built up to the same height as the rest of that area, and I want to add windows, but because the roof line is lower the windows would have to be lower than the other windows...so I am wondering if I should put three tiny square windows in there or if them being the same size but lowered a bit would be unnoticeable.  What do you think?  Or do you have a different idea?  The door is not going to be there anymore. Help PLEASE.)

I made these today.  They are refrigerator pickles, and I adore them.   Here is the recipe adapted from Martha Stewart's original recipe:

REFRIGERATOR PICKLES

Makes 2 quarts

• 2 pounds Kirby cucumbers
• 3 tablespoons coarse salt
• 3 cups water
• 2 cups distilled white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon dill seed
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 bunches fresh dill, coarsely chopped
• Hot pepper flakes or fresh hot peppers (these are optional season to your taste)

Directions

 I hope I didn't lose you in the longness, have a fantabulous rest of the week!!!

  These here kids of mine NEVER stop making my jaw drop at the sorts of things they come up with. 

One of my friends came over today, and as we were talking she noticed kids heads moving very quickly across the lawn.  We figured they couldn't run quite that fast, and decided to check out what we "thought" we saw. 

  It turns out that our eyes did see correctly.... a new type of Iowa sport was in the making. 

We have no oceans or big bodies of water around here so what else other than.........................

Cheapick Activity #1:  Land Skiing 4 Wheeler style

There was a down side to this activity

I particularly love that AJ was trying to do the moonwalk while skiing as well.  Notice the one glove. 

So, while I am not in love with the idea of my son thinking Michael Jackson was so cool....even though I must admit I am a bit of closet fan, in spite of his weirdness....one must come to terms with his outstanding contribution to the world in the form of his moonwalk.  I mean seriously how would the astronauts know how to walk on the moon if it hadn't been for him? The gravity use to get the best of them, but not anymore. 

Besides that, think of all the hours parents didn't have to say, "Find something to do."  Kids will spend hours trying to figure out how to do that one move....seriously it was BRILLIANT. 

This may be random...........but..........can any of you out there actually do the moonwalk?  I have tried and still not succeeded.  If you can do it...............oh my gosh you are SO cool.

They did figure out a way to increase their chances of hanging on.

Cheapick Activity #2:

The 2nd cheapick activity came from Ava today.  This activity requires a mother who is not paying attention, and some good ole liquid color material.  Paint was the liquid of her choosing today.  We will call it:

"Shoot the paint down the stairs"

Yep, that pretty much explains the whole activity. 

 Now why don't you all go out there and have ya some good ole cheapick FUN!!!

*For those of you who don't know what cheapick means you can click on my cheapick tag to find out

  It is Friday, and I can hardly believe it.  The week long daily web blog journey is almost done.  Will I continue to daily blog or will it be too much, that is the question!?

  Since the summer started things have been a bit crazy around here on Fridays.  Our commitment to do the local farmer's market has lead us to Friday being the day when we prepare for market on Saturday. 

These were some of our Ashley Acres garden finds today:

Happy Feedin' to ya!!

  I was trying to come up with a theme for today........you know one that started with a W.  By the end of the day I had two words in competition with each other.

 WORKING or WAITING?

It seemed all we did today was worked and waited. 

Most of the errands seemed like time stood still.  I had hoped to get a whole lot more crossed off the list, but it wasn't happening for me today.  I suppose I am learning to WAIT.

*I wanted to get my homeschool paper work in, but they told me I had to WAIT to talk to the principal which wouldn't be until Monday.

*I went to pick up faucets for our bathroom, but they couldn't find them, and told me I needed to WAIT for the head of the department to come in which wouldn't be until tomorrow.

 I thought the dollar store would be better.  You generally don't have to wait there.  However, my patience was being exercised as the store clerk acted as a second parent, and  kept "warning" my kids about silly things.   She kept mentioning to Ava, "You need to sit down little one or the cart will tip over." 

 I was standing right there each time she said it, and Ava didn't stand up she just looked like she "might". 

She told her at least five times that she needed to sit down, did I mention that she wasn't standing?

 I thought I did very good do just patiently endure the annoying over paranoid store clerk.  She then proceeded to tell Aziah not to grab the sack after she had bagged our items because well........he "might" get his hand caught in the baggy thing that twirls around.  

 I kept my mouth shut, but punished her by avoiding eye contact.  (Okay, I know immature........but I was doing all I could to just keep my trapper shut.)  I could tell in Aziah's eyes he felt a bit embarrassed, after all he was trying to take the sack so that I didn't have to carry it.

I am okay with someone correcting my kids for things they actually do, but NOT so much for things you think MAY happen, and even then I am usually okay with warnings.  It is just when someone keeps repeating themselves.....  

Wasn't there a law trying to be passed about future crimes that may be committed or am I confusing that with that Tom Cruise movie?

Anyway...

It was obvious she was the type of person that was a bit hard to please........I couldn't WAIT to get out of there.  I paid and then smiled the best I could as she says, "I am really not a mean person, I just wouldn't want anything bad to happen."

I didn't even respond I was mostly just glad that she wasn't my mother-in-law.

We were suppose to go to the pool, but the clouds were looking gray.  We stopped at the library and the kids were suppose to WAIT patiently. 

They did not. 

I was really glad the dollar store clerk wasn't there to see that.  I can only imagine the lecture.

We got home and read a few of our new library books, and then checked on the turkey that I stuffed into the crockpot.  It wasn't done, and needed to be.........at least I thought.  So, I cut some pieces off and tried to get them done so that we could eat on time.  (On time being our normal 5ish dinner).  I was craving cranberry sauce, but didn't have any in the pantry. 

It wasn't a craving that was going away.

So, I decided to try to make some cranberry sauce.  I took the mulberries from Tasty Tuesday, cranberry concentrate, sugar, honey, corn starch and water, and made some homemade cran-mul berry sauce. 

 It was shortly after the turkey and everything was done that I saw the semi trucks pull into our lane.  This meant that cattle were moving out, and we would not be eating for another two hours.

I set the stove on low, and headed out the door to pick up our yard, weeded a bit in the garden, watched the kiddos play, and took some shots of them loading out the beasts.

                                            "Papa"

  Aziah spent his time "waiting" for dad by making a bow and arrow.

While Ana  decided to make place cards for the table.

The girls also passed time by playing house in the garage.

The cattle eventually got shipped out, and we eventually ate our Thanksgiving meal in July. 

"Waiting," wasn't all bad this Wednesday, but I am  hoping tomorrow will test my patience a bit less. 

Perhaps "Timely Thursday?"

We shall see.

  My house has finally gotten sheet rocked!   I can't believe how excited I am! 

  Mr. Tape and texture guy has been here all week and is almost done with the basement.  He is  nice and easy going.  He says things like, "Oh it's no big deal," and "We can figure out a way to make that work." 

  You don't know how I love to hear those words! 

 The only thing he and I disagree on is that I want smooth ceilings and walls, and he wants them heavily textured.  I told him that wasn't the look I was going for, but he is not getting me.  Most the people who have been involved in this process don't get my style.  In fact I am not sure I always get my style, I just know when I like something and when I don't. 

  That doesn't make for an easy explanation. 

  So, needless to say Mr. Tape and Texture guy and I are having terminology difficulties.  I say contemporary and he thinks I mean brand new house type of feel.  I don't want it to feel like a new house, but a contemporary home mixed with some aged qualities.  A bringing together of old and new, masculine and feminine, chrome and flowers (but only certain flowers like BIG statement types.)

  Maybe this will help you get my vibe....

  This look is inspiring me right now: (from apartmenttherapy.com)

I love the earthiness and clean lines with little pops of color.  I also am in love with the stained concrete floors.  I am so going to do them in the basement, but am not sure on the color.  This is a vote that will soon come your way.  I am thinking my scheme will have lots of earthy tones with orange and turquoise.  It seems that is what makes my eyes happy.

 
I may just completely copy this room.  I LOVE simplicity.  It makes me go Ahhh. My dilemma is that I have an orange comforter very similar to this one, but I am also thinking of a purple bedroom.  Maybe I could combine the two?  I can imagine a lovely purple pillow in front of those orange pillows.  Hmmmmm thinking.

Love the barn door feel, and I actually will be using one on our bedroom door because of the narrowness of the entrance.

I want to sleep here

MASTER BEDROOM

  BOYS ROOM

GIRLS BATHROOM

HALLWAY

CRAFTY CRITTER ROOM

ENTRY WAY  (and a peek at the kitchen)

THE KITCHEN (but looking at the craft room, the entry way, and the stairs to the upstairs offices)

DINING ROOM

PANTRY (no more stacking and shoving, yippee!)

FAMILY ROOM

  I know I've been saying this for a long time, call me hopeful, but.... I actually think I will be needing your opinions VERY soon.  The basement will be done tomorrow, and then I will be able to paint.  That is of course if I can settle on colors.

  Thanks for your help!  I am so glad I don't have to make all these decisions alone.  I do have my husband, but he really doesn't care.  I am serious when I say that. 

  Once in awhile (and I truly mean once in a very LONG while) he will say, "Is that going to be in the house?"  I have come to realize that that statements translation is: "That is something I would like can we do that in our house?"  

  So, when I hear, "Is that going to be in our house?" I stop and take note. 

  Tonight he used that statement in regards to a fireplace.  I quickly scooped up any pictures that I had that resembled what he liked knowing that I had about two minutes.  After two minutes his mind goes back to mathematical calculations and business transactions.  I suppose it is only fair since whenever he begins a financial talk my brain immediately travels to a far away place.  It somehow works for us.  He tells me how much I can spend, then I get creative.  No nagging each other or looking over each others shoulder.  He trusts me to not max out a credit card, and I trust that I will not come home to a lime green rearranged living room. 

                                                                               Sweet oblivion I tell you!