Fence

This past week has been quite the adventure in fencing.  We decided to put in a 100 ft x 100 ft - 6 ft tall fence for our garden/animals that would keep out the deer.  We love our deer, but we don't love them in our garden.  It was quite the endeavor, and we were fortunate enough to have plenty of help.  The Lord knew we would need it!

Our main helper friend from church, Larry, brought with him a tractor with auger  (life saver) and many other amazing fence building tools that I have never even heard of.  He even took the time to taught the older boys how to drive the tractor.  Now Michael can use a clutch!

The life saving auger which is huge!

Driving the tractor may have been the highlight of the week.

Michael couldn't get enough of driving the tractor!

Michael loved giving rides, too!

After the holes were dug (which took less than an hour) it was time to set the corners.  We set the posts with concrete and put supports all around.  Those corners aren't going anywhere.  We did learn that you could just dump a bag of concrete mix in the ground, throw in some water, mix it and call it good.  It such easier than hauling cement around!  

Joshua loved helping, and that post level was amazing!  Friends are awesome!  

Then, there was lots of tamping to do.  Even Hryum got in on this action!  We even found him a shorter tamper just right for him.  

Tamping fun for all!

We did get one roll of wire put up before our great fencing party last night.  We had the missionaries and some other friends over for our fencing party.  We got all of the posts in and fencing up with time to enjoy a nice barbecue dinner.  Fun was had by all!  There are just a few little things left to do, but the major work is done! Now it is time to get it tilled and start planting!  James and I even did some shopping today for vegetables, berries and more to put into our new space!  Now the fun begins!

Michael holding up the fencing while others stapled it on.  This was a project for many hands.

Here is the finished product!  Joshua is now in there pretending to plant a garden.  But for now it is the biggest dirt yard ever for some very excited boys to play in.

Thank you everyone for your help as we could never have done this alone.  The final product is incredible, and hopefully the deer will never know all of the wonderful things we will grow inside of it!

Hyrum Helps

Hyrum helped Larry and I with the fence tonight. Mike Wynkoop helped us lay out and mark the spots late this afternoon, and while the older boys were at soccer and Mom was getting a pedicure, the Bug and I helped on the farm.

Hyrum held the string back while the holes were drilled:

And then he drove the tractor to its resting spot all by himself:

If you can't tell, Hyrum loves both the tractor and his favourite church friend, Larry. And, in the end we now have two corners and their supports (6 posts total) concreted in and ready to be the guiding supports for many, many, many more posts. 

That's the first leveled, concreted, filled, and finished pole of our 400-foot fence. Jacob and Joshua also helped with the measuring and squaring, and Michael and Joshua did some mean tamping in a couple of holes right at the end. Tamping—guck. Hyrum, though, was the only one who helped the whole (hole? lol) time. More updates soon!

Adventures in Pregnancy

This pregnancy has been a little rougher than anticipated, so I've had to find new ways of dealing with things.  First, I just have to say that indigestion is my great nemesis.  I don't know why, but it has gotten worse with every pregnancy and gets worse as the pregnancy progresses.  I am now to the point where I will take 2 Zantac early in the day and then later after dinner.  It is ridiculous and makes most foods look gross to me.  At least I shouldn't gain much more weight.

This pregnancy I learned what Restless Legs are, and I don't like them.  When I lay down my legs feel tingly and want to move all the time.  I did some research and didn't find anything very useful since I already eat bananas.  But right around the time that it was getting really bad my family started a healthy lifestyle challenge.  As part of that challenge I started walking for 1 mile every night.  And magically my legs were better.  So, note to self and anyone else who may have to deal with this very annoying syndrome, walk before bed and maybe do a few calf raises!

Morning sickness.  Up until this pregnancy I have been pretty consistent that as soon as the 2nd trimester hit I quit feeling sick and life was good.  But this year winter decided that it was going to take over the world, and I think that it really affected me personally.  The only fix I had for this was a trip to Florida, and well, it is not a quick or easy fix, but it was fun and I felt tons better by the end of the trip!

More children!!!  I think this pregnancy has similar challenges to my third when I had two little ones running around to take care of.  I remember hiring someone to help me clean and napping the moment the two of them went to sleep.  Now I have four children, but only one toddler, though, one is enough.  My boys have learned to make their own breakfast and lunch, clean it up and help mom out when she needs it.  I am a control freak by all definitions of the term, so this is very difficult for me to not be able to do everything, but I think it has been really good for my boys to help me when I need it and learn to put others' needs before their own.  They are great at playing with Hyrum (the toddler) and helping mom get a nap when she needs it.  I don't think they will be sad when I am running on all cylinders again, but for now they get to learn what it really takes to keep the house going and help make sure it happens.

33 weeks!  I am almost there!  I have always had my babies before week 39, so we are getting close, and I honestly cannot wait.  Usually I think the baby is easier to take care of inside, but I don't think so this time.  I am ready to be able to bend, sleep, eat and really exercise (3 mph walk is not my idea of exercise).  I know that sleep will be sketchy but the ability to eat and exercise and feel human again will be worth the trade off!  And I'll have a sweet little baby to cuddle with.

So, 5-6 more weeks and we'll be there, but for now I'll walk at night, eat little and enjoy my Zantac.

And it begins . . .

We spent the last year buying and fixing up our new house.  It was exhausting but exciting, but the reason we did it was so that we could have more land to have a bigger garden and to raise animals.  Well, stage 1 of that plan has begun.  We have our first baby chicks, and they are adorable.  We set up a place in the storage room for them this morning, and then took the boys to the store to pick them out and gather the equipment we would need.  We learned about how to feed them, keep them warm and much more.

At home we set up their new home in a box:

Jacob had to make sure the chicks were still there when we got them home.  

The boys helped put the water feeder, food and bedding into the box.  Hopefully the heat lamp is in the right place!

Then, it was time to put the chicks into their new home.  Joshua was hesitant at first but warmed up quickly.

Michael had no problem holding and moving the chicks.  But we all knew he would be a natural.

Jacob turned out to be a natural as well and jumped right in when Joshua hesitated.  

Joshua was very pleased with himself once he figured out how to hold them and became much more comfortable with our new friends.

Jacob has taken a real liking to these chicks and has spent quite a bit of time just watching them.  It is really sweet!

So, it has begun.  We have the chicks and we ordered the materials to make our fence for the garden and animals.  Now to plow the field and start building!  This will be a great adventure, and I can tell that the boys are going to love every day of it!

First Spring Break Project

It's not done yet, but the hard part is out of the way. Backstory:

I bought a table saw on clearance last fall. It really needs two people to assemble it, and my dear love has been a little heavy-lifting-incapacitated, and I don't get along with many humans, so there it sat. And sat. And sat.

About a month ago, I secured some weathered barn board 1x12s from a local guy. I paid $1 per linear foot, which, if you have priced authentic barn board, you know is a steal. I was so excited, and I proudly brought them home through the aftermath of a pretty heavy snowfall, blazing a trail along a county road in my all wheel drive. 

Side note: We would not have survived this winter without our all-wheel and four-wheel drive. We rescued at least one neighbor and her sedan from our driveway. Yeah.

Back to business. So, I had barn board and a table saw that I couldn't use. I was just going to throw those 1x12s up the way they were, but I thought the look really was wrong, so I waited. And waited. And waited.

For my birthday, Liz asked a friend to come over and help me assemble the saw. I was grumpy about it, like I am about everything, but it was a lifesaver, and kickstarted this project. Yesterday I christened that beast of a saw and Jacob helped me rip those old oak boards in half. I was on my way.

So tonight, after dinner, I hauled the chop saw upstairs, armed myself with my favorite tool (Ryobi Air-Strike Nailer. Seriously, everyone needs one of these. GET ONE) and in 90 minutes I had ripped off the trim, installed barnboard, recut the trim, slapped it back up and cleaned up the room.

Jacob was my helper, always making sure the boards were level before we nailed them, and even doing some of the nailing himself. It's one of the funnest home projects I've ever done, and I hope I can finish it soon after we get back from Virginia. I just need to put a rail across the top, then hang something magnificent on the wall, like a giant mirror. 

Some photos. Just imagine it with a few more inches of moulding and a magnificent mirror or something. And, yes, that is the correct height. :)

Classic Joshua

I had a great conversation with Joshua that I just had to record for all of time, but here is some background first.

Last night I made a chocolate smoothie/ice cream for the boys and myself that I poured into our cups.  While the boys enjoyed theirs I cleaned up because for some reason I cannot enjoy a treat unless it is cleaned up.  Yes, I have issues.  Before I was done cleaning up, Hyrum made a small mess, so I took a rag and wiped it up but left the rag.  After Hyrum was done he finished wiping everything up and then threw the rag.  He likes to throw things away when he is done, but this time it found my cup of smoothie and knocked it off the counter and spilled chocolate smoothie all over the cabinets and floors. I may have screamed.  Ooops!  James had him clean up just enough that he could see that he helped but not so much that he made it worse.  Anyway, after the floor was cleaned up I tackled the cabinets but found that squatting just wasn't going to happen for me, so I called Michael and Joshua in to help me out.  I had them spraying and wiping the cabinets when this great conversation began.

While cleaning Joshua, for some reason, told me that when Hyrum is older that he should have to clean up a mess like this to make up for making the mess now.  So, I clarified that I should keep track of every mess and mistake that Hyrum makes, and then when he is older I should punish him for all of them.  He readily agreed.  Then, I asked if he thought I should go back and remember every mess he made and have him start making up for all of them now.  He hesitated at this and astutely pointed out that he had spilled an entire gallon of milk at one point and that he was now making up for that by helping to clean up this mess.  Being encouraged by this I then pointed out that I could make of list of all of his mistakes as a toddler and have him make up for them.  He finally got the point and decided that we shouldn't keep track of Hyrum's mistakes to punish him for later.

I did find it interesting, though, that even though we don't make a list of crimes and punishments of our toddlers, we just teach them the best we can and later off in  life if they have younger siblings or children it will all catch up with them.  I know that I cannot imagine that I made nearly as many messes as I have cleaned up with my toddlers and even my older children.  It all comes back later which I think Joshua saw a little more clearly last night.   I hope you enjoyed hearing the way Joshua thinks.  :)

Stranded

I had great plans for today and some of them worked nicely but the rest had to be thrown out the window.  I started the day with a nice calm breakfast with the boys.  Then, I headed off to Nauvoo for a peaceful trip to the temple.  I had to evade water in the road because it was raining and with a frozen ground there was just not a lot of places for all of that rain to go.  But I made it there and had a lovely time.  I grabbed a sandwich and headed home.  Within 15 minutes of leaving Nauvoo my car told me that there was a tire pressure problem.  As I grumbled I looked to see which tire and how bad it was as I was only a few minutes out of the next city.  To my dismay the PSI on my tire was already down to 20 and still dropping.  So, I reluctantly pulled over.  I was wearing a dress and it was still sprinkling a little, so I'm sure me and my pregnant self looked great sitting on the side of the road.

You will all be proud to know that I pulled out my user manual and started walking through the steps of changing my tire.  I have to admit that I thought it ironic that I had to read several paragraphs on how proper maintenance should help you avoid ever getting a flat tire.  Well, so much for that.  I just had an oil change and they said my tires looked great.  Phooey!  It took me awhile but I found the jack and the tools I needed.  Next, I had to get the spare tire out.  These new cars sure know how to hide the spare.  By this time a nice gentleman stopped to offer his assistance which I readily accepted knowing that my skills were pretty much exhausted by this point.  He managed to get the spare tire out which was pretty impressive.  Then, he tried to loosen the lug nuts on the tire.  That was a no go.  He jumped on the wrench and gave it his all but it was not to be.  So much for a simple flat tire.  Actually, now that I think about it, I had another flat tire when I was pregnant with Jacob.  Things went just about as smoothly as this but for that one I was home which made life much simpler.

So, I got back in the car and called my insurance company to get a tow.  It is always fun explaining where you are when really you are nowhere.  They want landmarks when all I have is corn fields to look at.  In the end it is the tow truck driver who needs to know where I am, so until I am talking to him it doesn't really matter.  I finally got in touch with the tow truck company that my insurance contacted and had a rather enlightening conversation.  First, I tried to talk her into towing me to Galesburg.  I knew it was a long shot, but it was worth a try.  She shot me down and said they would only tow me to Burlington.  Yes, that is in a different state than I was in.  The joys of living near the border.  I then asked very nicely how long she thought it would be.  I thought this a logical question, but she did not.  She refused to answer the question and just said that Geico gave them 2 hours to get me and well, they would be there within that time frame.  SERIOUSLY?!?!?  But what was my choice.  In the future I think I will challenge this and ask for someone else.  But my phone life was diminishing and I wasn't in the mood.  So, I sat there and waited.  As a mother of 4 a quiet afternoon by myself sounds great, but let me just say that sitting for 2 hours in your car is just not what I had in mind.

After almost exactly 2 hours, I mean really, don't rush on my account, the tow truck showed up.  He was a very nice man and he helped me find a tire shop that could actually get me a new tire instead of just putting my spare on.  He was super nice and exactly what I needed after sitting all alone for 2 hours.  He even told me which tire place would take better care of me.  How does this nice man work for such an ornery company?  Well, I'll tell you.  Today was his last day because even he cannot work for them anymore.  Cracked me up.  I am grateful that he had one more day in him to help me out!

After waiting for 2 hours, it took 20 minutes to drive into Burlington and then 20 more to get me a all set and ready to go.  The place he took me was FABULOUS!  They checked the tire to see if they could fix it, but as I guessed it was a pretty big hole that took my tire out that quickly.  But they had a good used tire that would fit, so we went with it.  By the time I was done paying I asked how much longer it would be and was shocked and relieved to learn that they were done.  What?  Real customer service?!? I couldn't believe it!  So, after all the drama there was a happy ending and I managed to get home before dark which was a relief since there was running water on a few of the roads on the way home.

So, what did I learn?
1.  Find my own tow truck company and ask my insurance company to use them.   2 hours is an obscene time to wait.  Yes, there was a lot of bad weather today, but really?!?

2.  Always ask the tow driver for advice on where to get car help.  They know everyone!

3.  Always have a car charger for your phone.  In the end I had one, but for some reason we thought it didn't work.  We were wrong, and having my phone the whole time would have been much more enjoyable.

4.  Nice people and good companies exist, you just have to find them and never forget them!