Andrew Brenard...no no...the Narddog!

I might need to preface this post by saying that the Narddog IS ME! The writers of The Office must have followed me to create this character....several reasons:

1. I love singing. Anytime. Anyplace.

2. Nipple bleeding is a real issue!

3. Farm Chick wouldn't have married this fine specimen if it wouldn't have been for some good old fashioned stalking, just like Andy did to Angela.

4. I love sweaters...especially argyle ones!

While shopping I had to explain to Farm Chick that these were what I needed my sweaters to look like in order to complete my Andy Bernard collection.

I ugly cried in public

I am an emotional person.  Tears come easily.  They always have.  In fact, if you start to cry, I am most likely going to cry with you.  It is just who I am. 

Recently, I got to hear a missionary speak.  She shared about the work being done in Papua New Guinea. 

Oh.

My.

Stars.

I was already feeling teary when she showed a video of the people they were ministering to.  The tears started to flow as I listened to the testimony of a man in the tribe. 

When they showed the first baptisms in the tribe... 

I lost it.

I mean blow your nose, sniff and snort, lost it.

You know what, I didn't even care.

I was completely overcome.

I can only imagine what Heaven will be like.

27 All the ends of the earth

will remember and turn to the LORD,

and all the families of the nations

will bow down before him,

28 for dominion belongs to the LORD

and he rules over the nations.

Psalm 22:27-28

Guess what my baby said today?!?!?!

As you know, my baby doesn't believe in saying, "Ma Ma". 

He is sticking to his convictions.

Today he looked straight at this man...

and said..."POP".

Clearly, this is some kind of conspiracy.

Done! The Interior Staircase

We finally pulled down the curtain hiding the mess that we call the interior staircase. I put away all the things I had stored (okay, hidden) on the steps and drug the rolls of carpet down and out of the way so we could get going on it.

What we thought was about a four day project turned into a bit more than that but it always does...and we just keep doing more.

The purple wall you see is actually a special type of sheet rock that helps deaden noise. Good thing since our bedroom is on the other side. It's worth the extra cost.

My hero, Pop, took the lead and figured out what all we needed and how to put it all together. He always asks my opinion and listens to my outrageous ideas, then we get to work. I've beome a pretty good construction assistant. Most of the time I know when to be quiet, when is a good time to ask questions, which tool will be needed next, how to work certain equipment (like the air compressor powered nail gun), etc; so Pop and I make a pretty good team.


My latest outrageous idea was to put drawers into the last step/landing to house family games in. Pop's idea for the last step/landing was to have a place for the grandkids to use as a stage. I think both ideas were good ones and Pop figured out how to make it happen.

The cowboys thought we should just take out the stairs and put in a slide. That would be fun!

Pop graciously acted like Vanna to show off the newly completed project in the following pic. I think he's pretty proud of his work - and he should be!


I think I'll keep him around another 35 years or so. The better he gets at doing these projects and the more tools he accumulates makes me think I'd better add some items to my honey do list!

You'll see another post about our next project soon. Stay tuned.

Am I beautiful yet?

I got the rare opportunity to sneak away to get my hair colored and cut.  While my color was processing I took this photo and e-mailed it to EJ with this question...

"Am I beautiful yet?"

EJ emailed me right back...

"Always."

Now there is a good man.

It's all about POP today!!!

Happy Birthday Pop!!!!

We watched some old home movies, ate some tasty food, and celebrated a man who is so special to each of us. We love you Pop!!!! Have a wonderful day!

We all went in on an Ipod Nano for Pop's gift!

The super cool "popcorn" cupcakes and the pretty girl who helped make them! Yum!

Soap Nuts...Say What?

When you start to cloth diaper you realize that detergent is VERY important.

The Wrong Detergent = Build Up

Build Up = Less Absorbent Diapers

Less Absorbent Diapers = Pee Pee Everywhere

Pee Pee Everywhere = One VERY UNHAPPY MOMMY

So, as I said, detergent is important.  Most of the time I use Rockin' Green.  I really like that detergent.  One day, I was visiting a cloth diaper store in another town.  The owner was really nice and gave me a sample of "Eco-Nuts" to wash my diapers.

I smiled, took the sample and thought "I'm never gonna use these."

Then my detergent got back ordered.

So, I did what I had to do.  I broke out the Soap Nuts.

I did a little research first. 

They are dried fruit shells from a certain type of tree.  All natural and all that good stuff.

They come with this dandy little cloth bag. 

You just slip about 5 of the soap nuts into the bag and close it tight.

Next you toss it in the wash with your diapers.

It's that easy.

When the wash is done, you just take the little bag out and let the shells air dry.

You can reuse them 5-6 times in hot water and more in cold. 

Everything smells and looks clean and soft.  The tough stains could use something stronger from time to time but I all in all I think these are a pretty stinkin' cool.

Tall drink of water....definition.....

def. adj...a man or woman who happens to be usually about 6+ inches taller than the average man or woman.

Alas this was NOT the same definition that Farm Chick had for this colloquialism.

There was a taller man who happened to walk by us as we were sitting at a table somewhere people watching and I noticed his height, to which I said...

"...wow! He's a tall drink of water!"

Farm Chick nearly fell out of her chair with explosive laughter.

I was completely confused.

He WAS really tall.  Why did she find that so funny?

Farm Chick had to explain that in her culture (aka the rest of the world) this was an innuendo!??!!

REALLY?

Well I'll be darned...won't use that one anymore!

Sweet Scripture

I LOVE being a part of women's bible study.  I adore learning more about my God and being able to share it with my sisters in Christ.

Right now, we are studying the new version of "Breaking Free" by Beth Moore.  This study focuses mostly on the book of Isaiah.  We have only met once so far.  It is an 11 week study with plenty of homework.

I am so excited to see where this study will take us!

This week's homework has already given me a lot to think about.

For instance...

"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is FREEDOM."  2 Corinthians 3:17

Hallelujah!

Have a wonderful Sunday friends!

Ebay

Bubba just continues to grow up.  This also means he continues to grow out of all his clothes. 

Bubba has two younger brothers so his clothes get passed down.

I have figured out which brands have the strength to make it through multiple rough and tumble boys.  The problem is that those clothes are usually pretty pricey. 

So, I thought I should probably take a note from the Duggar Family.  They always say, "Buy used and save the difference."  I decided to go on ebay and see if I could find some gently used clothes that still had enough life in them to make it through our bunch of boys.

Check out my loot!

5 pairs of pants

9 shirts

1 coat

Holla Holla...I'm savin' Dollas! :)

Poo Poo and Other Cat Problems

At Four Sisters Farm we have farm cats (aka barn cats). They are a necessary part of farm life and they are pretty cute. Right now there are four cats - you've probably already met Ranger. For a while he was the "lone ranger" when all the other cats disappeared. He's big, he's fluffy, he likes people, he tolerates the dogs, and he LOVES to eat...a lot and the other cats have been taking lessons.

When Ranger became the lone ranger, the Farm Hands decided to go get more cats. They came home with the next two cats pictured above. Their previous owners had sent them packing to the Humane Society. They never *fully tell you what kind of problems the previous owners had with these "rejected" felines but it is very suspicious.

Then when some friends moved away from the area, they had several kittens that we had offered to take in. Darling little things. Wild in varying degrees. Wild enough that I had our family "Cat Whisperer" (Lou Lou) and her BFF come to tame them and they had great success. You don't see pictures of them because one met her demise under the wheel of a pickup, a second one hitch-hiked into town and decided to stay, and the remaining little darling tries to be invisible and uncatchable as much as possible (which is why you don't see a picture of the little beast).

What seemed like a good idea to me was to keep these sweet little critters in the garage so they could adjust to their environment and not try to make a run for their former homes. EJ set up a communal food dish and litter bucket for them and all seemed well for a time. Then the weather turned cool and I got the bright idea to keep them in the shed to shelter them until spring...you know, when it would be warmer and the little cats would be larger. That's when the serious poo poo problems began. The little darlings seemed to be going number two excessively...in no time at all, they rendered their litter pan overflowing and trying to clean and refill seemed impossible. They started going in other places...like in the sawdust under the table saw and in small amounts of dust that had blown in under the garage door. Ugh. And the SMELL!

EJ tried to help me out. He said that we should just not feed them in the garage. But the little dears are hungry and they love me when I feed them. So for now, I'll keep changing the litter boxes...note that I said BOXES...I figure I'd rather change several litter boxes every few days than to sniff out and clean up the piles everywhere. I even figured out a way to recycle some boxes so I can just discard the mess - box and all. Spring can not come too soon this year. Then the little beasts will be big enough I won't feel badly for them. I'll happily feed them near the back door...and they can clean up their own messes! Yes, EJ, you were right. I've learned my lesson. As for now...cover me...I'm goin' in!

Me and My Man

"Gril" Snow Boots

Bubba is growing so stinkin' fast.  It seems like every time I turn around I need to purchase bigger clothes and shoes for him.

When it snowed recently, we learned that Bubba has outgrown his snow boots. 

I went to our small Wal-mart to pick up some new boots.  I saw four colors of kid's snow boots...black, blue, pink and purple.  I asked Bubba if he wanted black or blue.  He chose black. 

Away we went as happy as can be.

Fast forward a couple of days.

EJ helps Bubba get his boots on.

"FARM CHICK!" EJ yelled from the mudroom.

"Yes?" I answered.

EJ whispering so that Bubba won't hear, "These are girl's snow boots."

Me: "What?"

EJ: "Didn't you notice the delicate fur around the top?"

Me: "OH NO!  I'll get him some new ones ASAP."

Mr. Q is One!

How quickly they go from this...

To this...

We are one blessed family!

Netflix Rules

It's me EJ and I know I haven't been around in a while but I have several things on my heart that I need to share with you so be on the lookout for my wonderful pontifications.

Ok so there are a few basic rules with netflix. Because you pay a certain amount every month no matter how many movies you watch. It causes me to have an uncontrollable desire to make sure that I'm getting my money's worth. To assure that you must watch the movie the night you receive it in the mail and return the very next day promptly. This will assure you to pay as little as possible per movie. It's the only logical way of viewing this business relationship from the consumer standpoint. So no matter the night or no matter the schedule Farm Chick knows that is we got one of those delightful little red packages in the mail we're watching a movie! Oh yes we are!


One other thing; you must also make the schedule of movies is a palatable mixture or rhythm of comedies, action, and documentaries.

Our Multi-Generational Home

Four Sisters Farm started out with just us Farm Hands.  When Pop and Grammy moved back to the state we became a multi-generational home.  Certainly there are challenges when you combine two family units under one roof.  We have had our share of them but overall this little experiment has turned out to be a major blessing.

If all goes according to plan, EJ and I will build a home in a few years.  Grammy and I get a little teary when we discuss it.  It will be tough to leave this place.  However, there will come a time when we will outgrow our floor and Pop and Grammy will be ready to remodel. 

For now, I will enjoy it.

I am going to start documenting some of the moments that bless my heart.

Recently, I planned a night away for EJ and I to celebrate his birthday.  I asked Pop and Grammy to keep the cowboys for us.

This is the note I left them... 

You mommas will understand this.  When you leave your children for the night the list is usually much longer.  It must include a much more detailed account of what each little person needs, likes and dislikes.  It involves schedules and feeding instructions and diaper directions.

I got to leave without giving instructions on any of this.  Pop and Grammy just know it. 

Pull ups? Nope, Antsy Pants.

When we started using cloth diapers with Q we decided that we might as well use cloth pull ups with our potty trainer.  I researched different types and settled on Antsy Pants.  They are awesome!  We only need them for night time now.  If we were using them full time, we would definitely buy more.

Check them out...

You ate what?!?!

Son: "Mommy, I'm sorry I ate your candle."

Me:  (trying my very best not to laugh out loud)  "How did it taste?"

Son: "Yucky!"

Me: "Need a drink?"

Son: "YES!"

A lotsa kids

As you know, we feel like our family is not yet complete. 

Do you also remember that our oldest child, Bubba, made it clear to us that God was preparing his heart for a new child long before baby Q made his arrival?

For several months we have noticed that Bubba is consistently talking about his future brothers and sisters.  He often starts conversations with, "When my brothers and sisters get here..."

He has been known to announce that, "we are going to have 5 boys and 5 grils." (grils=girls.  I think that is way too cute.  "Grils" will probably be in our family's vocabulary forever now).  I have also heard him say that, "we are going to have too many kids to count...lotsa kids."    

Recently, Bubba got an idea.  "Mom, we are going to clean our room!  Come on Wubba!  Let's go clean our room."  Hmm...I thought that was a little weird.  Soon they emerged, "Mom, come in here and see our room!" 

I headed in there to see a very clean room. 

Bubba: "We cleaned our room so now we can fit more brothers and sisters in here!"

Tears came to my eyes as I hugged my little man.  "I love your heart" I whispered in his ear.

Here they are showing off their clean room.

The other night, as we were tucking the boys into bed, Bubba once again asked us about his future brothers and sisters.  We told him the same thing we always tell him..."just pray about it, sweetie.  God has a plan for our family and we can trust him."

But all the sudden I realized something...Bubba asks us for more brothers and sisters but we don't really talk to the boys about the process.  In fact, before Q's arrival we never mentioned adoption to the boys.  It seemed like an abstract concept at the time.  But now, they are older and they have experienced an adoption. 

So...EJ and I looked into their sweet little eyes and said, "Boys, we want you to know that Mommy and Daddy are doing our part too.  We have prayed about it and asked God for wisdom.  We are filling out the paper work and meeting with the people who can bring more brothers and sisters here."

They both got big smiles and seemed pleased with that answer.

Overheard at Four Sisters Farm

"Mommy, I'm not gettin' any younger!"

"Mom, did you notice that chocolate chips are the same color as poop?"  (as he consumes chocolate chips)

"God gave me too many boogers so I can't sniff."

As I am correcting him for something he says..."Mommy, you have a naughty face!"

Staples are for paper...

Recently, my little superman met his kryptonite.  (A kitchen counter) It was bad. It left a good size gash on the top of his perfect little blonde head. I called MY 911 which is grammy and she came running. I put superman in the car and headed to the ER. He was cool and calm and I appeared to be the same. On the inside, however, I was SCREAMING! I was pleading with the Lord that this was not going to require stitches (I knew it would). We got into a room, the doc came in and took a peek at his head. She said, "oh yeah. That's going to require staples, no doubt." I cringed, but smiled for the sake of my 4 year old. I then quietly asked her, "what do you use to numb the area?" To which she said, "This will be hard to believe, but nothing.".....

I thought about a swift ninja kick to the head.... her head, for even thinking about STAPLING my son's head with no pain medicine. Instead I said, "You have got to be kidding me. I haven't even given him tylenol yet." We chatted a few more minutes, but there was nothing else I could do. I gave him a ring pop (sucker) and hugged his little body as she put FOUR staples on the top of his head. It was awful, but he is tough. 

I was impressed with his composure. He even thanked the doc for helping him as she walked out. Now that's my kind of kid. 

And just to add to that fun ER trip... a large man checked us in when we walked in. Superman was pretty worried for this man's health and could NOT stop asking me, "Mom, do you think he drinks a lot of pop? Is that why he's unhealthy?" I tried to SHUSH him, but he was truly worried for this guy and had no idea that his words would be insulting. We've had some long talks since then about asking those kinds of questions LATER, you know, when the overweight man is not standing in front of us. Geez.

A good man

EJ hates coffee.  He doesn't even like the smell. 

I LOVE coffee.  Bad.  I love it so much.

In the last week my man has taken to making me a perfect cup of coffee and delivering it to me before I even open my eyes.

I heart him.

Our baby wears cloth diapers

When Q was about 4 months old I decided to give cloth diapers a try.  One of my dear friends was planning to cloth diaper her baby and I had been listening with intrigue.

Here is what I have learned about cloth diapering so far...

There are tons of types of diapers and you have to find the best ones for you.

At this point we are loving the Flip Diaper System.

Here are the covers...

Here is the insert...(we chose the organic cotton insert)

You fold it one way...

Then the other...

Then you take the cover and lay it out like this...

Then you slip the insert in and tuck it under the flaps...

TaDa...a cloth diaper with fancy snaps and everything!

Next find your squiggly, wiggly baby and put it on him...

Then attempt to take pictures of him in the cloth diaper while he crawls away...

Try again but this time he will crawl towards you...

And into your lap...

Okay, here is the deal.  If your baby pees in their diaper all you have to do is take the insert out and throw it in a wet bag.  Then you replace it with a fresh insert.  But if the dreaded number two has occurred, you pull out the big guns. 

Behold, the Diaper Sprayer...

This handy contraption keeps you from touching poo.  You just hold onto the diaper and spray the poo off into the toilet and flush.  Then you place the diaper (cover and all) in the wet bag.  This time you replace with a whole new cover and diaper.  Important note: do not install this diaper sprayer where your children use the potty.  Put it in your master bathroom.  Trust me on this one.  Even the tiny one thinks it would be a fun toy...

Here is that awesome wet bag.  It is an important tool in cloth diapering.  Now that you have filled that bad boy up with yucky diapers it's time to wash. (For us that is every other day) So, here is what you do...you simply unzip the top of the bag and turn it inside out dumping everything into the washer (including the bag).

 Next, you do a cold rinse with no detergent.  Then you use detergent specifically made for cloth diapers.  Then run the cycle that does a hot wash and cold rinse. 

Then you hang the covers to dry and throw the inserts in the dryer to tumble dry.

I didn't mention the cloth wipes.  They just make sense.  This way you reuse your wipes over and over again.  You might as well.  You are already washing the diapers.  (My favorite so far is the fuzzibunz brand).

So, tell the truth...you think I'm a total hippy now don't you?

Knights & Princesses

We have a family tradition of Christmas pajamas that reached new heights as we celebrated Christmas 2010 with a “Knights & Princesses” theme. Our brave young men (with Lou Lou’s, DW’s, and Doc’s help) put on a short play.

The Dark Knight (Doc) kidnapped the “Middle Princess” Ladybug and the brave young men came to King Pop of Four Sisters Farm and asked for his help. They wanted to be knights to fight for right. King Pop told them that they must defeat the Dark Knight and rescue Princess Ladybug if they wanted to be knights…so…of course, they fought the Dark Knight and prevailed.

The fighting was so fierce that the mommies of the knights and princesses intervened.

Then they returned to King Pop with the rescued princess and King Pop made good on his promise to knight them. They went from fierce, LOUD little boys to intent listeners as Pop spoke. He called each one by his “knightly” name and knighted them with a foam sword. “Bubba, Son of EJ, I knight thee ‘Bubba the Brave.” You must defend right and protect the family.” They each waited their turn, very quietly; and took in every word that Pop spoke…then the princesses wanted their turns as well and instead of knighting them, Pop bestowed their titles as princesses of Four Sisters Farm. We got the whole thing on video and it will be a treasure.

All the princesses - including the mommies and myself (though I am admittedly the "Queen" of Four Sisters Farm by virtue of my long-standing relationship with King Pop) wore crowns and tutus and acted very “princessy.”

The food, Christmas cookies and candies, gifts, and stockings were fun too, but being together was the best of all.

From the whole Four Sisters Farm family, we hope you had a wonderful Christmas celebration and we pray that God will bless you abundantly in 2011.

Damsels in Distress????

Biggest Loser Confusion

I never really enjoyed the show Biggest Loser until my workout buddy suggested we watch it while we work out on Tuesday nights.  When you watch a 400 pound man run on a treadmill you realize you have no excuse.  It is certainly motivating.  Anyway, I have been a fan for the last few years or so. 

Around our house, our children rarely see the TV on.  We don't have cable so there is nothing on for kiddos during the day.  (We do let them watch their movies though)  Anyway, I was sitting one morning watching a little Good Morning America when a commercial for Biggest Loser came on.  I told the boys that I love that show and I like to watch it at the gym.

Bubba: "Momma, I don't want you to lose all your weight."
Me: "Honey that is sweet but Momma works out to get healthy."
Bubba: (with a seriously concerned look on his face) "But Mom, I don't want you to get big like that!"
Me: "Oh, you think those people are going to the gym to get big.  No honey, they aren't trying to get big.  They just started exercising to get healthy.  They aren't trying to get bigger."

So here is to the new season of Biggest Loser that starts tonight!  May we all get healthier not bigger!

Nail gun wielding Grammy

Pop and Grammy are hard at work.  They are fixing up a stair case.  The cowboys are loving this project because they can look down the stair case and watch.

I even put Q's high chair in a place where he can see them and "fix" his toys.

Wubba thinks they are kind of noisy but still wants to watch.

Now, seriously, how cute is my Mother?  She can bake a mean batch of cookies, sew up a storm and apparently also handily wield a nail gun. 

You rock Mom!