rabbit.

DISCLOSURE: PLEASE DO NOT PROCEED IF YOU ARE SOMEONE WHO WILL BE GROSSED OUT BY A DEAD ANIMAL. IN THIS CASE A RABBIT.

THAT WAS YOUR WARNING. :)))))

so this was taken a couple days ago.

rabbit hunting in the snow.

i thought it was a freezing day for this, but, what do i know?

what a day.

woke up with a raging headache.

that quickly took a downward spiral into a migrainey kind of headache.

i got sick. the whole sha-bang.

thankful for a husband who cancelled my dentist appointment.

took the kids to school.

took the other 2 for a 2 hour field trip.

and went to be the homeroom mom in kaden's class, for the valentine's party.

while i tried to keep it together under my covers. in the black.

ugh.

he really shined today.

thanks matt. xxoo.

love him forever. *

and here is to finding a new norm...maybe the kids will go to school for a full day tomorrow.

here's to hoping.

i feel like my house is a total wreck all the time.

i.am.over.it.

but i think i told you that the last post.

dreaming of all things sunshiney and warm.

i am off to bed.

sleep tight.

* growing up *

ice storm. 2014.

(this is the generator shed, hence the door is open, because it was RUNNING for awhile.)

i guess i am officially going to call this the winter of no school.

i think we went to school 1 day this week.

1 DAY.

no school again today.

did you know at this hour 50% of chester county is STILL without electricity?

that means, we were for sure a priority.

but that doesn't explain why I still know farmers in Cochranville who are without electricity.

does that mean my husband yells louder and more often?

quite possibly.

;))))

yesterday we went swimming with some friends at Bird-In-Hand Family Inn's pool.

well. it is safe to say that I stayed in the hot tub MOST of the time.

but the kids had a great time.

we basically had the place to ourselves until the last half hour of our time.

awesomeness. right?

today. i think i am taking all five kids to see a movie.

i think it will work only because karolina STILL has a nuk and blankee, so i will take this along.

and she might just fall asleep.

frozen. that's the movie.

appropriate. don't ya think?

i know. i know.

karolina is STILL not potty trained AND still has her nuk.

eeeekkkkk.

this would have been the perfect opportunity to seize the day for that...

but alas, i just could not bear to tackle it when we cannot escape the house.

enjoy some pictures of God's handiwork this week.



 

 

PoWEr.

Just a quick update here...

our power was finally restored sometime thru the night.

yippee.

i am not sure how our district is fairing.

we are supposed to be a critical customer because of our farming operation,

which gives us priority,

but i did hear from a friend this morning, from Parkesburg, and they got their power back last night as well.

i did see a lot of Chester county schools are still off today,

as are we, 

POWER being the main issue.

760,000 was the number on the news today.

we were one of them.

whew. glad we are not anymore.

hope to post pictures from our ice storm soon.

thanks for all of you who were praying for us.

it is a little stressful not to have power when your chicken houses are FULL of chickens.

even with a generator.

hoping to take the kids on a fun field trip today.

will keep you posted.

;)))

some more randomness.

is randomness even a word?

i don't think so.

but, i am going to use it anyway. :)

baby. it's cold outside.

how about it?

i haven't had to drive a crazy amount in the snow. that makes me happy.

love all you farmers who have to go out "in it" all.the.time. everyday.

no matter what.

kudos to you.

that would probably make me cranky.

i am so thankful to be a woman. :)

totally serious.

i love it when my husband treats me well.

opening car doors, stoking the fire, goes out in the cold to take care of chickens,

feeds the cows, plows the driveway, washes my car...

oh. so many things.

happy to be married to my man.

happy to be a woman. :)

Thankful for so many things in my  life for that matter.

Tickled to be a wife, and a mom.

although i feel like they are the hardest things to be on earth!!

i learn more and more everyday. not just about my kids. and how each one is different.

but about myself. as well.

these were just a few pictures taken in the last snow storm.

since then, we have had a bout of sickness run thru our household.

fevers and coughs.

so extremely thankful we were not puking.

that is the worst for me.

yesterday everyone was home from school except kaden...

and he had been home for 3 days the week before.

today, there is only 1 fever left.

whoo.hoo.
that my friends is just another gift.

how are you spending the winter?

has there been much sickness in your household?

are you dreaming of spring and what you want to accomplish when it gets warm out again?

are you spending time reading by the fire, being lazy, like me? :)

oh. friends.

i hope you have a joy filled day and can find Jesus in it somewhere!

much love.

mk.

snowtime fun.





 

guess who?

yes...it's me. it's me.

i have scant memories of hanging on for DEAR LIFE the few times i have ridden snowmobiles.
it wasn't much.
was either with: a) my dear hubs when I was just 14 or 15 years old, or
b)another friend of my brother's brett eby...when i was a little bit older?

i must say it was pretty fun driving.
granted i was not going very fast, and it was daylight out.
win.win.

was nice to get out for a bit.
kaden is sick.
poor guy. pretty sick. fever. cough. headache.
sounds like the flu.
i was so tickled we haven't really been sick since august.
a bout of strep, and that's been it.

guess my luck ran out. :)

the snowy owl.

my titles are so creative, aren't they?

the snowy owl.

we have a snowy owl that is hanging around here.

it is awesome.

i have never seen such a beautiful creature.

really. it has captivated me.

this picture was taken thru my car window...i was afraid he was going to fly away...and he did as i got closer.

this was friday morning around 8 a.m.
he has been spotted around the neighborhood.
infact. he was first seen on sunday, on our neighbors roof, and then on the baseball field,
but by the time we got home sunday afternoon, he was gone...

matt took this picture today...at 10:30 a.m. when he came home from goose hunting...there he was...
but was gone, when we got home from basketball games at lunchtime...


i feel like our compost pile is now feeding:
a) coyotes
b) bald eagles
and now
c) a snowy owl.

whoo.hoo.



okay. so the kids are playing so nicely, so i thought i would make good use of my time and research my new friend,
the snowy owl.

those of you who know me, know this is COMPLETELY UNTYPICAL of me.
i do not like animals.
not fond of them at all in fact.
sure. i grew up on a farm. now i live on a farm.

and NOW i am researching a snowy owl
another full circle event in my life. :)

some things i found out via the internet...mostly national geographic are:

* these large owls breed on the Arctic tundra, and northern most stretches of Alaska, Canada and Eurasia
* this year (2013/2014) is the largest mass southern migration of the snowy owl ever seen (thousands)...i don't really
know how they know all this?? A snowy owl was seen in Florida, 1st sighting there in decades.
* Females will lay a clutch of 3-11 eggs, clutch size depends on food availability...some years females may not lay
any eggs.
* Parents are territorial and will defend nests against all comers- even WOLVES. :)
* Young owls- especially males, get whiter as they get older. Females are darker, with dusky spotting and never
become totally white.
* Patient hunters. Perches and waits for prey. Keen eyesight and great hearing.
* Carnivore: preferring lemmings, but will supplement diet with: rabbits, rodents, birds and fish. (interesting...
we have seen tons of rabbits around here, until just last week...hmmmmm...)
* Lemming availability may determine the extent of Southern migration. Eat 3-5 lemmings a day, or 7-12 field mice
a day. (Wonder why he's here?) He has found a great place to feast on several different meals of choice here. :)
* Snowy owls, are diurnal- they hunt and are active both day and night. They are most active at dawn and dusk...which
is also interesting...we have always seen the snowy owl at morning or mid-day...
* Nests on the ground, and are low flyers. (My very first question was wondering why we are seeing him on the ground,
or perched very low...this is why. was awesome to see him fly away...his wing span is huge, and to see such a
huge wingspan so low to the ground was really neat).

So...there you go.

We got home from church today, and found a note from my aunt and uncle from VA...they were passing thru and decided to try to spot our snowy owl. So sorry you didn't see him. We haven't seen him at all today. But so tickled you stopped by. Sorry we missed you Vic and Christina!!

I have several people requesting calls the next time our snowy owl appears...we'll see how that goes. :))

i am shooting.

who is EVER going to believe this?

i don't really even believe this...

i was a field hockey player.

i was the homecoming queen.

i went away to college and was so homesick i had to transfer...and commute from home.

eeeekkkkkk.

i live on a farm. i was never going to live on a farm. ;)

i also have 5 kids. i was only ever going to have 3.

i was going to work full time as a Physical Therapist Assistant.

work full time? what?

stay at home mom. yep. that's me. 

and now. and NOW.

i am shooting a bow.

whoo.hoo.

full circle baby. i believe that is what you call it.

snow day fun.

we certainly capitalized on the snow from last week this weekend.

we got a new toy.

kids were driving it by saturday.

eeeekkkkkk. :/



i have some great video. :)

happy. happy. day.

the new year.

the new year has arrived.

2014.

the year i will turn 36 years old.

how does THAT happen?

the same year my husband will turn 40.

eeekkkkkk.

send me some good party ideas, will ya? ;)

the year my kids will keep growing by leaps and bounds.

the year i pledge to complete my weight loss journey. since all my babies, i mean.

(my baby will be 3 this year). : /

the year i pledge to spend time with Jesus at the start of -each- day.

the year i pledge to keep my desk organized for longer than 3 days.

the year i pledge to FOCUS.

yep. that is my resolution word for the year.

FOCUS.

isn't it great?

it encompasses everything.

if i could just focus on each thing that i do, it would be grand.

but instead, i multi-task, and get a million things done in a day, but not finished.

does that make sense?

FOCUS.

if blogger worked right for me, i would have that centered, in a different font, and really big.

but since blogger does not work correctly anymore. that is all ya get.

since i didn't get around to posting our Christmas pictures until now...here ya go.

we had a fabulous Christmas.

Christmas Eve was spent with Matt's family and my family was together the Saturday after Christmas.

which means Christmas Day was just us. I LOVE that.

just US.

i spent most of the day in my jammies. and most of the day, the house was a wreck.

and i didn't care.

I had a fun day off. and actually. i think i took about a week off.

i am paying for that now.

 

but. i will probably do the same thing next year. in case you are wondering. ;))

     

  

 

 

the goose pit.

so. i felt like my husband was a hunter before we got married.

but now that we *are* married is he EVER a hunter. :)

why is it that he never left for a weekend to hunt when we were dating.

but he never misses a  hunting trip now?

i w.o.n.d.e.r.

i have come to realize matt really enjoys hunting.

he tells me it's good *alone time with the Lord*

who is going to argue with that, right? ;)

whatever. alone time with God or not?

i have realized life goes much better for me, for us, if he is able to hunt.

whenever.he.wants.too.

so. yes. that means he is goose hunting with the guys on Thanksgiving morning when I am preparing

for his extended family of 37. :)

that means hours and hours of undocumented time. gone. sitting in

a) either a tree with a bow or a gun or

b) the goose pit.

this year it meant that he wanted us to come to the goose pit on Christmas day.

yes. i did.

i woke children from naps.

left the house a total wreck.

made some hot water. and packed the bags for a hot chocolate bar in the pit.

we pulled on snowsuits. dug out hats and mittens. and we were off.

to.the.goose.pit.

Christmas afternoon.

we didn't see any geese that night.

maybe we were too loud?

;))

but it was fun for us to see why daddy likes the goose pit so much.

not to say i understand it. ;)

but i do hope to learn to hunt soon.

so that i can understand my man better.

so i can spend more time with him. doing things that he loves to do.

maybe i will understand "the thrill of the hunt" someday.

and maybe not.

until then. i will try not to get cranky about all the time he spends hunting.

and focus on being a better help mate instead.

now. i have to pay some bills.

i really must have taken a vacation...some of these are *late. eeekkkkk.

and then we are off to the store.

and then. we are going to clean the house.

and then we are going to razzle-dazzle the new year in.

HAPPY 2013. You have been good to us.

Bring it on 2014...i wonder what you have in store for us?

My Christmas post is coming soon...

it will probably bring in the New Year.

what i didn't say, was since matt spends a lot of time hunting.

then that kind of gives me permission to sit down and drink some coffee, and read a book or some magazines. :))

apparently, i wasn't paying the bills.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!