Rosie

I saw a Jersey milk cow on Craigslist last week and inquired about her. The people selling said they had several available for sale and that they would send me pictures in a couple of days. On the day they were going to send pictures, they called and said, “we’re in Blackfoot and will be to your house first and you can have first dibs on a cow.” WHAT?!?? We did a little scrambling and found out we could keep the cow at Shawn’s parent’s farm until we got a fence up here. The kids picked a beautiful Jersey - we’re crossing our fingers that she’s really going to calve. She’s a yearling and I dont see any signs so far...but she seems really sweet like all the Jersey cows I grew up with.  I’m excited to get her home and spray her off because she’s pretty dirty. 

Yard projects

We’ve almost got the whole yard weeded and ready to plant. I love a good project and this house has opportunities for lots of them!

Shawn and the boys worked in a fence for the chicken run since the chicks are almost ready to venture outside:

Mighty hunters

The boys recently discovered we had a bunny and asked if they could kill it. I told them they could, but that we weren’t going to kill things just for fun and if they killed it we would eat it. Kami and I were doing dishes one morning and saw them head out with a BB gun. She said, “what if they really kill it? I said, “I’ve seen that thing take off. I think their chances are pretty slim.” Five minutes later here they were:

And so we began our lesson on the anatomy/ physiology of the rabbit. I’ll spare everyone the pictures of skinning it and cutting off feet, etc. I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was! The boys did it all as Kami and I stood by giving them moral support on what to do next😄

The finished cut meat soaking in a salt brine. We left it there for a couple of days and then made “bunny pot pie” for dinner. Tasted like chicken!😄 The boys were so proud of themselves, and I must say it was a very educational day for all of us:

Random moments

Between Kami, Caden, and Maddie, there’s always someone playing the piano and or singing and I love it.

The boys got 300 army boys and Abram has a breathing treatment every night before bed:

Pace after telling a funny joke:

Pace and Kami fishing. The boys all got fishing poles for Easter, as it’s a great social distancing activity. Kami is always in hopes of success because she can’t get enough fish ever since going to the 

Phillipines:

Maddie’s beautiful sidewalk art:

Sunday afternoon walk to the river:

FHE cleaning up/ weeding Jim and Marilyns yard:

Pace during lunch one day:

Trying out a new hairdo:

We’ve had a broken dishwasher for the last month and can’t do a thing about it since we’re renting. I do dishes for three or four hours per day! This is towards the end of a session with Anni. What a great help!

Reading books before bed. We have an interesting set-up because the people we’re renting from wanted to leave all of their furniture in the house. All of ours are therefore in storage and some of the kids get to share a bed.

Black ninjas

Sometimes it’s necessary to go to the store during Covid-19. Since masks are encouraged, the kids decided to wear them in style😄 They did some somersaults in the isles and the whole works😂😂

Easter 2020

We had such a great Easter week! We did our regular tradition of reading each morning about what Jesus did on the corresponding day leading up to His resurrection, and hanging pictures on a wall that matched the events.

We dyed eggs for FHE, and on Thursday had this Passover meal:

I made foods that Jesus may have eaten: kabobs, hummus, pita bread, lentil soup, grapes, oranges, olives, etc.  We ate on the floor and took turns reading scriptures around the “table” before eating. Then we finished with a video about it after dinner. I think we will want this to be a regular tradition!

The kids requested a continuance of the tradition to have to follow a string of yarn to their baskets on Easter morning. And only these three participated in the hunt. Everyone else felt like they are too old for it: 

The kids making “Resurrection rolls”:

They turned out so beautifully, haha. But they were empty 🤷‍♀️

 

Nolan and Anni during singing time:

Everything’s better when the sun shines!

This was such a great week! The weather was in the 60’s for a few days and we were all able to get outside and enjoy it. Isabelle go on bike rides most days when it’s sunny and I got a lot done in the yard. First I painted these front steps so that they went from this: 

To this:

Then I started tackling all of the beds and am about 2/3 of the way through that. Probably the hardest thing about renting a house, to me, is that I can’t put my own touch on it. Luckily the owners have said that they don’t care what we do with the yard so I’m having a good time fixing it up. 

We went on several walks and hikes:

Our week in a nutshell

The term “nutshell” adequately describes how we felt  on what is it- our third week of quarantine?? The weather was cold and windy outside so we were all INSIDE which made the house feel as small as a nutshell. We only had one day that we REALLY had cabin fever. The other days we just had to get really creative about what to do. Our go-to project? Painting rocks and “elf houses”.

L-r: my house, Kami’s, Maddie’s:

L-r:Nolan’s, Caden’s, Abram’s:

Shawn and Pace built a bridge and a swing set. I will have to get pics when everything’s all set up.

The chicks are still living in the mud room until the weather warms up a bit. Nolan went to work with Shawn one day and so it was up to the three youngest to clean the little box and feed the chicks:

Part of a dinner Pinterest fail. Only it’s not as bad if you can’t see what I was trying to copy 😂

Our elf or fairy houses:

Then we moved on to painting rocks or in Anni’s case, her body:

Kami’s:

Mine:

Kami’s:

Mine:

Kami’s:

My up-side-down butterfly:

Most of our rocks all together:

Two of my gorgeous girls asked Caden to take pictures of them one day:

And used their amazing talents to make me feel special on my birthday. Isabelle with this cake:

And Maddie with her Calligraphy and artistic skills to make this card:

Now that Caden is home, various Sunday games happen again: 

And lots of music! Either he or Kami or Maddie are constantly playing the piano and usually one plays while the others sing. They sound so good and have so much fun!