Life in Pics

I have every knowledge that this is just about the most boring and overused title of mine right now....but due to lack of feeling the creativity vibe at the current moment....the post is stuck with it. Because this post is exactly that. Picture catch up. Due to integrating a new computer and several new devices into our family system picture uploading has been slow. With  a lot of life happening there has been very little time to make any new posts. Thank you for loving us, checking in on us, and for the concerned questions when we go missing for a bit. Here are some promised pics until another word heavy laden post can be made. In all the switch between electronics some pictures have been uploaded to a storage device that is, for now, inaccessible since navigating it all has proven to include a pretty steep learning curve. But, I think there's still plenty left to get the general idea of life in our tiny little abode. Fence system is in....finally. I'm fairly certain we had 3 acres worth of wire buried in record time. Yet another one of the many advantages to a ton of working kids. Divide and conquer! Dogs are that much closer to freedom and neighbor is that much closer to being totally at peace with us. Garden plans have been laid out, tiller has been rented, ground prepping has begun. I didn't think it was humanly possible to be this excited over watching something grow. I also underestimated the need for a PhD in order to make seed selections. To live in a place that grows things....it's still an absolute novelty. I have discovered my new passion is just creating...watching it all grow. Flowers, bushes, vegetables, fruit trees. There is no greater miracle than watching something of substance grow from something so tiny and so nearly non existent.



This past Christmas was probably 2nd runner up in one of the loneliest, most difficult times of being here. Somewhere I thought that 2 1/2 yrs here would eventually settle us in..but finding our normal here seems ever elusive. And moving....moving is just always difficult...even when it's from somewhere so unkept to somewhere so relatively dreamy. It still is upheaval of all of life, structure, organization, and settling 14 people in a space that was built to accommodate about 4. Someday a blog post will follow on that note. Until then....working husband and I decided to surprise children with a Christmas redo and have a "Celebrate Love" holiday. Valentine's provided the perfect opportunity for just that. Complete with balloons, party food, streamers, gifts, and no stress we succeeded in creating our very own new holiday that surpassed any Christmas we have ever had. We thanked children for going above and beyond what most adults will ever in a lifetime do, for rising above the mundane and going the extra mile, for walking out the past 2 1/2 yrs with us with such amazing attitudes, for enduring such heavy scrutiny and criticism with such grace, for embracing love when all of life screams to run the other direction, for loving all the seemingly unloveable in life, for allowing this time in life to pull all of us together instead of driving us apart. We celebrated health....as it's the first time in 2 1/2 yrs we haven't been sick constantly. Mice and mold induced sicknesses are a thing of the past and we all have actually gone without any stomach or bronchial related issues since living on our little farm. We thanked them for all they are and all they are becoming, their many....many.....sacrifices along the way and the way they have learned contentment and joy....even when we struggle. For all that we have faced, all that we have come up against, all that we have conquered....we have grown. So, in honor of them we created our own appreciation/celebration love holiday....and we celebrated like Christmas....in February. And it was the most amazing thing we have ever done. It was a much needed morale booster and made our little farm feel a little more like home. As part of the celebration and gifts their desires for a swingset finally came true...so the last few weeks of life have consisted in a LOT of outside hours, as they all work with daddy to bring it to life and I work on dogs, fence and garden. It is an absolutely amazing thing to be in a place with open pastures, sun, open sky, and grassy areas for singsets, trampolines, garden and composting while a forested wonderland of creeks, frogs, turtles, plants, raccoons and deer lies just beyond the tree line.

There are no words for just how much this girl is loved and just how cute she is. 

When he plays and sings to me. Lady Antebellum "When You Got a Good Thing", "Heart of the World", Brad Paisley "Then". He makes the whole world a better place...and he's just kinda sexy. 

Maybe your mom's pregnant a lot when.....

Free to play all hidden in paradise.

The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker....and their little ballerina in tow.

Mesmerized by being able to watch daddy running calls. Footage he brought home from work.

 Having an entire conversation while we clean.

I'd say he's got his work cut out for him.

The many different faces of mischief and total fun.

Forest love.

 Lunchtime company.

Grainy but so sweet. Somewhere along the way he just got so big.

 The one in the pillowcase....yeah. I have no clue.

Intense games of Crash Bandicoot while loving on baby girl. 

Love Day shopping buddy.

My most favorite thing about having one vehicle. Waiting for him in the early morning light.

Yep. No helmets. But they lived..and big brother accomplished the job of bringing home the straggler left behind by racing siblings. .

She has my heart.

When a dream comes true. His very own BJJ gi. 

When you live in mud.....pallets serve a multitude of purposes. I just really love this.

Visible evidence that love and kindness reap eternal rewards. Love gifts from Neighbor D. What you sow, you will reap.....literally and in every other way. For the history and rough start of living beside neighbor D....see here.

My amazing mom and deeply missed, TX living brother 2 hours after she and motorcycle man were hit on his bike by a red light runner. The face of strength and love. Injuries suffered were identical compound fractures of their right legs.  One surgery, one steel rod, a few screws and one steel plate later for each of them they are home and doing well. It's a very difficult thing to live this far away when you need to go home. They sure are smily to each have bones sticking out of their legs at the moment.

 Helpin' daddy.

The fruits of their labor. Patiently...or not so patiently....waiting for the net.

 Boy activity of the early morning....squishing the ant. 

A little bit of throwback as we go through old pictures. Daddy and his 2 wk old Evye-girl. 

Uncle Scott/Eagle Scout and cub scout Grayson

Lookin' a little bit like all of her siblings.

Slip slidin' around. The life of a public safety family. When all the rest of the world stays home....you're out in it. Living in the arctic tundra. I'm fairly certain this has been the longest winter known to mankind. Pretty beautiful stuff though.

Waiting our turn at the DMV. Cold rainy day errands. 

Forever her buddy. Never alone. These two are proving to be the best of buds.

Selfies at the age of 3. Who knew. All the surprises that await us on the phones when pics are downloaded. 

Warmer days and cabin fevered kids! Finally outside again.

What 10 days worth of waiting and hoping looks like when it all comes true. He has a forever friend in the UPS man now. 

"Helpers" preparing it all for flowers. Lots and lots of flowers.

Maybe these two were cut from the same mold. An almost 2 yr old Gates and an almost 2 yr old Grayson.

How many people can you fit on one couch????? This is not including the dog laying on my feet out of camera sight.

Listening to audiobooks with a rapt audience. 

Spring is coming!