The Farm Report

  • Fairy house

    Fairy house

    During this glorious break from winter, I pushed the kids outside. They wandered out with squinty eyes and declared, “Hey, it’s nice out here!”

    Today I cleaned out my car. During these cold months, the clutter has piled up in the corners until it was tough to squeeze in a passenger. Groceries were a challenge to fit in the back on account of the tools and half-finished projects.

    Ellery joined in. Long after I’d decluttered and vacuumed, she scrubbed the baseboards with gusto. I swear she was in there for an hour. I left her to her work and mucked out the coop.

    Shep was running circles around the yard. And Neko? She was hard at work on this fairy house.

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  • Balmy

    Balmy

    It hit 40 degrees today, which is downright spring-like compared to the winter wonderland we’ve been living in. When Neko discovered the rain had melted much of the snow, she got rather indignant, and insisted on pulling out the snow tubes and enjoying what little white stuff was left.

    Nancy and Mary Beth were visiting, so we decided to take advantage of the moment to throw everyone outside for some much needed Vitamin D.

    Hello sunshine.

    (I think Ellery’s boots are on backwards.)

  • Puzzled

    Puzzled

    I just spent much of the last 24 hours tackling a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle, my first puzzle above 30 pieces in about a decade. I’m not sure why, but I needed an analog diversion for a bit. And then it became a bit of an obsession, staying up far too late trying to piece together those toothy plants that sat right below the yellow submarine.

    At around 2:30pm today, I snapped the last piece into place.

  • The day after

    The day after
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    The day after Christmas started well enough. Our family present was a big bunch of Lego. When everyone seemed restless, we cracked it out and began building. Neko and I worked on a house, Tom worked on some wheelie contraption, and Ellery made a grocery store. Shep worked on a bedroom with a secret door in the roof, but it got taken apart before I got out the camera. I love that they’re finally at the age where they make THINGS.

    By afternoon, we were off to Barb and Ev’s house to celebrate with Tom’s side of the family, which was somewhat incomplete due to our nephew’s unfortunate ear infection. I swear, the moment we pulled into their driveway, the inevitable post-holiday letdown hit. Suddenly our under-slept, over-excited children became raving maniacs. It was great to see Tom’s family, but, ohmygoodness, those kids were crazy.

    An early departure was followed by an even earlier bedtime. We’re looking for a few quiet(er) days ahead.

  • White Christmas

    White Christmas
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    What a fantastic day.

    Neko woke up at 5:30am, but we managed to put her off until 6:15am. Everyone was ecstatic about their gifts. I declare that everyone got exactly what they needed. Butterscotch the horse was adored every bit as much as Neko said she would be. Ellery pranced in her twirly skirt and Shep delighted in his magnetic roller coaster.

    In the afternoon, we visited my parents for another round of gifts, good food, and sledding.

    As a Christmas gift to myself, I decided not to pick up the camera. Instead, I decided to just be present in the day. (But I couldn’t resist snapping a few as the kids squealed their way down the sledding hill.)

    Don’t worry—full documentation of favorite gifts, including the world’s most enormous robotic horse will appear here shortly.

  • ’Twas the night before Christmas

    ’Twas the night before Christmas

    Cookies for Santa, apples for the reindeer. Strangely, preparations are complete and both parents are tucked into bed by 10:30pm. That’s some kind of record around these parts.

    Off to sugarplums and whatnot…

  • Christmas Eve at the museum

    Christmas Eve at the museum
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    As has become our tradition, we headed to the museum on the morning of Christmas Eve. It is a low-traffic day at the museum, and it gives us a chance to have some solid family time during the holiday. This year, loads of friends joined us, which made it even more fun.

    We arrived right as the museum opened, and as we walked in the door, Santa was waiting for us, scooping up little ones for a hello hug. Ellery, who’s often quite shy, jumped right in. From that point on, she was smitten. And Santa, not having a lot going on this day (he said Mrs. Claus had it all under control), spent plenty of time listening to her and admiring the trains.

    I love this time, before it becomes about unwrapping and assembling, where we get to spend time in the company of such good folk.

  • Digging our way through the day

    Digging our way through the day

    Well, we’re nearly a week into break, and Christmas is almost here. The inevitable result of this is kids that are bouncing off the walls because—wheeee—Christmas is almost here! Meanwhile, the parents in this house are in a state of panic because—eeeeek—Christmas is almost here!

    And did I mention everyone is sick? On Tuesday, I propped myself up against a wall in the basement, and watched the children run in circles around me for six hours. Bless them, they were angels.

    But today we had a welcome diversion when Garrett and Katrina came by. They brought with them a few things for the kids, including this dinosaur dig. They also brought a few other handmade items, which I’ll save for another post when I have better photos.

    But for today, this dig was a lifesaver.

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  • Responsibilities

    Responsibilities

    We’re trying to point out to the kids how much we do around the house, and are trying to figure out ways to have them help out.

    I mentioned to Neko that her friend Mary Beth is responsible for stocking each bathroom with toilet paper, which Neko agreed that she could also do. Of course, first she had to find a clipboard. And paper. And a pencil. And make a chart. And decorate with smiley face and star.

    Sometime, nearly an hour later, all the bathrooms were finally stocked with toilet paper. Don’t even ask me how it went when I asked her to unload the dishwasher.

  • World Winter Celebrations

    World Winter Celebrations

    On the last day of class before the holiday break, Neko and Shep’s school had a World Winter Celebrations Day. In lieu of the traditional Christmas party, each class researched a celebration that occurred in a different part of the world during the winter, and then created a presentation for the rest of the school. There were Power Point presentations, crafts, dances, and lots and lots of food. Parents were invited to join in on the fun, so Ellery and I dropped by.

    Now that we’ve visited China, Mexico, France, India, and a whole bunch of other countries, I think we’re ready to head back home and begin our own holiday traditions!