The Farm Report

  • Saturday morning science

    Saturday morning science

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    My children, you should know that not everyone’s life is like this. Not everyone has a dad who turns cardboard boxes into houses complete with chimneys and mailboxes. Not everyone has a dad who pulls out amps and microphones and turns our living room into a concert venue. Most kids don’t have a dad who dusts off the sewing machine and makes capes on a whim.

    This morning as I sipped my coffee, I watched him tearing apart an old hard drive, flanked by the three of you, each holding a screwdriver or a set of pliers.

    Your lives are bound to be full of crazy. But based on the last eight years, it’s mostly all the goood kind of crazy with some crazy crazy mixed in. Not a bad deal if you ask me.

    Happy anniversary.

  • Foggy morning

    Foggy morning

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  • Ellery has discovered Toy Story

    Ellery has discovered Toy Story

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  • Applesauce

    Applesauce

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    So much more rewarding than tomato sauce. A big pot of tomatoes turns into three jars of sauce. A big pot of apples turns into twelve jars of applesauce.

    It's all about volume.

  • Comic book workshop

    Comic book workshop

    092709_01

    I looked down from cleaning up in the loft to see Tom leading a comic book workshop. Everyone was hard at work at their own comic books.

  • Photo shoot gone terribly wrong

    Photo shoot gone terribly wrong

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    I had on a white shirt and my pajama bottoms. And then Neko came out all excited that she’d put on a white shirt and pajama bottoms. Of course, then Shep and Ellery had to get in on the act.

    And I was all like, “We should get a photo of this!”

    Things I’ve learned:

    1. Our kitchen at night has hopeless lighting.
    2. I should probably adjust the settings before I hand Tom my camera in hopeless lighting.
    3. Our kids never stand still.
    4. This may be as good as our family photos get.

  • Tomatoes

    Tomatoes

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    Ellery finally is getting in on some kitchen action.

    She did a stupendous job de-seeding tomatoes until that part where she slipped on the stool and somehow took a big chunk out of her finger. I'm not sure how she did it, as all the moving parts are internal to the machine.

    If she had been my first child, we would have zipped off to the emergency room. As my third? A quick disinfection, a couple band-aids, and some couch snuggling got us back in business in no time.

  • Carefully tucked into the log nook

    Carefully tucked into the log nook

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    Neko decided this was a great sleeping space for Ellery. We actually a bit surprised it took them this long to come up with this idea.

  • Checkmate. Or however you lose this game.

    Checkmate. Or however you lose this game.

    091909_01

    Good grief, this has been a dumb week. The kids got a little sick. And then Tom and I got stupid sick. Like hit by a truck and then scraped off the road by someone with a broken shovel sick.

    I think my brain has been working on a four-second delay for a week. The last thing on my mind has been taking pictures of my family. It’s been all I can do to take pictures of the seniors and their various escapades (like the game above). Which all turned out pretty well, except for that part where my weary brain left the camera on a ridiculously high ISO. The photos were mostly salvageable, but, ack, youd on’t wanna do that very often.

    Anyway, back on the horse. Here we go…

  • Joe, six months

    Joe, six months

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    Delicious. Feel free to devour him whole.