Tourist

We like taking out of town visitors to the Tepee shop on Rt. 20.  It's been there since 1950, although there are different owners, they kept it basically the same.  A great stop for tourists. Olivia got some pretty rings. My mom got a pair of Minnetonka moccasins.  Paul and George got knives, under their father's approval and supervision.  We went to a bakery and got some special things to eat.  The weather was warm, sunny in the 50s and 60s.  This week, we've had light snow the past few days!

Olivia and my mom were here for 5 days.  Olivia took many of these photos. My husband beside the wood cookstove, which heats up our whole house.  It's called the "Kitchen Queen," kinda silly name. Splitting wood!

Here are a few more videos: 

Elijah loves to jump with my mom!

Swimming at the pool in the gym, each of the three boys got a one-on-one swim lesson with Olivia!  Happy to be 6 months old and able to go in this cool little swing (I told George not to swing or spin him, but you can tell he wants to)!

And the shower!  I still love taking baths in our clawfoot tub.

 

Big sis

Quality time with their big sister. 

 Just missing one! 

A friend from Ohio came to visit last week and now, we have Olivia and my mom here.  We're taking a break from our homeschool lessons to spend time showing them some of our local spots, reading, taking in a game of Monopoly or Yahtzee.  

And our shower is done!  We've all taken showers in it this past weekend. 

Warmer

It's raining.  All the snow that arrived last Thursday has melted.  We have friends from Ohio coming to visit on Thursday!  They'll be here for 5 days, 4 nights and we're planning to go hike, catch up on life, brunch at a breakfast buffet Saturday and going to church together.

My husband tiled the shower and it's looking great! We've been only taking baths for the past 2 years.

Our daughter Olivia and my mom will come next week to visit. Paul and Olivia will go rock climbing, maybe all of us even.  We hope to go to the Tepee shop, get sushi, talk and hike, some more, of course.  Olivia has started to crochet and sent me photos of the granny squares she's working on.

I am still working on my crocheted cactus, need a pink flower or two for it!

The photo atop is of me, on the left, as a young girl, probably 8 years old.  We lived in Vermont at the time.

Light

The sun is shining and it's 64°f here!  We were outside gathering sticks and pulling up weeds.  Lots of burdock.

For our homeschool, we've been doing more multiplication and started division with Paul.  Even George is interested, when we play Yahtzee after, which is a fun way to get practice multiplying or adding up your numbers.

I'm crocheting a cactus pillow.  I still haven't found my box with my knitting needles in it, even though it's been nearly two and a half years since we moved from Ohio to New York.  We moved from the cottage (as we're calling the small house where we've been living) into the main house about 2 weeks ago. So, we've been unpacking the boxes in the garage finding things I've missed but didn't have space for.

My husband did so much work and it is beautiful.  Lots of wood, specifically ash, hickory and larch.  We had the bedroom floors refinished (there was lead paint on them), saved wood and ran it though a planer (had to get new blades for that, twice) and ended up redoing the stairs completely.  The doors to the bedrooms are pretty small, maybe 6 foot, at most.  We had our house blessed and Father John is tall, but was careful.

For our ladies Bible study group, with Father Serge, we meet every 2 weeks, sometimes just once a month.  We take turns baking something to go with tea and also have a discussion with Matushka Masya.  We've been reading a few chapters of Unseen Warfare and now are on Ch. 34 and 35.  I found an audio, if you're interested.  Specifically, they are about virtues and humility.  Even if I glean just a little from each one, it gives me something to work on, spiritually.

Brrr

feels like winter now + we have snow!  My aunt gave us two snowball makers, which work well + are really great.  

When the sun shines and the skies are blue, it feels so uplifting to me!  I need sunglasses, because when the sun reflects off the snow, it's really bright.  We've begun chopping the wood for next winter.  It really needs to "season," dry out because it's too "green."  We only use wood to heat our house right now.

We had a 5 foot icicle from our eaves!  The boys brought it in the house and we put in the bathtub. My sister came from Canada to visit!  The kids had a great time together.

Love

I went out at 6:49am Tuesday and took this photo of the sliver of moon and sunrise.  I also took this wee video. You can see a bunch of maple trees that have been cut down, we'll chop them and use the logs in our fire next winter.  They really need to sit a season to dry, too green and fresh right now.  

Yesterday, I found out that a man we had just met in January died in a car accident.  His name Jonathan.  He and his wife had just moved to this area, from Britain in December.  I met them and their 2 year old at the library story hour.  The woman is due anyday now with her next baby.  The woman and daughter were also in the car at the time of the accident and were taken by helicopter to the hospital.  I heard the helicopter the day before, while we were at home, and wondered what was happening.  Praying for the whole family!

I made brownies + cut out letters for our girls, to send them for Valentine's day.  I love baking and decorating.  I am using these all natural sprinkles.  We're avoiding red 40, yellow 6, blue 1 etc.  Can you believe i just threw out a bag of marshmallows?  They had blue coloring added!  There are ones without, usually less expensive, even.  Isn't that crazy?

Our Amish neighbors came over yesterday to help us clean the bigger house (so much sawdust), + move in the dining room table, chairs, a cabinet and our 2 couches. The small 800 square foot house we've been in has been lovely, but we'll have more room + separate space for our bedrooms now.  We have lived with our queen sized bed, bunkbeds, table and kitchen all in one area.  I wake and start heating a tea kettle because it's right there!

Saturday, our other Amish neighbors called my husband about 6:30pm, saying the expectant mother was having contractions 5 minutes apart.  He drove them to the midwife.  They had a 9 pound baby boy 10 minutes after arriving there.  All is well. I walked over to meet their boy, named Loren.  He was asleep laying on a blanket in the stream of sun coming in the window, as he'd been jaundice. What a sweet baby!  

There's always life coming and leaving this earthly life.  This particular week has given me much to think over and pray.

Some green

Little bit of weaving, edible crafts, baking and photos of other fun things that accompany our daily life. Both our daughters sent packages that arrived this week. The tiny happy face star onesie was painted by one, the Yoda mug, from the other.  These 3 boys are being spoiled, but are so excited by all the goodies.  Now, we are going to make something special to mail to them!

From mud to a layer of beautiful white snow this past Sunday.  It's like Narnia!  We just listened to The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe.