Summer 2014

Here we are in Summer 2014. Ellianna is about to turn 1, Lincoln is working hard at paintball so he can save money to buy silver like his dad, and Jack, well Jack is loving life as a free spirit on the farm. This is our first full summer out at the acreage, and it is not at all how we thought our summer would be. We are still not in the new house. After having construction stalled on it for over three months, at this point we are just thankful to see work being done at all. Having no work being done on the house and having no control over it has been a very trying time for Stephen and I. We are living above the shop in a temporary apartment Stephen loving put together for us at Christmas time. When we moved in we thought it would just be for a month or two, maximum 3 months. Well it is coming up on 7 months. We are thankful for our little apartment, as it keeps up close to work for Stephen, close to the build site and allowed us to work on our property and get our chickens and garden up and going. But the shop comes with host of difficulties, the main being mice, lack or laundry, lack of a full kitchen, and just general orgnaziation. But we are here and try to make the best out of it. At this point we are hoping to be living in the new house for Christmas, a whole year later from our original move in date. But Im not really holding my breathe!
The kids are doing amazing, and have really loved living out of the city. This summer they have pretty much lived outside and come in every day covered in bug bites, hair a bit lighter and definitely covered in dirt. In the last few weeks Stephen's brother's family has moved out to the land as well so the boys get to play with their cousins all day, every day. They are really having a great time.
Lincoln successfully completed Kindergarten this year and was known as a polite and kind boy, who is tenative to share his thoughts and ideas until he is really comfotable with his class. He did well with his letters and printing and made some good friends. Even though he cried almost every morning he had to go, which had to do more with him not being a morning person, by the end (as in the last2 days) he was talking about how sad he was that he was going to miss school. Glad he decided he loved school just in time for summer! He is excited for grade 1, but I am not sure how he will do with having to go to school 5 days a week. Lincoln and Jack also took 2 sessions of swimming lessons this spring and both did well. Lincoln was told by his teacher that if he put his face in the water a bit more he would do great in his next level. Jackson was told by his teacher if he kept his face out of the water a bit more he would do great in his next level. Jackson was also referred to as the 'human submarine'. It was really nice having them both in the same level and I had fun watching them do the lessons together. It has been really amazing for Stephen and I to see how Lincoln has truly matured from a pre school boy into a boy! He is mature, helpful and really loves his little sister. He has lots of cool ideas. He is currently into dragons, tornados, sharks and predators. He prefers to get books and movies from the library about real things as opposed to cartoons. Stephen has been having a lot of fun tapping into a strength of LIncoln's he discovered a few months back which is geography! They have a world map posted above the boy's bed and Lincoln can identify over 90 countries! (keeping in mind he can't read yet)
Jackson continues to make us laugh and pull our hair out! He is one determined little boy who marches to the beat of his own drum. He is so funny, and has a great sense of humor. He has espcially enjoyed the addition of our chickens this spring. He has adopted a little black chicken as his own, and he carries it around with him wherever he goes. He loving calls it, "My Son". They are like two peas in a pod. Jack also likes to lives with a bit of danger, like riding his tricycle down the hill, climbing the biggest dirt pile on our site or climbing on the top of our jeep. We are currently having to work extra hard to establish tthat we are the bosses, and that he can't just leave and go see his cousin without asking first. Jack will most likely be going into preschool in the fall, even though I am considering keeping him home and just enrolling him next year for Kindergarten.
Ellianna is growing and changing and bringing joy everyday. She is goofy, like her brothers and definetly not as 'lady like' as I had thought a little girl would be. She has eight teeth and the longest tuft of hair on top of her head that I love putting into a pony tail with a bow (since she refused to wear all the cute headbands that are so popular right now). She loves to eat puff wheats, cheesem eggs, and peas the most. She loves to crawl around and put things in her mouth, but is not showing much interest in walking or taking steps. She lights up when she sees Stephen, loves to get hugs from Lincoln and Jackson, but more than anything is a momma's girl. She also is going through a biting stage, and thankfully only bites me. But man does it hurt! She has even left me with a giant bruise on my leg from one of her bites!
Stephen and I are really loving having chickens and our garden this year. Our meat birds are almost ready to butcher. We currently have 3 of our 17 laying hens giving us eggs. We expect the other 14 to start laying around September - it will be so fun to have over a dozen eggs a day to sell and give away. We are hoping to get a few goats in the fall, but it might wait until spring depending on how th e rest of the build goes this summer.