Fire on the Farm

On Thursday we had a thunderstorm pass thru... it certainly wasn't the nastiest storm we have had, but it did create some decent excitement! The hail damaged a few plants in the garden, and, Grandma and Grandpa had a lightning strike down by their pond!

Grandma and Auntie and Baby Nick had taken Olivia to her riding lesson. They were there when the storm started and drove home thru to bulk of it. When the come up the road Olivia noticed "smoke." Auntie tried to tell her it was mist off the pond, but Liv insisted it was fire. Turned out she was right!
A big tree down by the pond got a direct strike, and since it was an older dying tree it caught on fire! It was quite exciting for our neighborhood- the forestry truck, and an ambulance responded with the police too! The firefighters used the tanker to put it out, but then it ignited again later in the evening. It made a pretty good spectacle in the dark! Grandpa was in his element "directing" the firefighters and all! The main limb that burned fell, and the fire was put out for good. Honestly, I was glad it was on the other side of the road even though no real harm done. Recently a barn in a nearby town burned, it is a total loss- and my worst nightmare! No animals were lost, but major damage and a pretty crushing blow to somebody's dream... Thankfully this was nothing like their situation; but what an exciting way to end out the week!

Wild Animal Kingdom

This weekend Savanna and I were supposed to go camping on a Girl scout Mother/Daughter retreat. Things came up, I wasn't happy with the way council treated me- so we opted out. It was sort of a bummer, but it freed us up to go to York's Wild Animal Kingdom!

The hospital where my mom works hosts a family day there every year. We haven't been in a few years, and I just knew Wes would love it! Mom had to scramble to get enough tickets for all of us at the last moment, but she pulled thru and we had a blast despite a cool drizzle.

There are plenty of animals and birds to admire- the park is small but clean and friendly feeling. I have been enough times that I know the place well, and we can wander thru pretty quickly and see what we want to see! Grandma and Grandpa Houston came along as well, and braved the rain with us. They had not been in years and I think they enjoyed seeing the critters, and watching the kids!

It was pretty funny because most of the animals we looked at were hiding in some way from the rain- usually cozy in their "houses" while all of us humans were standing out in the rain staring at them!

As I suspected, Wes liked the animals a lot, and was turning every which way in the backpack (one of my prizes from the diaper pin!)

Daddy bought him a cone of goat food in the petting pen, and it scared the crap out of him when a big goat sauntered over and "stole" it from him! He decided then he would rather watch from the safety of his Dad! I didn't get a good shot, but the look on his face was price-less!

The big kids had a great time feeding the deer. Billy really wanted his picture taken with this one!

We were pretty wet by the time we were ready for lunch. We had out picnic in the back of our cars~ we warmed up a bit and the kids were still up for the rides.... we we did those!

I left my camera in the car after we went back in to ride the rides- I decided it was getting too wet. We missed having Olivia there (she spent the night at a friend's house) but the others had a good time despite the weather. I'm hopeful Wes will have as much fun at Story Land next weekend!

Wedding Picture

My cousin Jesse got married a few weeks ago. She and her new Husband Craig went out to Colorado for their ceremony, and then held a picnic here to celebrate with family and friends. I was looking forward to a fun evening out, and also to the opportunity to get a good group picture! Mom and Mom-Mom and I had to spend a little time shopping to find an outfit for me, but we managed to get everyone all dressed up and in the same place!

The party was pretty casual, but I enjoyed picking out clothes for myself and the kids (and Bill too!) and I though we all looked pretty good! It's not often we get a chance to all stand in one spot for more than a second or two! Jayson was a little upset, but I think at least one person has to be "off" for it to be a real family portrait!
Congratulations, and Happy Wedding Jesse and Craig~ Thanks for a fun evening... and a reason to get all dressed up!

Walls and Shoes

This past weekend Dad was able to come by for another work day on the barn. The main focus for the "crew" was getting up the sheathing. The walls needed the framing to support these pieces, then the outside of the walls started to go up!

The kids were a big help, between hauling brush, rocks and wood they did a lot! Bill and Dad of course were working full steam all day; but I also was able to be useful! I tend to end up getting things, hauling things, making lunch and tending kids. But, this time I got a power tool!

I didn't get a good shot at the end of the day, but here you get the idea- once the stall walls go up, you wont be able to see this but its the inside of the outside of the barn! The window holes will need to be cut, and the ends of the aisles are still wide open, but for all intents and purposes it is enclosed! we have a roof and walls! Yipee!

And... Bill was able to shoe in the aisle! It was so nice to have a flat, level space for working. Out of the sun, under cover and cross ties!! Yahoooooo~

I know Bill feels like there is still so much to do, but all I see is progress. It was so nice that he was able to work in the barn, I think it gave him a sense of what all the work is for, I am very grateful for my new space... and I can't wait to have it all done!

Milling Wood

This past week Oak Woods Lumber came to pick up the logs Bill had cut. They will make the boards for us just down the street on Oak Woods Rd. I think it is so cool that these are trees from our property (from the arena site actually!) and that our "neighbors" can mill them for us! Wes and I had fun watching the guy load up the big truck. He sat over the cab and ran the arm. He picked them up 2 and 3 at a time and had a clean plan for loading up the rig. He made quick work of the big pile and pretty soon they were all stacked on.
I can't wait to see this wood come back.... all milled into the lumber we need for the interior of the barn!

Bridging

Savanna and I had our end of the year awards ceremony with the other's in Troop 977. It was a nice evening and Savy not only bridged to Cadettes but also earned her Junior Aid Award (she planned and ran a meeting for another troop about Bullying) but also her Bronze award- the highest award a Junior Scout can achieve! The Troop earned the award together, they did a community service project about literacy. They gathered books to be sent to Africa, and also did a reading program for younger children at our local library. I am proud of all the work that that Savanna and the other girls did this year!

Pin Prizes

When I decided to cloth diaper Wes I looked around on-line to find a place for information, and I found the diaper pin. www.diaperpin.com This is a great community of Mom's who all cloth diaper, but the site is so much more. I end up there pretty much every day: griping and venting, researching- asking questions and answering them, bragging- posting pictures and telling stories... there is such a wealth of Mommy information, and as odd as it sounds, I have *friends* there now! Well, a few weeks back the site celebrated their 11th anniversary, and held a week-long event with games and prizes... Look who won the whole shebang! Actually, I won Grand Prize, and the 1st place prize for game #9! I got my box today~ an amazing baby carrier, 3 new dipes, a new insert set and a $25 gift card to a diaper store! I was so excited when i found out I'd won... then today when I opened all my stuff it was like Christmas!