BoakTree

Confessions…… June 28, 2011

This is the post where I tell you guys the ways in which we haven’t lived up to our Challenge.  Gasp.  I know, I know.  You thought we were succeeding wonderfully, didn’t you?  That I hadn’t bought a loaf of bread at the grocery store in months, right?

Sorry folks, but we are just human.  And I don’t actually like to bake, so……

Here are the confessions that I have thus far for the year.

I will state my blatant disregard for the challenge first, I suppose.  Back in February, I was getting really burnt out from tandem nursing the boys.  I had intended on child led weaning, but really was just done with nursing two (I had been doing so for a year.)  Anyhow, my three year old had been bugging me for a webkinz like his sisters have.  (You see where this is going?)  Yup, he traded in our nursing relationship for a blue dinosaur webkinz, because, as you know, only BIG KIDS have webkinz.  I didn’t even think about this.  I mean, I know webkinz DO NOT fit into our challenge rules, but I really didn’t care.  We jumped in the van and headed to the store as soon as he stated that he was a big boy and would rather have a webkin than nurse.  Mind you, he has tried a couple of times to trade that webkin back in since then…..but I still view it as a worthwhile failure on my part as I am now only nursing one child and Liams’ heart was not broken over weaning.

EPIC FAIL – having Anson pick up taco bell on his way home from work one night back in the spring.  Not only was it a fail in our standards for food, it was also super gross.  Totally not worth it.

I have gone back and forth between success and failure at baking all of our breadstuffs from scratch.  I’d say it’s about even, how often I buy these things and how often I make them at home.

The pets are back on kibble.  The cat started refusing to eat raw and was basically starving himself, so I switched them both back.  I’m happy not to be gagging over their food anymore, though I do still feel guilty about this one.

I bought brand spanking new water containers for the ducks and chickens on a whim while at the hardware store.  I fully expect they are made in china, though I didn’t check.  Yes, I didn’t even check.  Terrible.

I mentioned the new dehumidifier we bought in a previous post.  As this keeps the basement and it’s contents from getting moldy I don’t mind it, though I do wish we had taken the time to find a used one.

I ran out of Dr. Bronners soap and bought regular shampoo from the grocery store.  I miss the Bronners and can’t wait to order more.

We have had to buy new parts for the car, and spend more money on it than I’d like to mention.  This could be an entire post in itself…..but I try not to think about it.

I bought disposable diapers.  We still use cloth most of the time, but there is a box of sposies here for night time, mostly.  That said, we went to Toronto for a weekend recently, and I only took the sposies.  The worst part?  I really, really liked it.  Very cool that they go in the green bin in the city too.  Points for TO.  Boo to me.  I’m pretty burnt out on the cloth diapering thing these days.  No worries though, I will see it through til potty training.

I bought ziploc bags.  Our snack baggies are wearing out, and I was packing food for our weekend away.  I didn’t even reuse them.  Just threw them out.  Yup, I suck.

I bought a new pair of sunglasses.  I couldn’t stand driving without them anymore.  Oh, and while I was buying them, I also bought lipgloss.  Just because.  It was a fun impulse buy, and the girls and I enjoyed wearing it to the wedding we attended. 

I haven’t been to the bulk food store in a couple of months.  Which means I have been using more packaging for peanut butter and such.  This is pure laziness on my part, I find it a hassle to stop there with the four children sometimes.

I buy candy.  Almost every week.  Cheap, non organic candy. Delicious failure, indeed.

Forty Nine Holes….. June 22, 2011

That is how many holes Anson and I dug for our fence posts over the past couple of weeks. 

Here is the part where I have to tell you all how proud I am of myself.  I knew Anson was very capable of digging these holes, however I doubted myself and my own strength.  (I wasn’t the only one…..)  Anyhow, Anson did the corner posts (which are quite a lot more work) and about 5 others. (don’t quote me on that exactly, I didn’t count.)

My point is – I did the rest.  With the help of the older children lending a hand when they were interested, I dug over forty three foot holes myself, a few each day.  And I feel better than I have in years.  Total awesomeness.

Anson was digging the last few for me, and made a comment about how now he could say he finished the fence.  Um no, I’ll take that auger, thanks all the same.  Yes folks, I  finished the last hole for this pasture we are building.

Now comes time to fill them all in.  Some good quality time spent with my man.  Yes, we think home improvement projects are quality time…..

These posts were purchased following the rules of our challenge.  We got them used from a local gentleman, at about half the price it would have cost us to purchase them new.  Not too shabby in my opinion.  I’m still stuck on trying to find wire fencing used though, I’m hoping some will manifest itself before we’re ready to finish the fence.  I really do not want to have to buy new materials for this project.

So there ya have it.  Forty nine holes and some serious strength training later and I’m well on my way to having space for some equine friends out there……

Awesome….. June 18, 2011

This post is going to be rather sappy.  So, if you’re not interested in that, better go find another blog to read. 

If you’re still reading, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Tomorrow is father’s day, and while I have an amazing father, awesome Papa, and fantastic father in law, each of whom I am very grateful to have in my life, this post is not about them.

It’s about my man.  The father of my children.  Their Daddy.

He’s awesome.  I’m not just saying that, he really is.

Allow me to tell you why…..

He’s awesome because he goes to work for long hours every day, driving over two hours to and from, to provide for us.

He’s awesome because he fully supports me being a stay at home parent.

He’s awesome because at the end of such long days, he still has the patience to read to his children, or listen as they read to him.

He’s awesome because he takes much longer to complete any given project, just so that any of his children can “help.”

He’s awesome because it makes me giggle every time he puts a cloth diaper cover on inside out.  I mean, really, they aren’t that complicated.

He’s awesome because he encouraged me to not throw in the towel on breastfeeding in the early weeks because he knew how much it meant to me.

He’s awsesome because he is fully on board with raising our children as life learners rather than sending them to the local public school.

He’s awesome because he plays along with whichever superhero our son is pretending to be.  And helps him make super “spidey jumps”.

He’s awesome because he plays.

He’s awesome because he doesn’t judge me or think less of me when I get overwhelmed with my duties as a wife and Mama.

He’s awesome because he always takes the time to really listen to our children.

He’s awesome because he NEVR DOES THE FREAKING ONESIES BACK UP WHEN HE CHANGES A DIAPER.  Okay, maybe I don’t really think that’s awesome.  But, I also know it’s not important.  We all have different standards.  And hey, he changed the diaper.

And the biggest reason I think he’s awesome?

Because he’s not only awesome for the three children he gave his dna to create.  He’s equally as awesome for the one he chose to be a father to.

I think my Aunt said it best in a facebook post.

“Any man can be a Father, but it takes someone special to be a Dad. So true.

To the men and their chosen children and all the special Dads this weekend, your awesome.”

See?  I told you he’s awesome.

The Sky…. June 14, 2011

There are so many things I love about this small peice of the planet we get to call “ours”. 

I love the barn, in all it’s old and spectacular, rustic beauty.

I love the space, the wide openness.

I love how very secluded it is, like an island in the middle of a corn field.

I love the gardens I am able to put in, and the vision of the ones that will come in the future.

I love the creatures we are able to welcome to live here with us.

I love the wildlife that already lives here (excpet for the racoons living in my barn, and I only dislike them because of the threat the pose to our chickens and ducks).

I love the house, and how easy it is to live in with four young ones.

But the thing I love the most?

The sky. 

I didn’t realize how much I had missed it, didn’t realize I missed my view of the sky while living in town, where trees and other peoples homes blocked my view.  Here, I can walk out in my huge backyard and look up, and I feel like I can fly.  It’s the feeling I grew up with, and I am so very grateful to have it back, and to give it to my children as well.

Team Boaks’ stargazing club is scheduled to begin this weekend.  Love it.