Sunrise

Truck Ride!

Breakfast

Video of Willa's Performance

Recital

This evening Willa had a piano recital. She did wonderful!

 And looked gorgeous. :)

 Afterwards we took family photos. :)

 Emma looked pretty pretty too. ;)

When we got home, Seth was fascinated by my camera, so he went around the house taking pictures.

 Jo was being such a ham!

 Hi, Grand Dude! He's been here visiting this week. :)

 Like I said, Seth went around taking pictures. I think Jo was going to brush his teeth. :)

 Mommy in her cozy corner office. :)

Roses in waterbottles, dinner dishes, travel guides, baby cups, and a plastic table. This, my friends, is the good life. :)

Awkward and Awesome

Daddy has asked that I re-post my awkward and awesome posts every week from my fashion blog to here on the Howard Family blog also. :) This week's:

Awkward:

• When your dad is doing weird electrical and uses the sing-songy phrase "Awwwkwarddd" in totally the wrong way. And you stand there too stunned that your dad sounded like a teenager to correct him.
• Forgetting your mom's pin # when using her debit card and then calling and asking for it while trying to conceal to the cashier that it's not yours. :P
• Walking into the Goodwill Outlet store without knowing what it was where all the Goodwill castoffs land in great big bins and they sell shoes by the pound.
• Going shopping in the mall by yourself in the evening. 'Nuff said.
• Being of marriageable age as your church is having courtship discussions. 
• Your mom finding and buying a skirt you donated to the thrift store. 
• Sister yelling up to you, "Olivia! Daddy needs you to hop in the truck and meet him at the space ship with all the bungee cords and rope you can find! He has a huge load of bamboo and it's blocking the road." Um. whatttt?
• That moment when you're talking and realize in the middle of your sentence that, yes, you actually are talking and people are listening and wow what are you saying and where am I going with this sentence? so you slow down and have to think through the rest of the words, even though your brain was doing fine on autopilot before. :D 

Awesome:

• Not having an ID when the cashier at F21 asks for it. I said I didn't have it and she said, "Oh that's fine." and let me buy the shirt anyway. :D  
• The guest-posters I have lined up for y'all next week since I'll be taking a break from blogging. :) 
• Michael Buble' on Pandora. It plays the perfect mix of crooner/sappy love/island music/big band music/Colbie Calliat. :)
• The prayers of friends.
• Swinging in a friend's hammock reading aloud a theology book with your two year old brother sitting still next to you for a long time. 
• Mason jars used as cups. Even better when they have handles. 
• A sister who works so hard all the time and has a smile on her face while she does it. Emma's my hero.
• Sewing projects that turn out. 
• Spaghetti squash with olive oil and garlic powder and fresh tomatoes. To. die. for.

These Are The Days

Even though there are a million other things I should be doing right now, I know I'll thank myself later for recording these crazy days.

The whole day has been filled with normal activities, like getting 72 new chicks and planting 25 strawberry plants. And the kids playing in the sprinkler.

6pm. Daddy, Mommy, and Emma were gone. Willa was sick. I was rolling out two pizza crusts for dinner when someone yelled, "Elsie's not in the tub!" She had been playing in there in her bathing suit. We found her dripping water all over her bedroom floor, which was covered in clean clothes she apparently didn't want to wear. "Oh, Elsie! I was going to cut your hair! Let's do that now." I grab a chair and stick it in the wet bathroom on my way to putting the pizza crusts in the oven to pre-bake. I set the timer for 8 minutes. "Okay", I thought,"lets see how long it actually takes to cut her hair."
Elsie was sitting in the chair in the bathroom wearing a summer dress, a winter fleece vest, and a huge towel wrapped around her shoulders. I brushed her hair (after pulling the hair-cutting stuff from the top shelf and finding the hairbrush and stopping Josiah from putting another brush in the tub) and cut it using the same principles I employ when doing my own or Emma's hair. Never done such wavy hair before, though. :P

As I was cutting her hair, she was yelling at Josiah to put her hair do-dads back that he was getting from a drawer right beside her. He was trying to explain what he was doing, and I was telling her to sit still. Then he started climbing in the still-filled-with-water-and-grass-bathtub in his pajamas, and the neighbor girl squeezed in there with us just in time and got him out of the tub, then went back to dancing to tango music out in the living room (Seth has some moves!).  The entire floor was soaking, so I just piled Elsie's cut hair on my lap as I squatted down to the level of the little chair she was sitting in. [author's note: a tick just crawled down my neck] I think to myself, "I hope that timer hasn't beeped yet"...

I managed to finish her hair with some satisfaction... although it was about 3" shorter than I had planned on cutting. :P That's a lot, especially on a little girl. As I stood up, catching all the hair in my hand and throwing it in the trash (reaching over two children to do so), I declared, "Alright, I've gotta get the pizza out of the oven!" Savannah the neighbor girl said, "oh, that timer went off while you've been in here." Oh. Guess the tango music was too loud.

Rushing out to the oven, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the pizza crust had not burned, thankfully, since I had used the last of the flour to make it.

8pm. The kids are watching movies (they couldn't agree, so Star Wars was playing on one side of the basement and Ever After on the other). I'm starting to clean up the kitchen when I notice the sound of rain (yes, even over the Michael Buble' playing from Pandora) and go out to the front porch to smell it. It wasn't quite dark, and it was gorgeous and still warm. Surveying my surroundings, I hear the baby chicks we got on Easter chirping super loudly. Long story short, the bird-brained fluff balls aren't smart enough to just go under the tarp to get out of the rain, but rather they push their way under the chicken wire that lines the edges of their pen. So, it's dark and pouring rain now and I'm crawling around a chicken coop catching chicks. After setting them up in the garage with a lamp, I arrive back inside dripping wet to the cries of "Popcorn! Where's our butter popcorn!?" Apparently Friday night movies must have popcorn.

 10:30 pm. Josiah's finally asleep. I've just finished the kitchen and am sitting in the kids room under their tent with them as they fight over flashlights, drinking blend #101 from our new blender- it has a counter on it. :P I feel like I've been swimming all day I'm so tired.
I'm reminded of the song, "You're Gonna Miss This"... "You're gonna want this back/ you're going to wish these days hadn't gone by so fast..."
I love this life. These children. These repetitive, gritty, seemingly unimportant tasks. The rain. The forts. The joy in the simple. :)

These pictures are from their tent this evening.

We also spent some time taking pictures with the webcam. Thought you might like to see Elsie's new haircut. The back looks better, I promise. ;)

Bath Night

Jo-man decided to brush his own hair. He also asked Emma to tie this ribbon around his head. He was just bubbling with pride. :P Love you, little dude.

~Willa and Fam

Life is Different Out Here Entry #47

Bruce writing. I am not a farmer. I only play one on TV.
So. My John Deere riding lawn mower had a flat tire. Pumping it up did not work since the tire has no tube and needed to be remounted. I didn't know how to take it off, so the neighbor Burt and his son Daniel came over and popped it off. Somehow. Olivia took it to the tire fixit shop. They remounted it and filled it for free.

But the fact that I am ignorant and green at this rural life is not the humorous thing. That's not what makes me so personally humiliated I cannot look my neighbors in the eye. Keep reading for the more humbling part of the story:

To put the tire back on, the wheel slips over the hub and is held in place by something called a "snap ring" which looks like this:

I did not know what this object was called, nor did I have any idea how to actually take it off or put it on. Apparently it requires a special tool to open it up. The holes are poked by little nubbins on the tool and the tool opens it wider. Not that I knew ANY of this of course. Some people might actually try to put it on without that special tool. Those very same people might try, say, three screwdrivers (having only two hands). After trying such methods, I called the auto parts place and it went something like this, "I have a wheel on a riding lawn mower that's attached to the axel thing with a little ring-looking thing with some holes in it. Do you have a tool that can take the thingy off?" JimBob replies, "You mean the Astro-Pneumatic vise-grip 6 1/2 inch internal and external lubba hubba dubba? We got those right out on the aisle." My short-term memory not being what it used to be, I hung up the phone armed at least with the knowledge that yes, such a tool exists.

The autoparts place is a 30 minute drive, so I set aside this knowledge until sometime next week when I could get there. That evening, I went to a neighbor-farmers' home for a Saint Patty's celebration and we got to talking about the ring-thingy and the special tool. Philip said "We have one of those" and then a few minutes later his son Jacob confirmed that yes the family has one- he uses it when working on brakes. He described it to me. It is like a pair of pliers with two pins he said. You squeeze the handles and the pins separate he said. It being a party, I didn't remember to ask to borrow the tool before we left.

So Emma and I came back the next day. Jacob wasn't there. Philip wasn't there. But Trish and Tricia Ann were there. They were very gracious and offered to help us rummage through the very neatly organized garage space and multiple tool boxes to look for it. Although I had never seen the tool before and really had no visual picture for how to use it in my manly ignorance I figured I would recognize the tool when I saw it. Then it happened, my manliness-instincts were confirmed when Trish pulled out a pair of pliers and said is this them? Here is a picture:

Yes I said, and took the pliers and showed everyone how you squeeze and the pins separate and open up the ringthingy. I drove home thanking God for the small miracle of neighbors, and in awe of the nicely manufactured stainless steel pliers. Jacob keeps nice tools I thought.

The next day I went out and tried the pliers while placing my hands and arms sitting under the rear end of the lawn mower. The pins were too big. Back to square one I thought. I need a smaller pair of pliers. And that's when the twilight zone moment started to occur:

I got an e-mail from Jacob:

Were you able to steer the mower? -Jacob

He must be confused that I was working on the steering mechanism. I replied no I didn't get it working. Next e-mail from him:

Yeah...those pliers weren't for removing rings. They were for removing nuts.

What do you call a Deere that isn't "intact", anyway? Is your Deere still running after using the tool on it?

What? I thought. He must be using his iPhone and isn't paying attention and must be kind of loopy. He doesn't make sense with his joking around.
Then I saw the link at the bottom of the e-mail. I had overlooked it.

I am not making this up. True story. You must click on the link to see why I have to wear a disguise to church tomorrow.
http://tinyurl.com/7pf2sm7

Needless to say, young Jacob laughed till his stomach hurt. When I got an e-mail from the pastor's wife the next day asking if I could steer the coffee making activities for the evening I knew my mortification was complete. I'm thinking of renaming the lawn tractor Bobbie.

Windows and Red

Yesterday's challenge was "windows"... I'm gonna cheat here... yesterday was a rough day with everyone being sick and the power going out and stuff... so I didn't take these window pictures until today. :P

This is the only window in our bedroom... and it isn't technically a window- its a door. I actually just woke up from a delightful nap on this bed with the door open, cool breeze blowing in. :) The view is so pretty out there in the mornings, despite the telephone pole and chicken coop. ;)

And this is my favorite window in the house- our bathroom window. I made the really frilly, textured curtains and they make me really happy. :D


Today's challenge is "Red".

Red ladybug, holding up our menu plan for the day. It's GAPS month around here... It's all really yummy, just kind of tired of eating lard drizzled over everything and not being able to eat chocolate covered coffee beans.... :P

My beautiful mug from Laura, which has been a life-saver this week. I put my breakfast in it to sip throughout the morning and my cup after cup of water this diet requires after that.

And I will leave y'all with this picture of the ceramic chicken that sits on our windowsill. Doesn't everyone have a ceramic chicken on their windowsill?

What I Wore

I love these earrings. Mema gave them to me 5+ years ago and I've worn them at least once a week since then. They defined me for a while. :D

My outfits can be seen about twice a week on Fresh Modesty.

Elsie's the real fashionista around here- changing clothes like 23 times a day. :)

5pm

Getting caught up on posting here...

At 5pm on Tuesday, I was outside watching the kids roll down the hill on bikes, mini tractors, and just plain rolling...

"Wooooah!"

Strong man

Josiah thinks he's hilarious.

More strong man taking the vehicle back up the hill

Josiah isn't so sure.

"I can't believe he just did that."

Smile!

Today's challenge was "a smile" ... well, here are the three I saw at breakfast this morning:

 He just woke up with this new stretch/move thingy... and he thinks it's the most hilarious thing ever. :P

How many times did you smile today?

"There's a...flower? in my boot!"

Today's challenge was "bedside"... thus, I give you, Willa's bedside stand:

Thanks to Lightroom, you can't tell this picture was taken in the dark.... like, there's more detail in this picture than I can see in person. :P

The house is quiet now- just the rattling of pots in the kitchen as Emma tirelessly finishes up the dishes for the night. Can hear the wind whipping outside. Everyone is asleep. I just noticed a candle someone lit sitting on my (clean! it's a miracle!) sewing table. It smells of apple cinnamon. I'm a good kind of tired from taking Josiah on a walk and having to hurry home because it was getting dark. He's getting heavy. Church today was delightful and convicting. The fellowship happy. The food yummy. The fire is slowly dying in the living room. It's been a good day.

Our "Neighborhood"

I love what we call "the crossroads". Although it's about 1/6 mile from our house and around a bend, we can see/ hear who's going past if we're outside.

We have a neighborhood not because we have a house close to others' houses, we have a neighborhood because we have neighbors. And our neighbors kind of rock. :D ;)

Fruit- Frozen And Rotten Edition

It's sad when the only fruit in the house I can find is frozen or rotten. 

 I love the frozen fruit that we put away in the freezer every summer to munch on during the winter.

And this, friends, is what happens when life gets too busy and those fruits don't make it into the freezer. Those blue things used to be oranges. :P

Photo A Day

Thought this would be a great excuse to post more often on this blog of our daily lives and to get some photography practice in, too!

Today's challenge was "Up"

This may be just me, but I don't think Mr. Hanes is supposed to reside quite so high...up. :P

February

Today is Mother's birthday! She requested I update this little neglected part of the internet. So, here are some of the things we've been up to this past week.

We unearthed our little trampoline and the kids have been looooving it. Gets a lot of energy out, too!

 One morning they set up chairs all around the tramp and put on a "show" for us.

 They can get some air!

 This kid is adorbs.

 Willa and I had a photoshoot in the haybarn the other day and she posted about it on her blog. She updates pretty frequently if y'all would like to follow her!

 Look real closely at this picture- notice the heart-shaped "bokeh" beside Jo? I was kind of excited to find out how that's done. :)

 "Ice cream, Livvy?" She's always playing house.

 We decorated gingerbread houses for Valentine's day! Seth isn't a fan of pictures.

 Jo doesn't mind them though. :D

 I love spending time as a whole family.

 Even gingerbread houses are susceptible to chimney fires.

 How many people does it take to do one house?

 Seth's finished house. He decided to only put candy on it that he liked so he could eat it later. :)

 Emma, Willa, me, and Jo shared a house. :P

 Elsie's heart house.

 Mommy helped her. :)

 The proud decorators.

 We spent some time Monday evening addressing Valentines to our neighbors. :) I think we laughed harder than those getting them did. :P

 Valentines morning, Emma made heart-shaped french toast for us all!!

 Valentine's evening, we celebrated Mommy's birthday early.

 Seth got to light the candles!

 We love you Mommy!

 The yummy Gluten, dairy, nut, and honey free cake!

 Also on Valentine's evening, we went to the awesome Bradshaws for a chocolate eating party! Yes.

Our mostly happy comrades. :) Sorry for the annoyingly shallow focus!

Maybe I'll post more often now that I've remembered we have a family blog that needs updated more than once a month. :P