Our New Playground

Last fall I got a great deal on two playground kits on clearance on the internet. This spring we finally got around to putting them up. I changed the designs around a little bit, and connected the two playsets with a bridge. Some of my daycare familes came to help out the Saturday of spring break, so we got a lot done that day. Then Bryan and I worked on it as much as we could. Now it's done for now. I'm hoping to get another online deal and add a big covered twisty slide this fall.


The top picture is the view from the house. There's the 5' platform on the left, then the bridge to the smaller platorm, then monkey bars to a tiny platform (designed by me and built by Bryan).
Off the tiny platform towards the house is a Bryan-designed balance beam (Merlyn wants to add an "up and down fing like Grandpapa's", which is teeter-totter that we'll hopefully put on the end of the balance beam). Opposite the monkey bars is a cargo net, which Berkleigh can climb all the way up and then over the beam of the platform to the other side.

Attached to the side of the tiny platform facing the barn is a swing beam with a baby swing (donated by Faye and Jerry) for Alison, two regular swings, and a trapeze. Off the big platform is a swing beam attached to another little platform with a ladder and green slide. That swing beam has two regular swings. I am also working on finding a deal on climbing rocks to build a rock wall onto the other side of the big platform.

In June we are planning on putting porches, siding, and a new roof on the house. We'll put roofs on the playset to match the house at that time. The kids love the playground. It's wonderful to watch them all swarm all over it when the big kids get home from school. All eleven kids (mine and daycare) can play on it easily. Now the yard looks like a real daycare play yard.

Bits and Pieces (Still Catching Up)

Myles, Merlyn, and Berkleigh wanted to do the dishes by themselves a few weeks ago. I thought they looked so cute standing on chairs in a row at the sink. Carter was working diligently on his homework.

The bridge downtown on the way to the school was under construction for a few weeks. The kids got a kick out of the tunnel that covered one half of the bridge at a time.

We went to the school in the beginning of April to watch Myles receive his student of the month award for Teamwork and Cooperation. Berkleigh kept herself quiet by putting her visitor's pass sticker over her mouth.

We were very proud that Myles is so cooperative and helpful to the other kids in school. Myles was pretty proud himself, as you can tell from his smile. He's on the bottom right in the picture below.


In the middle of April my parents brought Elizabeth and Isaac to visit for an afternoon and evening. Of course we waited until too late to get a group picture. Isaac smiled such a nice fake smile for the camera through the whole ordeal.

Berkleigh refused to cooperate at all and sulked on the other couch.

The Saturday that we started our playset project, some of my daycare families came to help. The kids found a little bird that wouldn't fly away. They were all captivated, but Merlyn and CJ especially couldn't tear themselves away from it.

I love watching the fog settle in over the beaver ponds and the fields down the hill. One morning I managed to get a picture of the sunrise before the fog dissipated.

Now here's the picture some of you have been eagerly awaiting: Merlyn and Berkleigh with their ears pierced. Bryan reluctantly gave in to Merlyn's pleas for earrings, but said no to Berkleigh. Well, Merlyn got hers pierced and didn't even whimper (although she jumped about three feet when they did it). Berkleigh watched her, then turned to Bryan and said, "Now it's my turn!" Who could resist?! Berkleigh didn't cry either, although she looked like she wanted to. When the girl held a mirror up for Berkleigh to see herself, the way her face lit up made even Bryan glad he'd given in.

In just a couple of weeks the earrings can come out. Berkleigh wants purple ones to replace her white ones, and Merlyn wants orange ones instead of pink. Pink and orange are her favorite colors, but I think I'll have a hard time finding orange earrings for a little girl.

Now I'm pretty much caught up for pictures, except for the playground and some random pictures. Not bad, considering how far behind I was!

Goodbyes and Hellos

We've seen a lot of changes at our house in the past couple of months.
The boys got new mattresses a few weeks ago, so we said goodbye to old beds and hello to all double beds. Myles' old mattress went to Berkleigh, who got Kelley's old antique bed (she looks like the princess and the pea with her high headboard). Carter got Aunt Claire's old brass headboard and a new sheet set. Merlyn got a new sheet set since she didn't get a new bed or mattress, and Berkleigh got Merlyn's old sheet set.

We said goodbye to the old playsets and swingset and hello to a big wooden playset (pictures of the new one will be coming soon).


We said goodbye to Bryan's lacrosse paycheck so I could say hello to my new brush hog that pulls behind the 4wheeler. Then we said goodbye to the overgrown fields (in the foreground) and hello to brush hogged fields (in the background). Soon we'll say goodbye to all those old stumps.

We said goodbye to store-bought milk in plastic jugs and said hello to milk fresh from a friend's cow in reusable glass jars. We also said hello to cream, buttermilk, and homemade butter. This is my first batch of butter -- isn't it pretty? It's delicious, too!

We reached the limit of miles on the truck lease at the end of March, even though the lease wasn't up until December, so it's been costing more than $300 a month in mileage just for Bryan to drive back and forth to work and lacrosse. Chevy was offering a two month lease payment waiver, so it was actually more cost-efficient to get out of the lease early. This past Friday morning, we said goodbye to the truck.

Then we said hello to our new Chevy van. We all love it!

This weekend I was very excited to say goodbye to all the chemical cleaners in our house.

We said hello to all-natural homemade laundry soap, dishwashing soap, window cleaner, fabric softener, household cleaner, toilet cleaner, and stain removers.

Here's the soap flakes melting for the laundry detergent. Myles (our resident chef) got a big kick out of making soap. Soon to come will be our own hand soap and bath soap. I'll be giving more details and recipes of all our cleaners soon.

My Mother's Day

On Sunday Myles and Carter woke me up around 9am by bringing me a cup of tea in bed. All the kids came up to give me the cards they had made for me. We went downstairs when Berkleigh announced that breakfast was ready; Bryan had made omelets and hash browns with artichokes -- yummy!
After breakfast I cut Bryan's, Myles', and Carter's hair. We got a little crazy (notice the lightning bolt in Carter's hair below). I made bread dough and went outside while it was rising.

I hung up a load of laundry (all socks and underwear!) that Bryan gathered and put in the machine.


I also mowed a little of the hill, just to mow something on Mother's Day.

I spent a couple of relaxing hours on my birthday/mother's day present from Bryan and the kids:

It was a beautiful day for knitting, of course (what day isn't?!).

I watched Bryan work on finishing our massive playset project.

The kids were so excited about the new cargo net addition that they waited in line instead of playing on the rest of the playset.

The kids and Bryan cleaned up the play yard while I took down the laundry, kneaded the bread dough, and made honey butter (with homemade butter -- more on that another day) to go with the fresh bread. Then it was off to Faye and Jerry's for a turkey dinner. When we got back I mowed the play yard while Bryan gave all four kids baths. We stayed up late watching the Survivor finale, which was a great way to end a really nice day.

Still Catching Up

Last month Chris and Tracy were in town so we went to visit them. The kids had lots of fun playing with Jaxon. He's getting so big, and he's such a cutie.

On Easter, Aunt Stacie gave the girls "jewelry", which they loved (and which prompted them to want to get their ears pierced). Braden loved the jewelry, too, and we all got a kick out of his sense of fashion, although his father didn't appreciate it.

When Carter, Bryan, and I left for Binghamton, Faye came to stay with the other kids and brought Flat Alex with her. Flat Alex is part of a school project for Faye's great nephew who lives in Indiana. Faye took Flat Alex places and kept a journal and photobook to send back to the real Alex. Carter showed him the OM backdrop before we left. Myles, Merlyn, and Berkleigh got to take a field trip to the Eisenhower Lock, and the 45th parallel as well as a sugar shack.

That weekend Faye taught Myles and Merlyn how to waltz together. I'm going to have to take a video of it, because it is really cute to watch.

One night I when I was checking on the kids on my way to bed, I found Berkleigh asleep in her bed with a crown on her head. The crown is from her "My Little Ponies" and it looked so tiny and adorable on her head that I couldn't resist taking a picture.

I found these pictures on the computer and I still have lots on the camera. I'll catch up one of these days. I've been trying to catch up on laundry, too, and it seems like I'll never get to the end of the clothes or the pictures!

Old Pictures

CJ (my longest-attending daycare kid) turned 5 on March 14th. The following weekend I took our four kids and Alison and Aleesa to his birthday party.

I loved the kids lined up according to height waiting to play Pin the Tail on the Donkey. From left to right is Carter, Myles, Aleesa, and Cole, and a little boy I don't know. Notice Myles with his hat over his face!

That night Pat and Annie were in town so we went out for St. Patrick's Day. Annie and I ended up back at her inlaws' house knitting (hooray!) while the guys went to a second bar. The kids were excited to have a babysitter for the first time in a long time. When we got home, this is how I found Merlyn, sleeping surrounded by balloons:

My parents came to visit after a cruise vacation. They brought maracas for the boys and dresses for the girls. When Berkleigh opened her dress, she got all excited and said she was going to put it in her "dress drawer". It was very cute, but surprising that she didn't want to try it on right away. A couple days later, Grandma Faye came over and the first thing the girls said was that they had new dresses from my mom. They ran upstairs and changed into them. The boys got their maracas and provided music while the girls danced. They put the red handkerchief on the floor to collect money while they played. I should have video taped it -- it was quite funny.

Those are the pictures I had on the computer. The rest are still on the camera, so I'll get around to putting them on the computer soon. "Soon", of course, means sometime today or tomorrow so I can continue catching up on blogging!