A Year!

From this:

To This:

in one year!! Totally unbelievable!! (there's a story about that wagon, btw-we were at a wonderful church bbq, and one of the ladies brought her kids over in the wagon. Jacob fell in love with it, and would crawl in and make noises til someone would pull him in it, at which time he would bask in the enjoyment of it all. He fought valiantly not to fall asleep, just so he could keep getting rides!! Oh-and the goat in the foreground-yeah, that's one of ours-we brought some of the entertainment! :) The hosts also had little baby chicks and a neighbors donkey to round out the petting zoo! :) )

Happy first birthday, dear baby Jacob!

Ford Man!

The other day, Jesse brought me a collection of toy trucks. He said "we sure have a lot of Fords, Mom!" (Daddy is a Ford man, and all our vehicles are Ford made, and even the tractor is a New Holland, which is affiliated with Ford, and the engine in the bale wagon is from a Ford-you get the idea!)
Anyways-sure enough-the vehicles he'd brought to me all had that characteristic little blue circle with "Ford" written in the middle. I agreed with him "you sure do have a lot of Fords!" He extolled the virtues of his little vehicles, then went quiet for a moment, fiddling with the toys. Then he looked up at me and said "so why do they make Dodges?"

Parcel forwarding!

I have discovered an awesome service!! It is called Peacock's Parcels They're a mail combining/forwarding service located in California. You have your US purchases sent to them, and, for a very small fee, they combine it all in one package (they will also hold til you request shipping) and send it to you, allowing you to save postage, as well as buy from people who otherwise wouldn't ship to Canada. This is especially great for books, as you can often get free shipping on them to anywhere in the States, but shipping can be-well, SCARY to Canada!
They are a terrific company, I've used their services for a few months now, and I really enjoy working with them-they are funny, VERY service oriented, and very fast, and super reasonable too!! I'm not getting any kickbacks for posting this :) I just really want to share, in case it helps someone else-and because this company deserves any great exposure available!! :) So if you like to buy on Abebooks, or Amazon, or Ebay, or Hyenacart, or whatever-check them out! :)

What not to do...

Warning-possibility of TMI (too much info) in this post
It is a really, really bad idea when you have a bad case of mastitis, to just pop a couple of advil and continue on your mad dash of a day, instead of going to bed to rest and nurse baby and heal. You may have limited success, like hitting the feed store to get much needed feed for the critters, and delivering some nice fresh farm eggs to your Grandma, but it will get you in the end-like when your son's fiddle instructor sits down to work with him, after having spent some time tuning his little fiddle, and you suddenly get a feeling like you are about to crash, and then have to interrupt the teacher, who, seeing your sheet white face, and,thinking quick, grabs the baby from you and helps you to the bathroom, where you feel too weak to even throw up, and nearly black out, while she dials your husband to come get you. You do eventually throw up, and then lay shaking on the couch in the waiting room for your husband to drive you home while the other student's mother, who is pregnant, holds your baby for you. The short 20 minute ride home will feel like the longest in your life, as you alternate feeling too hot and freezing cold and hurting and aching all over like crazy.
I am much better now though, thank you, and Leroy did do an awesome job tending the kids, critters, and house while I lay in bed. Sorry to have given everyone a scare though!!

Babies....

Pictured here:
Tinkerbelle (the little goat), Snowy (white lamb), Starlight (black headed lamb).

Birthday continues....

Tonite we had supper at my brothers. My sister in law cooked one of my favouritest meals-Teriyaki Chicken Toss, from Sandi Richard's "Life's on Fire: Cooking for the Rushed" (though she didn't know I adored the recipe at the time! :) ) She also made me the coolest, cutest sewing machine cake!! THEN-they unveiled the big surprise-my brother, who is as sweet and thoughtful as he is clever, had conspired with the rest of my family (Mom, Dad, and Sister) to come up with most of the money needed so he could build me a (much needed!!) new computer, after my old one had finally pretty much given in!!
I'm feeling even more loved than ever-THANK YOU EVERYONE!! :)

Happy Birthday...To me!!

Today kicks off my last year in my 20's!! Everyone seemed to have plans for me this year!
I went to Grandma Bailey's for tea and cake with my "Auntie-who-shares-my-birthday" (Auntie Mary Lee! :) ) They both spoiled me rotten! :)
Then-some good friends had asked the previous week if they could come visit on Wednesday. Forgetting it was my birthday, I said sure. Then, regrettably, I had to phone and cancel, because Mom was planning to watch (ALL) the kids for me so I could have the day to myself. I said "I'm sorry-I forgot it was my birthday!" She (you know who you are!) said "We didn't-we were going to surprise you with a cake!" Oh! So, in stumbling around I'd messed up their surprise! It still made me feel soo good though-what awesome friends to even think like that!! :)
Then my sister in law phoned to invite me for supper-but Leroy was already planning on taking me out for dinner on my birthday-so she agreed to have us over the next nite!
Then Leroy decided to surprise me and take the day off to spend with me. The night before he'd already surprised me with a blizzard cake from Dairy Queen (which I'd been jonesing for!! :) ) Good thing he'd done it the nite before-or I'd have baked my own cake! LOL!!
He took me out to Original Joe's pub for dinner-I'd never been, b/c no kids are allowed-and how often am I ever anywhere without my kids? LOL! Dinner was awesome!! We both had burgers, and I got the dill dip for my fries-yummy!! Mom kept all the kids except Jacob overnite-we stopped and picked him up!!
All in all, it was a terrific birthday-I got spoiled rotten! :)

Woman on the edge...

is what you get when, against repeated requests to leave things in the box "'til we're ready to set them up", your oldest son dumps a box of Lego Farm, lego combine, lego tractor, and Knex tractor/harrows, with a dash of Playmobil for good measure-ALL TOGETHER!! (Please ignore the fact that this woman was probably more than a few sandwiches short of a picnic to begin with, seeing as she was the numb nut who was responsible for the kid having all that stuff to mix together!! Oiy!!)

After having my mini breakdown, I decided that today for school we will be working on sorting skills.....

Guinea Piglets!!

Ok-technically "pups", but I think guineapiglets sounds cuter! LOL! Are these not some of the sweetest lil things you've ever seen? How old do ya think they are? A week? Two or three maybe? Nope!! These are just hours old!! Yep! Baby guinea pigs are born fully furred, eyes open, running around! They were just born this morning!! (I've been worse than the kids, running to check mama piggie every morning! :) )Still-it was such a surprise to carefully lift her hidey place and have an explosion of piglets go everywhere!!

Here's a pic of their mama, a day before she had them: (if it felt like a long wait to us, I bet it felt even longer to her!!)

Jesse loves his guinea piggies! :)

Another reason to love Playmobil....

Take one creative, excited little birthday girl, one frazzled, completely behind mama, a chocolate cake (thankfully baked the night before!), some frosting, and a bunch of horse-y themed Playmobil, and you get.....

Good job, Tabby!! Happy 5th birthday!!

Happy New Year!

We had a good one-even though we were all in bed before midnight! LOL!
Although it was such a freezing cold night, we took the kids to the early fireworks in Stony Plain. The only warm place there was in the bathrooms!! Luckily for Jacob, he was snug as a bug in my Amautik! Lots of good things to eat there-hotdogs, hot chocolate, popcorn and mini doughnuts! Us mom's were like baby birds, popping pieces of food into the kids mouths, so they didn't have to take off their mitts to eat!! One of Tabitha's friends from ballet class was there, so it was fun for her, and me too (the friend's mom is a really nice lady!) The fireworks didn't last long, but all the kids (even Jacob!) were enthralled! Then we dashed to the van, turning the heat up as high as it would go!! At home, the kids enjoyed a nice warm bath, and then crashed! Mommy and Daddy soon followed suit!!

Christmas.....

Other than me getting up at two am to take care of a sick, messy lil Wyatt (poor guy!) and a fussy Jacob, Christmas morning didn't dawn all that early. The kids slept in til 8:00 am, when Jesse came in to excitedly tell me Santa had come!! I’m a sucker for Christmas morning (in previous years I have actually woken kids up-LOL!), so I got up with him so he could show me. Then Wyatt got up, and I came to try and wake Leroy up by telling him “there’s two kids up now!!” He groaned and said “who? You and Jesse?” LOL!! Ok, well in that case, make it three!! By the time 9:00 rolled around, Tabitha, who likes her sleep like Daddy, finally got up. I let the kids open their stockings while they waited for Daddy. He still wasn’t getting up. Finally I let them open their presents from Grandma Julie, and went and pushed Leroy out of bed.

After gift opening and some time spent playing with some toys at our house, we went to visit Leroy’s parents and grandparents (who thoroughly spoiled them all!!), and then home so I could hurriedly finish rolling a roaster full of sour cabbage rolls, and then to the hall close to our house where my Mom’s side was having their Christmas get together (my Mom’s side gathers every 2nd year). Nearly everyone was there. It was so neat to see how much the younger people were growing and changing, and to catch up, here and there, on everyone's lives!

My Grandma said one of the neatest things to me-she said she enjoyed watching all the people there, knowing that she and Grandpa (who sadly passed away 10 days before Christmas 2 yrs ago) and their love for each other, started all of this (meaning the seven children they had and who now gathered with all their spouses, and children and grandchildren…). I just thought it was such a beautiful sentiment.

My sweet little 2 yr old cousin Callie was fascinated with Jacob in his little suit, declaring that "Santa shrunk!!

A wise lady (Stephanie! :) ) told me that after the fourth child, people begin to expect the next one, rather than asking when you’ll stop. LOL! There was evidence of this, when I admired my sister’s cute top and she said, just off the cuff, “yeah, I’ll have to give it to you when you have your next baby, for a maternity top” (it was kind of a flowy shirt). LOL! Then my brother in law, who had earlier teasingly threatened to start a rumour that we were expecting another already, inadvertently? did so! ACK!! So I had to explain to several aunties that no, not yet, and try and laugh it off-I was wearing fairly tight fitting clothes too..hmmm…

Poor Wyatt was soo sick, and his rashy tush was soo sore-he wasn’t himself, and just did lots of cuddling, and even slept at one point.
Santa even made a special trip to visit the Bailey Grandkids/Great Grandkids (and even an Auntie!!) When someone announced that Santa was coming Tabby told them "no he's not! He already came to my house last night!"
The food, of course, was terrific-all the Bailey women are awesome cooks (and they always cook for an army!!) also-my one cousin has married a Filipino man, and he brought his own version of potstickers, which were soo yummy!! Because everyone brought so much, there were tons of leftovers, even after everyone took some, so I was given the excess! I forsee no real cooking duties for me for the next few days! Bonus!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

I spent the majority of the day wrapping gifts!! You see, while I had done good buying all the gifts before Dec 1, they somehow didn’t manage to wrap themselves, and with all the other stress and drama-it hadn’t happened. Then, in the midst of my mad wrapping spree (Leroy said I had too many gifts up there-but really when you think about it-4 kids +1 hubby X a few gifts each-it adds up!!) I realized that supper needed to be made, and that there were no cookies for Santa (very important in our house!)-another thing that I had wanted soo bad for this year was to spend the month of Dec baking and doing crafts with the kids-didn’t happen-too much stress and mess-and-the cabbage rolls weren’t done yet (I’d done up a bunch with Gramma Ulmer, so I'd be ready-but then used them in “emergencies” such as a church potluck, and a nite when I was too tired to cook much). So I got supper started, (minute steak parmesan and mashed potatoes) as well as the makings for the cabbage rolls (fried the bacon, cooked the rice and grated the potato into the rice while it was cooking) and got the kids set up to make the cookies (soo glad my patience in cooking with them is paying off-I measured the ingredients for whipped shortbread into a bowl, handed Jesse the mixer, and then cut up the cherries for the top, and did the oven thing-kids did all the rolling, and cherry adding!). The kids said the cookies looked like “red nosed reindeer!”

We also tracked Santa using the Norad Santa tracker site-the kids got quite a kick out of it!!

Then the old dog had a sequence of accidents on the carpets that I had *just* cleaned the day before and then Wyatt, who had had a sick tummy all week, added to the disaster by upchucking all over it (maraschino cherry juice colour, naturally!) so I spot cleaned all that, had supper, made sure everyone layed out their stockings before tucking the kids into bed, and heading out to do chores (I do like doing chores a bit later on Christmas eve-there's a tale that the animals can talk at midnight, and, while I haven't caught any gabby gatherings yet, it's a neat feeling watching them chew their feed peacefully, and thinking back to that first Christmas night). Now it's back into the house to finish wrapping presents and arrange them under the tree, feed Daddy the shortbread cookies the kids had laid out, and have him drink the big glass of egg nog they'd filled for him! (Good thing Daddy/Santa likes eggnog!)

Crazy day and crazy night! But it's finally beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here!

Baa baa black sheep....

We have added a black sheep to our crew!! A friend called me up and asked if we had any sheep on our farm. I replied "nooo..." She then replied "Do ya want one?" Well-why not??!! LOL! Her mom had been feeding this lil guy, but they needed to find him a new home. She kindly sent him with a bottle and milk replacer too!! It was too cold outside for him to go out, so we are keeping him in the house. The kids are thrilled!! Sandy the old dog-well-not so much!! He thinks she is a playmate for him-and she disagrees!! He keeps chasing her around the house, trying to jump on her (Leroy says the lamb might need some therapy-either that or the dog.... :) ) They can't quite agree on a name for him so he is Bully (as in Wooly Bully)/Cardigan/whatever they decide to call him that day....

One of his favourite pastimes is butting the baby swing (empty, of course!). And this morning he decided to jump in the bathtub with me while I was washing my hair! Nothing like washing your hair, hearing a splash and thinking one of the kids has hopped in-to find a little black lamb instead!! He didn't seem to upset though!! He was probably coming to complain about the lateness of his breakfast.... Anyways, it's fun to have a lamb in the house (you should see the looks on people's faces when they bend down to pet the little black dog-and realize that it's a lamb!!!

Bully's favourite game!!

The Polka Dot....

Bum!!

Ok-I keep having the tune "The polka dot door" run through my head everytime I think about this...!

I walked into the living room to find Jesse closely examining one of the baby goat's bottoms...Concerned that the little baby was sick, or there was something wrong, I asked Jesse what he was doing! He said "this goat has polka dots on his bum!! Why does he have polka dots on his bum?"

And so he does!!

So we had a discussion about pigmentation, which led to a discussion about the colour of horses' hooves with Tabitha-and then we all went and washed our hands! :)

Gingerbread Girl!

Tabitha's dance class were gingerbread girls for their Christmas recital this year!! It was held at Horizon stage on Dec 13th (like-the coldest day of the year!!). They ended up having 3 shows, in order to try and accomodate all the people who wanted to come see!! On top of that, Tabitha also played Mary in their Sunday school's little skit that morning, and we ALSO had the annual Christmas party at the local community hall that evening!! I did A LOT of running around on that very very frigid day!! I'm so thankful my van didn't let me down, and that we were kept safe through all that driving!!

I and another mom who is very creative, talented and brave! did the costumes for the dance recital! I did the sewing, and the other mom added the decorations! We had a baker's dozen girls to outfit!!

I think all were pleased with the results!! :)

(No, I don't usually put so much makeup on my daughter! But it needs to be done so her little face doesn't wash out like a ghost's under the stage lighting!)

Out of the Mouths of Babes.....

We had waffles the other morning. Wyatt wanted some more for a snack, later on. He said "Mommy-more 'Awfuls' pease...."

Tabitha was chattering away to me in the van as we were driving, when, out of the blue, she said "Mommy-I want to ride a horse with a bare bum!" (I think she meant, she wanted to ride bareback, not do the Lady Godiva thing.....)

We were sitting at the bank, waiting for Grandma and Grandpa Ulmer to get done their banking, when a large group of people walked by. Jesse looked out the window and said "Holy Cow Mom!! Look at that herd of people!!"

Faith.....

Well, this post could be about a lot of things. It just so happens though, to be about a beautiful little pony we got for Tabitha not too long ago. You see, Miss Tab complained that ol' Two Bits was too slow (well, to be honest, he's not real motivated to move out!) and Tabitha and Jesse were always arguing over who got ol' Kye to ride. Well, I browsed kijiji constantly, looking for the perfect horse. Leroy didn't want me to pay too much money, so, even though horse prices are down, it was still a challenge. Then I saw an ad for an older 13 hh mare, rescue pony. There were already over 300 views, and I figured for the price they were asking, she'd already be sold. But I called and emailed anyways-turns out, I was the only one who had!!

Faith had gone through the auction mart and that is where the people who sold her to me had originally got her. She had had a foal on her, who was sold separate from her. She is an older mare (estimated age about 28 yrs), and had been putting her all into feeding that baby. She looked like a walking rack of bones!! Yet, she's very pretty (a pinto), and the people who bought her could see her potential, and that someone must have loved her very much at one time. They brought her home, and their daughter worked with her, and discovered that she was quite calm and even tempered, but could still move out at a trot nicely when asked.

We went to look at her, but I didn't get much chance to refuse her, as Jesse grabbed her leadrope the moment she was taken out of the pen and wanted to load her!! He wanted her for himself, but after riding out on her a few times, we've discovered she and Tabitha are a much better match. (Although Tabitha still likes to take ol' Kye out for the occasional gallop!!).

She has her own purple blanket and halter and leadrope, and we're feeding her Nutrena senior ration plus vegetable oil in hopes of fattening her up (actually-she's doing quite well-still bony, but not "fragile" feeling. Can't wait to see what she looks like in the spring, all shined up on pasture and sunshine! The kids are looking forward to lots of riding together too!!

Counting! (or-you can't fool Wyatt!)

Supper the other night, I made perogies (my kids LOVE perogies!). I had given everyone (except Daddy, who has a heaping plate full!) two perogies. Wyatt asked for "mo' " after gobbling up 2 platefuls, each with 2 perogies. Thinking he MUST be getting full by now, I only gave him one. He looked at his plate, and in a disappointed tone looked at me and said "want TWO 'ogies Mommy!!" Leroy was amazed that Wyatt is counting already!! But Wyatt's such a little mimick-he just picks up EVERYTHING the older two are doing! (Sometimes that's a good thing, other times-maybe not so much... :) )

Firsts!!

These firsts-will they ever get old? Jacob got his first tooth today! On my brother's birthday no less!! LOL!! I noticed it while sitting in the waiting room at the chiropractor's office-I'm sure the other people waiting thought I was a bit crazy exclaiming about his first tooth. Then again, they'd probably already prejudged, seeing as I was there with 4 small children.....
Anyways-it's on the bottom left. Out of all my kids, his first tooth took the longest to come in (Tabitha's at 2 mos, Jesse and Wyatt right around 3 mos!) Still-I'm sad. Just one more step away from being a baby-already!! Jacob's pretty excited about it, I think-he spent most of the rest of the day with his tongue stuck out, feeling it, and looking so silly and cute!!
He also rolled over for the very first time when we were at Grandma's last week, having a delicious fish fry to celebrate September birthdays!!
I'm glad to enjoying all these firsts again.