Busy bee...

Mommy is busy crafting, what are we going to eat?

Jasper chases this...While I make these...

and these...

and this...

I have neglected my blog for a wee bit, life has been super busy. I don't know if I told y'all the tale of what occured three weeks ago... well ... I backed into a dumpster, giving my back bumper a rather large boo boo and taking out my light completely. Well, after two weeks of waiting for the back bumper to get fixed, being cooped up at home, I was finally able to venture out last friday with my car somewhat patched up! Mama ( Boo-bah to Caillou and Jasper) and I went out and about! We had a great day at the antique stores, joanns and michaels. Mama spoiled me. I went home with bags of goodies! I have been busy putting those goodies to use. Crafting, and sewing away. Today I worked on 25 thank you cards for my friend's baby shower, 5 trinket boxes, a butterfly jar, and I finished my whimsy art for my wall. Caillou busied himself with stickers, scissors, watercolors, and construction paper. Jasper was underfoot crawling after his toy butterfly. Tomorrow, I am going to use reproduction feedsack fabric and make the boys some more lovies, hopefully sew some pincushions, and cut out my super cute retro simplicity baby pattern to stitch up for miss Maddie-lyn Rae. Ric rac, buttons, birdies, polkadots, and cute creatures are a few of my favorite things right now!

It's all about teamwork!

Giving all our Little People animals a bath...

Making teething biscuits...

I am working hard to train my greedy grinch (Caillou) to share with little brother. Most days, he does pretty well, and other days... like today... he grabs his toys, runs into his room, slams the door, and yells "no popper, no popper, my toy." (Popper is the word he uses to refer to Jasper) sometimes.... if Jasper has a toy, that Caillou wants, he quickly grabs it from his hands, and replaces it with another toy, hoping Jasper hasn't noticed! Sharing is a hard concept for a two year old to grasp, but when he does share, they have some great times together. Oh, and the picture above, of us making teething biscuits... HARD AS ROCKS! Poor Jasper tried and tried to gnaw on them, and would look puzzled and bang them on the floor. Even Caillou, who is quite the biter, couldn't eat one!

squeaky clean...

Is this what your evening looks like? I hope so! There is nothing better than freshly bathed, sweet smelling babies using their mommy as a great big towel! Miraculously, my boys are bathed, fed their supper, and getting ready for bedtime, and it's only 6pm! They have been up like little roosters in the morning, so they are going to bed early. As they say... early to bed, early to rise.....

Outdoorsy fun...

Our Duck, Mr. Piggy, turned out to be a Mrs. and she lays eggs! Really big eggs! Here is a picture of a duck egg next to a chicken egg. Poor thing, no wonder she sits in her wading pool all day long.
Oh, how I wish my strawberry patch looked like this!
We had great fun making a trip to this huge strawberry field with our good friends. There were strawberries as far as the eye could see. I am contemplating digging up my 40 strawberry plants, and raising up the dirt bed, and planting them closer to together. We will see. I know a scarecrow is in order. I frequently find little parties of birds in my stawberries feasting away.

As more and more starts sprouting in our garden, and I see more fresh produce being sold, I am feeling inspired to do some canning. This year I would really like to do pickles. I am also planning on doing peaches and jellies. Tomorrow we are going to go on a nature hunt, and with all the things Caillou collects,we are going to attempt to make a bird's nest.

Show and Tell Friday...

When I was 14 years old, my mama and papa drove around for miles and miles to every sewing store we could find, in search for my first sewing machine. I didn't just want any machine, but I wanted a 1957 Singer slant-o-matic 401a. The day was nearing an end, and we were losing hope that we would find such a machine. Well, hidden in a row of dingy little buildings was a sewing shop, I declared that there we would find my sewing machine. And there we found it. In a little sew and vac shop in a town once called Bostonia. Mama was so excited for me, and papa was so proud of me bargaining the price down with the shop owner, that they even got me a burgundy hard covered sewing case. The machine was in wonderful condition, and all the accessories and even the manual were still intact. We rushed home with my new treasure, and then I had to hurry off to a birthday party. I will never forget coming home to find my mama behind that old sewing machine, scrubbing away. There were probably 200 dirty q-tips beside her, she cleaned every groove, knob, and crevice of that machine. It was a sentimental journey for her. In her youth she too had a singer slant-o-matic machine. She had the 500 model known as the Rocketeer. Many a night I put my mama to sleep with the hum of that sewing machine, as I would stitch into the wee hours of morning. 11 years has passed since finding that treasure. Mama and I still have our old Singers, but since then we had another adventure at another sewing shop, where as we are now the owners of some lovely Bernina machines. Mama and I may be decades apart, but we are two peas in the same pod.

Our first Rodeo...

This past weekend, we took the boys to our first ever Rodeo! We got to see a parade too! It was a very fun day! Caillou made up a little song afterwards... "open the door, open the door, the bull rider fall on his face" it was so funny! It really amazes me just how clever he is. Next year when he is 3, he can go down into the arena and compete in the stick horse races! We can hardly wait!

Mommy by day.... Seamtress at night

Okay, so I am always talking about how much I love my kids, well here is something else I love... sewing. Actually sewing, crafting, scrapbooking, and even a little crochet! I have been "creating" things since I was a kid. I can remember the gentle hum of my mama's Elna sewing machine, and the little pictures of the rabbit and the turtle on the dial for sewing fast or slow. I can remember as if it were yesterday our many trips to cloth world, golden state fabrics, house of fabrics, and a little quilt store that had cats running around. All those fabric stores are long gone now, but the love of sewing that my mama instilled in me has never disappeared. Tonight I sewed myself a 50's housewife inspired skirt. I made it from a vintage curtain I found at the thrift store, some ric rac, lace, and ribbon trims. I would have to say, I absolutely am in love with this skirt. I can't wait to wear it to church on Sunday, with Jasper perched on my hip, and Caillou holding on to the lacey folds of my skirt as we walk in. I can't wait to sew another one! Sometimes, I am just so tired...it takes a great deal of ambition for me to get any sewing or crafts done after I put the boys to bed, but boy do I feel pleased with myself when I do find the time to spend on my little projects. I feel so at peace while stitching pretty ribons and ric rac to hems, hand sewing little felt birds, painting little boxes, and rummaging through cutesy stickers. I feel energized and content after I have worked on a project, I feel more like a homemaker, more like a mama, when I take the time to do these little things that I love. Since I am a grown girl and don't live with my mama anymore, I can no longer can run into her room in the wee hours of the morning to show her what I have created. But I can go to bed, eagerly aniticipating the morning, to present a new pair of britches for the boys, or a set of calico rag bunnies, or even some little signs for their high chairs like these... and then call mama and tell her what I made!

My big boy...

My little Jasper is getting so big. He is 9 months old now. He is crawling all over the place, getting into things, exploring everything. He says "mama" now, which melts my heart each time he says it. Last night he even slept through the night! He is getting big, but he is still my little snugglebug!

Honorary Hilllbilly Queen...

The happy little homemaker of the Little Hillbilly Farm...

is pleased to announce, that Mrs. Stephanie Miller is being crowned the honorary title of

Hillbilly Queen for a day.... okay.... So I have a new friend, Stephanie, we met at quilting group. We had our first playdate on monday. Caillou was.... well, Caillou. Poor Stephanie witnessed a nap battle. Somewhere in the chaos I said " I need diet coke!" Diet coke is the saving grace of my sanity. I love the ice cold bubbly stuff. Well, Stephanie remembered my love of diet coke. And... last night, I was out in the back yard, and lo and behold my new bud arrived at my gate, with none else but a large jug of diet coke in hand, gift wrapped very cleverly :) Stephanie, you made my day. I haven't had anybody do something so cool, so funny, and so nice, in a long time. So, since you totally made my day... I am hereby crowning you Hillbilly Queen for a day.

In the garden...

We have built a better pen for our beloved goats, chickens, and duck. They are all quite happy with there new little yard, and my garden is now left to peacefully grow without any uprooting, or barnyard interference. We have lost quite a few plants, but our strawberries are doing pretty well. Caillou loves to fill his basket with the juicy red berries he finds out in our patch! We had quite a bunch of them the other day, and they are so much sweeter than the ones in the grocery store!

Our little old schoolhouse...

Here is little Caillou playing the alphabet bingo game we found at our little thrift store. We have been have many nice days walking to the thrift store and finding many treasures. Its been quite fun searching the book shelves for special train books... and finding them! Shuffling through the toy bin and finding a 1957 fisher price little people mail man truck for a mere fifteen cents! Discovering a child's parachute for ninety nine cents tucked in with the sheets. And then there is of course the alphabet bingo game we found... something that you just don't see much nowadays since our kids have entered the computerized era of education. We had to be quite careful when we opened the alphabet bingo box, it was quite old. We carefully taped up the crease lines in the alphabet chart, which were quite fragile, and voila it was like new! Since Caillou is just a bit to young to get the concept of playing bingo... we played this way instead. Caillou would hold a bingo card, and I would point to a letter, telling him what it is, he would then find it on the large alphabet chart. He would then get one of those rainbow plastic, dime sized bingo markers as his reward, then he would put it in a baby food jar and shake it around singing alphabet bingo!

We have also been feeling artsy crafty around here. Caillou busily doing his own projects while I do mine. Here are some crayons I made for Caillou. My friend Jennifer gave me the idea!

Here is the finished product! I love how they look, and Caillou loves how they color!

Well, we are off for adventures. We are going to pack up our lunch picnic style, stop in at the thrift store and see if they have any new treasures for us today, and go on over to the park to play until naptime.

A special Easter...

A little Easter cake, decorated by chef Caillou...

Enjoying the lovely weather Easter morning...

Getting ready for Church.

We had a very enjoyable Easter weekend. It was so much fun having two little ones to celebrate with this year. Caillou was absolutely enchanted by finding eggs all over the yard and Jasper was truly in love with the Easter bunny.

Here are the homemade bunnies that I stayed up until 2 am to finish. Next year I won't wait until last minute to do my sewing projects!

Yummy little cakes....

Fun filled days...

I have been lazy about posting pictures lately.... we have just been so busy around here.... here is what we've been up to....

planting, picking and eating strawberries....

playing all day long

enjoying the fresh air

cuddling our loved ones

Planting seeds

Trying new foods

reading good books

having adventures

Waiting for the ice cream man!

Taking lots of baths

just hanging out

relaxing in a sunny spot

Life has been great. My days are busy, but they are good, very good.

Earlier today I posted a poem that I enjoy... after my intersting day today, I decided to right a similar poem of my own....

Mommy's gone crazy,

yes crazy... It's true...

Mommy's gone crazy from all the things I must do

I wake up at dawn, to jumping on the bed,

get little sleep at night because baby must be fed,

I wakes up quite weary, and tired, and mad,

the room is a mess, and the kids smell quite bad,

there's poop in the diapers, and no wipes are in sight,

the goats baa for breakfast, and the boys start to fight.

I warm up a bottle and clean dirty hineys,

the goats drink their milk while the kids are being whiney.

I whip up some hot cakes, sweep feathers off the floor,

scrub up some dishes, and chase chickens out the back door.

I speedily set the table, and we say our Amen,

I swallow my Prozac, and wait for food throwing to begin.

The baby is sticky, the table's a mess,

Elmo's World is playing, and I need to get dressed.

I water the flowers, and clean out the coop,

and change the ducks water that looks like pea soup.

I re-sweep my floor, and make up the bed,

do some more dishes, and get the animals fed.

We read a few stories and sing a new song

build tall block towers, and explain right from wrong.

Baby goes nigh nigh, away in his bed,

while the duck is thrown from tree house and lands on his head.

Toddler's on timeout, and duck runs away,

How many more hours are left in this day?

There's screaming, and chaos, and tantrums galore,

Biting, and kicking, and slamming of doors.

Lunch is approaching, and fast food sounds good,

but the bank account's empty, so I do as I should.

I trudge into the kitchen, and sandwhiches I make,

and lay out some butter for the cookies I will bake.

Rowdy old toddler goes down for his nap,

I bake up those cookies, and bounce baby on my lap

I scrub down the walls, and mop up the floor,

Caillou wakes up and lets the goats through the door.

Mommy is tired and feels quite the grouch,

I go to sit down and there's goat poop on the couch!

We go outside and play on the swing,

and watch as the chickens dig up everything.

Finally, at last I get a chance to pee,

I look at my watch and see that it's Three.

Dinner's approaching, what will I make,

Somebody just take me to the Taco Shop for Heaven's sake.

Bedtime is nearing, I really can't wait,

once the kids are in bed I sew really late.

There's a flood in the bathroom, and the toilet won't flush,

the toddler keeps screaming no matter how much I shush!!

The children are sparkling and ready for bed,

thank God! one more hour and I would probably be dead.

I do a little sewing and plant some more seeds,

'scrapbook, and blog, and the scriptures I read.

Then I hop into bed to try to conceive number three...

Don't ask me why, I'm crazy you see.

I just close my eyes, and burrow into the bed,

'and baby wakes up, ready to be fed!

Goodnight! I hope you all enjoy my crazy life....

'

Busy busy busy

I love this poem... I did not write it, but I think it describes perfectly what all us homemakers try and do!

The girl is a whirl...

by Vickie

Look at me, look at me, look at me now!You could do what I do If you only knew how. I study the scriptures one hour each day;I bake, I upholster, I scrub, and I pray. I always keep all the commandments completely; I speak to my little ones gently and sweetly. I help in their classrooms! I sew all they wear! I drive them to practice! I cut all their hair! I memorize names of the General Authorities; I focus on things to be done by priorities. I play the piano! I bless with my talents! My toilets all sparkle! My checkbooks all balance!
Each week every child gets a one-on-one date; I attend all my meetings (on time! Never late!)I’m taking a class on the teachings of Paul, But that is not all! Oh, no. That is not all …
I track my bad habits ‘til each is abolished; Our t-shirts are ironed! My toenails are polished!
Our family home evenings are always delightful; The lessons I give are both fun and insightful. I do genealogy faithfully, too. It’s easy to do all the things that I do!
I rise each day early, refreshed and awake; I know all the names of each youth in my stake! I read to my children! I help all my neighbors! I bless the community, too, with my labors. I exercise and I cook menus gourmet; My visiting teaching is done the first day! (I also go do it for someone who missed hers.It’s the least I can do for my cherished ward sisters.) I chart resolutions and check off each goal; I seek each “lost lamb” on my Primary roll. I can home-grown produce each summer and fall. But that is not all! Oh, no. That is not all …I write in my journal! I sing in the choir! Each day, I write “thank you’s” to those I admire.
My sons were all Eagles when they were fourteen! My kids get straight A's! And their bedrooms are clean!
I have a home business to help make some money; I always look beautifully groomed for my honey. I go to the temple at least once a week; I change the car’s tires! I fix the sink’s leak! I grind my own wheat and I bake all our bread; I have all our meals planned out six months ahead. I make sure I rotate our two-years’ supply; My shopping for Christmas is done by July!
These things are not hard; It’s good if you do them; You can if you try! Just set goals and pursue them!
It’s easy to do all the things that I do!If you plan and work smart, you can do them all, too! It’s easy!” she said …… and then she dropped dead.

Funny Farm...

Okay, so growing a garden and tending animals doesn't seem to go so well together. My critters do not stay in their designated area of the The Little Hillbilly Farm! The chickens dig up all my seeds, and the goats eat anything that the chickens missed digging up, and the duck runs wildly in circles encouraging all the mischief! And if by the grace of God, a bit of luck, and a wish on a dandelion granted to come true, something actually survives the seed / sprout stage, along comes farmer Caillou, and his toddler hands pluck the precious little bit of green right out of the ground, as he smiles at me and says "Mommy, helper, me helper!" I am working on finding a way to protect the garden but at the same time give the critters free run of the place, something tells me my garden has a gloomy future!

Those crazy goats...

As you all know we have added two new members to our little family... Pickles and Sugar Pie our sweet baby goats. Boy are they sweet, and boy are they mischievious. They are like Caillou with hooves! They insist on coming inside, and if you don't let them in, they sit at the window and stare and baa at you! Once inside, pickles enjoys running through the toys, and SugarPie likes to jump on the couch, then they both run wildly down the hall, jumping on and off my china cabinet along there merry little way into the kitchen. Then comes the chewing of boxes, bags, crackers, and everything else you don't want a goat chewing on. As quickly as I usher them out the back door... Caillou opens the front door and we repeat the farmyard festivities all over again, and again, oh yeah, and again. They have learned to jump clear over their fenced in goat yard, argghhh! What is a goat mama to do? They climb in the tree house, slide down the slide, nibble all my greens, but boy are they cute. They paw at you for affection, snuggle up in your lap, and like to be rocked to sleep in the rocking chair, and giving them a bottle is just so precious, they happily drink away and wag their little stumps of tails all the while. A few nights ago we had missionaries over for dinner, and as if Caillou and Jasper's dinner behavior isn't wild enough, the goats got in, jumped on the table, and sent guacamole flying onto the missionaries and spilled milk all over the floor. Tonight, they are up late, it seems if I am not nursing Jasper, I am giving the goats a bottle! Someday I will sleep, just not anytime soon! Goodnight Y'all!