Author: Olof

Baby, birth, Boy, children, family, mom, mother, motherhood, Parenting, parents, Stay at home, stay at home mom, Uncategorized

Introducing Ragnar Baldur

Olof

 

As I have told you in prior posts I was expecting a baby. That baby was born December 7th of last year. His name is Ragnar Baldur and he is the easiest baby I have ever had. He is both easy on the eyes and sleeps really well. He goes for 5-7 hour spurts at night. I am so lucky and thankful for his sleeping so well.

 

Since I have other kids I’m not getting much more than 6 hours at night but most nights it is continuous sleep which I have never had before with a little one like this.

He was less than a week old when I started to need to cart him to school Christmas events. He almost never fusses at being dragged all over creation as long as he is dry and not hungry then he usually just sleeps through it.

This mamma is just so in love with this little human. His brothers are so happily surprised that he doesn’t interrupt their lives too much and they are great helpers.

Pour Ragnar got really bad baby pimples. But they have since cleared up.

I’m sure you are thinking Ragnar Baldur is an interesting name to pick but if you watch the show Vikings (and if you don’t you really should because they are a really good depiction of what the viking culture was really like) then you might have noticed that the main character’s name is Ragnar. It means a warrior sent from the gods.

 

His middle name Baldur is a Nordic god name. The god of poetry and beauty. So now we have our oldest Odinn, the god of gods, our next oldest Magni, the god of strength, our 3rd child Alexander Thor the god of thunder, and now Baldur.

 

Ragnar was 10lbs 3oz at birth. Many of you might be thinking that that is big. It is not small. But Alexander Thor was 11lbs 14oz. I worked so hard this time not to have a giant baby by watching what I ate and going to the gym daily until I got sick and started coughing and didn’t stop. So the 3rd trimester I was not as active but I made sure I didn’t put on more than 29lbs and lost 21 of them giving birth.

 

When I need to get housework done and he is awake usually putting him in his bouncy chair with a toy will keep him busy for long enough to clean up the kitchen and start a load of laundry.

Waking up in the morning to this face never gets old. No matter how tired I am I smile and am thankful for all the love and beauty he brings to this family.

Most of the time when we have appointments for my son’s orthodontist or a Dr’s appointment this is the norm. He sleeps in his car seat and I knit or read something. During swim lessons he just hangs out in his ergo baby.

There have only been a hand full of days since this child was born where he just needed to be held and all else had to wait and during those days I hold him with gratitude for he will only be little once and since this is rare I have an excuse to just sit and snuggle him. My surprise baby that was far from planned.

 

Most of the time he is a happy laundry helper but in that pic you can see it is not ALL the time.

 

 

He found his thumb a couple of days ago. Magni and Alex also did that for a little while at this age but never got into it. But who knows, I might have my one and only thumb sucker.

Love his little baby voice. And that is it. Sorry about flooding you with images and videos. As you can tell I am head over heals about this guy. My surprise 4th. The baby I cried for 2 weeks over when I found out that he was on his way and I thought that I couldn’t handle any more children. But here he is and he is perfect.

backyard chickens, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, Icelandic, Recipe, Tuna salad

Icelandic Tuna Salad

Olof

As my family grew from 5 to 6 people last December, we realized that the Mazda 5 did not work for us any longer. We needed something that would seat 6 people and still have trunk space which the Mazda did not. It sits 6 but as soon as both seats were up in the back there went the trunk. We couldn’t even go grocery shopping. Well, we went car shopping knowing that even though I NEVER thought that I would want a mini van I test drove a Honda Odyssey 2014 and I was hooked. It was more than we planned on spending. By 8K but we knew that the Hondas had a good reputation and all my mom friends that have had them have said that even though their Odyssey had over 200K miles on it, it was still going strong with out needing any work on it. We are working on getting debt free so we have a big payment for another 3 months to pay off a card so since we bought the big space ship of a van (my goodness I am spoiled and in love with that thing) we need to get frugal. So I had to give the grocery bill another look over and figure out how to cut costs for the next 3 months. Lunch meat is expensive so I started making egg salads. My chickens have started laying again after a long break this winter.
Here is how we make Tuna Salad in Iceland.

Ingredients 
1 can Tuna in water
8 hard boiled eggs
half cup Fried Onions (you know that kind that you make green bean casserole with)
enough Mayo to blend it all together to the consistency that you like just keep adding until it looks good to you.
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon Curry Powder
1/4 teaspoon Paprika

How to get it all together
Find a bowl that you can put a lid on after like the Pyrex bowls or just any glass bowl and use plastic wrap to cover it later. Peal and cut up your eggs. I use an egg cutter for finer and quicker work but you can use a knife if you don’t have one. Open the can of tuna and drain it. Add the tuna to the eggs. Then add the fried onions and add at first 3 table spoons Mayo and stir but keep adding more until the salad is not too dry. Then add the spices and blend them in well. Taste it and see if there is enough to your liking. Some people like more salt.

I like to eat it as soon as possible so that there is still a little crunch to the fried onions but it is also good left over. Sometimes I do need to add a little more mayo later since the onions soak up a lot of the moisture but make sure to seal it tight with a lid or cling wrap before putting it in the fridge to keep. 

getting things done, How to, stay at home mom

How to Get Stuff Done Even When You Don’t Feel Like It as a SAHM!

Olof

OK, I know everybody has been there. They are home and the house looks like a tornado went through it and that tornado is your kid. I have 4 boys so I know exactly what you are talking about. The baby has been crying all night and you are so tired that you feel like you are going to fall over. The kitchen is a mess. There are piles of stuff all over the house that you have meant to get to “later”, there are food crumbs all over the house and just looking around makes you feel even more tired. Believe me I have been there. Just thinking about unloading and reloading the dishwasher or doing a load of laundry and actually putting it away is like asking me to pull the hairs out of my arm one by one or worse. I just wanted to leave the house or just see if it would “accidentally” catch on fire and we could just get a new home.
People ask me how I have time to do it all with 4 kids. The answer is that I don’t. But my home is picked up, the dishes get done (most days), meals get made, kids get dropped off and picked up. Here is how you can do it too.

1. Face what is keeping you from doing what you need to do. 

I know that there are days where things are just not getting done because the baby is nursing every 30 min but at some time they are going to sleep and as much as you think sitting down and watching a show will help you rest it will actually do the opposite. Unless you are laying down and closing your eyes you are not resting. The TV will not help you unwind. It will help you escape for a few min but your unconscious will keep making you feel even worse knowing that the mess in the other room is still waiting for you. So if doing the task just feels like it will take FOREVER set a timer for 15 min and see how much you can do. If you are anything like me the dishes almost never take longer than 10 min. Each time you have a task to do set the timer for 10 or 15 min and get cracking. See how long it actually takes to do these house tasks. When I did this it really helped me mentally to just do it because it only takes X amount off minutes.

2. Turn your internet/TV off!

It is time to treat yourself like your children and turn the internet off until you are done with your chores. If you are anything like me then someone messaging me on Facebook or liking my activity on Instagram will drag me into the internet black hole where time gets sucked away. I know being a stay at home mom is lonely and talking to friends is so tempting but you will be able to focus on them so much better once you have finished all the things you need to get finished and then you might even not be ashamed to invite them over for coffee. Same thing with the TV, especially Netflix, I tend to start watching a series and suddenly 4 hours are gone and nothing got done. Oooops! Now if the TV is on it is to keep the 3 year old occupied for a few min so that I can get something done and it is by far nothing I want to sit down and watch.

3. Figure out when you are at your peak performance.

Are you a morning, afternoon or evening person? When do you feel the least draggy. Mornings are my time because afternoons are spent doing kid pick up, homework, snack, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays swim lessons, then dinner and bedtime. After the kids go to bed I need me time. I need to clock out of work and veg out in front of the TV with knitting or just a cup of tea and a favorite snack. So in the mornings I pack in as much work as I can possible do. The dishwasher gets emptied and filled with dishes from breakfast, a load of laundry gets washed, animals get fed, the bathroom gets wiped down, one clutter pile gets tackled and I vacuum and get stuff done. This is just on the mornings that I am home which is Tuesdays and Thursdays and on the weekends. MWF  are the days where things just get done when they get done because I have too many other things going on like grocery shopping, Dr.s appointments, orthodontist appointments and getting together with friends. But usually I manage the basic Unload the dishwasher and start a load of laundry while the coffee is brewing in the morning. Mind you I might be restarting a load that I washed the day before because life go in the way.

4. Get Organized

If you think hourly planners are just for people that work you are dead wrong. I use mine to keep on top appointments, my menu planning, my to do list, and put in all the time spent picking kids up and other things done so that I see that even if I feel like I didn’t get much done that day I can look at my planner and see that I was quite busy. Menu planning is important both to save money and to know when to start dinner and to have everything you need on hand. To do lists help you stay on top of your goals for your self, your family and your home. My organizer is always with me everywhere I go. I have my Google calendar too but my pen and paper organizer are how I survive and never feel like I am forgetting something. If you start using pen and paper make sure you use an erasable pen or pencil. I like the Frixion erasable pens because of their gel ink, the many different colors and when you erase it looks like nothing was there before. I also get the erasable markers to highlight the different things in different colors. If it is just me it is pink, if it is a weekly appointment or pick up it is yellow, if it is a family thing is it is blue, if it is just my husband it is green. But I will write a separate blog post about how I use my organizer (The Inner Guide Planner). But spend one day a week planning the coming week. Thinking about what you want your week to look like. Thinking about what you want your week to feel like. When and how you will make time for you. This will help you feel more centered and ready to do what needs to be done for the family.

5. Let it go!

From this day forward each time you pick something up to put it away ask yourself if it brings you joy or if you really need it. If not LET IT GO. If you thinks someone else can use it then give it away, if it is worn and ugly then toss it. As  you start letting go of all the things cluttering up your home you will start feeling lighter and there are fewer things to pick up. There are many books out there about simplifying your life here is a link to just a few. If your kids have access to more toys than they can pick up in less than 6 min then they have access to too many toys. Get rid of the ones that don’t mean anything to them and Make a toy library for the toys that they enjoy playing with. Keep them in plastic bins that you can see through so that it is easy to identify what is in each bin. If they want to play with another bin they need to return the bin that they have first like returning a library book before getting another one. This will make clean up much easier and less stressful on both you and your child.

6. Make a master list.

Now that you know how long it really takes to do your tasks make a master list of what needs to be done every day and then another that needs to be done weekly and spread it through the week and then another that needs to be done monthly and then the ones that need to be done every 3 months or every year. Use your organizer to schedule these things like oil changes and washing the curtains. Having a list to refer to with the most important tasks first helps me stay on track and remind me of what I was working on. I am horrible about getting distracted by a dirty diaper of hungry child and the forgetting what I was actually doing so the list keeps me on track. I also forget when oil changes are due and when the taxes need to be paid on my vehicle so when I mark that in my calendar every year I don’t forget anymore. I spend 15 min in the morning with my cup of coffee and my daily journal to write down my thoughts for the day, my gratitude and my progress on my ongoing projects and figure out how I will work my day around the things that need to be done. Giving myself a vision with out over planning.

7. Turn the Music On
Music helps me get stuff done and keep on task. If I need to write a blog post then classical music will do it for me because there are no words to it but if I need to clean the house then dance music is what helps me stay upbeat and moving.

8. Accept help!

This has always been the hardest for me. My mom was the only person that I was comfortable with really helping me. But now my mom is gone. I still need help. I need my village. So this year I decided that I was going to accept all the help that came my way. I am worth it. My children deserve it. It is amazing what comes your way when you open the doors for it. My in-laws have been very helpful but they also live 3 hours away. My friends have really stepped up. One comes and cleans my bathroom, windows and floors for only $40 every 2 weeks. I wouldn’t be comfortable not paying anything for something like that. I have 4 gross boys and only one bathroom. We also made the decision to put our 3 year old in preschool. It is a $210 investment every month for 3 days a week from 9am-2pm but it helps me go grocery shopping and taking the others to their appointments with out having a very active 3 year old that has no self control and a 2 month old with me at the same time. We are lucky that my husband’s work has a childcare fund that you can put your money in pre tax to pay for childcare. Plus the 3 year old loves going and playing with is friends for that time. He gets to do crafts and go outside while I am running around getting things done. My friends have also come to watch my children for me when I have had to go to the Dr. But if you don’t have family close by to help then build your village.

9. Get your friends involved

I’m sure you, like me, have a friend, or two, that has a hard time getting stuff done. When I am especially not in the mood I have a friend that I text my list to and she texts me her list and we take before and after pics of what we are doing and then celebrate each other’s success when we finish something even if it is just a small thing like calling to make an appointment at the dentist. But don’t start chatting. Chatting is not OK until the list is finished.

Nobody is perfect. Especially not me. Right now I have spent a decent amount of time writing this post on a Saturday with everybody home and snack time has come and gone. The dining room table that I am sitting at is covered in leftovers from snack time and since I have not been paying the living room or my feral children any attention, since my husband is home to watch them, toys are everywhere and the clean clothes are sitting in the washing machine from this morning waiting to be put in the dryer, floors have not been swept or vacuumed and just because I have not been on top of things for a couple of hours the house looks like it hasn’t been cleaned in days. No worries. It will only take me about 30 min to get on top of it again. I will have my cup of coffee. Make my list. See in my minds eye what I want my home to look like before dinner needs to be made and make it happen. So can you.

What are your favorite tools to get stuff done? How do you make your chores easier to tackle?

If you really have a hard time doing the things that need to be done and no amount of pep talk or planning can get you motivated enough to get off the couch and this has been going on for more than 2 weeks it is time to go to your Dr. and discuss what is going on. But be warned, do not automatically believe that you are just depressed. Have the Dr run a complete thyroid panel (not just the basic one), check your vitamin D, iron and B12 levels, and check if you have sinus issues that can cause the feeling of being tired and unmotivated. When your body is not in a good state it is hard for your mind to work properly. Believe me I know. I had sinus issues that I did not know about and I felt so tired all the time. Come to find out one of my sinuses is completely blocked and would get infected on a regular basis with out sinus pain. Just a low grade fever for about  3 weeks that the Dr.s could not explain on a regular basis. Now after the CT my Dr ordered they saw how extensive my sinus troubles were and I am about to have surgery. So figure out what is wrong physically before you start taking antidepressants but see your Dr. Figure out what is wrong. You deserve to feel better. You deserve to be happy and healthy and should fight for it just as hard as you would for your children.

coffee, family, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, journaling, lists, Mindful, Mindfulness, to-do, work

The Importance of Self Care

Olof

I’d like to take today to talk about the importance of self care no matter what your profession is but especially when you are in a care taking job. Whether you are in the health care field, a mother, or taking care of aging parents people get depleted pretty quickly. It is difficult to keep giving and giving but a lot of people misunderstand what self care really looks like. It isn’t always a massage and a mani/pedi. Self care can be as little as just taking 15 min in the morning and reflecting on what your day will look like and remembering to acknowledge the things you can be thankful for that day. Morning journaling can go a long way in putting your mind in the mind set of getting things done and prepping for what is to come that day. Drinking your favorite warm beverage or juice while doing this can help set the mood for a wonderful day. It is just a short check in with yourself. Your feelings and your body.

Most western countries have the bad habit of hitting the ground running as soon as the alarm goes off. Believe me I make this mistake too. Especially while I was working full time. But I always tried once I got to work to make myself a cup of coffee, look over my calendar, and envision what my day will look like. What tasks I had left over from the day before and what I needed to do that day. Now as a stay at home I go over all the different tasks that I have to do to keep this family functioning.

Morning Journal is my favorite and least expensive self care technique. There are plenty of other ways.

  • Exercising (especially walking and Yoga)
  • Meditation (even if it is only checking in with your body for 5 min and using mindful breathing)
  • Coloring or drawing (art lets the part of the brain that does not have words express itself)
  • A mindful shower (where you are mindful of your body and are thankful for all it does for you)
  • Mindful cleaning (Remembering to only hold on to the things that have function and you love and get rid of the rest so it does not clutter your home or your mind)
  • Aroma therapy (essential oils can make a huge difference in mood and feeling)
  • Mindful eating (enjoy each bite of your food and check in with how it makes your body feel)
  • Chatting with a friend (make sure that this friend is a friend that helps you feel better and does not drain you of your energy) 
  • Gardening
  • Knitting (or whatever your favorite hobby is)
What is your favorite self care technique? How do you like to start or end your day?
Baby, blogging, boys, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, Parenting, pregnancy, ultrasound

Long time no post…

Olof

Hello everyone,

It has been a long time since I posted my last blog post and just typing this seems really odd to me. I feel rusty and not quite sure where to start. My last post was almost 10 months ago. I posted about choosing to be home with my family instead of going back out into the workforce and what that takes in effort for me. The last 10 months have not been easy. I have stumbled and gotten back up over and over. I have wished I was working many times. I have also been thankful for being home and being here for my kids moments many times. Finding a balance for a mother is hard and some of the biggest news since I posted last is that we are expecting baby boy #4. That is right.

This came as a huge surprise to us. We believed that our family was complete. I was sure that I would not want to give birth again after my last being 11lbs and 14oz. We were preventing. I cried for a couple of weeks but then I held out for the hope that just maybe this was a gift from the universe and I might just be having the little girl I always wanted. When I found out that was not the case it was even harder to carry this baby. All the aches and pains became worse. The thought of going through labor and delivery of another giant baby became harder to process. I’m having another giant boy. It has already been confirmed. I am now on a special low carb diet so that I can try to do something to limit his weight gain. This makes this pregnancy even less fun. No ice cream or any of the other food I crave.

Since mom died over 2 years ago I have struggled with my faith. When I found out I was pregnant this time the thought that I might be getting a little girl resparked my faith for a little time, sort of holding out hope that maybe mom sent me the little girl I always longed for. But when I found out that this was a little boy my faith crumbled again. I love my boys. I would never return them. I’m sure that this is a blessing and I just haven’t seen it yet. Maybe this child will be the easiest kid ever. Maybe labor and delivery will be no problem unlike last time. Maybe this will be the kid that sleeps through the night sooner than age 2. Maybe…….. But I’m not holding my breath because this is a human child that is born to me and the likelihood that he will be that much more different than my other children is slim to none.

I turned 34 yesterday and I had told myself that I would not have more children after the age of 32. I’m only 2 years younger than my mom was when she had me. Mom has been at all my births until now. Now she is gone. Now my husband and I need to do this on our own. Now I need to put my big girl pants on and face the music. My baby is due on Dec. 9th and my babies have all been at least 5 days past due so I will have a newborn this Christmas. Still bonding. Still getting breastfeeding down. Usually at 2-3 weeks my nipples are cracked and bleeding. I worry about making this Christmas magical for my children. I worry about a lot of things having this 4th child in 7 and a half years. I worry about my abilities to keep up and meeting everybody’s needs. There is only one of me and now a 4th child and a husband that really need my attention and my love.

New  baby clothes from Target

Knitting a little jump suit for the belly dweller.

I am trying hard to do things to bond and make sure that I greet this baby with open arms and an open heart. I have gone to therapy to work through my feelings, I have done some shopping since I had gotten rid of All of the baby stuff we had and Alex had outgrown before we found out that we were expecting again. I try to appreciate those belly moments where he is active and be thankful for all the other great things in my life. I know as soon as he is in my arms I will love him as much as I have loved all of my children. Thank goodness for my bodies ability to form bonding chemicals. I become that crazy mom that can’t let my baby out of my sight and you better not touch it with out asking permission first unless you are family.

I will end this post here. I could go on and on about how rough the summer was being pregnant with 3 small boys and the pelvic pain that started in the 3rd month but I believe that you get the point. As much as children are a blessing being a parent is hard and being pregnant with an unplanned pregnancy and having 3 other young boys is really hard. Especially when you don’t have a village.

What are your struggles at the moment and how are you being mindful and working in a direction of healing and happiness?

children, homemade, Homemaker, motherhood, Parenting, Radical Homemaking, Stay at home

Choosing My Family

Olof

This Christmas day had me thinking about what I want out of life. What I want for my children and my future. What is more important to me and our family. I always go through certain stages of grief when I become stay at home again. It is almost always the same. I go from Super Mom and Wife in the first 2 months where everything is cleaned up and put away and I dive into closets and drawers to rearrange and clean out and suddenly around month 3 I hit a wall. I know what it is. I can analyze it but to stop it is harder. I hit the dip. The depression and I have a hard time getting myself out. I get tired of doing it all and getting no thanks or acknowledgment for it. I get tired of picking everything up after everyone but I don’t want to be the wife and mom that bitches and moans constantly so it builds up and I stop doing it all. I start only doing the things that have to be done and if there is no deadline it doesn’t get put on the to do list. Oh, my to do lists. They are sad now. I write them out and then ignore them and then I see them again and just get depressed. I, by all means, do not sit around all day picking my nose. I have a very active, giant two year old that I run after all day getting him off the top of my desk or stopping him from pushing his chairs or rocking horse over to a child gate to climb over it. I am constantly putting out fires it seams of dirty diapers, laundry, meals and picking up children from school, helping with homework and getting them in bed.

My husband started a new work schedule. He works 8-6 M-Thur. so that he gets every other Friday off. This is another adjustment. By the time he gets home most nights it is 6:30pm and the kids go to bed at 7:30. So each day he only gets an hour with them except for one Friday where he is home when they get home from school. It makes for a VERY long day for me.

2014 Willow Tree Ornament 

I have my outlets. I have play dates at my house on Tuesdays where my fellow grad student stay at home parents come to talk to save their sanity and mine. Where our children play and we get to talk about how non-glorious it is to be a parent. The poop, vomit and little to no sleep you get. Then we turn around and boast about how great our children are and how we couldn’t imagine life without them.

My being home now is a choice that I go back and forth on if it is really what I want. I love working. I love being around other intelligent grown ups. I love the immediate change I have made. Being home is different. I know this is what is best for my children but the rewards are small and far between. There is no paycheck and the gratitude is little to none when it comes to kids. I take enjoyment from hearing my kids interact with one another. They are really forming good lasting relationships. If I had them in aftercare then they wouldn’t even be in the same room after school. Being a mom and wife is frustrating a lot of the time but the good moments are REALLY good. I get to go on field trips and see the plays. Pick them up from school and ask them about their day in a non-rushed manner. I get to be in the moment with them and not constantly worrying about if I have everything for dinner or will I have to feed them fast food again.

Dough raising for homemade bread

As a parent how do you choose? How does one keep themselves sane and do what is best for their family? I’m reading Radical Homemakers which is really helping me see my value as a stay at home mom with a very expensive Master’s degree. In our current society, that values more what you can buy instead of make and produce, it is hard to stay focused on all I do for my family by growing our veggies, raising chickens for eggs, keeping bees for honey, knitting, sewing, baking from scratch, and learning now to clean with safe chemicals. Making a home. Raising a family. Being here for them. Choosing to produce instead of buy.

My backyard flock

I choose to be home because I choose my family. I choose forming good solid bonds with my children, I choose spending more than 2.5 hours a day with my children that are just rushed because dinner needs to be made and then things need to be cleaned up. I choose having time and energy to make home cooked meals instead of fast food or frozen meals full of chemicals that I can’t even pronounce. I choose to cut back, have a smaller home, have second hand items and older cars because in the long run that is not what kids really care about. They care that their mamma is there for them. That she is willing to cut back and live a less lavish lifestyle so that she can be home with her kids. They care that their mamma is there to cheer them on and not some care taker that might not even work there tomorrow.

As you see in this post this choice was not easy for me as an individual that loves other grown ups and needs to be mentally challenged but as a mother it was a no-brainer. I choose my children because they are little for such a short time and before I will know it they will be too busy with their own lives to need me this much. I tried working. While I was happy at work I felt guilty about leaving my children to be cared for by someone else not even related to them.

Road Trip back from the grandparents.

I am far from perfect. I do the best I can with what I have but when women say that they can’t afford to stop working what they are saying is that they are not willing to give up the huge house, the new car and the cable package for their children. It is possible to live on one income. It is hard. It takes a lot of work and planning but you can choose your family over running the rat race. You just have to downgrade to the point where one income is enough and then make that a home. Your home made by you and not what commercials tell you it should look like. I have a friend that does an amazing job of keeping a home on her husband’s income. Her home always looks like it is out of a magazine but almost ALL of the things are bargain finds at flea markets, second hand stores, craigslist, and antique shops. If she can’t find it that way she has her husband make it. She even dug her own fence posts and built a fence around her back yard herself. They bought a beautiful home that needed a LOT of work cheap and did almost all of the work themselves fix it. I have another friend that is home with 5 kids all 7 years or younger who she homeschools, keeps a neat home, grows her own food, keeps chickens and goats and makes a lot of food from scratch. These women are superheros in my mind. On top of this they themselves look amazing.

I don’t have the first friend’s talent for homemaking. I also don’t have the second friend’s patients to homeschool and I certainly am not keeping myself in shape at the moment even though I am trying.  I am not an interior designer  or a school teacher at heart. I knit, sew, cook and bake with the best of them but the work it takes to keep a home like she does is more than I have the energy to do with 3 kids 6 years and younger. I do the best I can with what I have. I am a housewife first and foremost.

Of course there are exceptions to the rule when it comes to being able to stay at home. If you are a single parent or you have lost your spouse then you have to work. Also if your spouse is unable to work then that also leaves you to be the bread winner. I have friends that are stay at home dads and that is awesome. At least there is one parent there to take care of the child or children and home. People are not bad people or parents if they choose to work away from their children but if there is a will there is almost always a way. It just takes choices that you might think are steps back when really they are steps forward. 

Backyard, chickens, Cochin, death, eggs, gardening, homesteading, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, killed, Olive egger, Urban

The Loss of Backyard Friends.

Olof

I knew when I took on having backyard barn animals that at some point I would have some sort of loss. That something would get one of my ladies or that they would get sick or something. But my last month of experience really threw me off of my rocker.

Several weeks ago I went and got new chickens. The Cream Legbar that I had was laying white eggs instead of the blue that she was supposed to be laying and the breeder was nice enough to get me another pullet that would for sure lay blue eggs. While there, 2 more pullets followed me home. There was a cross between a Cochin and a Road Island Red and a Maran/Cream Legbar cross. The Cochin I named Sweety Pie because that is exactly what she was and the Maran mix I named Heidi because she just seemed like a Heidi to me. 3 days in to having them the Cochin was killed by something and it ate her head and left the rest. Two weeks later the Cream Legbar (which I named Stinky because she smelled so bad on the way home) had gotten caught on a neighbors fence and been there for some time and when I got her down she died shortly after. It was really sad. I hated that she had gone through that. The temp was over 100 that day and she hung upside down, for God knows how long, before we found her. I feel so horrible about that. I just thought she was in the shade somewhere in my backyard. Then only a few days after that Heidi starts looking a little lethargic but still spunky when I got close to her one day and only hours later I walk out and find her dead with her legs int he air. Having never lost a chicken before I was shocked. All 3 different ways. My other girls are fine. No problems there for over 18 months. Have you ever had a sting of bad luck like that?

Sadly, due to not wanting to invite carnivores to come hang out in our backyard, I had to put their bodies in the landfill. That brought on guilt too. If you have chickens how do you deal with your carcasses when there is a loss?

Backyard, bees, carrots, chickens, farm, gardening, heirloom, herbs, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, peas, squash, tomatoes

2014 Spring Garden

Olof

This year in my garden I focused more on getting things planted to grow rather than to make it pretty or well organized. My older son helped a lot and because of that I had all kinds of things sprouting all over the place. Here are some photos of what is going on at the moment. 
Cilantro from Botanical Interests was quick to sprout and has been thriving well. 
This was one of those “just stick something in the ground and lets see what it ends up becoming” I don’t know what kind of squash it is but I do know that it is squash. 

Lady Gaga my Polish hen is quite the sight and interesting to watch but all she does is teach my other hens bad habits. I really need to rehome her. She finally started laying this spring but like I said she is more trouble than she is worth. 

 This Zucchini is growing so fast and has plenty of female flowers on it already even thought they are not blooming yet I am looking forward to some amazing zucchini dishes this summer

 I planted some Sweeter Yet Cucumbers this spring and I look forward to eating them. They are not an heirloom but they are REALLY good. And they already have female flowers growing. So excited! Hope to eat plenty of these this summer.

 This basil popped up so quickly. It is one of Botanical Interest’s variety  packs and it is so nice to have all the different types of basil to try.

 A few days after I took this photo these vines wilted due to a vine borer infestation. I was so sad to see them wilt and not being able to do much for them. What do you do to save your plants from the vine borer?

 In the past years I have not done well with peas. I have had poor plants and poor yields but this year was not bad at all. It is getting towards the end of these peas but I have enjoyed they fresh and cooked. Beside the peas I have carrots in all different colors. I love how I am surprised each time I pull one up at what color it is. In the past I have had a problem with my carrots tasting bitter. Is there a trick to making sure that they taste sweet?

Something keeps eating my Okra pants. I love Okra and was looking forward to eating plenty of it since over 10 plants sprouted but due to both chickens making it into the veggie garden and just some sort of bug eating them I am starting to wonder if I will get any. I love the flowers that bloom on these and since this is red okra the seed pods are beautiful too. I haven’t seen what is eating them. Do you know of anything that eats Okra plants like this and if so how do you stop it?

Swiss Chard that seems to be thriving.

 My Bees bouncing back from having lost their queen at some point. I checked the hive 3 weeks ago and there were queen cells and little to no brood. I was worried that I had lost my bees but they are growing in numbers again so I will have to go in and check on them again next weekend.

 I thought after I fenced the chickens off in a smaller part of the yard that this would definitely not happen. I thought that in such a small space they would keep it nice and mowed if not completely void of vegetation but this is what my chicken run looked like a few days ago. I have since chopped down all of the weeds but left the sunflowers for shade. Does this ever happen in your chicken run?

This is what looks to me like a pumpkin vine popped up on its own. Anybody have a different opinion on what this could be?  it is right in front of my grape vine and I struggle with deciding if I should let it be there or not and am worried that it will take all the nutrients away from my growing grapevine. Do you ever have surprise veggies pop up in your garden? I had several tomato plans shoot up this spring. If you do what kind of surprises have you had?

Backyard, bees, chickens, Parenting, simplicity

Long Time No Post…

Olof

The bees are still alive!
All the girls enjoying the warm day!
Buff posing for the camera

This is where Buff likes to lay her eggs
Fridge full of eggs

My shaggy big boy.
Shaggy next to biggest boy.

My current project
My Valentine Present from my Hubby

Today’s bounty from the girls
The baby sleeping next to his Pabbi on the couch.

Thought I would just give you a glimpse into my world at the moment. My backyard is still busy with my farm animals and bees. My home full of boys both big and small having fun and being loud most of the day. We have all been fighting a cold this weekend. When I went out to let the birds out to free range today I stopped in the sun and felt the warmth of the day. I work inside most days nowhere close to windows and even if I were the weather has been cold and dreary for so long. The beautiful weather was such a blessing and warmed both my body and soul as the feathered ladies waddled around me.

I work a lot these days keeping me too busy to keep up with this place. I am finishing my 3000 hours of supervised experience at an inpatient facility for people in psychiatric crisis. I have to finish my hours before my time runs out for my license since I took time off to have Alex and be home with him for the first year he was born. I don’t regret being with him. I do hate that I only get about 2 hours of time with them after work on weekdays before it is bed time these days. But I keep telling myself that this is what it is at the moment. My boys just need to hold on tight for one more year and then we can reevaluate what is what at that point. I did the math though and even after I finish my hours and make more money because of having my license I would still be paying more for childcare for my 3 boys those last 3 hours of the work day than I would be making in those last 3 hours. At the moment I pay about 2032 dollars a month for daycare for my boys. Which leaves me about 168 dollars of my paycheck each month for gas and physical up keep. So I am working at the moment just to finish my hours. I am not making any money.

This brings me to my Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier, and More Secure Kids leadership classes and my thoughts that have come up those teachings. I started my group yesterday and I look forward to the many more group calls to come. I won’t be able to teach Simplicity Parenting until I finish my hours for my license because I signed a no competition contract with my current employer. But I will have it in my tool box for after. As a back up plan and be able to maybe help friends and family with my teachings even though I might not make any money with it. It has me thinking back to my childhood. How was I raised? How did that have an effect on the person I am today? What impact do parents really have? How much can we guide after a certain age? How much is it teaching as much as it is modeling? How do we give our children the ability to find their own way with their own unique talents? How do we guide with out pushing our fears and needs on to our children? How can we just be that training wheel until they are ready to ride life one their own? How long do we hold on to them and how do we know when it is time to let go and let them fall and learn from their own mistakes?
There are so many parenting styles out there. Picking one is not the easiest thing to do. My thought is that if it works for your family then go with it. If it doesn’t work then it is time for change but make sure to pick the change that falls with in your value system and try to be as consistent as possible.

Thank you for stopping by and reading my update. What is your view on the perfect parenting style? Do you believe there is one true way? How much does genetics and personality have to do with parenting? 

Backyard, Cat, chickens, Coop, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, IKEA, mother, working

Time Flies….

Olof
Happy Sunday!

I know it has been a long time since I last posted. I have been very busy with life as a working mother the last couple of months. I have finished the “training stage” of work and actually started working as an intake therapist at a local inpatient psych facility. I really enjoy work. I know that I am making a difference in peoples lives. I am sometimes the first step in someones road to recovery from mental illness. I enjoy the people I work with and even though at times I feel like I don’t know what I am doing I know I have people supporting me that do.

My office at work.

It is hard to leave my children in the care of others each morning though. If I wasn’t finishing my candidacy hours then I would probably not be working full time. But I only get so long to finish my hours and I already took 18 months off to have Alexander. So I pay 2032 dollars a month so that someone else can watch my children. Mamma guilt gets to me when I am picking up my children at 5:30 or later because I couldn’t leave work fast enough. I try not to think about how many hours they spend in other peoples care. I hate that I spend the days that I do have them cleaning, grocery shopping and doing all the things that need to be done to keep this family of five running. Just yesterday I went grocery shopping and then to get my hair fixed for the first time in 4 months. Today I am about to spend the rest of the day putting clean sheets on all the beds, doing all the laundry, cleaning the bathroom, and mowing the backyard.

Speaking of the back yard. I got a new coop. The great coop that my husband made me was not big enough for all the birds I have. It is better suited for 2-3 standard birds or 3-4 bantams. So that coop will be sold. The new one I put together myself!!! With power tools and all!! I am so proud of myself and the birds like it. They actually go in the coop instead of trying to roost on my back porch which was becoming really GROSS! Lady Gaga is the only chicken that keeps trying to roost on the back porch still. But she is not the brightest of the bunch. I got this coop at mypetchicken.com.  While it looks nice it was very beat up when I got it and broken in several places that I ended up having to fix. Unless you are handy I would not order from them.

My chickens have been molting and they also got an upper respiratory infection from the Americauna that I traded the rooster Cowboy for. Being a new chicken keeper I didn’t know that hearing a chicken sneeze is a bad thing. Well it is. Very bad. Stopped all of my chickens from laying for over a month. I got my first egg yesterday and that in the nesting box. It was one of Buff’s eggs. I was so happy to see it. I was so scared that they had gotten a line of strep that keeps chickens from laying for ever. Can’t wait for them all to be laying and the beautiful colors that will come with it.

We have had a visitor in our back yard this week. This poor cat looks like its hind quarters have been saved. Also it is hard to see in this pic but it’s tail is either dislocated or broken. I’ve been letting it eat our cat food. It has been getting cold at night and I can’t think of not helping him grow his fur in by feeding him some good food. 

 Alex and his baby. We got that baby in IKEA in Iceland this summer when my mother died. He didn’t show much interest in it then but now he walks around and hugs on it and kisses. It also sleeps with him at night. Poor Alex has had pneumonia and a double ear infection. He has been a trouper about it too. He almost had to go to the hospital last weekend but we got pediatric home health to come to the house instead. He was still drinking and eating fine so I didn’t see a point in stressing him by putting him in the hospital.