Adventures On a Rural Homestead

Weekend Fun

We enjoyed a nice long weekend together, and bright sunny days! The weather is deliciously crisp and cooler, we enjoyed lots of time outside. I went for hilly walks everyday, last evening my mom joined me for a walk in town which is always a treat.

The boys worked on printing more cards to sell. They've had fun working together and teaching Eli how to print. 

We harvested and cooked good food from the garden. Nick has been enjoying cooking on the grill, and I do the side dishes like potato salad, carrots in butter, coleslaw etc. Mom and I picked 2 more 5-gallon buckets of tomatoes from our garden for her to can, and I canned my last batch of whole tomatoes today.

I also did some winter meal prep and diced and froze lots of celery and onions. Celery was one thing that I couldn't get during the shut-down this winter. I start most soups and casseroles by sauteing celery and onions, it will be nice to have these already chopped and ready to cook! 

We also spent time reading, watched a movie, and playing games together. We enjoyed one-on-one time with each kid today, I loved playing Dragonwood with Eli and learning about Alex's robotic dinosaur. 

We had a lovely weekend together, as always I am thankful for my family and this wonderful place we call Home. 

Football Playoff Game

After winning our conference championship our college football team got to host a first round play off game last Saturday. We were ranked #20 and played a #9 ranked team, but the teams were pretty evenly matched. 

We were winning until the 4th quarter, and ended up loosing in the last few minutes of the game. It was such a disappointment, but we had a great time cheering the team on. We sat next to the 200 student cheering section and the pep band. I love the energy of the games, and look forward to next football season! 

(I had to document the messiest thing for a child to eat in a stadium~ a turkey leg!)

Sports Fans

We've been really enjoying going to sports games at the college~ the women's soccer and football games are our favorites. Saturday afternoon Alex, Nick and I braved the heat to meet my dad for a college football game. Eli got to stay with his MeeMee at Nick's family reunion, where he enjoyed playing football with older cousins. 

Bridgewater won, 40-6, and we stayed to watch the players ring the bell on Memorial Hall, a tradition that the sports teams get to do to celebrate after a win. I can't say I'm really interested in televised sports, but there is something very thrilling about being there for these sports games. It brings back good memories of college, and I like to support my alma mater and cheer on our teams. 

Celebrating~ Eli's Birthday

We celebrated Eli's 6th birthday on Sunday. We had so much fun looking at photos of the wee early morning hours when he was born, at home on our living room couch, 6 years ago.

Eli was excited to open his present from Alex, an inventions bag with building materials. He also had fun playing games with Mee Mee, and got some new neat games for his birthday.

Playing games is one of his favorite things to do, we all love to play games with him. When I am making lunch the boys almost always sit at the table playing games, I love hearing their negotiations, and at the end of the game they both say "good game!" 

I had fun making a photo book for Eli with photos of all his loved ones. He seemed pleased with it, and I hope he'll enjoy looking at it often.

Eli asked for "star pie," cranberry apple pie, for his birthday dessert. I love baking pies, and love to serve good food to my family! 

After his birthday lunch of "bsgetti" and pie there were games, inside and out. It was a beautiful warm day, perfect for celebrating our sweet boy! 

 

Family Culture

Yesterday afternoon, while Nick split firewood and I painted the kitchen, the boys played games. They played Monopoly, checkers, and an ant board game. I love seeing them play together, (mostly) peacefully enjoying each others company. It's so important to me that our family culture is one of peace. 

After they played games they each painted a canvas. It was fun to hear them work together, like when Eli needed help opening a paint cap. I dearly love these boys, and the family culture we are creating. 

Alex woke up with a stomach bug today. We watched a Mystery Science and did the included paper airplane experiment, then he went back to bed. We've spent time together listening to Brains On and I've read lots from our read aloud, "Henry and the Paper Route." Alex told me that as he lies in bed he watches "bird t.v.," the birds in the Maple tree in our backyard. Sometimes even sick days can be good down-time to relax together, to shower the sick with comfort. Eli has been making drawings for Alex, and has taken him lip balm and water. Chicken and potatoes are roasting in the oven, and I'm looking forward to a quiet family evening together. 

Go Fish

One of Alex's favorite games to play lately is Go Fish with alphabet cards, matching the upper and lowercase letters. While I was washing breakfast dishes yesterday he wanted to play, so he showed Eli how to play. He dealt them each cards, then he would help Eli when it was his turn. Eli was delighted to be included in the game, and had fun handing cards to Alex, and Alex was glad to have a playmate. 

We play this game several times a day, which can be tricky with a grabby toddler. Eli is usually content to sit in my lap and help hold my cards, or to play with the matching cards we lie down. I love playing games with the boys, and seeing them play together is wonderful!

Michaelmas

We had a wonderful Michaelmas celebration yesterday. Michaelmas is traditionally celebrated in Waldorf schools, as a time to tell the story of St. George and the dragon, to remember to be brave as the seasons and light changes. We've been reading "The Knight and the Dragon" by Tomie dePaola and the chapter book we're reading to Alex now is "My Father's Dragon." On Saturday we made a cardboard shield and "scaper," and we've had fun playing knights and dragons. 

We invited my parents over for a simple meal~grilled fish, baked potatoes, carrots and mushrooms and Mom brought a delicious cauliflower salad. I baked a gluten and dairy free pumpkin pie which turned out more like pumpkin jello, but we also enjoyed smores over the fire. 

While the fire was going I read this wonderful Michalemas story of "The Most Beautiful Dragon in the World."   I look forward to celebrating many more of this wonderful tradition with out boys!