vacation...

... i'm going on a blog vacation.  i will be back on october 27.  hope all is wonderful for you until then.

til next time,
farmer mom

mat...

was the first book that farmer son read!  a very meaningful moment.   he was all excited and proud of himself- i could tell it in his eyes.  i don't think that he realizes how huge that is.  he made the connection!   thanks to the visual phonics, signs, the phonics book, and time we will soon have not just one growing reader but two.  thank goodness we have 4 amazing dogs to help me listen to all those books that will be read!  wanted to share that moment with you.

til next time,
farmer mom

beauty...

that i saw today...

til next time,
farmer mom

grasshopper...

til next time,

farmer mom

5:50 this morning...

... what were you doing?  over here on the home front,  we were having our first really exciting moment of the day.  living in the frog capital of the world means there are frogs everywhere.  EVERYWHERE i tell you.  so today, the frog was in the green room (our own little green house so to speak right off the kitchen).  how that little guy got all the way in there is besides me.  i'm grateful we found it alive. usually when we find them it is too late. sad, but the honest truth. my first response was a shrill "o my!"  then, i called the farmer sons to help me- catching frogs is not my job anymore.  these little boys are the perfect people to help me with tasks like catching little creature that feels like a rain drop.  farmer two ran in the room and started to try and catch it.  i don't know when, but the next thing i know this little guy is on farmer two's head and they are making their way to the great outdoors.  before they got very far, though,  it jumped on the kitchen counter. it jumped right next to my fresh steaming cup of morning coffee, which was calling my name  instant fear kicked in.  it would a horrible moment if that little guy, in trying to escape, ends up jumping into that cup.  would i be able to have a normal cup of coffee after seeing a little frog boiled to death?  would it make the same shrill noise as a frog makes when being eaten alive?  o the horror!   morbid, but a huge possibility.  this is all running through my mind as i am in motion to move this dangerous cup. he soon after jumps on top of the coffee maker.  at this time, he was still making me so nervous.  i was thinking about his soft little skin and the potential of burning it.  i was trying to shoo it away from the coffee making area, thinking hot surfaces everywhere, can't be good.  careful shooing accomplished this.  then, i picked up farmer son 1 and let him catch the frog before he got any further or on any other dangerous surface.  after a few attempts he is captured and then released outside... never to be seen or heard from again.  i would hope.

nothing like a life being at risk to really wake you up.  the rest of the day uneventful compared to this,  which i appreciate.  how was your day?

til next time,
farmer mom

time and growth...

... i was talking to a friend the other day as the farmer sons and i were going outside in the front.  our conversation was soon interrupted due to a little ribbon snake sitting on the picnic table.  she made a comment about  how she didn't know how i did it with the snakes all around.  at this moment, i realized how i have grown.  i was dealing with a HUGE snake in the shed daily and able to handle seeing the ribbon snake on the picnic table all with out freaking out.  these thoughts have been in my mind since then. pondering how time has changed me.  wondering how much i am going to change in the next three years.   for what ever reason though i had a dream last night about a copper head and then i went to open the rain barrel for my flower bed and i saw it-   a big snake not where i expected!  i completely lost it when i saw the gray racer snake (i think that is it's name, i always think  of the silver surfer) on the front porch.  it was fast, thick and hanging out.  the freak out and conversation that followed to this snake that has disappeared into my flower bed was intense (as i visualize the sign for intense). i still have a long way to grow and the time to do it.  who knows maybe one day i will touch snake skin, then after that maybe even touch a snake, and from there maybe even hold it.  but i'm working on not freaking out hard core for the moment.

til next time,
farmer mom

the quest...

... has finally come to an end.  now the real work will begin.  remember a few weeks ago i mentioned the two words visual phonics (which are hand signals that break down words phonically)  and i shared those youtube videos.  well i learned that and then got stuck.  there is only so much that the alphabet can do.  i needed blends.  so thanks to an amazing sister in law- she is my ALL TIME  favorite, and the kindness of a strangers willing to help us on our journey, i am so happy to tell you that our quest has now come to an end.  now the real work begins with learning, understanding and then using these new signals and symbols for our growing farmer sons. so i'm hoping that these other signals are as easy to learn as the original alphabet and that i can master it all by school on monday morning.  thank you favorite sister!  and kind strangers!  ya'll have helped us on our journey and that will never be forgotten.

time to get working.
til next time,
farmer mom

i have noticed...

... that the season is starting to change.  the sun is coming up later and is shifting. the morning temperature is in the low 70's or 60's and a little chilly.  i can hardly believe that it is almost the middle of september.  time is going so fast.  things will be changing here too.  we will go from our busy season with outside activities all the time- watering, weeding, cutting grass, etc.  to inside projects to pass the time. maybe even going a little stir crazy during the winter.  it's so interesting of how i'm aware of this now and how i used to not notice it at all.  seasons came and went but now i notice the in between.i notice the subtle changes that mark the ending of one season and the start of another.  i'm noticing the moments, the time.  time is coming and going.  it happens at a steady rate but i know it now, i embrace this now.  life is too short not to do what you want to do today. so i try and maximize my time.

a few months ago, farmer dad and i decided to cancel directv.  (which if we ever get tv again it shall be from them.  shout out to direct tv- your rock!) anyway, i never noticed how much time at the end of the day i spent watching tv- mindless crap that passed my moments.  never to be had again.  now i fill that time with constructive things that i'd like to accomplish- i have a strip quilt going, and a single crochet cotton blanket that is using my time.  plus countless decoupage projects that are filling our house.  it's such a change of pace, a nice change of pace.  now i am marking these moments and i have something to show for it.  something that will last. 

Marie Beynon Ray said "Begin doing what you want to do now.  We are not living in eternity.  We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand and melting like a snowflake.  Let us use it before it is too late."
i'm a huge believer of carpe diem.  seize the day.  it is all we have.  yesterday is gone and tomorrow is not here.  looking at this moment, this day as the season changes and marks a period of time done for another year.  it's the ongoing cycle. the ongoing cycle that i'm not just a bystander for but and embracer of it.

what is your favorite season? if you had to pick one season to be n for the rest of your life what would it be?  i don't think that i would pick summer is too hot to be in all the time, even though summer water activities are awesome.i don't think winter either.  it is too cold.  even though we don't typically get snow down here it is a different kind of cold.  it's a in your bones kind of cold... one that a veggie gumbo with wild rice can cure (as my cajun ancestors curse me)  but i don't think that i ;s like to spend all my time in that one either.  spring would be good.  still cool but not cold.  the bugs aren't as bad either as they have yet o come back out of winter mood.  or maybe fall.  the leaves changing, it's starting to get cooler, but not yet cold.  what are you thoughts about the seasons and time? are you ready for fall?

til next time,
farmer mom

i cracked an egg...

...and surprise it was double yolked.  that is very exciting, because nothing beats the creamy-ness of our girls yolks and this one had 2! 

while we are on the topic i thought that i'd share that  the chances of this happening is 1 in 1000. based off the  rough calculations of 20 eggs a day and 365 days a year, that is 7300 eggs (that is a lot of eggs, never broke it down  like that before.) so this should roughly happen 7 times a year.  so, you fleur farm cayuga duck egg eaters, please let us know when you crack your egg and find a double yolk.  it'd be interesting to see if that number is right.   this is the second time that this has happened to us and we have been getting eggs from our original girl for over a year now, but with more egg layers the chances have greatly increased.  i'm excited!

til next time,

farmer mom

a time for everything...

to everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones;
a time to embrace, and a time to throw away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a tie to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love and a time to hate;
a time of war, and a time of peace.
- ecclesiastes 3:1-8


it is time.
til next time,
farmer mom

just like that...

... and she was gone.  as fast as she came into our lives she left it. this moment was not expected at all.  she was so young and vibrant.   midnight was the world's greatest cat- by far.   she will NEVER  be replaced.  one morning she simply wasn't here waiting to be fed. normally she is sitting at the front door.  no amount of whistling, name calling, searching for her brought her back.   i asked the neighbors if they have seen her, but nothing.   farmer dad and i realized that when it was her time that we probably wouldn't bury her.  based off the fact that she was an outside cat and probably would leave us to die.  i thought that i had time though.  didn't think that our time was so limited.   i didn't realize how much i appreciated her until it was too late. that is a horrible feeling.  life is too short.

to the worlds greatest cat- rest in peace midnight.  we love you!  

til next time,

farmer mom

beautiful brown eye...

sure i guess technically it isn't brown brown, but it is definately in the brown color family.  so brown will do.  feeling generic today.

til next time,
farmer mom

the snake...

has been doing a good job eating all the mice in the straw shed.  at the same time, it is still scaring me.  our friend held up the skin the other day (i won't touch it) and it is almost 5 feet.  that is intense.  there is a 5 foot snake that i see on a daily basis.  goodness gracious.  i never would have thought that. 

there is a peaceful harmony going on right now.  there is a mutual respect.  we both stay out of each other way and no one gets hurt.  the unwritten rule that we both know. 

til next time,

farmer mom

p.s.

sorry about the poor pic quality- i can't make myself get closer.

the storm..

wasn't that bad.  thank goodness.   we lost electricity at 9:56 am on wednesday when we were doing school.  the storm had barely started.  no electricity mode instantly kicked in.  i called the electric company to report our outage.  the recording told me that they weren't even going to look at it until the winds were under 30 mph and it may be a few days. this is where i started to freak out on the inside,  wondering if we had planned enough ahead for everything. i had made an effort lately to use the food that we had in the freezers and fill up that space with water filled juice bottles that could be used for drinking water after they defrosted.  i  also knew that we have access to what ever water was left in the well before we lost the electricity.  i had no idea that amount, though so we didn't to use that up.   we have 3 rain barrel set up, so we were able to access water to flush the potties and dog water if we needed.  if it got really bad, we could add different containers else where to try and catch more rain for the dogs  or for us too.
we had 7 doz eggs sitting in the fridge, but i felt assured that we had enough of that frozen water  to keep the temperature where it needed to be until the storm passed and we were able to bring our eggs to a friends fridge if we didn't have power back yet.  so that was a relief.  thank goodness for friends.

honestly one of big concerns was my morning coffee, how selfish and materialisic is that.  nothing starts my day like coffee after my mornign exercise of course, but was i going to exercise and get all sweaty with no aboility for a shower, i think not.   i could almost feel the morning head ache set in.  this was the moment that i instantly regretted not having a non electric coffee maker.  i realized that we definitely needed to find on that didn't rely on power.  thank goodness for propane. 

the moments were calm though.  the farmer sons and i sat and read some books.  it was peaceful.  it didn't take long for the house to start getting hot though.  with the direction of the storm we were able to open two windows a crack which all in all is better then nothing.  farmer dad moved the empty chest freezer into our room.  i was anticipating the cool air at night after it was open. he even put it on my side of the bed.  how romantic of him. 
  
the girls were good. they seemed to really enjoy the rain.  why wouldn't they- they're ducks.  we kept them in the duck run though for safety and ease.  which worked out great.  the dogs didn't really mind either.

after 9 hours of no electricity suddenly it was back on like that.  we knocked on wood that it would stay.  it was right in time for bed.  we cooled off the house and enjoyed a normal evening together.  we even put the chest freezer back. 

on thursday we all went outside as a family and took care of the animals.  the storm had passed, i was just a little wind and rain. we took farmer son 2's hearing aids out of course.  it was fun.  the sons and the dogs all got rid of excess energy they had building up.  it definitely made me feel alive.  working in the rain with my family around me doing what we love. 

the trees survived too!  two needed be tied again but everyone seemed to do good and stand their ground.  that was a pleasant welcomed surprise.  it was mesmerizing to watch the willow tree  dance in the wind. 

it was a great adventure.  memories of our first storm will last forever. 
til next time,
farmer mom

issac...

... so i guess we're waiting to see how bad this hurricane is.  i just checked the weather channel online and i could zoom in on the projected path. which is pretty cool.  based off where we are, we should receive wind of 39+ mph.  we have never been in a storm in this house.  it will be our first.  our first with animals too. (besides our dogs.)    my concerns are electricity.  the energy company out here is really poopy, they have gotten better but they still don't have the best record.  that's my thought- no electricity in south west louisiana with  a storm going on out side so you can't open the window in august with two growing farmer sons and 4 dogs. (i smile thinking about the possibility of this... mental note, make sure the video camera is charged to document the potential moments)  i also hope that our road doesn't flood out.  that would be poopy too.  so we shall see.  honestly though, i'm always up for a good adventure and there is nothing that i can do to change it.  so i shall embrace it. 

til next time,
farmer mom

the egg makers...

... have a great life.  they roam around eating bugs and adding valuable nutrients to the earth.   here are some pictures of their day- roaming free! 

they usually follow the current leader to the next spot

pondering where she should go next

looking for tasty bugs to eat

even though they can't really fly; they like to pretend that they do

waiting

all lined up and ready to go

beautiful black egg

granted i'm not a duck nor do i speak duck  but if i had to guess i'd say that our ducks are happy. 

til next time,
farmer mom

charts...

i am a fan of charts and we have been using them from a long time for the growing farmer sons.  i think our first one was the potty chart.  every time the farmer sons tee-teed in the potty they got one sticker and they got two for a poop. then it evolved to a few things, like listening to their body after they were potty trained, listening in general, and sharing.   at some point farmer dad and i  added things like signing and having a good attitude.  from there  i found some awesome FREE superhero charts with five slots. we have been using them for a few months now but i wanted to add too it.  i want something more permanent then one week.  i like the reward charts.  it makes sense to me.  it sets responsibilities and behavior goals. 

there is a mardel store in lafayette that we like to go too. (it's one of my favorite!) they have a lot of good sales on school stuff.  so we were there the other day when we noticed the nice wooden magnetic behavior charts on sale for 1/2 off.  

 so we got two and from there i revamped it to fit us.  here is the finished product...

farmer son 1

farmer son 2

farmer son 1

farmer son 2

magnets covered with stamps for chart

 i found the letters to the farmer sons first and middle names and put that with their blue hand print on the top section.  also i covered the magnets with old stamps and even created new magnets from stickers for the guys to use.  it has been something that they like and look forward to using. i can support that.  someitmes if we are having issues a good little reminder about the magnets usually is what it takes to change it. can't beat that. 

so there are our new charts.  ones that shall last a while.
til next time,
farmer mom

now..

i'm pumped, simply pumped!  you should see the smile on my face!  recently farmer dad and i contacted local restaurant so see if they were interested in trying a sample of our duck eggs.  today i  made that delivery to Chef Manny Augello at jolie's louisiana bistro. He was very enthusiastic about it and requested 3 dozen more this friday and 5 more next week.  o my! this was instant too.  not days or weeks later. it feels so good to be supported and received  so warmly from a  restaurant.  they are very local farmer friendly and  now supporting us, too. (see smile) you should go to their website (it's very impressive) and to their restaurant, where you will not only be supporting us but  your other local farmers too!

thank you for sharing in this joy with us.
til next time,
farmer mom

beautiful

this morning took my breath away.

til next time,
farmer mom

week off..

we took last week off of school.  it was a nice break, but i was missing our daily routine a little bit and i was excited about the changes that we were making.  not doing school opened up like 4-5 hours a day. which is a lot of time- time that i greatly needed. i totally maximized it and made more lesson plans. in math  i have material ready for the next 9 weeks.  minus this one activity that i need peanuts.  it's a lesson where the guys will use their senses and we will eventually make homemade peanut butter.   i have to figure something out to replace that item though because farmer son two is allergic. any ideas anyone? beside that i'm good in math.  which is exciting.

the other thing that i worked on was putting the sign for words that we are leaning to read.  that pile is huge to say the least and growing almost daily.

about 1/2 of the words

the friday before we took the week off, my interpreter friend who is helping me learn signs told me about a thing called visual phonics.  this was the first time that i've EVER heard about this.  visual phonics uses a hand signal for the sounds of letters.  so i began this search to figure out these signals.  we went to two bookstores and my favorite school store in lafayette.  nothing.   i ended up using YouTube.  which was extremely helpful.  if your at all interested i used this guy, who does the signal and the sound and this lady, who sings a song.  the farmer sons and i have been watching the lady in school.  that is a good catchy one.  if you like to sing songs and want to learn visual phonics it's perfect!  anyway, this has opened up a big door for us.  i was having a hard time with that very aspect- how do i separate the letter from the sound when all i know is the asl alphabet. now i can phonetically sound out the word with hand signals or i can show them the asl letter then the visual phonic letter sound signal.  how cool is that?  the lady, who sings the song,  said that a mom created this to teach her deaf children phonics.  that mom  is AWESOME!!!!  i am so grateful for that.  knowledge is power.  and simply knowing about this now has changed things.  on that note let me tell you have fast they guys are learning it.  we have watched the song two times now.  farmer son 1 has the words down and farmer son 2 has the hand signals.  i'm impressed.  it's interesting to see how they are different.  farmer son one can hear and words come very fast for him.  he gets it.  at the same time, farmer son two, who can't hear  picks up on signs as fast as a hearing child picks up on words.  that is scary- and i say that only because it something still relatively new to me, but it's incredible.  the brain/ mind is an incredible thing! and woohoo for visual phonics!

i'm trying to make school more interesting and exciting for the farmer sons.  so to change it up, we started jumping on the trampoline as part of school.  we jump and run around saying and signing out numbers to one hundred.  then we do our math facts and the day of the week song.  they seem to really like it. not to mention the number sign shadows are pretty cool!  we also made up a chant for the month date year information too.  it's a good use of the extra energy they seem to regularly have.  it's a change of pace and environment.  not to mention good exercise too.  for whatever reason i don't remember jumping on a trampoline to be such exercise.  anyway.

 in addition to the jumping, i decided to open up a school store.   they earn pennies (or lose them) and can go shopping once a week. this seems to be working.  granted this was the first week, but our store is stocked with good incentives.   it makes the constant drill work more exciting because they are getting something for it. it is also keeping them on task easier which is making the lessons go faster.  less time wasted.  that works for me.   i don't mind "bribing" them in school.  an adult goes out work and gets paid.  school is their job. i should pay them for their work.  house work and family responsibilities  are a different thing. 

yesterday was one of the best days of school ever!  it felt so wonderful.   they were very focused  and knocked out their work.  it felt nice and wasn't a struggle.  they were having fun with it.  that is what i want- them to have fun and learn at the same time.   i feel like  i'm seeing the pieces coming together.  i see what i have taught them being used- as they randomly yell out math fact.  i see the information sticking and  them filling in their answers correctly. i have to say that sometimes it can be a struggle and challenging, but the rewards of it  far, far outweighs that.

til next time,
farmer mom

carolina wolf spider...

til next time,
farmer mom

1 pair of jeans...

for the longest time now i've been wanting to make one of those school desk bag things.  do you know what i'm talking about?  it goes onto the school desk- you put your books etc in it.  today was the day that i made it.  i started with one and it came out good... not perfect but good enough.  i was happy.  so i decided to do another one but take pictures along the way.  i'm not a pattern person.  i wish that i was but it's very difficult for me for whatever reason.  so nothing is exact. my apologies.  anyway,  besides the obvious material of sewing machine/ needle and thread, scissors, and so on, you just need 1 pair of adult jeans.

i had this pair from high school and thought they needed a new life...

first you cut off the legs, probably about an inch away from the middle seam.  you only need one leg for this project, so you can save the other one for later

then you cut up the leg along the seam

open up the cut leg and iron smooth

\

after it's ironed, fold it in half and cut the sides even

cut the back pocket section off from the front section.  i cut along the seam.  this will be the big pocket section and the two smaller ones for pencils, crayons, etc.  you don't need the front part for this either.

cut the back section sides straight

.  i used the bottom of the pant for the shorter end, the one that faces inside the desk.  plus i didn't have to sew anything because it was already nicely done. 

this is where i did my accurate measuring, NOT.  i put the two ends where i though was good and pinned one side, but not together so you can sew in the back pocket piece.

i thought that the L hand shape was a good distance from the pocket starting to the ends meeting. (my thumb is on the green pin)

i placed the pocket piece on and pinned it, then i turned the whole thing inside out and sewed them together.

in hind sight i should have put the bottom back pocket piece and the bottom leg piece together first.  i was just so excited that i wasn't thinking clearly.  live and learn right

then i turned the pocket piece inside out and sewed the bottom together

and then it's ready to go

this is the one i did  while taking the pictures

this is the first one i made

well, i hope my wording wasn't confusing.  if you make it, please send pictures.  that would be so awesome!

til next time,
farmer mom