Excited yet?

My kiddies are.

Exhibit A:
the whiteboard.


But, let's take a look at the bigger picture.

That's right, the BIG countdown is for
our trip back to the old stomping grounds.

I think we're all pretty excited.
Sunny St. G --- here we come!
:o)

It's that Special time of Year again...

That time of year that makes me smile like this....

And dress like this....

(same amazing outfit 4 days straight)

And teach the newbies how to get in touch
with their chocolate center.
Like this....

(sorry Emma, your secret is out. playing hookie has a price.)

And watch the pro.
Like this...

And hang with a few of my family besties.
Like this...
(unfortunately i did not get photo documentation of my SIL's)

And this...

(oh, wait...we hang together every day)
;O)

And this...

(my bestest little sis that brings out the very strangest within me)

Mmmm...Chocolates 2011.

Four FULL days.
Over 2000 Chocolates
amongst the bunch of us.

And to think...we actually considered canceling this year.
Might as well Cancel Christmas all together
if Chocolates aren't a part of it.

The thing about Chocolates...and running.

Yesterday marked the beginning of Chocolates 2011.
(cutting back in quantity this year, by a lot.
in this case no friends is really working out for me)
Anyhoo, I couldn't help but notice as I was dressing for the occasion the similarities of my attire for Chocolate-ing in the cold and Running in the cold.

*heavy duty footless tights? check
*comfy pants? check
*multiple layers of shirts? check
*favorite warm hoodie? check
*fancy, not to mention mucho attractive, bandana? check

Really, the only difference is a sports bra and foot wear.
I opted for the super warm comfy boots instead of my trusty asics.
Not that I've done any running in the cold, or the hot, or anything else lately...
just saying I had a moment of
"Hey, I remember these clothes."

That's all.

Thank You, School District.

Have I mentioned our 4 day school week? I have?? Well, I quite like it.
School 7:15-4:30, Monday-Thursday is a busy crunch to get everything in, but well worth the trade off.
I have said more than once that we have Monday-Thursday, 2 Saturdays & Sunday.
It's kind of handy when I start to panic about Sunday church stuff on Saturday to I realize it's just Friday and I still have one more day to get my junk in order. I like that.

However,
sometimes by Sunday evening I am ready to send the troops a packin'.
That feeling has intensified as the Holiday Season has drawn out.
Excitement is in the air. And we are feeling it.
As we speak the children are making a chart of
'How many hours 'til Christmas'.
Please tell me we are not planning on crossing it off hourly. Please.
It would seem the excitement is making some of us lose our minds.
Some of us are either running around like banshees, yelling, fighting or laughing hysterically.
Mind losing. It's a common theme here in farmgirl land.

And so, this is the part where I would like to publicly thank the school district for keeping my children all nestled in their desks until the afternoon of December 22.

Thank You, School District.
Much appreciated.

Clever, clever Toilet lever.

Before we talk about 'Clever, clever Toilet lever' let's talk about 'Rainbows and Unicorns'--which my life is not. Really, who's is? I spent a few days in a 'funk', as my beloved calls it. And, well, I'm feeling a bit better now. Thanks for asking.
And now, on with the show!

Clever, clever Toilet lever.

What's so clever, clever toilet lever--you ask? Something so clever and cute you are sure to be amazed. Okay, I know the suspense is killing you so I'll just show you!

Tah-Dah!!
Stocking holder thingy extraordinaire!!
Is that not just fan-diddly-tastic!?!
Want to see it from another angle?? Well, Okay.


I, of course, cannot take credit for this fabulous idea. Amanda passed it along to me. She found it on pinterest. Pinterest intrigues me....but I vow to have my life a wee bit more in order before I plunge into the massive time suck I'm afraid pinterest would be.

Anyhoo, there ya be. Clever, clever toilet lever-- right?

Debbie Downer

Sometimes I grow weary of being the kind of person who keeps it together
(most of the time).
Sometimes I grow weary of trying to see the glass half full.
Sometimes I grow weary of the lemons life hands me.
Guess what? I don't even like lemons.
Every now and again I would like to throw a good old fashioned fit.
Complete with floor laying, kicking, screaming, weeping, wailing, and
gnashing of teeth.

Just in case you were wondering.

post script
and then sometimes just
after you've thrown
your cyber fit your
dad calls with news of
a possible
part time job for your
husband and all
hope doesn't seem
so lost.
but i'm still sick of
lemons.

Decor.

So, here's something weird.

Mike, Adam and my brothers went to the mountains and got Christmas trees the day after Thanksgiving. Okay, that's not weird. It's nice actually. Ours is a little Charlie Brownish, but I'm okay with that. I think it's kind of cute, and with the lower ceilings in this house it's either that or a bush. So, Charlie Brown and his tree are welcome here. It is still sitting undecorated, but lovely all the same.

I've been thinking about Christmas a lot. You know, when all the stuff is out in the stores before Halloween it kinda gets me started. I had been thinking about how fun it was going to be to decorate the new abode. Fresh canvas, so to speak.

Yesterday I spent the early morning cleaning my house. Then I went down to my mom's to do my laundry and make bread. That's not weird either. I was working toward today being the day I would decorate.

So, this was it. This morning I tidied up the house, pulled on some boots, gloves and a coat to brave the cold and collect all the Christmas paraphernalia from the old barn where it has been stored.

I turned on the Christmas music and opened the boxes. Here's where the weird thing happened. Completely unexpected by me, I was overcome with the memories so much of my Christmas junk carried. Decorating was bittersweet this year. Thinking about where I put everything up in our house in St. George, where each item originated from. Before I moved to St. George all my Christmas stuff pretty much fit in a shoe box. I've collected all sorts of things. But mostly, dear friends I will always cherish and years of wonderful memories.

I'm done decorating now. Except the tree- that's a family project. The house looks good. I like it. I do, I really do. I love this house, actually. And I know we are just where we should be.

But today...today I'm missing the things that used to be.

Making a list and checking it twice.

I am not, by nature, a list person. I used to take some sort of pride in the fact that I could remember things, I was just naturally an organsized person. Of course I've always had a running mental list, but not really a paper list kind of a gal. That, my friends, has had to change.

After birthing 5 babies, 16+ years of mothering, almost 3 years of high-stress survival, nearly 37 years of life and a current super-uber busy calling I have thrown in the towel. I am a list girl now. I'm more of an 'organsize and don't forget' lister rather than a 'to do' lister.

Really, once you embrace the life style it's not so bad.

In my fancy new listy listness life I have accomplished much. Mostly it's Young Women stuff, but let's face it- that takes a lot of brain power. Here's the great thing about writing a list: once you write it down you can set it free. What? What's that you say??
Once you write it down you can set it free!
Hallelujah.

I know, all you list people already knew this. Whatever. It's a great discovery for me.

So, my question to you is this:
If I write 'Turn brain off occasionally' on my list will I be able to accomplish it??

Please tell me there's a way.
The gerbils that run around in circles in my head in order to keep me
going are oh so tired.

Done and done.

On this the 18th day of November, in the year of our Lord 2011,
I have created
(by myself, mind you)
a recipe blog.

See?
Look to the right, I even linked it.
Your welcome.

Another note worthy event of the day,
our first major snow storm.
About 9 inches since 9:00 this morning,
and still coming down.
We are SO not in Kansas any more Toto.

:o)

oh, and p.s.
don't be
shy on
the comments.
me likes to know
what's ya
think.

This could be the beginning of something wonderful....

Do you wanna see how amazing I am??? Look up and a little to the left....Do you see it? Well, do ya??
I created a page on my blog.
TA DA!!
And here's the super amazing part....NO BODY HELPED ME.
Thank you. Thank you. You are all too kind.
Go ahead, click on it and check it out.
It is the small beginnings of Farmgirl Food, I'm thinking I should maybe do another blog for it...but for now--it works.
And I did it all by myself!
And, even if I do start a different blog for food stuff, really, my chocolate chip cookie recipe is a signature item so it should be on this blog no matter what.

The first of many....

SNOW DAY!!

Winter is here.

To Grant snow=winter, and he has been
anxiously waiting for "winter" to arrive.
Much to his delight the white stuff started falling late last night.

Everyone layered up and headed out.
(except Elsie, she was having a cousin sleep over)

Adam was there too. He was just doing this--

Scraping the windows

Instead of this---
participating in a good old fashioned snowball fight,
(probably for the best any way, it usually ends in tears when the big boys get involved)

so that they could all go feed these--

the calves at Grandpa's.


It was a group effort this morning due to
to the surge of these...

several new calves born the last few days.

Speaking of calves...
There is one child of mine that loves the animals
a wee bit more than her siblings.

The other day she took the camera out and got some
self portraits of her and the new calf she named Autum.



Goose loves the cows.

She has a notebook with spreadsheets she has
created to keep track of all the heifers
at our house and the calves down at Grandpa's.
Every Saturday you will find her in the barn
with her uncle helping with the milking.
Lucy: the cow whisper-er.

Welcome Winter.
Welcome cozy time in front of the wood burning stove,
Welcome cup after steamy cup of hot chocolate.


You have been much anticipated, excitement is in the air.
:o)

WWMD

Time for another addition of
WWMD ....What Would MacGyver Do?

I had a few dilemmas to deal with, but when we look deep down inside and ask ourselves
What Would MacGyver Do?
we can almost always find an answer!!
So here we go:

Dilemma #1
About a month ago we had a mother-daughter party to attend. Attendees were assigned either an appetizer or a dessert to bring and share. We were assigned an appetizer. I KNOW all my St. G peeps are as shocked about that as I was. Clearly, people up here don't know me well enough yet. Listen, I have nothing against the world of appetizers, quite enjoy them actually, BUT if there is ever a choice between appetizer and dessert.....ALWAYS give me dessert. It's my specialty. Not only do love making them, I generally always have the ingredients on hand to make something. Appetizers, not so much.
So, here's the dilemma: I need to make an appetizer and I am NOT going to the store and I do NOT know what to fix.

So I asked myself,
What Would MacGyver Do?
MacGyver would look around and figure something out using something he already had.
And that's what I did.

I give you WWMD exhibit A:
Bruschetta

Made from all things wonderful that I already had on hand. Tomatoes and basil from my garden and homemade french bread made into bagget sized loaves. It was a big hit. Go Me!

Dilemma #2:
Dilemma #2 is a bit more of a story, so make yourselves comfortable....we all know how I feel about being organsized (I'm for it) and we all know how I feel about clutter and messes (I'm against it) and we all know how I feel about the old pioneer spirit 'use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without' (I'm for it).

Part 1 of the story: We visited Mike's brother a while back and he was getting rid of a DVD shelf and asked if we wanted it. Me being me, I said sure. I figured I could fit it in the family room and make good use of it. Not so much, there really wasn't a good place for it so it was just sort of hanging out downstairs doing nothing.

Hold that thought.

Part 2 of the story: Within a month or so of moving up here I had pretty much unpacked all the things we use on a regular basis. Except my shoes. My shoes were a big problem. They were in a big old box sitting in the closet. How convenient. Every Sunday morning you could find me shoulder deep in the box searching for church shoes. I knew what the problem was- I had no where to put my shoes and the mess and disorgansization was making me crazy! And I knew what the solution was, I needed a shoe shelf. Well, times being what they are there was really no way I was going to purchase one. I knew Mike could make me one, but it would be really low on the priority list.

So I asked myself,
What Would MacGyver Do?
MacGyver would look around and figure something out using something he already had.
And that's what I did.

I give you WWMD exhibit B:

A DVD shoe shelf

Okay, so maybe it's a teeny bit weird
and maybe in a perfect world
I would do something different.
But guess what? I DON'T LIVE THERE.
I live here, in the world where I am delighted
to just have something to put my shoes on.

Pretty smart, huh? Sometimes I amaze myself.
WWMD, it's a good thing.
:o)

Corn.

Sometimes dreams really do come true.

Like when you are five and have waited all summer to do corn, and the day finally arrives.

It's a good day.

I love corn chopping time, always have.
There's just something about getting the corn in--
it marks the end of the summer craziness, it's the beginning of fall.
The seasons are beginning to change and so is the pace,
it feels nice.
We haven't been here to experience it for many, many moons.
In fact, I don't think any of my kids have ever been here for it.

So, for those of you non-farm people let's have a little corn tutorial--shall we?

Here's the deal:

It takes a fair amount of man power to get this done.

And when I say man power I don't just mean the adults.
It also involves the minions.
Here's some of the junior work crew.


Every one had at least one kid with them AT ALL TIMES.
And it can be exhausting work,
just ask Howard's little lady, Mya.

Nothing says comfort like a nap in a bumpy truck
with your head resting on a bucket!

So, once you have the workers in training all lined up....

The corn
(it's called field corn-not sweet corn. sweet corn is people food, field corn is cow food.)
needs to be chopped up and hauled to the corn pit where it is stored and fed to the cows during the winter.


You need someone driving the chopper that is hooked up to the tractor.
My brother Richard was the chopper driver this year.


*SIDE NOTE*
My dad is usually the chopper driver.
This year he was in the middle of getting 2 new knees.
I figure this was probably the first time since his mission that he wasn't out driving the tractor during corn.
But, we did set him up a spot outside to watch the action.

He kept an eye on things.

So, you have the chopper.
Then you need a dump truck to follow the chopper and catch the corn.

Like this.

Well, two dump trucks really.


One in the field filling up while the other one is driving to the pit to empty it's load.

This was my job back in the day. I love driving the corn truck.
This year our truck drivers were mostly Mike and my brother Howard.

Next is the pit.
The pit is where I always remember my grandpa being.
He worked the tractor on the pit.
Now it's my brother David's domain.
He is the Pit Man.


So the Pit Man moves the corn around and drives back and forth and back and forth over it to smoosh it down so it will all fit in the pit.
It gets really, really high.


See that?
That's the tractor coming up over the top of the barn.
High, I tell ya.

That's all there is to it.
Just chop, load, unload, move it around and smoosh it down in the pit.
Easy Peasy.
Well, maybe not so easy peasy.
I suppose in theory it is, but there's always break downs and it's not fast work.
It takes about a week to get it done.
Maybe that's why it's so fun to get it done,
because it is such a big job.

I must of offered at least 20 times to drive the truck.

I felt like the benched kid in baseball,
"I can do it Coach. Send me in! C'mon, I know I can do it!"

Alas, they had enough drivers
and my mad driving skills were not in high demand.
But, wait!!
Who is that...?


Who is driving that dump truck with the greatest of ease?



It's a bird, it's a plane, it's farmgirl!

My brothers, Howard and Richard, had to go back to their regular jobs.
Mike took over the chopping and I took over the truck.
At the bottom of the 9th inning I was put in the game.
Literally, we only had about half a field left.
I was just happy to do it.

Yup, I still like it.




Corn time, it's a good thing.
:o)

Normal.

For some time now--like since I moved, even longer than that actually, more like for nigh unto 3 years-- I have been telling myself that this isn't my 'normal life', my life isn't always like "this".

"This" meaning: so crazy, stressed-ish, financially strapped (strapped like in a straight jacket that's 2 sizes too small strapped), my house not clean the way I like it, just down right so chaotic feeling at times that I can't seem to remember even the simplest of things.

It has gotten to the point that I wonder, was my life ever actually the way I thought it was? Was my house really that clean? Did I really remember stuff for more than 30 seconds? Did I ever really have a dollar to spare? Did I really make time to read a book? Or call my friends and sisters?

And you know what I've decided?
Maybe it was. Maybe that was my normal life, but it's not now.
But it just doesn't really matter now, now does it?

Maybe now I'm the girl who has to write everything down. Maybe I'm the girl who will be remembered as the frugal queen. Maybe I'm the girl who doesn't get the 'dream clean' done as often as she would like. Maybe I'm the friend and sister that doesn't chat as often as she would love to.

And that's okay.

Maybe I'm the girl who's happy anyway. Maybe I'm the girl who may struggle from time to time, but ends the day with a smile on her face.

Time to stop worrying about that 'golden ticket', about what was and what might have been and get on living (and lovin') the life I have.
Cuz really, it's a pretty good one.
After all, I am 'knee deep and lovin' it', right?

Cheers.
Here's to the 'New Normal'!

p.s.
I'm gonna rock the 'New Normal'.
Just watch me.

Hi.

I'm stumped, Folks.
Bloggers block, if you will.
There's things to say and stuff to report, but it's just not comin' to me.
Soooo, a ramblin' I'll go.....

• Who says country life is "slower paced"? Not this girl!! It's a myth. A lie. Maybe when the snow flies? I'll get back to you on that one.

• We are OH SO CLOSE to finishing the bathroom down stairs. Can I get a WOO and a HOO?!?!? I am so excited about this on so many levels. Yay for two toilets, two showers, and two getting ready spots! Yay for the absence of the big mess of construction in the family room! Yay for me not asking Mike how much longer he thinks it will take!

• We plan to have a Family Home Evening on 'New Bathroom Rules of Usage'. It will include a come to Jesus talk about how not to ruin our nice new bathroom, Mike will be leading the discussion--- should be fun. (Grant is calling it our "toilet respect talk") Hey, as long as the night ends with a treat...we're all happy, right?

• We have 2 new members of the family.

Am I crazy? Maybe.
Do I know that living on a farm there's a darn good chance that mice will be a problem in the winter?
Uh, der...ya I do.
Do I hate mice?
Do I really, REALLY hate mice??
More than I can say.
It's a lot.
A whole lot.
Are these two little cuties going to help me sleep a little better at night?
Absolutely.
Allow me to introduce our two new best friends,
doing what they do best during the day (napping)...

Black Bart.
Chosen and named by the boys.

And Ginger Ale.
Chosen and named by the girls.
A.L.E.
stands for Audrey, Lucy, Elsie.
Cute name, huh?

• Grant's 5th birthday is tomorrow. Five??? How can that be? It feels weird. Just weird. I don't really know that I am ready to have my youngest be five. Thank goodness he didn't go to kindergarten this year. I would be a disaster.

• I'm breathing a little easier today. I had to speak in church yesterday. AGAIN. I've already spoken once since we moved here. So that's twice since June! I actually don't mind speaking, it's just always nice to be done with. The first time it was with Mike as new move ins and this time was because of my sorta new calling--been there 6 weeks. Oh, did I mention my calling?? Ummm, that would be Young Women's President. I know! What the What!?! Stop laughing. So far so good, I'm actually really liking it (even though I have a deep dark fear that I am somehow doing something horrifically wrong and I may be given the boot at any given moment...someone will wise up and say,"Hey, who put the crazy lady in charge?" and out I'll go).
  

• Because I know you have all been losing sleep over the 'Green Towel Conundrum', I'll give you an update: It was the strangest thing....I posted that little tidbit on the old blog, and viola, problem solved. No more wet towels folded on the shelf. So, what have we learned here Students? Shame and embarrass your children into obedience. Publicly announce all those little things your loved one's do that just about make you crazy--put it out there on the World Wide Web for all to see--and Ta Da, the problem fixes itself. I know, I'm a genius.

• And since I seem to be on a roll with the whole 'post it on the blog and it shall come to pass' thing....let's all send some positive vibes out there to the universe regarding Mike and a job. mmmkay? Thanks. (After nearly three years, dirt poorness has lost some of it's charm. Strange, I know.)
  

Peace out, Amigos. Peace out.
:o)

And their off....

Who loves school time???

Me! Me! Me!
I do! I do! I do!

Oh, and so do these kids here.

In our line up today
(okay, it was really a week ago--I'm a little slow at blogging)
we have the sweet and beautiful third grader, Miss Elsie-Girl.

We have the gorgeous and always entertaining,
fancy pants Junior High going
(sob, how can that be?)
sixth grader Lucy-Goose.

Next up is the breath taking, talented
long legged beauty herself,
Audrey.
She is gracing the 8th grade this year.

And last, but certainly not least, we have the ruggedly
handsome, too big for his britches, guy who started school
on his 16th birthday, sophomore, the amazing Adam.

The bus (or as I like to call it: Mom's Big Yellow Ticket to Solitude)
arrives at 7:15 and returns and 4:25.
Count 'em up my friends...
that's 8 hours and 10 minutes.
Fan-diddly-tastic!

It is an early long day,
by Thursday we are all glad to have Friday off.
That's how they roll up here.
School is just four days a week.
So far, we like it.

Good bye, Big Yellow Ticket to Solitude.

And, in other news...

We finally ran our BIG race.
The Top of Utah Half Marathon.

Couple things:
* This is the only picture, so enjoy.
* It was a hot day.
* I actually really liked the course, running down the canyon was fun.
* Now that I've recovered, I may consider doing it again.

***

Food storage is big here.
This ward is full of the most organized food storage people I have ever seen.
Imagine my joy to know that chocolate chips are considered a food storage item.
These are my kinda people.
How does thirty pounds of chocolate chips sound?

Good? I thought so too.
Am I a happy girl?

Yes. Yes I am.

***

And, finally, I would like to close with a little something I call
THE GREEN TOWEL CONUNDRUM.

First, a little background.
We are currently a one bathroom household.
The downstairs bathroom is in construction.
Now, as you know we are a family of seven.
Besides the obvious issues of one bathroom and seven people
there is the not so obvious issue of wet towels.
There is just only so much towel rack space, ya know?
So, seven towels is about all there is room for.

Last year Santa
(because Santa is a beautiful genius)
gave everyone their own special towel -this way no one needs to wonder if
"SOME ELSE USED MY TOWEL!"

On with the story.
See this green towel?

This green towel is NOT one of the kids Santa towels.
Nor is it a towel that Mike and I use.
This green towel is a guest towel.
Well, why on earth would I have it hanging on the banister
and not put away folded nice and neat on the shelf with the other guest towels?
Why is it not sitting on the shelf looking cute, doing it's job?

See how lonely that other green towel looks?

Here's why.
Because EVERY night this green towel ends up wet, folded (sorta) and put back on the shelf.
While the mother in me cannot over look the slight amount of joy I
feel about some one actually folding something and putting it away, the freak
in me is trying to control the freakness over
DO NOT FOLD WET THINGS UP!
Mildew, people.
Mildew.

And, the really REALLY crazy thing is...
none of my children are doing this.
I know because I asked each of them.

So, I guess until this towel learns
how to stay dry folded neatly on the shelf
and behave the banister is where it will be.

The Green Towel Conundrum.
It's a quandary.