For the Birds!

On Friday morning, I thought I was transported into a scene from Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds". They were everywhere and thousands of them! All Black Birds on their way south for the winter.

This was taken from the office window. I emailed Karl a note to let him know it was a good thing we had not put the grass seed down, yet, or it would have all been gone! I also knew this meant I needed to get some hay bales to throw over the seed when I put it down.

As you can see, there is a defining line between our yard and the neighbor's. Apparently our builder put an annual grass seed down. Due to the hard frost a few nights ago, it has all died. Had we known about the grass before now, we would have taken more steps to reduce it's damaging effects before winter. After spending some time with friends and bats, the children and I raked, laid seed and hay before dark. Not a small task for about 3/4 of an acre surrounding the house.

When Karl returned home from work, I asked him to order and pick up our pizza as the children had earned it for their hard work. I also had not been able to make dinner because of the rush to seed. The next day we were expecting a soft drizzle for the whole day, perfect for grass seed. The pizza is Papa Johns, Anton has discovered the secret of the garlic butter dipping sauce for the crust. Unfortunately, Papa Johns does not yet deliver to our more rural location, only Dominoes delivers to us. A small price to pay for far superior pizza.

Those Lovely Creature of the Night!

Bats!

This time of year people are thinking of spooky things that cause fear in us. But what is fear? Fear is not understanding or being improperly taught about something; a prejudice towards the unknown. With one of our parent groups, we got together at her house for a presentation on one such creatures of mystery, bats! Do not worry, no bats were harmed in this presentation, they were already dead and had been preserved in formaldehyde.

Bats, at least the local ones, are bug eaters. They can eat 600 mosquitoes in an hour. Since we live near a nature preserve and a swamp, you can guess what I was thinking, "I need a bat house!" There are some very large bats that eat fruit, but these are located in tropical rain forests. They are being an active part of their ecosystem, by helping to seed the ground for more trees . (Anton is studying ecosystems in science right now.) The feared Vampire Bats only live in Mexico and South America. These bats are the only ones which are highly feared for carrying rabies, hence the blood issue. One bright child asked what purpose do they serve in our environment? Great question! Well, scientists are trying to isolate the chemical in their saliva which causes the wound from the cut to not coagulate. This chemical compound is then used in heart patients to thin their blood. By the way, Vampire Bats do not suck blood, they lap it much the same way as a dog, and they prey on cattle. The cattle are usually alright as long as they are not fed on several times within a short period.

All the children got a chance to get a closer look. Isabella was pretending to be afraid. Why do I know this, she has been to exhibits with live bats much less dead ones.

Once the animal presentation was over, one of the moms had a small bat craft ready for them to work on.



Isabella finished hers, but Anton opted to finish his at home so he could run around with the other boys. Interestingly, all the boys over the age of 5 either did not complete the craft or did it very haphazardly. All the girls took their time and made sure the bows were on right if they wanted it to be a girl bat. A nice way to spend a Friday afternoon with friends.

Palaeontologist at Work!

The other day, I took the children to the craft store to pick up some much needed supplies. Both were allowed to pick a few things of interest to them. While Isabella was veering towards the clay, paint, and stitchery, Anton went straight for the models and rock kits. One find was a block of coarse sand which contains plastic bones of a miniature T-Rex. Anton took the metal pick and small metal mallet and began to slowly chip away the sand.

This proved to be much more difficult than the clay block he did a few years ago. The sand is held pretty firmly with a very hard glue. Plus, you have to be careful to not dent the bones. This is much more realistic than the clay version and more age appropriate.

After 20 minutes of a constant metal tapping noise, Isabella pried herself from her clay to see what Anton was doing. Immediately she wanted a turn. I explained to her beginning whines, the Dino kit was Anton's and it was up to him to share. I made a side comment of the importance of being nice and sharing but not being a bully or manipulative. Anton got the hint and told Isabella she could have 10 taps of the hammer.

They were very good about this request and then Anton returned to tapping. Isabella is very intuitive and knew it was just a matter of time before Anton would let her have another go at it. It took them about an hour to see some progress. However, they discovered with a little team work, their work was more effective at reaching their goal.

After about another hour, I told them they needed to work on it another time. The day's progress was finding the tips of three bones.

The next day, they spent another couple hours working on the block. This time they had found out each person's strengths. Isabella is better at the small precise chipping near the bones while Anton is more skilled at removing the larger chips. The majority of the bones are now visible but not all excavated. Once all the parts are removed and washed, these palaeontologists will assemble and paint the creation. This project was well worth $20. The children learned the patience and focus of the working on a dig. It was very realistic.

Sorry no picture of the finished project yet. The two have not had the time to complete it!

The First Burn Pile or Bonfire?

On Sunday, we decided to enjoy our efforts of the day before. With the help of a little lighter fluid and some wind from mother nature, we had a good burn pile going. Karl and I manned a shovel and broom with a couple buckets of water should things get a little scary. We only had a few places to pat out and they were not that bad. Once everything was dying down, I looked at Karl and said with a smile, "no point in wasting a good fire!" So off to the house I went to retrieve the marshmallows and Graham crackers.

The children still need to learn the best way to roast, not burn or drop, a marshmallow. Somethings just come with experience. Karl tried to give a few pointers while I took a moment to relax a little.

However, it really just comes down to eating them anyway!

What a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon and we only had to go in the back yard.

Children and the Freedom of the Country

Shortly after receiving our house hold goods, we had a conversation with the children as follows:

Children: "Can we go outside and ride our bikes?"

Karl and I: "Yes, you may!"

Children: "Are you going to come with us?"

Karl and I: "No, we have a lot of unpacking to do."

Children: "But someone might try to kidnap us!"

Karl: "Who?? You are pretty far from the street (our driveway is about 600 ft long) and not many cars come down the street anyway!"

The children were dumbfounded but quickly ran outside to enjoy the fresh air!

This is why we feel our new location is best for our family. The children are more free to be, well, free. Yes, we have the added challenge of animal pests, but the dogs will take care of this in no time.

On Saturday, after our battle with the tree line, the children were caught red handed playing in the fields. Their imagination play was coming forth in the long grass and open land.

Not wanting the puppies to feel left out and a little curious to their reactions, I let them free of their leashes to run amok. After the initial run off of energy due to being freed, they quickly found their place in the family. Their purpose in the family is to be companions and protectors of the children. With this much land, it will be difficult to be close enough to the children at all times to protect them from snakes or other creatures. However, the dogs will be with them.

Together, they can explore and play within the fields. I have been teaching the puppies the names of certain animals (fox, chipmunk, squirrel) through toys they tear apart. They are continually praised for attacking their toy foxes with comments of "Get the Fox!" Katie immediately grabs her fox and Blossom will grab the free end. The fox is one enemy we will have to deal with when the poultry comes to the farm. I want them to see a fox and immediately go on attack. I have also been careful to not give the puppies any ducks, geese, or chickens to play with as these will not be seen as toys or victims. But for now, they are enjoying romping through the tall grass and sneaking up on each other. Katie is quicker to come when called because Blossom is still following a scent trail. We will be working on this and have received some good advice from the Puppy School teacher.

I had to include this picture as I find it so adorable, a girl and her dogs. You can not see Blossom, she is on the grass in front of Isabella and next to Katie. They are all watching the geese flying by as they return south for the winter. Since the swamp is about two miles from the north west side of our land, we see many wild life coming and going.

Later in the evening, I spotted 7 deer on the edge of the nature preserve and the soy fields about a mile away. This was very unusual since black powder deer season has begun. As a matter of fact, Doug shot an eight point buck that day. Not bad for his first buck ever and only 12 years old. You can really tell we are becoming assimilated when Karl and I are excited for our neighbor's child's success. We will be attending a deer barbecue soon to celebrate. For those of you who do not understand the above comments, points are the antler tips, deer season is divided into three sections, bow, black power, and rifle with limits of 2 bucks and 10 does in each season. This is something we have picked up in recent weeks by listening to the locals.

Attacking the Tree Line

It was the first Saturday in quite awhile in which we had no pre-planned activities to attend. Anton's soccer team had a this weekend off and no other obligated social commitments. It was a day to play and work on the farm.

I had originally thought it would be a good day to work on Anton's desk, his request for his birthday from Karl and I. Anton asked for the wood to build a desk for his room, something we have been working on as time permits. I will go into it in greater detail once it is completed. Karl thought it would be a good day to finally "play" with his new outside power tools. What started as just wanting to try them out, a new gas powered weed/brush whacker and a chain saw, turned into our work for the day.

He initially started trimming the grass around the house, and moved over to the oak near the back of the house. This area is impossible to get with the mower due to uneven ground and a couple of sharp drops. As I saw the progression, I knew I needed to suit up for the obvious brewing battle, the tree line. On came the hat, leather gloves, old sweatshirt (it reached a chilling high of 58), and work boots with two sizes of clippers in hand. "Here we go", I said to myself. We began whacking and pulling the grape vines and wild brambles about a quarter in of the left hand side of the tree line. This is the location of where the tree had snapped, already vines had begun to grow over top of the broken tree that lay upside down on the ground. After about 4 hours we had accumulated a nice dent in the over growth.

We had created a nice size pile. Now what do we do with this woody vine and deadwood? In the country, we burn it! Karl looked at me like I was a crazy woman when I told him we needed to move the pile further towards the house away from the tree line. I was very fearful of the pile setting all the trees on fire and then spreading to the unharvested 100+ acres of soy. The children joined in with pleas because they began to be fearful of a spread to the house. Karl saw his defeat as he knew a battle with the three of us left him undermanned. We actually rolled the pile about 20 feet from it's original location and it is located quite a distance from the house.

The children and I started to collect the tools as Karl finished some prep work for a good size burn pile. He cut the grass down to the dirt in a 10 foot ring around the pile to reduce the chances of spreading flames.

Now we are all set for our first burn pile on the farm!

Metro, Monument, and Historical Moments

Since Karl had an extra day off thanks to Federal Holidays, we decided to take a break from everything and take a trip into DC. I had to get my Metro Smart Card so I could get through the system, then it was off to our first excursion. The children were too excited for words especially since we were able to ride in the first car and they could see everything. Anton did decide he did not like going underground though. It just seemed unnatural to him and he was more relaxed when we were back in the sunshine.



We tried to get a picture of them pushing the sides of the monument up, but what can one expect from two little ones? They did pretty good following directions but their arms were getting tired.

We were lucky enough to get tickets for the Washington Monument but we had to wait in line to go in. Then Karl got a brilliant idea, he told the children to try to push the monument over.

Pretty soon, lots of other little kids were joining them as their parents realized it was providing some distraction and with that much marble, there was nothing they could do but release energy. Finally our turn came and Isabella informed the security that Karl had a nail file in his pocket. She is such a stinker sometimes. All was well, and we ascended up to the lookout platform. It was very interesting to see all the sites from this vantage point. Then we returned to the ground and were off to find something to eat before heading back home before Anton's soccer practise.

One section really stood out for Karl and I. It was the quotes from or about George Washington on the floor below the the lookout level. Much was said about his integrity and his lack of interest in becoming such a powerful person. These are ideals that seem to have become lost in our country today; most people want to have all the power and control. They could care less about their words, actions, or how they achieve that goal.

These are some of the reasons we are so glad to have found our little piece of heaven. In the country, a person's word and hand shake still mean something. People are willing to inconvenience themselves to help one another because it is the neighborly and right thing to do. These are God fearing, honest, hard working people who just want a good life for their family and friends; very similar to what one section listed as the original view for running this fledgling country. A government that stayed out of your affairs, let the family run it's land, and came together to decide things of importance like dealing with foreign nations.

The questions for Americans today are:

How far from the ideal do you think we have strayed?

Our Forefathers fought hard for us to have the freedom to pursue "the good life",

How would they view our world today?

Three and a Half Months Old!

The puppies are 3 1/2 months old now and have grown tremendously! Katie weights in at 26.7 lbs and Blossom our dainty one at 23.2 lbs. Both are healthy and got their big girl rabies shot this week. I had thought of waiting till later, I could wait till they were one year, but with all the vermin in the area I thought it would be best to have them safe. We do not need to have a real life "Old Yeller" on our hands as that would certainly not go well with the children.

We have started "Puppy Pre-School" with Katie and Blossom so they can learn their doggie manners. I chose this particular school because Anton and Isabella are allowed to participate and learn how to "talk" to their puppy. I tend to handle the more difficult or first lesson on something new then children take over. Both puppies are responding but there is some need for maturity to take place. Puppies have lots of energy and Goldens love everyone creating a difficult choice for them, however if food is involved it makes the choice easier at least for the first minute.

Katie is much more curious than Blossom who is more cautious. Blossom immediately notices anything out of the ordinary and must evaluate the situation before she is comfortable enough to disregard it or find it unimportant. She is especially concerned with loose items be it a tag or a piece of my hair which has come loose. Katie just finds everything to be something to play with which gets her in trouble from time to time. I suspect she will be the first one "skunked" when the situation arises.

Karl finds it funny how they respond to me as the "Alpha" queen just by me saying "uh-uh" has them stopping all action and trying to appear innocent. The reason for this is their escalating puppy play. When the two where smaller they would yelp at each other if they got too rough, now they seem to be getting louder and rougher with no yelping to stop action. I was letting them work it out until I noticed scabs on their ears and necks. Then I decided I would set the tone because they were taking it a little too far. Just like children, they are getting warnings and time outs. First is the "uh-uh", then the "hey", then if I raise my voice to "enough" they run into their kennels. Yesterday, I noticed they were rough housing without sound. This was very humorous to Karl and I as they have learned to not attract attention to their play. At one point Blossom made a low egging on noise to which Katie quietly looked at me and placed her paw on Blossoms' as if to say "quiet, she's watching us!" To Katie, the kennel is punishment because she wants to be in the middle of everything. To Blossom, the kennel is her cave and place to unwind.

Do not get concerned about them becoming aggressive, as this is normal puppy behavior. They are still exploring thier boundaries, part of their education of the world. They know humans are not to be treated the same as their other canine friends. Katie is more submissive than Blossom due to her want of all the attention. Katie will just jump in my lap and give me kisses as soon as the opportunity arises. Blossom is only more submissive than Katie around me because she is usually busy in her protectorate role. Apparently the world must be saved from tags. My hope is this behavior will transfer into protecting the children from snakes or critters when they go out exploring. Blossom is quicker to notice something even a slight movement in the grass from an insect. I think she is supplementing her food with crickets and grasshoppers. It is fun to watch her being stealthy while tracking something. This will probably become a problem for us when the ducks come in a couple of years.

The puppies have certainly added more energy into the house. Now, if I could just get them to sleep longer in the morning because these 4:15 wake ups are killing me. I put an end to the 3 am calls by ordering them to stop one morning.

It is nice to be the queen, even if it is only in the canine world!

But then again, I control their food.

Anton's Birthday - Part 3

It just would not have been a Knightly Party without a little Dragon slaying!

Karl cut and sanded a piece of plywood in the shape of a sword for the pinata activity a few days before since the inflatable swords would not have accomplished the task.

Karl led the children in proper Dragon Slaying behavior to minimize any foul play.

It took a few tries, but it was finally beheaded!

We were all saved and the blood, or candy, was shed!

Then it was back to more sword playing and exploring of the land by the adventuresome clan.

All in all, it was a successful party even if we never got to the obstacle course or the jousting tournament (with pool noodles).

I gave them a few props and the rest was caught up in their imaginative play.

A great party! I don't know if I can out do this one?

At least I have 4 months till Isabella's party!

Anton's Birthday - Part 2

The big activity, and what kept me busy the night before while the men where building castles, was the shields. Every good knight needs a shield! This took some children a few minutes and others were very detailed in the choices.

Once the design was complete, they had to see either Donna or I to assemble the handle.

The hot glue worked for a while. It really depended on how rough the sword fighting became. I made a good call on the inflatable swords, no injuries, except for re-gluing handles for a few.

Who says only the men can wield a sword.

These princesses certainly seem confident in their abilities to defend their castles!

Isabella made the crowns one day while Karl and I were busy with other plans. She is becoming quite imaginative. When she has an idea, it is hard to dissuade her from the project. I have reached the point where my input in her work is merely a suggestion.

Oh how quickly they grow and become so independent!

This activity was one of my best and one the boys really enjoyed!

Anton's Birthday - Part 1

I can not believe Anton is now 9 years old! He has become such a good little man with many ideas and plans for the future whether it be today, tomorrow, or in the next decade! For now, I will focus on the present ideas.

Shortly after we moved into the house, Anton gave me notice that he would like to have his Birthday at the house. I began to pray for nice weather because I was not sure if I would have the interior ready for such an undertaking. We were blessed with beautiful weather!! This allowed the theme of Castles and Knights to be a success!

We began with a relaxing cookout. People moved between the house, garage, and yard to experience the environment.

Then it was on to the first activity, but I will put it in the next post! This brings us to the project which kept Anton and Karl busy the night before........The Cake!

No ordinary cake would do! Karl and Anton took two 9 x 13 chocolate cakes and created a castle. Hershey bars helped to sturdy the side walls and create the drawbridge. Finally cones were used for turrets with flags made by Isabella. It was definitely a hit!

Most of the children wanted a turret but when they found out there was nothing inside them it was requests for side walls or drawbridges.

I was very proud of my men for being so creative and I only helped a small bit. I really wanted it to be their project and they had fun completing the cake.

October Retreat - Stones, Paul, and Haircuts

The kiddos and I participated in one of our groups' retreat this week. As always, getting together with friends is always fun and exciting if not a little extraordinary! This month, Margaret had the older children, 10 - 16 year olds, who worked on creating stepping stones to reflect their souls and the paths they take. It was very insightful for them as they discussed the Magisterium, the Bible, and other influences on their path of discovery.

I took the Middlers this time, 5 - 9 year olds, and we discussed Saul becoming Paul. I had to make the focus very short and specific for the age group but I think they came away with a clear idea of who Saul was and how significant this is to how transformation into Paul. I had the children create a paper plate face of Saul after we discussed his view and agenda towards the Christians. We then broke into a topic of receiving gifts we might not want but need, Saul becoming blind for three days to be humbled. This lead us to to joyful transformation into Paul. I then had the children take another paper plate to create the face of Paul for the flip side.

The interesting thing about this moment was when the children returned to the table to make their face. At this exact time, Margaret had the older children outside playing Blind lead Blind verses Sighted lead Blind. The Middlers were saying, "Look, the big kids are playing Saul!" I guess they got it! We then sang a little song and I released them for free play!

The little ones played a few games and read a few stories.

Then one of the Dads got a little adventurous and gave a few haircuts too!

See, we are a well rounded group!

Have a little religion, a little socialization, and a haircut to boot!

On the edge of Margaret's property is a wooded area in which the children are making a fort. Other children were playing on the playscape or tire swing on the other side.

Trees, Trees, and more Trees!

Another busy but productive weekend! Last weekend I went to one of the local nurseries to order some trees for stage one of the orchard. Unbeknownst to me, I had shown up for customer appreciation and received 25% off my entire order. This was exceptional news as I was placing an order for 12 Eastern White Pine and 10 Blue Spruce trees; not a particularly small order. The trees arrived the following Tuesday with a surprise, four extra pine trees! The delivery guy asked if I could use them because I was the only order on his truck for pine trees and he was not going to take them back to the nursery. I was overjoyed! Not only 25% off but four extra trees! I guess there is some prudence in waiting till the end of the season to place an order. It is actually the best time to plant evergreens too!

On Thursday I began tilling up one of the areas for the trees. It took me about 3 hours to till a 50 foot by 10 foot area. My arms where shaking in a way it was difficult to write out the check to the children's piano teacher when she stopped by for their lessons. I watered the trees still in their pots and hoped they would make it till the weekend. Friday was a blur of activity with Karl's promotion and a library meeting in the afternoon. Finally Saturday arrived but Anton had a midday soccer game causing us to have to break the day in half. Once home from the game, we set out to get to the trees. Karl tried to borrow the neighbor's larger tiller but they found the gas line leaking into the oil, not good! The next idea was to run to the rental shop and rent a large tiller in hopes to get the trees in the ground soon. But as fate has it, Tim, Donna, and their son, Doug, were coming down the drive. Doug wanted to bring Anton a Lego Magazine and the parents just wanted to visit. The two immediately began smirking at my predicament. I had told them when we moved in, I would be chewing up the land in no time. Tim asked Karl to give him a ride back to his house and Tim returned with the tractor and tiller attachment. In about 10 minutes he had the entire perimeter of the to be orchard area ready to go. I was beyond words of gratitude as this was going to take Karl and I well into the night with this project. The perimeter of the orchard includes a 10 foot wide strip along a length of approximately 400 feet. It had taken me 3 hours to till about 50 feet a few days before. I just wanted to cry I was so thankful for their help. After a few more minutes of chatting and prying Doug out of Legoland, they left us with our trees.

Between Karl and I digging the holes and the kiddos helping with watering and filling the holes, we managed to get 6 in the ground before calling it a day.

The next day we broke from our mantra of resting on Sunday in order to finish the trees. Once home from Church and Sunday School, Karl set out to finish the holes while I began a large lunch of BBQ Chicken drumsticks, Anton's request, with last years canned Zesty Peach BBQ sauce and Regular BBQ sauce, potatoes, spiniach salad, and chocolate brownies with swirls of cream cheese. Our neighbor to one side, a Pastor for the Baptist Church, came over to give Karl a hand and inquire about our trees. In the 30 minutes I took to make lunch, the two men had all the remaining holes excavated. All we needed to do was place the trees in the ground and cover them. Stage one of orchard is complete, well, mostly! I want to put some mulch over the tilled grass in an effort to reduce the yardage of mowable lawn. Apparently one of the recycling centers offers free mulch if you haul it away. We really could use a pickup truck!

Why pine and spruce trees around the orchard? The deer hate them because of their texture and bitter acidic taste! The trees will grow in a way to create another barrier and take up the space needed for the deer to scale the fence. Not to mention it also looks pretty!

I have to say this project really sums up how blessed our new life has become. Small businesses that really care about their customers, friends and neighbors ready to lend a hand or tool, and children who are eager to be a part of it all. Yes, Life is good!

One Order Of Scrambled Eggs Please!

On Friday, October 3, the children and I were given special privilege to ascend to the secret floor in one of the buildings on the Navy Yard in DC. The purpose, Karl was being promoted to Commander. For those who have never been to an officer promotion, here is what it entails.

First is the oath. The officers take an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States of America against enemies foreign and domestic. As Karl explained to Anton, if the President told Karl to shoot an innocent person on the street, Karl could not because he is defending the Constitution which protects the innocent bystanders. This is different from the enlisted oath which also states they will obey the orders of the officers. For the movie buffs, this is why the issue in A Few Good Men was of concern. An officer was ordering them to do something against the Constitution. The oath assumes the officer, in defending the Constitution, would not order an enlisted personnel to do something against the Constitution. Thus the first rule for the enlisted is to defend the Constitution and then the orders of the officer.

Next comes the changing of insignia pins from gold to silver. Anton was very confused here because he kept saying "But I thought gold was more valuable than silver!" Isabella was also very determined to be a part of the ceremony and the Admiral obliged by helping her with the pins. He was very impressed that Isabella knew the clasps were called frogs.

Then the Admiral said to Isabella,

"Now let me help you up so you and your mom can give dad a big kiss."

Later, Isabella asked why we had to give Daddy a big smooch.

Karl responded,

"Because the Admiral said so!"

Then, I had to turn over my badge to security and we left the building. Karl escorted us back to the car and we returned to our normal civilian life. It is times like this I miss not being in a Navy Community. Yes the Capital is very military but there is no real community because it is just too big and everyone is very spread out. Our military side is more like an alter ego or secret identity that only applies to us some of the time as opposed to living in other places where it was our identity all of the time. This is actually helping us as Karl edges closer to his retirement and we become former military.