"It's a flying tractor!"

Aiden has always been very dramatic and creative. He plays hard and plays loud. When he plays with his toys he always accompanies their movements with sounds. I have always loved to hide in the background and listen to what stories or adventures his toys are on. This morning I was beaming when I spotted his wooden tractor. He had added a chicken feather and a few dried vines from our nature table. When I asked Ehric who had made it he proudly said that little brother did. When I told Aiden how much I loved it he said, "It's a flying tractor!" Well of course it is!

I love my children's imaginations and try to encourage them to use their's. I see way too many children who's imaginative life is squashed by well-meaning adults. I believe that play and creativity are so important for children (and adults too). I'm so glad that I can provide them with an environment conducive to play and creativity. I believe it is my job as a parent to leave things out for the boys to discover at their leisure...like the toy tractor and the items from the nature table. But I do not believe it is my job to direct their play. I leave that up to the boys...and I am always so amazed at the things that they come up with. I am so thankful for their creative spirits!

What I am thankful for this morning

The past few days have been rainy and overcast; and the weather forecast is predicting another wet four days! Since they are predicting afternoon showers today, I am very thankful for the few rays of sunshine we are getting right now.

I think because we have been cooped up so much, we all seem to be a little crankier and demanding more than usual this week. Not a good match when both Momma and the boys feel that way at the same time! So I am hoping that this morning we can all get a little bit of fresh air.

The birds seem to be enjoying the weather. The boys and I listened to a bird singing in our front yard. Our guineas seem very happy and are making their very distinct noises. I even spotted a few chickens out happily pecking the ground.

Whenever the rain lets up for good...sometime next week I believe...it will be time to mow the grass again. Daddy has realized lately that he cannot mow the grass in peace like he used to (without little men wanting to tag along). So he compromised the last time and got a little exercise in the process.


Here is Ehric riding and Daddy walking along! I don't think that Daddy wants to mow our 2 acres that way every time, but it sure did make a cute picture moment!

Have a great day!

Fun in Our Yard

After rearranging furniture all morning the boys really wanted to go outside. So we have spent most of the afternoon enjoying our yard. It has been a little overcast but a relatively seasonable day. The birds have been chirping away and we have been having fun. I love spring!

Earlier in the day Ehric wanted me to read some of our library books to him while they played in the sandbox. So I lugged out all the books and started reading. I was a little leary of bringing the library's books out because of it being overcast. I guess I was right to worry because at one point the clouds got really dark and the wind picked up. Sure enough it started to down pour. I ran with all the books in my arms and safely got them inside. But before that we were having a good time; and even one of our roosters seemed captivated by a book I was reading. I made sure to show him the pages before I turned them. It was funny!

After spotting two little red birds (I believe) earlier in our apple tree I got out our binoculars. The boys and I went birding around our yard. It was a lot of fun except that the birds all seemed to be hiding on us. Also Aiden decided that he wanted to use the more expensive, nicer pair and I got stuck with the kiddie one. But it was fun to watch him walking around like a naturalist.


This past weekend Daddy and the boys came home with a trailer load of logs. After reading Toymaking with Children by Freya Jafke I got inspired to make a ring of logs for the boys to walk on. It has been a hit with the boys. One flaw is that Aiden needs my help to go around it (or so he says). The other day I must have gone around in circles atleast 50 times. Amazingly I was not dizzy but I was tired!

Our daffodils are really blooming right now. They look so pretty walking down the driveway.

Tucked into the daffodils I found one pretty red tulip. I had to talk Ehric out of picking it for me even though he really wanted to. Last year Daddy got mad when Ehric and Aiden picked one too many of the daffodils and tulips. But if he wants to pick some dandelions for me I would be fine with that.

The boys love to play in their sandbox. Since Ehric was a little one he has always been so relaxed playing in the sand. I was able to capture him playing happily and relaxing at the same time.

Aiden was in an imaginative state right here. He was making up stories and brooming his dump truck along. I love when they can both be so close yet do not bother one another. It makes for peaceful play.

Well we are all getting hungry...so time to make dinner! So glad that we had a great spring day!

Our Beautiful Monday

We got a new couch finally!! It is a very comfy sectional.

I am so glad that we finally have somewhere to sit.

What a difference a few weeks make. Today was so beautiful.

The boys had fun playing in their sandbox.

Flowers are even starting to pop up! Yeah!

A few of our chickens enjoying a nice walk in the sun.

Ehric helping me stack some wood.

Daddy and a friend having some fun of their own.

The boys and I went for a walk in the woods with neighbor friends.

Easter 2009

We had a pretty relaxing Easter. When the boys got up they each searched for treats from the Easter bunny. It was a lot of fun to watch them as they made new finds. We read some books about Jesus at breakfast. Later in the morning we decided to all go for a walk and took our dog, Nanook, along. Aiden suggested we get chinese food for lunch so after our walk we went to our favorite Chinese buffet. The boys ate really good after the long walk. In the evening we went to my parents house for dinner. Oh yeah, and hubby used the bee hive pan I gave him for his birthday to bake my birthday/Easter cake! I think it was a great day and we didn't even get dressed up!

A Walk In the Yard

Today was a chilly and wet day but Ehric wanted us to go spend some time outside. So we bundled up and headed outdoors. We had fun walking around the soggy yard looking for signs of spring and collecting chicken feathers for our nature table.

The boys had fun riding their trikes.

We discovered some crocus shoots and the start of rhubarb. They posed for me in front of our new bee hives (we will getting the bees between April and May.) We took a picture of our house from the neighbor's driveway--right before Aiden fell in a huge, cold puddle!) After I got Aiden into a hot tub we took stock of our feather collection!

Thankful Thursday-Random

What am I thankful for this week so far?









Monday: The boys and I baked a spice cake with caramel frosting and a lemon-meringue pie for hubby's birthday. It was a lot of fun.
Tuesday: Despite a really jam packed day, things worked out so that we could go out to celebrate hubby's birthday. It was nice because we went early enough and had the whole place to ourselves.
Wednesday: Ehric had a fun playdate with a friend. Ehric told his friend..."You know who I really like as a friend? You." I am thankful Ehric has such a big heart.

A fun day out with the boys yesterday.








Ehric having a fun playdate with a friend. Can you not picture them getting Senior portraits that way. Too cute!

The Rest of the Week: This week is super busy...but I am thankful that we are going to be doing a lot of fun things; learning a lot; and that there are people in my life who are willing to support me in my endeavors.

Thankful Thursday is at Spiritually Unequal Marriage for the month of March.

Maple Sugar Time

Today we visited a local Sugar Shack to see how Maple Syrup is made. It was a beautiful March Day and we had a lot of fun. The owner did a great job explaining to the kids; and didn't mind answering my four year olds questions! What more can you ask for?

Showing us the tools used to boar holes and to tap the trees.

Talking a walk into the woods.

The lines carrying the sap

Where the lines end up.The tub where the sap is collected.

Outside the Sugar Shack

Inside the Sugar Shack--Boiling it down

The Final Product: Maple Syrup ($50/gallon)

Eating Ice Cream with Maple Syrup! Yummy!

Every Wednesday bloggers post pictures of the Outdoors. Please visit Outdoor Wednesday to see even more outdoor pictures.

Celebrating Hubby's Birthday

Celebrating Hubby's Birthday!

Maine Maritime Museum

On Saturday Ehric and I had a special day out together. We went to the Maine Maritime Museum for their free event called, Crossing the Line. They had crafts for the kids, a little parade with King Neptune (the god of the sea) and various displays. On their grounds they have a really neat play ship for the kids that includes a slide and other fun things. The sky was so blue that day and we even saw two bald eagles flying in the sky! The ice on the water was floating down in big chunks. It was really a pretty sight, and a beautiful day despite the cold weather.

Ehric and I discovered this game amongst the displays. You are a ship trying to sail across the blue ocean. On your route you run into all kinds of mishaps like pirates, fire and other maladies. It was a really fun game and we must have played the game atleast five times while we were at the museum.

They had a captain's room were the kids could pretend to be in charge. Ehric loved it when we blew the horns to warn the ships in the harbor. Here he is in his dark-blue shirt holding his ears. He had a lot of fun in this small room and even got a few adults into his fun.

Ehric (in his blue coat) was so imaginative on this kid's play ship. He had so much fun steering the wheel, climbing up and down the stairs, going down the slide or making up stories about pirates. I really wish we had one of these at home. He burned a lot of energy there. Isn't the sky so blue?

Here are those chunks of ice. The sky was so beautiful. Too bad I wasn't able to get a picture of the bald eagles who were circling above in the blue sky.

Blue Monday is hosted by Smiling Sally.

Taking a Nap

Taking A Nap

Each Tuesday, I will be trying to post a photo that represents 'Simplicity' in my eyes. If you would like to see other Time Journal photos or would like to take part in this weekly meme please visit: The Simple Woman's Time Journal.

Worthley Pond

I am really excited about a new meme I stumbled upon, Outdoor Wednesday. On Wednesday people all over the blog world are posting photos of the outdoors. The photos can be of anything outdoors: your yard, a forest, field, beach, etc. I can't wait to see what other people share!

I thought Outdoor Wednesday would be the perfect time to share some photos from our trip to Worthley Pond this weekend. It was so beautiful out (in the mid 50s) that we didn't wear a coat most of the time we were there.

The kids had fun cross country skiing, sledding, running through the slush, and Ehric even got to go on his first snowmobile ride!

Ehric talked the man on the snowmobile into letting him take control of the steering wheel. Or should I say he probably pushed the man's hands off.

A friend of ours caught this fish. When we checked it out up close you could really examine its gills. It was pretty neat. Apparently out of all the icefishing traps set this was the only one caught that day!