We Now Return to Our Regularly Scheduled Program

Hi!

How've you been?

It's been busy around here but that's not why I haven't been writing.

I went through a period that (from what I read on other blogs) is kind of common with bloggers like me (people who are blogging as a means of documenting family memories).  A period where I was internally debating whether what I was documenting was ethical to my family.  I mean, I don't really imagine my little anecdotes are going much beyond my family and friends, which is more than enough, but on the chance that they were, I was struggling on whether I was going to do irreparable damage to my children's' psyche by publishing the stories and pictures that I post with my entries.  I tried to imagine them at an adult age, reading some of the stories and wondered if they would find the stories an adorable set of memoirs where I documented their lives, or will they be angry about every little thing I documented and hate me?

Factor in all of the worries about weird perverts checking out my blog (and stealing innocent pictures) and I had a bit of a breakdown of my system for a while.

After some time in thought and prayer, I decided I would resume blogging as normal.  I know there are risks to what I post but there are risks every day of what I am doing, so I try to be as cautious as possible for my children, but I'm not going to stop recording our memories based on fear.  I've also chosen to believe that my musings will be considered a great memento of childhood for my babes and they will cherish me for documenting all of these silly stories and be glad for them.

Children, if you are reading this and you HATE ME for this blog, I'm sorry.  I didn't think it would cause any harm.  And I promise, I will only blog about you as teenagers if you do stupid things that I want to embarrass you about as a punishment and reminder to never do something that stupid again.  Or if you do something super exceptional (like win an award, get an A, or just wake up on time for school) and I will try not to embarrass you at all.  


So you might wonder what's new at Goodness Grows Farm?

Not much except a lot of GROWING!

I celebrated a birthday which pushed me into the next age bracket on surveys and questionnaires.  I'm now closer to the next decade than I was to the previous one.  That sounds weird when I think of it, but for the most part, I still think the 1990's were 10 years ago so my "age" doesn't affect me.

Christmas Eve was a bit different for us this year.  I ended up taking the children to my hometown for a quick visit with my family before Christmas.  We had a lovely meal on the 23rd with my Papa, Mom, Dad and a visit from my Aunt B. who was in town from Florida.  We drove home the morning of December 24 and then had a gathering at our house for Christmas Eve.  For some reason, our kids just started melting down one by one in the hour before we were to leave for Christmas Eve services, so we made a BOLD decision to stay home.  We got the kids in their jammies, settled in on the couch and read scripture and some Christmas books we have about the birth of Jesus.  It was something totally different from what I have done all of my life.  I think it was the first time EVER (well, aside from the day I was born) that I didn't attend a Christmas Eve service.  In it's own way, the night was peaceful and reverent.  I missed the tradition of the Christmas Eve service, but I am glad I have the memory we made instead of the one that could have been - you know, that one where we sat in church shushing our kids, wrangling Whitaker, not being able to pay attention to the music or the message because I am searching my purse for gum, pens, paper and other paraphernalia to distract my hoodlums so I can get something from the service.

Whitaker had already gone to bed, but I got one picture with my older three on my birthday.

Best of all, my dearly beloved bestowed me with some beautiful bling.

The kids exchanged presents to each other.  Will got Walker a watch

and Maggie a pair of Christmas socks.

Willie got a Lego kit from Maggie . . .

and was so excited that he gave his sister an unprompted bear hug as thanks!

 I have to say, that over the Christmas Holiday and into the last few months, we have seen such a generous side to Willie.  He was the first to raid his piggy bank to buy presents for his siblings.  He took a great pleasure in picking out the perfect gifts for them too.  I am so proud of his generous spirit and greatly look forward to  fostering this gift.

On their way to bed to wait for Santa!

Christmas morning was a blast!  Santa visited us and left some really great prizes and we had a nice leisurely morning opening presents, playing with them and having fun.

A few gifts didn't fit under the tree.  Like Maggie's Barbie Doll house - the ONLY gift she asked Santa for.  Santa found this gem at a yard sale last summer for $10!  It only needed a little elevator repair and some new furniture to complete it.  I have to brag a bit about Maggie on Christmas day.  She opened up all of her gifts under the Christmas tree and there was no doll house.  She looked under the tree, at me and then said, "Is that it?"  I told her "Yes" and she got a very sad and dejected look on her face, but picked up one of her new toys and sat on the couch to watch the rest of the kids open their gifts.  Her face obviously said, "I can't believe I didn't get the dollhouse I asked for!" But she never once complained or made fuss.  She just sat there until I suggested that there might be other gifts to search for that might not have fit under the tree.


Once the boys finished opening their gifts from under the tree, I sent them on a scavenger hunt.  She eventually found her doll house (after I prompted her with clues like, "What looks different in here from last night?"  and "LOOK UNDER THE BLANKET!")

Walker got a basketball hoop that Santa didn't finish building in time.  But that meant that Dad and Walker got to finish putting it up together.

When Erik and I went Black Friday shopping, we happened across this mo-ped at a really good price.  We forwarded the info onto Santa knowing Willie would love any type of battery operated vehicle.  A few weeks later, Willie told me he wanted a motorcycle for Christmas.  Kismet!  Willie has been zooming around the house on his flashy new Mickey Mouse Moped ever since!

Whitaker's big present was this giant plush Donkey.  He absolutely loves it and sleeps with it every night.  To get him to go to bed, I sing,

Where is Donkey, 

Where Is Donkey,

In your crib

In your crib

Let's go find your Donkey

And go to sleepy

go to sleep

go to sleep

Some more pictures of Christmas Morning.

Four days later, Erik and I were blessed to celebrate our 10th Anniversary.  

We hadn't planned anything very special and then at the last minute, thanks to Erik's mom, we were able to head to Pittsburgh for the night and enjoy an extravagant dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse.  We pricelined a hotel room, made a reservation for dinner and had a lovely night away from home.  Our server at the restaurant made our dessert an event.

Erik chose a Creme Brule, I had a triple chocolate mouse (which was to die for) and the little chocolate round in the top center was a chocolate cheese cake.   This dessert and the potatoes gratin absolutely made the dinner.  It was a great one time experience, but I can't say it was the best steak I ever had.

Since then, we've been raising puppies,

and getting them sent off to new homes.

Except this one.  This is Lucy and she's Goodness Grows Farm's newest addition.

We've been playing in the barn.

 Getting Dirty.

Hunting Big Buck with our new Wii from Nana.

Visited the PA State Farm Show.

Played outside in the snow (when we have it).

Tried on and fit into size 18 month pants.  (This boy is 8 years old)
Got our braces off too.

Made (and devoured) this Buckeye Cake recipe courtesy of Pinterest.  If you haven't seen pinterest, don't even get me started.  It's probably another reason this blog has been suffering for three months.  Don't even look into pinterest unless you want to waste VAST amounts of time looking at what other people are looking at online!  It's worse than facebook!  I'm totally addicted but it's also inspired me to do all kinds of interesting things.  Ok, well, I dream about doing interesting things!

Just after New Years, we got a surprise visit from friends who had moved out to the Chicago area a few years ago.  It was an absolutely fantastic visit and we got to catch up on each others lives.  I'm now in cahoots to plan a trip to visit them in April since we have a long Easter break!  Hopefully they're cool with that!

And the boys put up a shelter for my van.  Now there's a big grey blob outside my back door.  I like that I don't have to scrape snow off my vehicle, but don't like that I can't easily see the back anymore.

We took Walker and three buddies to the Science Center to watch an Omnimax movie and then out to a buffet restaurant for dinner for Walker's 8th birthday.  It was a great day and we got a chance to hang out with some of the boys that Walker has been developing friendships with at school.  It was a great lesson for Erik and I that all eight year old boys are the same!  Crazy, inconsistent, and all movement! 

We're now in mid-February and have our first true "arctic blast" snowstorm of the season.  We got about three inches over night and once we finish making Valentine boxes and signing our Valentine cards we'll head out for some sled riding!

Thanks for coming back to see us.  I promise, I'll keep you posted.

Is It Really November Already?

Previously on Goodness Grows Farm:  

Labor Day weekend we spent camping (in luxury in our dear friends travel trailer) at Seneca Hills Conference Center - a beautiful Christian camp in Franklin, PA.  We had a wonderful time visiting with friends, despite the rain for the last few days and using the amazing facilities!  

I am so in love with this little guy!  In September, he had just started walking and he kept us on our toes as he toddled around the campsite, making sure he stayed away from the fire!

 Not sure why Maggie looks so desolate and sad, but what a funny picture!  Someone must have told her that it was her last smore for the night.  I look that way too when people tell me that.

 This was taken after Chapel services on Sunday at Seneca Hills.  We're with Jim and Darlene Cossin.  Jim was the director of Seneca Hills the years that Erik worked there as a maintenance man and then as a camp counselor.  He was a mentor to Erik and he delivered the message at our wedding.  It was such a blessing that he did that for us as he knew Erik so well and gave our wedding such a personal touch.  He and his wife are just wonderful and since we're approaching our 10th anniversary, we wanted to have a picture with them.  Not to mention to show off what our awesome little family!

 The Schoyer kids.  We've gone celebrity and combined our last name with the last name of our dear friends.  I would imagine that we spent no less than 10 days without seeing each other this summer, so to say our families were joined at the hip would be an understatement.  Since this photo was taken, our friends have moved to the Franklin area and while they've only been gone two weeks, it's been hard.  I have a wonderful friend in K, a friend like I've never had before.  The way our lives paralleled is surreal and to steal a quote from "Anne of Green Gables" K and I are kindred spirits like no other.  Our husbands joke that we are the same person in two different bodies, but as I point out, I don't like coffee and as K points out, she's not a fan of the sparkly.  I'm working on her though.  I broke out my bedazzler for her Christmas gift : )

 These two little beings are just adorable.  They treat each other like a little old couple who's been married 60 years treat each other.  Even as bully as Willie can be, he's always go time to take care of his Ellie.  On this night, we were on our way to the rec center to play and the bridge across the stream was slippery from the rain, so of course, Willie had to escort his beloved across.  "Don't worry, Ellie.  I will take care of you," is what he said as he extended his hand to her and assisted her across.

Once at the rec center, Whitaker had a ball.  Literally!

He had such a good time that he ended up in a mini bath in the outdoor sink!

 Then camping was over and we were back to real life.  One rainy day Erik quit work early and sat with Willie and Frankie.  Shortly after this photo all pictured were snoozing contentedly.

 Everyone loves playing outside, but Whitaker hates not being allowed to swing on the big kid swings. He decided sitting on Walker's lap was a better option.

 In mid-September, Erik took the boys to Mt. Hope, Ohio to an exotic animal auction where they picked up Cupcake the baby pot belly pig.  Unfortunately, Cupcake did not make it very long here on the farm because of her young age, but they loved her while she was here and I even allowed her to live in the house for a while.  Until she got so stinky and I couldn't take it anymore.

 In August, I started selling Wildtree products.  Wildtree is an all-natural food line and I LOVE it!  This was a picture of all the products that came in my first party order!  Success!

 This was my portion of the delivery!  Since, we've enjoyed a Wildtree meal at least five times a week.

 Maggie did a mini-cheer camp this Fall and got to cheer on the field with the big cheerleaders at our local high school football game.  She loved it except for "It was a lot of standing."

Willie had his fourth birthday this month.  He was the line leader at his preschool on his birthday and we brought mini cupcakes for the class.  This guy kills me.  He's lovey dovey one minute and then Mr. "Get away" the next.  Mostly though, he's a lovey dovey!

 Since Willie's birthday was actually on a Saturday, we decided to have a big party and invited all of our friends.  Our dear friend, KJ, offered to supply the makings for scarecrows - all families had to bring were the clothes to stuff.  It was a huge success!

 As you can see, the kids adored the scarecrow project!

 Another set of new and wonderful friends brewed their own beer and brought it to the festivities.  Now we all want to take classes from them and all brew our own beer!

 The yard after I called everyone in for dinner!
Scarecrow Down
Pennsylvania Scarecrow Massacre
I can't decide which caption best fits this scene.

 We're blesses with amazing neighbors who provided us with even more entertainment for the day.  Our back property neighbor hitched up his tractor to the hay wagon and took us down the road to another farmer's property where we got to pick pumpkins right out of the patch.

 It was a bumpy ride but lots of fun!

We did a count and figured we had 37 kids at our event!  Everyone stopped for a few seconds on the way into the pumpkin patch for me to capture this picture.

 Heading down into the pumpkin patch through the corn field, and nestled between the onion and potato fields.

 Our only rule:  You can only pick what you can carry!

 Baby E's first trip to the pumpkin patch.

 Baby B's first trip to the pumpkin patch.

 Whitaker loved the pumpkin patch.  He thought it was a field filled with balls!

 Two of my book league girls!

The ride back from the pumpkin patch.

 We sang Happy Birthday to Willie on the way home and he thought it was "Too Loud"

 Finally it was Halloween and the kids carved their first pumpkins ever.

 Whit even got to join in on the action.  That is until he started eating pumpkin guts and seeds.

 Poor Maggie.  Her pumpkin had already started rotting inside,  but it was still good enough to carve.

 Erik gets in on the carving.

 I help Willie scoop out the guts.

Whitaker waits patiently for everyone else to finish.

 He loves his jack o lantern!

 We asked Whit what kind of face he wanted on his pumpkin and this was the face he modeled for us.  I think Erik managed to recreate the likeness wonderfully.

 Everyone tried the vampire teeth.

 Walker's were purple.

 Our Jack O' Lanterns all lit up.

And that's what you missed !