Adventures of a Modern Farm Family: August 2013

We moved...again!

It has been almost two months since we moved into our new house and I am really beginning to like it. It is the complete opposite of our old house which isn’t good or bad it is just different. They property is amazing and the kids seems to love it. There are different things that have been a child proofing problem, but I think we have most of it taken care of now. There was a lot of trial and error. Joel and Cecilia are excellent climbers so that has been a battle and if I don’t dead bolt the doors children will escape. It has only happened once and surprisingly it was Cecilia. She was walking outside with her shoes in her hands on the gravel.

The front door

View of the back of the house

Another view of the back

Pretty flowers in the back

We have a majority of the boxes unpacked and I can mostly find the things I need. We still have several more boxes to unpack and a few things to organize better but it is all functional for now. I am hoping before harvest starts we will be closer to being moved in. Internet has been a huge issue, hence the lack of blogs for July and August, but I think we finally have that problem solved!

My laundry/mud room

The kitchen

The dining room...I need to get rid of those curtains!

The front door

Some things that have made me laugh about our new house. It sits on a fairly major highway. However when I called to get electric and gas set up they couldn’t find the address anywhere. I was on hold for 45 minutes. They kept saying “are you sure that is where you live?” They aren’t the only ones that have problems, it turns out everyone abbreviates the name of the road differently and it depends who typed it in originally. I find it funny because we lived on a gravel road with 3 other houses and I never had any problems. Now that I know the issue it is a lot easier to figure out how to tell people to look up the address.

The living room

Another view of the living room

The boys room

Cecilia's room

Kids bathroom

Guest bathroom...our other guest bathroom is mirrors on 4 walls and hard to take a picture of!

The house sits on property next to the main farm which is really convenient for everyone. Brad has given up on driving a car to work and drives his 4 wheeler back and forth. My allergist actually saw him driving in the ditch and asked me about it. Vincent tells people that daddy doesn’t drive anymore. The way he says it makes it sound like Brad can’t drive anymore. The dogs can’t decide if they like the house or not. They are not allowed in the living room because of the carpet, so that seems to annoy them. However, there are wooded areas on the property that are home to squirrels and other wildlife that they love chasing, they still get to sleep in the boys’ room, and they can run to the farm anytime they please. Actually sometimes Tally ends up here and Bristol ends up at the farm.

Fireplace in our room

Our bedroom...the curtains and the color need to be changed


Part of the bathroom

The shower and tub

The master closet is up a flight of very narrow stairs

If you ask Vincent about the house he would tell you that it has a light in the attic, a garage that is attached, a clean basement and a fireplace. To him those are the best things about the house! At least the only ones worth mentioning. Silly kid!

The giant basement that is filled with an office, toys, and work out equipment now

These pictures are all before we moved in officially. We do have furniture, etc in the house and the basement is filled with toys! We love having visitors if anyone wants to stop by to visit and get a tour.

The Final Birthday Party!

Nothing like having a ton of birthday parties…

About a week after his birthday I let him invite a handful of kids to Grandma’s arena for a birthday party. Vincent’s favorite 8^th grade friend Kiley even came to the birthday party. He was so excited to see her! When we were shopping for a cake mix for the party Vincent saw a tie-dyed cake. I was a little nervous about how it would turn out, but it looked really cool and tasted great as well. I will definitely try it again!

Before it was baked

After, but I forgot to take a picture of the inside. Oops

We bought squirt guns and a few other fun games and toys to play with in the sand. We made obstacle course for the kids, jumped on the small trampoline, played with the kittens, had pony rides on Alasan and Brad stopped spraying long enough to grill hotdogs for us and take us for a wagon ride on Ray.

water sponge relay race...the girls won!

The boy team

Opening gifts

eating dinner

reloading squirt guns

Cecilia joined right in

In the process of getting on the wagon one of the kids stepped in some cow manure and got it on his foot, which rubbed on his leg. He was not happy and even less happy when Vincent told him it was poison. The poor kid wanted us to stop right then so he could wash his leg. I assured him that it wasn’t poison and he proceeded to wipe the poop on several of the other kids so he wouldn’t be the only on with poop on him. He was making me laugh because he asked some of the kids “Do you want poop on your leg?” Of course they said “NO!”

Birthday cake time...I may have forgotten candles inside, so I just told him they weren't allowed in the barn.

A wagon full of kids

It was fun to watch Vincent interact with his friends! We had a great time and I was happy to be done with birthday celebrations for a little while.

The Birthday Party at Franklin Creek

Sunday July 7th was the big birthday party at Franklin Creek. We had a lot of people join us and I was so happy about that! My mom picked up squirt guns for all the kids and we filled up a few buckets of water and they kids had a blast. As kids showed up they jumped right in and joined the fun! Before long there were several adults that joined the water fight. The kids were attacking anyone in the vicinity and you either had to run from them or join the fun. They were quick to gang up on the adults and thought it was hilarious to get the adults wet! Even Uncle Bob joined the water fight for a few minutes.

Papa Razzi teaching Joel to play guitar

Love this picture!

Vincent running after someone and Logan getting Grandma Diane while she is filling her weapon

Adults and kids getting wet!

Brad stole Vincent's squirt gun!

Vincent attacked Uncle Bob

So Vincent got dunked in the water

Landon, Gail and Ty

Vincent attacking Kristine

Mommy and Cecilia. I was already wet at this point

Vincent, Lexi and Grandma Dawn

Logan doing a great job of getting Brad!

Zac shooting Keith

Grandma Pat talking on her phone and holding a squirt gun for protection

Lexi and Logan distracting Vincent before.....

Logan, Keith and Zac capturing Vincent and dumping the bucket of water on his head!

After the water fight we all went to the creek and played in the water and explored the creek. They were trying to catch fish, “swimming”, and having all kinds of fun. We even had an adventure and hiked in the creek to the entrance near our camp. The kids loved it!

Zac, Vincent, Keith, random kid that joined us, Logan, Landon, Ty, and Lexi

And they all jumped in!

And the water fight continues

Vincent filling up his squirt gun

It was a little intense

Karoline joining the fun

Ty taking a break

Vincent attacking Karoline!

Starting a hike down the creek

Landon, Ty, Logan, Vincent and the random kid all went on the adventure hike up the creek.

Ty and Vincent

The rest of the group stayed back

Landon and Logan having fun!

The explorers getting ahead of me!

We convinced Beth to join us. She was using the squirt gun to check for fish, snakes, etc

Of course we opened presents, sang “Happy Birthday”, and enjoyed some ice cream cake. It was a very fun time and Vincent loved every second of it! He is blessed to have so many people in his life that care for him. A big thank you to all the wonderful people that joined us to celebrate! We ended the day with another trip to the creek before we headed home!

Vincent wanted an ice cream cake

Ty, Vincent and Landon having a hard time smiling because it was so sunny

Logan joined in for the best picture!

Brandon lighting the candles

Vincent opening presents

And more presents

A picture from Grandma Dawn and Papa Razzi of all the fish Vincent caught

So many wonderful people joined us for fun...even the random kid from across camp

Cecilia!

Brad really happy about the remote controlled helicopter Vincent got!

Mom on Hank and Zac on Croc going for a ride

Zac looks a little nervous

My mom!

After presents we headed back to the creek for round 2! Cecilia and Joel didn't get to participate in round 1. They had just as much fun as the other kids. Liz, Charlie and Sophie joined us too!