O Brother, Where Art Thou?

I know where my brother is. I know he still exists. I can feel him, hear him in my mind, sometimes laughing, sometimes rueful, but always loving. I know with absolute certainty that someday, his dramatic and too-early exit will make perfect sense, and that we will be astounded at the beauty and majesty of our Father's plan for our family.

I can't introduce you to my brother. How does one describe the coolest brother in the world? One who, when he shows up, draws children out of the woodwork like the pied piper? One who plays guitar in a rock band, who has (and uses) actual ninja swords? One who can envelope you in a hug so huge you can barely see the light of day? One who always wants to talk to you, one who is always dreaming up new adventures.... I can't really do him justice. All I can say, is that it is unfathomable that the world can keep turning, that the sun can still rise without him.

Catchup

Wow, we've had some crazy days lately. First of all, we got here and Lewis got busy setting up a business to do business development consulting. He got all up and rolling, then he drove into the parking lot of a dealership. His stomach turned. I told him he didn't have to work in the auto industry anymore. We have some money left from when our house sold, so he has a little time to figure out what he really WANTS to do. How many people get a chance to do that? Take some time find what will really be fun and interesting to do. That's the short version. The longer, more painful version contains many headaches, sleepless nights, horrible stress-induced allergic reactions. To get to a place where we felt freed up to think outside the box, Lewis got a blessing from his father where he was told to "do what will bring you joy." On the short drive home from Lewis' parents house, a thought took hold of me, something totally out of the blue. Here's the result- I'm going back to school to be a high school teacher. Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!!
It's nothing I would have ever thought of, but I can't tell you how excited I am. I just paid my tuition today, and got a horrible picture taken for my student ID. How hilarious is that?
I have an easy schedule starting in Sept, at a local jr college. I leave after the kiddos leave for school, and I get back a few minutes after Liam gets off the bus. With Lewis working from home(I'll get to that in a minute), Leebee will have Daddy to welcome him home and eat his lunch with. Come January, I'll start the secondary ed program at EWU.
Lewis, after reading 48 Days to the Work You Love by Dan Miller, realized he's happiest when he's building things and using his artistic side. So, his first month giving art a try, he's secured enough commissions to pay the bills. He also is doing some independent construction work on the side, which he loves, because he gets to use his cool power tools. It's really weird, but we've been able to plan our lives from the bottom up- figure out what's most important and build up from there. Once I registered for school (and got over the freak out over that huge change) I haven't had another sleepless night. I don't worry about the future any more. A huge burden has been lifted. Life is very good, and we have SO much time together as a family, which is the most important thing for us.
Here's a painting he did of Dainon; I love it. I want him to do one of me now. Can't you just picture how cool it would be to have a gigantic nude, right as you come in the door? ;)

Lewis watched 5 boys for me when I went to girls camp, earning himself a crown in heaven. Can you imagine 10 boys for 6 days?
Liam was in heaven too. He had so many little buddies to play with.
Lewis is getting ready for the boy scout high adventure, they made model trebuchets to get ready for the big one they're going to make. So life is good! We're happy, healthy, and all is well!

Photoshop Fun

Lewis bought me a cool camera when our house sold, and I've been having a great time figuring it out. So far, I have the point, click and focus parts pretty much down. Aperture, focal length and ISO are pretty much eluding me, but I'm trying. Yesterday I dove into the deep waters of photoshop. I watched tutorials on youtube, and had to pause them every few seconds and rewind over and over. Photoshop is like the mind of a woman, to a man. Unfathomable depths. You can totally screw things up with some errand click you didn't realize you even did. I had to restart things several times. But I'm learning. I'll get it, I promise. Here are some of my projects today:


I know some day soon I'll laugh at what a terrible job I did on these, but today, I'm proud of myself!

Our Growing Family

We did it! We've been talking a lot lately about expanding our family, so we all went down to the feed store and we did it!

Is there anything cuter than a baby chick?

How about a baby duck?

What about two of them, a male and a female, that love and cuddle each other? It's so adorable, if you pick one of them up, the other cries until you cuddle them both. They kiss when they're reunited. It's just soooo sweet! Dainon and Logan have named them Kit Kat and Sweaty Bicep. Guess which one is the boy?

Our murderous chicken-killing dog was irresistibly drawn to the new babies. I can just hear her thinking, "Just one little bite! That's all I ask!"

Here's Logan holding the cuddling ducks, with Jill looking on- waiting, hoping.

"One day, one sweet day, you're gonna get lax. You're gonna turn your head for just a second, and I'll be ready."

We got a mix of eaters and layers. In just five short weeks, I get to post about the guys chopping 5 of their heads off. Eek!

The rest, ten of them, get to be ours for good. Or at least until Jill, hawks, or coyotes get them. What do you think? How long will it be until the first one moves on to its reward?

"Why ducks?" you ask. I thought they would be fun. We'll let them have little ducky babies, and either eat them, or let someone who likes baby ducks eat them. We'll keep the breeding pair around though. What's a little farm without ducks?

Catch Up

I feel like I'm so behind. I've started to post so many times, but just get diverted before I'm done. So I decided to give a reader's digest version of the last few weeks.

*I'm obsessed with home decorating lately. I've scored big time at yard sales, and have bought a ton of spray paint. I'm having the time of my life.

*I had a great Mother's Day. I scored a lilac, burning bush, heirloom tomatoes, chocolates and adorable things from my boys.

*I got to speak in Church on Mother's Day, along with Lewis and Dainon. I love speaking in church. I wish I could do it every week, but they won't let me :)

*I hosted the whole Earl clan that very same day. We ate, and played baseball in our field. Good times, good times.

*My Mom, Dad and Grandma came over for a visit. We took them all over the back of the property, even the boys' fort. They were good sports.

*Lilacs are blooming right outside my back door, leaving me transported with joy.

*Fruit trees are blooming, and hidden treasures in the back forest have been found: massive elderberry trees, choke cherry bushes, and a wild apple tree. Jam, anyone?

*We're still Earls, even though we moved. So of course there is a rope swing, and kids to play with Kelton.

*I'm taking my first baby steps at decorating. What do you think? Like the little mirrors and basin and pitcher? Recognize them from the spray paint picture?

*Jill is in heaven digging everywhere for gophers. No squirrels to chase here.

* Isn't this picture a thing of beauty? Three cheers for having boys old enough to mow the lawn!

*The boys had their Father/Son campout, which is also known as National Mothers of Only Sons Holiday. I was down with a grevious injury (I sliced the top of my foot pretty deeply) and was ordered to STAY DOWN. Which I did, so my friend Elisa brought a girls night party to me. Tons of food, lots of laughs... it was great.

We have big plans coming up. They involve these, >and these.

And just maybe this:

Some Photos

Okay, I couldn't wait for my modem to get here. I decided to post a Missy-Eye view of some of the cool things here. This is the deer trail that leads off our property to where the herd beds down at night. It's a 2-acre parcel of thick brush and a huge basalt hill. There's the coolest tree that forms a natural canopy-like fort that the boys have claimed as their own. Except that one day, Dallin went busting in there to find himself face-to-face with a mama deer and her baby. He showed remarkable presence of mind and just backed away slowly. It's a wonderland back there, I tell you.

I love the sunflowers here. They're everywhere, just growing wild.

This was my first day with my camera. A Golden eagle obliged me by circling overhead.

This photo makes me so happy. The nails, the creosote on the post, the twisted barbed wire... I love it.

This is my new spice garden. I dug it myself. It was quite a feat! I'm growing parsley, cilantro, thyme, rosemary, tarragon, chives from my last spice garden, sweet marjoram, lavender, and lemon balm. I still need sage, sweet basil, mint and oregano. Except oregano might just have to be potted. Have you seen how oregano spreads? It was a weed in my last yard. I'm going to use the rest of the space as a kitchen garden. There will be no big garden plot this year. This is what the beds look like right now.
Fancy, huh? It used to be a worm farm. We'll need to pull off the orange insulation, the rotten wood on top, cut down the trees that have grown up, scrape out the weeds, add tons of topsoil- then we'll be ready to plant. See why I'm waiting for next year?

But at least one project is completed! I painted my shutters black. Or, I got Lewis to paint them for me. They used to be the same color as my door- Ack! Don't they look loverly?

There's so much more rain here, there's lichen all over the trees. LOVE the color! It reminds me of my carpet. Wait- I love the color OUTSIDE.

Remember when I said there was a lot more rain here? I love this photo.

New pink life bursting forth. What do you think- apples? That's my guess. But what kind?! It's a mystery unfolding right here.

This is a great blue heron I saw yesterday while fishing/taking pictures with Logan. This is about a half mile from our house.

This is my pile of rocks that we dug from our field. We're going to use them in our landscaping! (clapping hands giddily) I can't wait to find a home for these lovelies.
So there you have it. Not any photos of inside, but as I get projects done, I'll post them.

Almost There.....

I won't consider myself fully moved in until I have Internet access. "What?!" you say, "Haven't you already lived there over a month?"
Yes, I have. For many weeks I was in rebellion against confiscatory Internet prices here. Did you know, in Kennewick, I only paid $26 a month for really decent speed Internet? Here, the cheapest I could find is around $75 for not nearly as fast. I have abstained on principle. But, I just can't take it any longer. AND.... I got a rocking camera that I'm having so much fun with. I'm dying to post all the pictures of my life here. Any day now, you will see eagles soaring overhead. Piles of rocks that this chickybabe has dug from her very own field, destined to become a wall around her spankin' new spice garden. You'll see my best thrift store find ever, a delicious black leather club chair I nabbed for $20! Life is very good here. We've been busy getting to know people at church, inviting someone over at least once a week. Lewis has been working like crazy getting his business up and running, but he's still had time for planning a cabin he and his father are building this spring/summer, playing baseball with us in our field, snuggling up and watching movies... those kinds of things.
Here's one I took of Dall. Oh, the joys of leaving my cruddy point and shoot behind! I'm just barely learning, but it's really fun work. Hopefully, in a day or so, I can fill you in fully on exactly what our lives here look and feel like. Until then....I'll watch American Idol and fret over who gets sent home!