Everyone (but maybe Mark!) was glad to be home on the farm after our cruise because there's so much to keep us busy. Brooke has worked with Ruby to teach her to jump and has been successful!
This little monkey is up to her usual tricks like taking her pajamas off in bed despite our efforts to secure them with a safety pin!
Nash loves to help with farm chores like mucking out the stalls and turning out/bringing in the horses. I always worry that he's going to get stepped on, but sometimes I give in and let him.
I finally get to meet my great nephew, Blake Michael, about a week after our cruise. I had intended to take pictures of him, but it was overcast and then I held him and wouldn't put him down. I took a few hours of snuggles over taking pictures and Steph was so tired I don't think she cared either way. I love babies, but I'm finally at the point where my cup overflows and most days I feel like I'm drowning so no more foster babies for me!!
Nash sometimes helps me in the morning in his pajamas. He's almost always the first one up and watching Netflix by the time I get up.
Frank has decided that we are good people and although still skittish as formerly feral cats usually are, he's taken to following us around and meowing to be petted. If I ignore him he'll roll around on the ground nearby trying to lure me in. Still can't pick him up, but I think that will always be the case. I guess he's here to stay!
Stella's tutor, Kim got a puppy named Charlie. He's a Goldendoodle and so, so cute. It ALMOST makes me want a dog, but then there's Mark's allergies and dog poop. We've got enough poop here without a dog!
My "free" wreath with Kohl's cash.
The trees have come alive on the farm and the look of everything is changing. I can no longer see into the outdoor arena from my bathroom window which is kind of sad, but beautiful nonetheless.
I decided that it was time to tackle my home decorating projects because we were hosting a party for Stella's First Communion in early May. My dad came to the rescue and sprayed some "Wet it and Forget It" on the green stuff on the north side of our house and he helped take off the top layer of stain on the kitchen table so I could refinish it. I LOVE the way it turned out!!!
One night after a particularly stress filled day, I snuck off by myself to ride Echo down the road at Jackson's Farm. I rode him bareback and then hand grazed him while I talked on the phone to my mom. It was delightful!
We have a really awesome screened porch, but unfortunately the wasps think it's the place to be too. We have a pest service come and spray regularly, but the guy recommended we do something to cover the gaps in the floorboards so they can't get in. We decided on caulk which Mark has finished all but a small section and it has taken FOREVER and dozens of tubes of caulk. It has paid off because we get a fraction of the wasps and are actually able to use it.
My dad started the sanding the process and then it took me almost another hour and a half. I wish I would have used coarser sandpaper from the get go and then changed the paper every few minutes so it would have gone faster. I learned that after the fact and then I also realized that people don't do this all the time because it's time consuming and dusty!
My dad is one brave man! This was even scarier in person!
Polly with a fly mask. Beam me up, Scotty!!
So the grass is very lush and plentiful, but that means more to mow. Mark mows with our tractor, but our property has a hill in the backyard going down to the barn so he gets to mow that by hand. Looks fun, doesn't it? 😓
It will slow down in July when there is less rain, but for now, Mark is busting his hump keeping up with the grass and the other projects. Hey, let's get chickens too!!!
Usually the Easter Bunny is prepared well before Easter, but this year not so much. Five days before Easter I had NOTHING. Thankfully, Luke talked me into going to Target in the evening and helped me gather supplies. It would be ideal for the Easter Bunny to leave religious things in the Easter baskets to celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord, but truth be told, we have TONS of that already. Brooke ended up with Horse-opoly, Luke the movie "Sing" and a new beach towel, Stella hair accessories and a new towel, Nash a watering can and towel, Ellie got a coloring book and "Hoo" boots. That's owl boots for the lay folks.
It was so nice that Mark was off for Easter. It's something that I don't take for granted.
Where'd the kitchen table go?
We ate in the carpeted dining room while the kitchen table was getting a makeover. People should not put carpet in dining rooms if toddlers and kids in general are expected to eat there!!
So I took zero pictures at church in our Easter finest. Lame, I know. Not one shot of even the kids. There was an Easter egg hunt after 11 AM Mass so we did that and then talked to friends. After that it was time for lunch and Ellie's nap so we hurried home. We ended up going to Stephanie's since baby Blake made it too tiring to drive 45 minutes to our house. He's such a little guy!! I love to drink him in!!😵
Little egg hunt...
The hunt supervisor 😃
Ellie's favorite person-"Scooter".
Awwwwwwwwwwww. So precious!! Beware...extreme cuteness to follow!
This picture brings me so much joy and I'm sure Stephanie will fine at least 5 things wrong with it, but they are so darn cute it makes me cry. I love them. The beginning of a beautiful (but difficult) journey is just priceless. God bless them!
Love the tie!!
I really don't know how I do what I do because I have so little time left over after I do the things that must get done, but every once in a while the Holy Spirit stirs me to activity and suddenly I'm working on a project and then it's done. I made a "farmhouse" sign like that. I had been looking at Home Goods and Hobby Lobby for a sign to hang in the kitchen over the bay window in the kitchen, but they were too big or too small for the space. I pinned something on Pinterest and took the kids to Lowes and got the wood and then to Joann's to get the paint. I knocked this out in two
days nights!
The website I found it on already had the letters available in a free printable so I stained the wood first with the gray from my kitchen table top, painted white chalk paint over that, and waited for it to dry. To get the letters on the wood, I tape the paper where I want them, trace over the letters pressing FIRMLY with a pen, and then take the paper off and trace over the indentation with a pencil. NO special equipment needed!! The blogger used graphite paper or something to transfer, but I don't know what that is so I did it my way which is so easy and free.
I used black chalk paint for the letters, put on clear wax next, and then used the antique stain and sanded gently to finish it off. The "S" and "E" go downhill, but I've made peace with it. Finally.
I bought a new light at Home Depot. Looks nice with my finished table and new chairs. I bought the chairs from the website Poly and Bark. No tax and free shipping!! Got 6 for $315 which is a good deal.
The old light goes in the donations pile.
Mark borrowed a splitter from my sister's boyfriend which was awesome. This is only about half the tree so we've got wood coming out of our ears!
Changing out Polly's stall gate. Farm chore #126 One of the hinges on the old one broke so it was hanging on by one hinge which was a disaster waiting to happen.
I was on a roll with projects so I decided to seize the moment and do this dresser I picked up at the thrift store over a year ago. It's been living in our foyer like this for 6 months, so it got a facelift too.
Nash helped. 😉 Photo credit: Stella
I painted it with one coat of chalk paint so that some imperfections showed through and then gently sanded a few places. I bought new knobs 50% off at Hobby Lobby. Funny thing is that they were not my first choice, but rather one of the few that there was 8 of and as it turns out, they match my old window perfectly! I'm really pleased with how it turned out.
Polly and Ruby have become besties. We find them together in Polly's stall all the time.
We've been so busy during the day that in April I took Brooke and sometimes Luke over to ride Echo at night when Mark was home.
We'd ride until there was literally no light left.
We put the play kitchen in the screened porch and since Mark put an extra set of hook and eye closures way up high, Ellie can't get out and drown in the neighbor's pond. 😌
Six is a fun age! When it's hot and buggy during the day we turn the horses out overnight and bring them in in the morning. They will lay down in the field and sleep some and then eat and eat some more. That means they go out around 8 PM and I bring them in at 8 AM. They are easy to take together so I can bring both of them myself if I don't have a helper along. 😁
Another home project was my gallery wall in our back hallway. I unboxed all our photos from our old house and put them on the three walls of our hallway/mudroom and then added a few new things.
This makes me so happy!!
💕💕💕
Kids hung their hammocks that used to be hung in the woods at our old house under the deck. It's really handy and they've enjoyed them so much.
This little koi pond came with the house and while it's nice in theory, in reality it sucks. The kids mess with it all the time and it's dirty and in need of cleaning. I got tired of Nash scooping the fish out and and carrying them around in a bucket so my sister said she'd take it out for me. BEST GIFT! We rehomed the fish to Ellie's sister's grandparents and now it's all filled in. There's a Hosta garden there now. #lowmaintence
More wood to split!! See Frank just hanging around? We're pals.
At the end of April we had a FNE campout at a Dayton Metro Park. The boys went with Mark and I took the girls. My mom came to stay the weekend with Nash and Ellie. The weather had been lovely, but the weekend of the campout the low was in the 40's and the high in the 50's and we slept in tents!!!
We had a lot of fun even if there was no running water, electricity, flush toilets or showers. We roughed it and had a good time!
On Friday night it rained a bit and two of the tents, mine and Brooke's leaked. It was a little chilly to say the least!
One of the other girl's mom helps me with the group so she came along for the weekend. She agreed to come even though she had to bring her nursing 10 month old!! Good thing she had camping experience!
Above, we made tin foil dinners on Saturday night.
Dinners cooking! We made a chart on paper so we could tell who was who's. I forgot to bring a sharpie.
I taught the girls to play "Spoons", a throwback to my youth.
Babies are cute, but on campouts, not so helpful.
When we got home from the campout, my sister and her BF were over taking out the pond. When they were finished, they took the kids fishing in our neighbor's pond. They had a ball!
This is my friend, Laurel. She is a treasure! She's the one whom has helped us on our journey of becoming horse owners, along with my friend, Kevin. She is so, so sweet with the kids, has loads of horse experience, and is so much fun! She took Brooke on a trail ride early in April and then a few weeks later we went together. In all the years I've ridden, I've not had a whole lot of trail riding experience so it was nice that she took me out to show me the ropes. This is her on her old horse, Penny. Penny is retired, but she can still walk on trails.
I'm not a good trail rider because of my OCD and anxiety. I'm a control freak and when on the trails you have to trust your horse in a non controlled environment. It's fun, but terrifying. We rode through fields, crossed the same creek that runs through our property, and blazed a trail through the woods. Echo was good, except on the way back I had to keep holding him back. He wanted to beeline for the barn and we were trying to have a leisurely ride. Echo did canter up a big hill and then old girl Penny followed. I joked that if she was dead in the AM we knew it was Echo's fault for taking off up the hill. 😊
Laurel gives the girls lessons and they LOVE it. She is so creative and patient. She set up an obstacle course for them which was a lot of fun. We haven't taken lessons consistently because we've been so occupied with other things. Echo is wearing Laurel's hat just for fun. He is a good boy!!
It's nap time! These two horses are silly. We shouldn't even bother with Ruby's stall since she can be found mostly in Polly's.
Shorts and boots are an awesome combo, but this picture is supposed to be of Frank rubbing round my ankles desperate for physical touch. I guess 6 months of hiding and isolation will do that to a cat.
All my boys!! Echo is so patient and good that even Nash can ride him.
This was the second flood of 2017 and I hope the last. Thankfully, our creek fence is still down from the flood in March. 😉
This time the flooding was even worse that the first time! If you could see the creek today, you'd have a hard time believing it to be so full and violent.
Ellie is like a moth to a flame, puddles and mud are her favorite. This is in the little paddock up by our house. I was checking to see how wet it was and she came along.
Below is an email I sent out in April to our friends and massive home school group asking for prayers. It's been exceedingly difficult these last two months. I'll tell you more later.
Hello Friends,
I'm writing to ask for your continued prayers for our foster daughter, Ellie. We were hoping and praying that a Permanent Custody trial would take place this month so that we would be moving in the direction of adopting her, but that was not to be. The trial was converted into a Review Hearing which means the attorney's will meet again in 90 days to reassess the situation because in the court's eyes, Ellie's bio mom is on the right path. I would think even a blind squirrel could find the right path after 3 years, but still, we wait for the truth of her situation to come to light to prove that her stability is as long lasting as the latest boyfriend.
In case you've just come on board, we've fostered Ellie since birth. We've survived a failed reunification with bio mom at 10 months, an attempted reunification with bio dad who showed up when Ellie was a year and a half old, and now a second attempt to reunify with bio mom when Ellie's about to turn 3. The ironic thing is that the longer and more absurd this case gets, the more confidence I have that God will work it out. However, with this latest delay, my patience is waning and a feeling of indignation is invading my thoughts more regularly.
It is easy to say how unfair this situation is and I'd even go so far as to say that removing Ellie from our home after 3+ years is child abuse, but the fact stands that a parent's constitutional right to their child trumps the child's best interest, so say the courts.
We sought legal council when bio dad turned up wanting to gain custody of Ellie and were advised to wait it out and we did. Now that he's out of the picture and mom is getting what feels like her 42nd chance to get her life back together, we are going to look into obtaining legal representation again.
This has been an arduous journey, but we believe God has a wonderful plan for Ellie and our family. Over and over, people ask how we've managed to go through this and still be standing and the answer is quite simply, our Blessed Mother and prayer. Lots and lots of prayer. Please pray that the truth will be revealed and that we will have the faith and strength to persevere this difficult trial. Wisdom and peace would be nice too.
In reality, Ellie's mom has the opportunity to keep "working the plan" until next summer when Ellie will be 4. It feels like this will never end and I shudder at the thought. O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us that have recourse to thee!
We've hired an attorney and are filing a motion for legal custody because we are tired of waiting for the courts to keep giving her bio mom chances after all this time. Kid gloves are off!! Mark and I have paperwork to fill out before the motion can be officially filed. We are hoping to have that finished by the end of this week. I'll keep you posted...
xoxo,
Katie
