Just Another Friday...

Whew! I got nine hours of sleep last night (went to bed at nine-ish) and woke up feeling more tired than usual! It was a very good thing I had coffee this morning because I dropped an entire mug of hot chocolate which covered the floor. If I hadn't had coffee, I might have cried. However, I simply and calmly took the necessary action.
Both my girls were quick to remind me "you need to hold it with two hands momma" and "You've got to be careful momma" and so forth. It all sounded very familiar to me and yet all I could do was raise my eyebrows and purse my lips; nod my head and say "Yep. ...Though I think the cup jumped out of momma's hand girls..." (they didn't believe me, and the commentary continued.)
After I sweated the liquid seeping under the laminate flooring (my first concern), I proceeded to replace Susanna's hot chocolate. As I did so, I couldn't believe the words coming out of my mouth!
It was like being outside of myself and looking back at me in disbelief - "Be very careful Susanna..."
there was barely time to add "...like momma wasn't."
Then on went the day.

From there I determined to take more pictures for you all, so I hope I get some comments that let me know who is appreciating my efforts:-)

Today was a Fried Egg Friday of sorts - a little out of the norm, and to balance out the hot chocolate, I fed my children cooked wheat berries for breakfast. With a little butter and honey they were a hit - even after Olivia telling me five times beforehand how she wasn't going to eat them since she wasn't going to like them.
She had seconds.
For the record, that breakfast is VERY filling so a little goes a long way. A good thing to note if you have growing eaters with always-growling stomachs.

For school today, the boys worked with Daddy on the house project. I believe they did some carpentry and plumbing. Here's my Zack:






























The girls strung beads and made LOVELY necklaces...


























































I fixed coffee, breakfast, coffee, snacks, hung pictures on the wall, fixed lunch, then coffee... There was a lot of coffee going on today since it was gray, overcast, and a wee bit drizzly.

That did not keep my hard-working fellows from making their own campfire!





















































Once you have a campfire, you must have a marshmellow to roast on it - its like giving a mouse a cookie;-)












































What amazing backdrops the front yard scenery makes (or ANY yard, for that matter!).
Oh! Here's a story I thought you'd enjoy: That moose calf that hangs out in the front yard all day every day is lounging where last year we saw a salt lick.
I told AJ "you know, I'm not really keen on drawing the wild life INTO the yard. Perhaps a salt lick isn't so smart" (let the record show that WE did not put said salt lick there in the first place).
He concurred and went up to remove it, only to find no lick.
The moose is coming to lick the stump which the salt lick sat upon (must be a tasty stump!).
Today AJ asked our friends Robert and Dave (our contractors) if there was a chance of ridding ourselves of a moose, and explained the tasty stump.
I think the answer went something like:
"Uhhh.... hahahaha!!! Moose have been known to dig a stump two feet deep to finish of the salt left there!" And then there was more "hahaha!!!"
I do not find all this so humorous., but it IS good to know before trying to dig out the stump.

the best I've heard yet comes from our Montana friend Jon, saying to get a good Bow and some arrows that have a rubber ball sort of tip on the end, and which additionally, whistle when you shoot them at the moose.
They merely thump them enough to startle them and then eventually all you have to do to scare them away is whistle at them and they bolt.
That's the theory anyway. I hope he wasn't trying to pull a fast one on the newbies! Perhaps we'll give it a try!

That's it for tonight. I was rather long winded, but that's some of the nice effects of a second cup of coffee:-)
I think I earned it:-P