Down Mulberry Lane

Rainy Day Play...

We've had a few rainy days around here and Paige was absolutely devastated that she could not go outside.  She lives outside when it is nice.  The rainy days just were alot for her.  So Daddy went outside and brought in some wood poles and proceeded to make some Tee Pee's and Tents with the wood, bungee cords, and blankets.  Paige had a fun few days as we allowed the tents to stay around for about 4-5 days.  Below are some pictures of her tents. 

Warmly, ~Melissa

Can we make Vio'et Jelly?

Yesterday, we noticed a few violets beginning to flower.  Paige was very excited to pick them and she wanted to make some violet jelly.  I told her we did not have enough violets to make jelly just yet.  She was determined though that we did have enough.  Steve and I had continued to unload the compost from the truck and she played out in the yard and eventually went inside.  Her sister came inside a bit later and found this...

She wanted to make violet jelly and she did as much as she could remember.  She got a canning jar out and filled it half way with water with her flowers and grass mixture.  It must not have looked right because then she added some pink lemonade mix to it to make it pink.   In the process of filling the jar with water, she used our drinking water which has about a 2 gallon reservoir.  When her big sister came in, that was still running all over the counter and onto the floor.  It was just dripping at that point, so she had emptied the reservoir of our drinking water.  I didn't get to see that as Chelsea quickly cleaned it up, while we were outside.  They did save the "jelly jar" for me to see what she had been up to. 

When I came in and saw it, I just smiled.  She hadn't meant to be naughty and she said to me, "Mommy, I was just trying to make jelly for you."  We blogged  (link on the word blogged) about our violet jelly making last year... and she remembered bits of it and I was pretty amazed at how well she figured out how to accomplish what we did last year.  I was also thankful for older sisters who were kind enough to clean up after their little sister. 

Warmly, ~Melissa

Mommy, Let's play with the water sprayer...

My 4yo, thought it would be fun to play with water today, as we are outside, without a coat... it is about 60-65 degrees out.  I told her that it was nice to be in the sunshine without a coat, but it was NOT warm enough to play with water.  I told her it was spring, but when summer came, then we will play with water.  Well, I knew she didn't understand all of what I said, but I hoped the "WAIT" part would stick.  It didn't. 

My husband bought some grass seed for an area that has had tractor abuse last year and he spread it and began to water the ground with a large sprayer.  Paige apparently thought that if Daddy has the sprayer out, we can PLAY with the water.  She asks Daddy if she can water the ground and he hands her the sprayer, not knowing what was on her little mind.  She turns and starts watering the grass, then turns back and waters Daddy's shoes... Daddy starts saying loudly... Quit, Paige, Quit.  She then laughs and takes the sprayer and goes up his legs and got his shirt and soaked him good before he could get the sprayer away from her.  Daddy then took the sprayer and sprayed her down, laughing at her.  He then turned the water off and had to come inside to change, because the water was very cold as were both of them!  Paige came in first and she says... Daddy sprayed me and it was not warm water, it was cooooollllldddd.    Daddy came in about a minute after her and I looked at him, and gave him a look and he says... "She started it!".  

I think she learned that it is SPRING and that water spraying is not a good choice, that she will need to wait for the water and the weather to warm up just a bit more. 

Warmly, ~Melissa

Funny!

My 3yo likes to sing along with the older girls.  They like the song Emmanuel... the refrain goes like this... Rejoice, rejoice, emmanuel, shall come to .....

My little one starts the refrain... Be Joyed!  Be Joyed! 

Too cute!

Warmly, ~Melissa

Guess what dropped in to visit?

We have a new kitten on the farm.  It wasn't by choice.  Dh brought home some rams from another pasture and later that morning we found a tiny kitten in the chicken barn, about 50 feet from where the trailer was parked. 

I estimate the kitten to be between 3-5 weeks.  The kitten is so small.  He also has such gooped up eyes.  We called the guy who has the pasture and he says it is likely their kitten, and said we could bring him back or keep him.  We were all very willing to take him back to the farm, but my daughter with such a heart for sick animals wanted to keep him... at least until he gets well. 

After cleaning his eyes, it is apparent there is an infection of some sort.  His inner eyelids are red and swollen.  His left eye may be blind...it is really hard to tell at this point, because the inner eyelid on this eye is SOOOO swollen.  But Today it appears rather gray and cloudy compared to the other eye. 

We are giving him a round of pennicilin.  The shots are soo small, it seems rather a waste of the effort, but he is so tiny.  We also got a bottle and some milk yesterday as he wasn't eating regular cat food very well.  I also picked up a bag of kitten food that was much smaller in size so he could try to eat.  Well, last night we gave him his first bottle and the kitten was sooo happy.  He purred for the first time (we had had him a day by then).  Since then, he continues to eat from the bottle at 3-4 hour intervals.   He eats a whopping 2 teaspoons of milk.  Once he had about three feedings in his tummy, he finally felt ready to discover the kitten food and ate about a teaspoon of that as well. 

We are washing his face about every 2 hours.  I know I should have some eye drops of a sort, but have no idea what to put into his eyes.  I also will be looking at buying another nipple to get us through another week.  He's about chewed this first one to pieces.  But he isn't very good at lapping milk just yet... he loses his balance and falls in... which then gave him a runny nose as well.   One thing I am happy about is that he is using the litter box.  His little wets make up a nickel sized spot.  If he stayed this small forever and made these small messes , I might consider an indoor cat!  LOL 

My daughter with the loving heart went a traveling for a couple days with her older sister to see some friends and to bring a friend home to visit during her home leave from academy.   I will be glad when she returns home to do the nursing of this poor little kitten. 

Any ideas for the kittens eyes?

Warmly, ~Melissa

First Fire in the fire pit...May 18th

This was a picture of our first fire of the season.  Here we are about done for the night.  At least I was.  Kate and her boyfriend stayed out later just talking around the fire.  This photo was taken in her honor.  She loves to take pictures of people's feet.  So, here are our feet.  From the left you have Kate, Meg, Paige, Me, Chelsea, and Mark.  Aren't we a handsome looking group?  *grin*

We had hot dogs over the fire. 

Warmly, ~Melissa

You're a good Mother!

In the training of our kids, I try to encourage them by letting them know when they make good choices.  My little 3yo has been caring for her sick dollies.  She dresses them warmly, wraps them up in a blanket, then places them in bed.  Checks on them several times and proclaims them well again.  I watch her and as she wraps the dollies up so carefully in their blankets, I tell her... You are a good Mommy! 

She is picking up on this encouragement.  Tonight her sister made supper and Dh and I were out making our strawberry bed in the dark (OK not so good of timing for eating, but we were visiting relatives this afternoon for a birthday dinner and didn't get home until late).  Anyways, Chelsea our 16yo makes supper.  She fixed Paige a plate and set it before her.  Paige tastes it and decides it is good and says to Chelsea... "You are a good Mother, Chelsea!"  Chelsea just beamed when she told me... she thought it was cute, but also enjoyed the compliment. 

Her other sister Megan had gotten the same compliment the day before when she played with her, stating to her that she was being like a good Mother.  

My heart smiles in that a 3yo can recognize good character traits and even compliment her sisters.  I enjoy watching her play.  Sometimes she is not so good and needs redirection, but the times when she has good play... I just smile that something good has made it inside and she is able to process it and make it her own.   

Watching your child play may seem like a waste of time... I mean you could get laundry done, or the garden planted, or something accomplished!  But there are times that watching a child play is so important.  It is so important to help them understand in their play that they are making good choices.  There are days that I love to do this.  There are days that I avoid doing it, because the chores seem so huge and mounting.  But it is an important part of mothering our kids.  Things may not get done as quickly, but they eventually do get done.  I had big plans for planting ALL the onions on Friday, but that didn't happen.  But I did get some planted and some roses as well (which my 3yo did help plant as well).  I loved it when we finished planting the roses, she surveyed the plants now in the ground and turns to me and says... "Good Job, Mom, you did a good job." 

Encouragement... it doesn't happen naturally, it has to be taught.  What a blessing to see little ones conquer the very things that we as parents may struggle with.  God continues to teach me each day, as I am teaching my own kids... my amazement never ceases as I look to these children he has blessed our family with.  No, they are not perfect.  In fact, they have been a lot of work at times, but when we are diligent to do the work we've been given... oh what a blessing to behold!   Makes it worth every minute that I had tossed aside from my own personal ambition and traded it in for Mothering. 

Warmly, ~Melissa

Just had to share...

You know quirks your kids have.  Well, this little one of ours... she is quite the bold little one.  She just turned two a couple weeks ago and she is a little spitfire!  She reminds me in different ways of my other girls, but she sure is her own personality. 

Her current couple of quirks that I hadn't seen in my other girls are: 

When she doesn't like what we are telling her, she listens, nods her head yes, like I heard you, then Shhhhh's you.  Like, that's enough, I get it.  She was climbing up onto the coffee table, she then climbed on a stack of drawers that hold her toys and I told her... Momma doesn't like it when you climb up so high... she nods yes then looks at me and says SHHHhhhhh.  It is sooo cute that I am doing all I can to keep from laughing.  The rest of the family is unable to control themselves... they bite their lips or turn away so that she hopefully will catch on that it is impolite to Shhh, someone.  She even holds her little finger up to her lips as she does it... and it doesn't sound rude, but I feel it can grow into a rude statement, so we are watching this closely and letting her know that this is not acceptable to do.

The second is that she is soooo honest.  If she does something wrong... she says... Baby did it.  I will find something and she will say... Baby did it.  I say, you did it?  She says, Uh huh, baby did it.  Tonight she brought me an aquadisk (a frisbee for water) and she says... Oh my, color (it had marker marks on the back), uh huh, baby did it.   I pray that this honesty will not be curbed... what an asset to develop this at such a young age.  I just pray that I do not react in such a way that would encourage her to be dishonest at some future time. 

Anyways, just sharing...

Warmly, ~Melissa

Happy Birthday to Chelsea!

Happy Birthday to my Dearest Chelsea... my now 15yo! 

Chelsea is a wonderful young lady.  She is growing more and more everyday.  There are so many neat things about her that add loveliness to our home.  Chelsea is warm, loving and tenderhearted.  She is very sensitive to others pains and is very willing to make amends.  When she sees someone hurting, she wants to comfort them.  Chelsea also adores little Paige and loves to be her tv buddy!  Watching Little Bear with Paige just brings her joy...and Paige loves it as well.  Chelsea also will sit and play computer CD's just for little ones and play with Paige.  Since Paige cannot run the mouse, she really enjoys this interaction... she loves learning new words, so it is fun to her to play games that identify objects...luckily for her Chelsea is very willing to do this for her.   Chelsea is our fashion girl.  She loves clothes and loves looking nice.  She fusses over her hair and her clothing, sometimes to our disdain, but that spills over to others as she enjoys shopping with anyone and will gleefully help them pick out clothes... I guess if they can't go on her body, she's glad to have them go one someone else's.  

Chelsea is in the 9th grade.  Her chores are taking care of the barn cats and the indoor cats.  To which she does a wonderful job.  She seems to keep a good eye on their needs and is attentive to things that need to change.  She also helps with the farm when needed.  I love to watch her catch sheep... she is one of our thinner girls and when she catches a sheep, she usually goes for a ride.  She's gotten better at keeping her footing the last year or so.   Chelsea does well in school.  She tends to excel in math.  But overall, I am pleased at her progress this year.  We are relaxed homeschoolers, but in high school, we hit the books hard and it tends to be a harder transition... She seems to be adapting quite well to the change. 

Well, that's my 15yo girl.  It's hard to believe how big and independent she is getting.  Although, she still is my little girl... always will be.   Love to you, baby.

Warmly,  ~Mom