our own garden!

So this is so exciting for me I have to post!
I now have a fenced in garden with raised beds and everything. There are lots of finishing touches I'd like to add but we have the foundation for garden goodness laid!
And, I have basil growing in the new garden. My own basil that I do not have to fork over $$ every time I want to make things with basil!!
These years since we've moved back to the US have been both inspiring and frustrating for me, especially when I visit the farmers market. It looks so great and creative and healthful but part of me just wants to say, I can do this myself! Especially when I see the price tags. It's just hard to fit much into the budget. But now after almost 6 years, I have my own super cool growing space again!
By God's grace! Wow!

Off to bathe Dragonbaby!
~Pilgrimama

teething makes a week interesting!

can't find playmates? Squirrelgirl's solution: use stuffies

 

We are at the end of a very long week of dealing with Dragonbaby's teething issues.
I think we may be on the upswing end now.
Maybe. We've counted 7 teeth now.
Will he get an 8th one in time for his 8 month birthday next week?
Time will tell!

We were gifted some of the Naked brand of drinks last night that have chocolate in them.
The number of items Squirrelgirl has soiled while drinking them is astonishing.

Jess had a very challenging soccer game this morning.
Ah well.
Lee,alex,and Jess all went out this afternoon to play football at the park. I think that was a more relaxing time.

Lee is hauling hay for the goat and I need to wash dishes before we go have dinner with family.
Happy Saturday!
~pilgrimama

dragonbaby's mood today..

Sorta ok....

teary..

teary...

Dragonbaby has a cold.
He is not experiencing a great day.
Poor little dude.

Right now he's nursing.
Then I may feed him a bit of a fresh plum.
Then maybe he will hang out with his sisters while I take a bubble bath.
Hhmmnn.

Happy Tuesday!
~pilgrimama

Easter from a parent's perspective

some of the hens and Rufus the rooster...

So Easter, one of my favorite times of the year, is over.
Praise God, Jesus is Alive!

This year I found myself really thinking about Easter from a parent's perspective,thinking of how Abba Father let His only child be cruelly killed.
I would shuddder to let one of my abundance of children go even for a "good" person's salvation.
The Father gave his only Son.
For anyone.
Stuart Townsend says it better.

"How deep the Father's love for us,
 How vast beyond all measure
 That He should give His only Son
 To make a wretch His treasure

 How great the pain of searing loss,
 The Father turns His face away
 As wounds which mar the chosen One,
 Bring many sons to glory"

There are no words for this kind of love.

And thank God for the beautiful sunshine this morning! I find it so cheering and cheerful!
Happy April,everyone!
I think we've gotten through the winter!
~pilgrimama

choosing joy in the snow

Usually on the 26th of March Spring is in full swing around here- at least so I seem to remember. Or at least starting nicely.

Today, it snowed.
But the sun came out quite a bit too.
I am choosing joy in this day, in this sunshine.
The days can feel heavy with cranky babies, loads of schoolwork and teaching decisions, a woodstove  that I long to shut down for the summer and etc.
To choose joy is important!

Today we pulled the pig and cow? bib out of storage for Dragonbaby.
Coolness!
Squirrelgirl used to wear it!

Happy late March Tuesday!

~ pilgrimama

little happies on a snowy monday

• sending a brightly colored envelope full of happy and stickers to friends
• sprouts that are almost ready for consumption
• two lovely plates of happy spring cookies that my girls happily decorated last night
• children playing joyfully in the snow
• awesome lego creations
• the new moveable chicken coop by the front door

Happy Spring and happy Monday!

~pilgrimama

the paparazzi !

Oh! Hi!

Cool toy,huh?

Help! It's the paparazzi!

 

babies,babies!

Three new kids were born here last week!

This guy has lived here for a while....

We are preparing for company this weekend.
And maybe a show at the local planetarium.
Maybe some work on the raised beds too?
 Good times!
~pilgrimama

me loves him!

Me loves this little guy!
He is sunshine on gray winter days.

I'm supposed to go to the pottery studio today...
That should be an interesting feat.

Happy Saturday!
~pilgrimama

pie talk and wrestling

 

 

 

tonight there's an oatmeal pie baking in our woodstove's oven.
i like making extra pie crust and being able to whip up a quick pie!
the other night i made broccoli cheese quiche with the other 2 crusts.

this evening i will have everyone eat leftovers and then they can have pie eating rights. especially since i've done oodles of dishes myself today.

also, a lot of this goes on around here-the wrestling.
The Wrestling can be hard on a mother's nerves.
Green grass, you are welcome to come soon nd be a wrestling mat.

happy saturday!
~pilgrimama

photo prop

So Alex  got me to buy  Dragonbaby a "newsboy" style hat.
Or did he pay for it?
I can't remember but it doesn't matter.
It's too big but it makes a way cool photo prop!
Behold!

Love Day 2013.
Chocolate dipped strawberries by the aunt, fancy mailboxes by the oldest girl of this house.
Power went off more than once this  morning and something went wrong with the water.
It's all fixed now,happily!
We are grateful for many small blessings!

~pilgrimama

forward motion

still can't upload pics-frustrating!

the pipes froze last night. jesse and alex were instrumental in getting them unfrozen!

lee worked late into the night building drawers for the island/bar. 2 drawers to go equals awesome!
then i think we stain and stain.
we're almost done.
maybe we can start being normal again!
or at least move the mess outside.
there are raised beds to make and i've got visions of garden glory!

things are not too exciting for the pilgrim family right now.
but forward motion is happening. that's what i keep saying to myself.
focus on the forward motion.

~pilgrimama

list of things for 2013

list of things i'd like to accomplish in '13:

collect outdoor tables and set them under trees and amidst the garden

• start on the edible landscaping process
• plant a lot of flowers,especially zinnias and sunflowers
• continue working out
• invite people over for dinner more often
• make a proper fire pit
• buy plenty of marshmallows when they are on sale and hide them in the freezer so i can be prepared at any time for marshmallow roasts

7 things on this list right now. i need to think about whether there are more things...



Pictures aren't working today.
i wanted to show a cute shot of Lee and dragonbaby by the Christmas tree...
maybe another day...

~pilgrimama

observing ..

observations:

the weather is incredibly warm for january. dragonbaby is sitting on my lap in only a diaper!
the girls have been making sawdust cakes outside and the boys pulled out the slingshot and tried their hand at squirrelhunting.

this desk i'm writing at is a mess.

lee and i keep editing out stuff that does not work in our small living quarters,thus leaving only the  really great and useful stuff. it makes us be awfully disciplined at not hoarding and us two Packrats are getting much better at that!

the excess boards seem to have left the kitchen. amazing!
we are getting close to the end of this huge kitchen project and its sawdusty mess. yes!!!
lee made soda crackers this morning. he was so proud!

dragonbaby says let's move on,mom!

~pilgrimama

quiet and full

today i started the Jillian Michaels " 30 day shred" program.
one word. ouch.

i didn't get as much done as i might have liked. we have a sad,teething baby these days.
well,sometimes sad. his smiles are yummy,provoking hugging and kissing fits.

jesse is snuggled on the couch,on his ipod.

squirrelgirl got me to feed her straight cheese cubes as she stood at the bar Lee is in the process of finishing. this interior reno work can get a bit old.

chelsea,our early retirer has gone off to bed and i am guilty that i've forgotten to go say nightly prayers before she fell asleep.

alex and lee are off as Lee celebrates a birthday of a friend and alex tends to things of the collector,the trading of little treasures with the friend's son.
dragonbaby has finally gone off to sleep after being consoled with a lavendar scented bath and much nursing.

my to-do list has much undone but i am tired.

i think soon i shall slip beneath my polka dotted flannel sheets and read and probably sleep.

another january day, coming to an end.

quiet and full.

~pilgrimama

Welcome 2013 & 2012 pics

Welcome 2013!
Will this here blog see more posts?
I hope so!
~pilgrimama

laughter as well as tears

After the flu finishes taking its course through our home, maybe then we can grasp this new start,this new time in the life of our family.
Strange the way you don't see things coming.
Here we'd thought this year was so full already.
We hadn't figured in Lee's father dying.
Nor the long,long trips as we said our good-byes and laid him to rest.

And all the complex things of the soul and our family's story that are too private to put out there but have an effect on us, leaving us a little quieter than usual, mulling and praying and yet believing in our deepest parts that our Abba Father loves us and our story has good chapters ahead!
After the weeks of uncertainty, the waiting for the phone to ring, the last times at the bedside, the burying of ones spouse's last parent,the long trips with a packed minivan and a fussy baby it's all over.

And then we caught the flu when we returned home the last time.
It took some of us hard.
But I think it's a good thing perhaps,giving us extra days to process and then step back into everyday life the better for all of it.

Dragonbaby is nearing 3 months old now. I can't really remember anymore what it was like to have four children.  So I guess I am officially a mother of five children, a large family they say.
I have made it somehow through the rough first months.
Hurrah!
And though the baby seems to be starting the teething process and my hair is doing a post partum fallout in a big way it's mixed with good stuff like  a baby having its first real laughing fit over his big sister's dancing show.

And I rejoice in the tender mercies of Our Father.
He created laughter as well as tears.

~pilgrimama

a love letter to dragonbaby

Dragonbaby,you are beautiful. You arrived here on a bright summer morning,after a few intense hours of work on Mama's part.
Now you're a few weeks old and we're still in love. More in love!
We love your huge smiles in your sleep, the way you wave your arms and get lonely if we leave you in your seat too long and want cuddles.
May you stay a person who knows the value of love forever!
We love you!
~Mama

greetings from the homestead!

Hello, hello!
I am back!

I am writing from our new little homestead!
This was the other "surprise" in the works when I last was posting!
And it has actually come true!

It has been an incredibly wild and busy season of life!
I think this is why New Year is always a bit challenging for me- you never know what the new year will hold!

I am starting to shift attention though.
To the impending arrival of "Dragonbaby" as he/she is known around these parts.
This blog was started on the eve of "Squirrelgirl's" arrival and here we are close to 5 years later!
Enter "DRAGONBABY"!

There is way too much to write about and I'm far too busy to sit and write much.
But I am so happy to be back in this space and starting to feel a teeny bit settled again.

Hope to post more regularly once more!
 CHEERS!
~PILGRIMAMA

rhythm off..grateful list

Rhythm. That's what I'm thinking about.
And the lack of it.
I am a girl who really likes a basic rhythm in life. I can handle trips somewhat well and other such disruptions. But it's the things like moving or the new year starting that mess with me.
It's digging in the deep parts of me and moving me into change and risk and I tend toward safe and predictable.

We are in the midst of major transition right now.
Poised to leap into a new way of life on numerous levels.
I struggle to walk in faith.
Fear of unknown things stalks.
Faith is sustaining me though. Praise God!

I am really, really grateful for our church family and our wider circle of friends in this area.
I am grateful that we are not moving far away.
I am grateful I get to keep treasured friendships and brothers and sisters in the Lord close at hand.
I know life sometimes calls us to sojourn away from the known as we serve our God, but for the here and now and forseeable future I am glad to stay close to "home".Even if I'm a Pilgrim passing through!

I am thankful my mom can be here helping me care for the seemingly gazillion details to be tied up in our home here in town.
I am thankful Lee is able to navigate the hoop jumping of another part of our new life plans, as yet undisclosed.
 I am thankful for friends that do things like pick up the children and sweep them off for a  tea party or the family who brought us a great big dinner one night and all the rest who extend offers and help!

Life is challenging at the moment but good.
Wishing you a blessed Wednesday!
~pilgrimama