Mama Firefly VS Esther Walton

My husband was raised on a farm where he lived with his mother, father and Great-grandparents, along with various other people throughout the years. Sometimes it was other family members, farm hands, family friends but usually people who were looking for somewhere to stay for awhile. This could not be father from the way I was raised. At first it was kind of appealing to be on the farm where there was so much going on and so many people around but as time has gone by I know that it is not how I could ever live and keep my sanity intact.

 I probably was born in the wrong century and would probably fit in to the way things once were, but living with extended family would end up being much more like this:

Than this:

I am such a homebody and have no  problem not seeing other people for days on end, I just would not be comfortable or even close to content living with other people let alone extended family. We lived on the  farm for 8 years when we first were married, right after Chris hurt his back, and while I am grateful to have had somewhere to live while we were struggling, those were some of the most chaotic, unstable, drama filled years of my life.

Just because a family is portrayed on TV as wonderful and loving where everyone lives together and gets along doesn't mean it is going to be that way in real life. Living together as extended family needs to be the desire of everyone involved.  Dreams can't be forced on other people when they have dreams of their own.

You can't expect to be Esther Walton when you have more in common with Mama Firefly.

The end of the world as we know it.

December 21, 2012 just so happens to be Pie's 5th birthday.

Chris and I have been debating about what kind of education is best for our girls. It was very important to us that I stay home and raise the girls instead of sending them to daycare. I admit there are some really awesome daycare centers out there but there are some horrible ones too. I have tried to expose the girls to some social situations, story time at the library, playgroups, play dates with friends, ect so that they are used to some of the same things daycare kids are when they start school.

But with the end of the world looming, I have to wonder how important all this preparation for traditional public school really is?  I guess it's a good thing that they are learning to plant a garden and harvest it's crops. They can identify some of the flowers in our yard and know where the blackberry bushes are at. They know only to eat the berries mommy gives them and not the berries we see on the walking path. They are skilled at dumping the vegetable scraps in the compost bin and know that it needs mixed up once in awhile. Next spring they will help spread the rich black compost around the flowers. I hope in the next couple years to have some chickens so we can collect eggs and possible raise a pig or two. My goal is to be as self sufficient as possibly and hope to teach my girls to live simply and not always rely on retail and manufacturing to keep them alive.

So when December 21, 2012 comes around and everyone else is prepared to sit in a circle and play nicely with each other, my girls will be at home preparing for the end of the world as we know it.

On December 22, 2012 we all will wake up and laugh about a silly conspiracy theory and go on about our day.

Crazy Dog.

The girls and I went out in the yard to play a bit and enjoy the cooler weather. Tig is so full of energy and loves when we are all outside with him. He was running and jumping, chasing the girls big purple ball. It had lost just enough air that he could get his teeth into it.

 POP!

That didn't end the fun.

 He ran around the yard with the popped ball and played keep away with Pie.

He must have worked up quite a thirst so he went for the biggest water source in the yard - the girls swimming pool! He'd jump up and get his front legs in the water and bob for the toys.

He finally got a hold of his ball and proudly paraded his trophy around the yard. He was quite the entertainment last night!

And the pool survived!

Pickin' Apples

Hurricane Earl was forcasted to hit the coast of Maine last Friday and be gone mid Saturday. As the hurricanes hit the cold waters oft he Atlantic they usually loose strength and just turn into a good rain storm but sometime still bring some heavy winds and strong tides. With the early spring and hot summer the apple crops were ready about 2 weeks ahead of time. The limbs of the trees are weighed right down with nice big ripe apples, waiting to be harvested, just in time for Earl to come along.

We hadn't gone apple picking since we've lived in Maine but since the girls have taken some interest in our garden this year I though it would be fun to pick some apples and attempt to make a pie from scratch(ish). So I looked online and found a list of apple orchards near us. There was one in Brewer and one in Monroe, we headed to Brewer Friday morning but soon found out that the orchard was no longer in business so we went on about our errands and planned to hit the Monroe orchard later in the day. It was about 4:30 by the time we got everything done and headed out on our apple picking adventure. We drove and drove and drove and soon went right though Monroe into Brooks without seeing any signs of an apple orchard. We stopped and Chris asked someone if he knew where it was and he directed us to the Maine-ly Apple Orchard in Dixmont. It was 5:20 by the time we got there and their sign said they closed at 5:00. Ugh! Thankfully the man who own the orchard waved us in and let us pick some apples anyway!

It didn't take too long to fill a bucket with 2 little girls picking all the huge apples on the trees and the branches were so heavy they hung almost down to the groud. With our bucket full, we headed back to pay we got some fresh pressed apple cider, then headed back home, all munching on crunchy apples on the way.

When we got home, I cooked supper: steak, corn on the cob and asparagus with baked apples for dessert. Saturday morning we got up and peeled apples for our very first homemade apple pie, which turned out delicious!

Conversations with a 2 year old.

I just got done having a conversation with Pie about how it was ok for Tig to drink the water out of the toilet but not ok for her to do it.  She decided that dogs like yucky water.

Get over it already!

For every minute you are angry, you lose sixty seconds of happiness.