We live a life of faith-filled adventure! We are a family with eight energetic, loving, crazy, happy, and very noisy children. Ray and I thought our family was complete when we had four children. Now, when people ask us if we will have any more children, we simply answer, "We don't know." We have learned that God sometimes has surprises in store for us, as He did when He brought home our two girls from Ethiopia!
This was the year for Austin in the fencing competition. The boys have been fencing for two years now. Austin joined this year and has enjoyed himself. He is rather tiny, and so it could have been really hard for him. But not so. He shone!
He won the Gold Trophy in his age bracket. Here are some pictures of him whipping across the floor at one of his opponents. In this particular match he won 10 to 3.
Could His Smile Get Any Bigger?
Cassidy and Dane also did very well. Dane is always at the wrong age bracket and has a group that are above him in the competition. They have been in for four years longer than him and each competition he goes up against them. I have seen his skill improve each time, but he has yet to beat them, try as he might.
Cassidy did well, as he took Silver out of a group of seventeen fencers.
Admiring the Medal
Our little town only sent five fencers and we brought home bronze, silver and gold medals and one first place trophy! Good job boys!
Big Brother Coaching Younger Brother
Next year, we may get into the fencing more. There are a lot of competitions all over our province and they run from February through May. With three ambitious fencers and possibly a fourth next year, I think it is time to start driving! .
The boys are wonderful when I enlist them to help Raine take out her beads and extensions. One day I came in the bedroom and Austin and Raine were making music with a toy piano with their feet, while singings, and removing extensions.
I am glad to have their help with her hair. Putting the styles in takes hours and hours, and so the boys pitching in while removing is a big time saver for me!
I heard that a certain brand of toilet paper was cheaper, so I thought I would check it out. These rolls come individually wrapped, so it makes sense that they would actually cost more. Not so. But there was another bonus to this huge pack of 30 rolls of toilet paper.....
s c r o l l
d o w n
There was an outright war with the rolls! The kids decided their dad was a great target, and thus, began the bombardment! I promised the boys that the next time we bought the paper they could have another war. I am not so sure their dad loves the idea! lol Mind you, he was laughing pretty hard. .
I love these moments that I fall upon. Brothers loving brothers, brothers teaching brothers, and brothers reading to little brothers. Wonderful things to see. Some of my favourite pictures of Colt and Dane when they were tiny were the ones where they were cuddling on the couch together.
There was a wedding take place at our church a few months ago. The pastor stated that the ceremony would be open to anyone who wanted to attend. It was his daughter getting married. Austin told me that he had never been to a wedding and he really wanted to attend. He also had a suit that was given to him and he was always looking for an opportunity to wear it.
Austin is a unique little individual. When he was eight years old, he wrote messages on a bunch of papers of 8x11 size. The papers were all handwritten and said, "I want to tell you something. God loves you." He applied a sticker that was related to God and he got my permission and he went door to door. Now, this is not something that I would normally do! But this child has always had a heart for the Lord. His prayers were amazing at a very young age, and I knew that he really wanted to share God's love, so I let him. His big brother waited out on the street, while Austin did his evangelizing. smile.
So when Austin informed me that he wanted to attend this wedding, who was I to say no? I implored the kindness of an older brother, once again. And he kindly agreed. It was walking distance from our home, so off they went.
Racing to Catch up With His Chaperone
Austin enjoyed the wedding and thought it was 'kind of cool'. You see, ever since I can remember it has been Austin's hearts desire to get married and have children. And that is how I was. So it makes me wonder just how big his family might be? lol He will be a wonderful daddy no matter what. .
Like all Country Mamas, I began the work on my land. Knowing that if I waited for my hardworking husband to get there, I might be waiting a long while, I gathered the troops, called for my tools, had a son pack our lunch, loaded the van, and headed to the land.
Upon arrival we were thrilled to see we had a Blue Heron living on our land! We had one on our last country property; it is wonderful to see we have one here, too!
My Tough as Nails Crew With Their New Work Gloves
Spring is here and the time has come! Let the Adventure begin! This will be the third time we have built a house as a family. The first time, I had four wee children: 8, 6, 2, and newborn. And they were all a help. Even our two year old, Cassidy, would sit up on the floor above and pull the electrical wires through the holes that I drilled. The older boys, Colt and Dane, were runners and labourers and helped smooth sand in the basement, haul lumber, and smooth foundations. And our wee, tiny, baby Austin, was a dream. He simply sat and slept through absolutely everything on the job site! A mother's dream when she has to wield the same tools as her husband. This made it very easy for our eight year old to be his caregiver.
The next house we built was seven years later. This time we had a bigger crew. Colt and Dane were very capable by now at the ripe old ages of 13 and 15. Cassidy, Austin, and even 3 year old Cooper, were wonderful. The link above shows August of that year. Go to the archives and you can see from June through December when we worked as a family to put our beautiful house together.
We are *almost* at the end of the hydro fiasco. We have been told that all the people involved will sign happily to let us join the line. My husband had a meeting with the power guy and they decided where the poles should go. There is one change to be made and then we will have the property owners sign the papers and then we are *good to go*.
At the moment, the first property that matters is where the transformer will hook up to our first pole. That is on property B. Property A is down the lane and is not affected in the least. So property B has to have a line of about 30 feet of trees removed to fit the line in.
Ray has gone down there today to begin cutting down trees. He has taken Dane, and a friend, who he lent his roofing harness to, has offered to come and help buck the trees. This is a real blessing, as it will help the job go faster.
The main property that we need signing from is property C. His land runs up against ours all own and around two sides. We are asking him to put an easement on the corner of his land for hydro to be able to work on the power lines. He is good about it; it is just a matter of finishing the surveying papers and getting him to sign.
It is interesting how things work out. I don't call them coincidence, either. In 1999, my husband asked for a very strange birthday gift: a shop - vac. He didn't have a shop to vacuum. Why on earth would he want this? Whatever. He wanted one, so he got one. A few days later, out of the blue, we saw the movie The Horse Whisperer, loved the landscape and decided to head out. The following day we began ripping up our never finished renovation and worked for the next 6 months completing that house. The shop vac? Very, very needed from Day 1!
Fast forward eight years. I decided to save up for an ATV for Ray. He had made noises about wanting one for the land - for work. He never asks for anything, so I began squirreling money away. We went without things and noone noticed: no more juicer (that was $25 a week; $1200 a year saved!); no more book club treats; things that were broken were not replaced - we made do; no more Tim Horton coffee stops; clothes were worn a little longer than necessary before new things were bought; no extras; Christmas was tightened up; less expensive meals were made - hearty and healthy, but less choice items.
Bit by bit, dollar by dollar, I saved up for that ATV. Each time I had a little saved I would hide it away in my hidey hole. It was such fun each time I put another envelope of cash into my spot, knowing it was growing day by day. The sacrifices were so worth it!
Finally, at Christmas, Ray was given a jar that said Hopes and Dreams on the outside. Inside, I had every single dollar bill I had saved: $11,000. Ray sat and counted out the money and when he had it all counted out, he read the card. He looked at me, and asked if I had taken an offering from friends. Can you imagine?
The following year we made the unexpected decision to move to town. As it turned out, the boys ended up using that ATV to clear our land. We would have had to pay thousands to have an excavator come in and take away the over 100 trees that we cleared. Instead, our bigger boys used the ATV to haul the logs to piles for future years firewood. Again, it seemed providential that we would have the ATV right before we really needed it.
Then the final 'coincidence' was last year. I told Ray I wanted to get a small chainsaw, so that Dane could use it to buck up firewood for us. We have a bunch of fallen trees in our greenbelt behind our home. We got the chainsaw and it pretty much sat. Dane was busy with school and we had enough firewood, and then the city came in and cleared the old trees because they were a fire hazard.
Then, lo and behold, this move to the country happens, and if I didn't have a chainsaw, I would not have been able to begin work on the land. And trust me, I have great plans for nature trails, snowmobile trails, ATV trails etc. I will certainly be using it a ton!
So this week, it was my turn to begin. We had to take down any trees in a 40 foot stretch across the proposed driveway. The first five poles were easy, as they are on the front pond stretch where there are little trees. The next four poles run down the fence line into the property where they have logged. During their logging they left lots of small pines, spruce, or fir trees, plus all the spindly poplars. Lots of work!
The View Down the Second Part of the Driveway (before it was cleared)
The View Down the Second Part of the Driveway (after it was cleared)
Our first day on the land, wouldn't you know it, it had to snow! Can you imagine? We have had no winter to speak of, and on the first day of work the weather hails, blows cold winds, and then shines sun here and there through the day. But was I going home? No way! I had my crew and we were about to begin!
See the Blowing Snow?
I did sweeten the deal on the first day with a bag of jelly beans. It is amazing how much work little children are willing to do for a few jelly beans! The second day, it was much warmer, so I headed out half way through the day and told my troops that when I returned if they had worked hard until the guidance of their older brother, that I would bring a treat.
Work they did and a treat I brought! Two litres of yummy ice-cream, a scoop, and cones. And of course, being it was so hot, we had to eat all the ice-cream, so they each got two cones. What a refreshing moment in the middle of all that work.
We had a treat of seeing all the ducks on the pond. I can't describe for you the awe and wonder I felt sitting on the side of our marsh observing our own nature reserve! We saw a huge white duck hanging out with the Canada geese and when it flew down to the pond we could see black stripe markings at the tips of its wings. It was not a swan, and so I am not sure what it was. In time, we may find out.
We also have our own Canada geese, and lots of them!
We also saw a whole family of deer. We know there are moose because we have seen scat. Hopefully, they will not move away once we move in.
The picture below shows some of the big piles of brush the children had to haul after I cut them down. This stretched out for 400 feet. The following day, Ray told us to leave it there and the excavator would move it when he comes in next week. That was a relief to hear!
So the following day, when I took the children back to work some more, I had them do a different job. I continued clearing the 1200 feet x 40 feet of any small trees, and they had the job of clearing our 'front lawn'. I picked an area that was pretty much in front of where the house would be and had them pick up all branches, logs and mess.
The Pile of Brush From a Small Area of 167 Acres!
Cassidy came up with the idea of using an old sandbox lid and had them load it up and then they hauled it away to the burn pile. Much faster than when they were carrying it by the armload! They did a fabulous job and in three hours the front lawn was as clear as we could get it for now. We will have stumps to remove later. Then we will get soil and make the lawn. But for now, at least it looks a little better!
Briton hung with me while I cut down trees. He thought this was a wonderful find! I have no clue what it is.
What I love about an Outdoor Classroom is all the learning that takes place. There was a dead tree stuck in the ground. One child said it was too hard to take out. Raine told me how she took another one out of the ground. Problem Solving 101: She picked it up, walked around in circles and twisted it. She then tossed it one way, and then back the other way, until it come loose from the ground.
Raine: Showing the Kids How It's Done
Team Work!
Lunch Time Prayers
Nicely Cleared 'Lawn' (see the lake in the foreground, behind the trees that we have yet to clear)
Heading Home After a Long Mornings Work is Done
But First the Children Had to Stop to Play!
The drive out or into our property is gorgeous. I can only imagine when the real spring and summer arrive and we are in full bloom! Already the grass is coming in greener and the buds are beginning to appear on the trees. When we lived out in the country last time we had an incredible drive of fifteen kilometres through the meadows and forests and valleys. This time we have a similar drive, yet it is only about seven kilometres long.
First You Drive Down a Long Windy Dirt Road
Next, We Have a View of Grassy Pastures and Lakes
Then, You Will See the Railroad on the Left
And Finally, We Cross a Cattle Guard and Drive Over the Train Tracks
After our long day on the land, like for all Mamas of Many, the day was not yet done. There was dinner to be cooked. Yummy turkey pot pies were popped in the oven.
Could His Smile Get Any Bigger?
Admiring the Medal
