Spring is in the air!

Actually the first day of Spring was a bit chilly, while the day after was 71° - stormy off and on (thunder AND lightening), but warm!  I'll take that!  Today brings chilly winds again, but still in the low 60's I believe.

This past weekend was a busy one with a drive for tractor parts and bunnies - yes, we have bunnies!  It was exciting for the kids!  I loved the look on their faces (especially after having to give up their puppy) of pure joy.  We've had them for 3 days now and they seem to be adapting quite well - in fact, after seeing their former abode & feed, I think they went from Motel 6 to the Ritz!  That is, if they think  ; )  We have 2 males: Bugs Bunny & Stephen Jr., and 2 females: Bonnie Bunny & Daisy.  The boys are brown and 5 months old; the girls are white and 3 months old.  Bugs is the most friendly, but also the most hurt... poor little guy came with a quarter size bite/wound on his hind leg we discovered on the way home.  I quickly "doctored" it, and while it seems to be getting better, it still needs some healing.  He is eating, drinking & pooping though, so that makes me feel better.

Bugs & Daisy

They're growing, they're growing!  This has been fun 

for the girls, who planted every one of these seeds...

"Confession heals, confession justifies, confession grants pardon of sin. All hope consists in confession. In confession there is a chance for mercy. Believe it firmly. Do not doubt, do not hesitate, never despair of the mercy of God. Hope and have confidence in confession." ~ St. Isidore of Seville

Stick in the mud

Actually, we were *stuck* in the mud... I think our (over) 17 acres is officially made up of all mud. Will the rain ever stop we ask?  Yet those in Oklahoma are asking if they'll ever be rained on... feast or famine, so they say.  They're covered in fires, we'd be lucky to start one  ; )  I wish I would have taken a picture, but it's fairly easy to imagine.  Hubby went to hook up the trailer to my truck Saturday night, sunk... tried using his 4x4 truck to pull me out, sunk.  Sounds like something out of a book!  I had to laugh... how could you not?  He wasn't quite as entertained... With many Hail Mary's and some oil-dry, he managed to pull his out early Sunday morning before Mass.

And with that, he attached the trailer and picked up a 1942 Farmall M.  It was running quite nicely before he bought it, got it home and well, not so much, HAHA!  Another entertaining moment for me... I've decided that the only way to not break down from the utter stress is to just laugh!  If you can't, kids things could be damaged  ; )  Poor guy worked so hard, and went thru 2 brand new batteries trying to figure out WHY the darned thing wouldn't turn over!  Finally a light went off yesterday, figured out the dummies people that owned it prior had halfway converted the thing to 12 volt (and he had 6 volt batteries due to the guy telling him it was 6 volt... d'oh!).  Why are people so dishonest?  Is it to make a buck?  I don't understand how they can live with themselves!  Especially when selling such an expensive/non-returnable item.  That being said, he bought what he needed yesterday and *drove* it into the garage... whoohoo!  Yes, it's running!  Once again, proud of my handy man!

Oh, and our tomatoes have sprouted!  Just 1 or 2 eggplant plants... the peppers are taking their merry ole' time!

In honor of our "saint of the day"... of whom we have had the pleasure of visiting in Paris and possess a first class relic of!

Co-Founder of the Daughters of Charity,

St. Louise de Marillac, pray for us!

"The faults of children are not always imputed to the parents, especially when they have instructed them and given good example. Our Lord, in His wonderous Providence, allows children to break the hearts of devout fathers and mothers. Thus the decisions your children have made don't make you a failure as a parent in God's eyes. You are entitled to feel sorrow, but not necessarily guilt. Do not cease praying for your children; God's grace can touch a hardened heart. Commend your children to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. When parents pray the Rosary,at the end of each decade they should hold the Rosary aloft and say to her,"With these beads bind my children to your Immaculate Heart", she will attend to their souls."

De ja' vu

I woke up this morning to rain, after a beautiful Mardi Gras full of sunshine!  A bit apropos I suppose.  Today we start the difficult 40 days of Lent.  I do feel a bit more ready prepared this year.  Maybe it's feeling less stressed (not sure I am!), or the fact that things have been fairly calm around here since the beginning of the New Year.  I may just be jinxing myself, so I'll stop this now... while I starve!   ; )

We did get quite a bit of sap yesterday, which surprised me, as the low was not below freezing.  I'm not complaining!  Especially since I'm not sure we'll be squeezing much more out of those trees this year, as the lows aren't that low, but they may surprise me.  The sap bags have become increasingly frustrating however, falling at the drop of a hat... maybe we should've ordered buckets as soon as we noticed these wouldn't work.  We certainly wouldn't have lost as much as we have... neither here nor there I suppose!  Live and learn!

Today holds two beautiful feasts I must share...

"I am not capable of doing big things, but I want to do everything, even the smallest things, for the greater glory of God." ~Saint Dominic Savio

"Nothing seems tiresome or painful when you are working for a Master who pays well; who rewards even a cup of cold water given for love of Him." ~St. Dominic Savio

"A married woman must often leave God at the altar to find Him in her household care."

~ St. Frances of Rome

Monday, Monday

A new day dawns, sunny, high temps in the mid-upper 40's... we're thrilled at the prospect of playing outside!  Yes, I said "we!"  Who said adults can't play outside?  ; )  Try being cooped up for days with 4 toddlers... looney bin, here I coooooome!

We did manage to plant seeds this weekend!  We started our bell peppers, jalepenos, tomatoes, eggplant, lemon peppers, and possibly some I've forgotten, indoors.  The kids already see them growing... those are some miracle plants!  ; )

Our shelves for the seedlings...

Right now: We just finished school, kids are getting a bit rambunctious with a balloon they keep fighting over and I respond with taking away... *sigh*

This weekend: Was a poor, pitiful weekend.  My husband got the short end of the stick yesterday, having to play Mommy while I lay in bed with a migraine. He did a fabulous job and finished the day with homemade hamburger buns (which were amazing!), venison hamburgers and chips!  Oh, how I love him so!

Some plans for this week: Library, Mardi Gras tomorrow (whoohoo!), trying to focus on our Lenten fasts beginning Wednesday.  What to give up, what to give up... hmm.  The kids have informed me of different stuffed animals they're putting away during Lent for their sacrifice... and chocolate.  They're better than I am!

Some prayer intentions for this week: For my husband to know God's will regarding a possible job change, and for the soul of a church parishioner who passed away!

Something that makes me smile: My husband's flirty texts... they're cute and totally make my day!

St. Thomas Aquinas, pray for us!

"To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. 
To one without faith, no explanation is possible."

"To convert somebody, go and take them by the hand and guide them."

"Peace is the work of justice indirectly, in so far as justice removes the obstacles to peace; but it is the work of charity directly, since charity, according to its very notion, causes peace."

Loads of SYRUP!

We boiled, boiled and boiled again, finally having our finished product today!  I can't believe how much syrup we got out of these past 2 weeks of tapping!

Over a quart out of 10 gallons of sap!

The rain is not letting up needless to say.  We're pretty flooded.  The kids family is getting a bit 'o cabin fever I do believe. The kids are officially tired of "movie days" - I didn't know that was possible  : )

Since I didn't post yesterday, in honor of St. Casimir...

Daily, daily sing to Mary,
Sing, my soul, her praises due:
All her feasts, her actions honor
With the heart's devotion true.

Lost in wond'ring contemplation,
Be her majesty confessed:
Call her Mother, call her Virgin,
Happy Mother, Virgin blest.

She is mighty in her pleading,
Tender in her loving care;
Ever watchful, understanding,
All our sorrows she will share.

Advocate and loving mother,
Mediatrix of all grace:
Heaven's blessings she dispenses
On our sinful human race.

All our graces flow through Mary;
All then join her praise to sing:
Fairest work of all creation,
Mother of creation's King.

Sing in songs of peace unending,
Call upon her lovingly:
Seat of wisdom, Gate of heaven,
Morning star upon the sea..

Loads of sap!

I called it! We drew TONS of sap yesterday.  Unfortunately by the time we got the burner started it was just too late to finish the boil down, so we'll finish today.  We have quite a bit more from the trees today too, so this will make about 2 glass bottles I bet!  Exciting...

The sun is shining beautifully again - warm inside, warm warmer outside, and the ground is starting to dry up a little.  It's wonderful watching the kids run, jump & play.  Oh, and did I forget to post about the long awaited tire swings?!  How could I?  Oh my goodness, the kids have begged and begged for those things to be put up, waiting ever so patiently (not really) for a day with no snow on the ground to do so, as promised!  One needs to be re-done, as it bottomed out because the knot wasn't quite tight enough.  Easily fixed.  They're enjoying the working one immensely!

We stand on swings... heck with sitting  ; )

St. Simplicius, pray for us!

It's a new day!

So, yesterday was too crazy to post.  And now that it's passed, it was too crazy *not to post* about it.  Some decent storms Sunday night led to no power around 9:00, which came back on about 10:30.  Winds woke us up about 3ish?  And when I say winds, I mean WINDS... it sounded like a train.  My hubby and I came from tornado alley, we grew up in it, and never experienced those winds this close.  The tornadoes we watched were from afar (the best kind)  :)  So, it was a bit nerve wrecking.  We then lost power to part of the house... luckily the kids' bedroom outlets still worked, so fans helped stifle the thunder and wind noise.  It worried us however because we didn't know if we lost breakers or not.  We decided to just wait it out until morning and luckily power came back around 6-7am, but flickering.  We came to find out that the heat and well pump weren't working, so we used as little power as possible.  The power lines from the pole had broken away from the house basically - I think it was weak from the ice storms recently, and the limb that fell Sunday night just did it in. The electric company only gave it a "quick fix" so we'd at least have power, but told us we needed a professional electrician to repair it (but also said that he wouldn't need the power turned off to do it).  Well, umm, my husband WAS the "professional electrician"... I'm so darned proud of him!  I cannot begin to tell you how nervous I was with him, not only on a steep roof, but messing with high voltage electrical wires (or close to them!).  And he is less than confident in the heights department!  But, he did an awesome, perfect, FREE job!  I love my handy man!

You couldn't pay me...

Oh, and did I mention we lost part of the roof on our pole barn?  We found it out by the creek.  It's going to have to be disassembled then reassembled on the roof, as it's very heavy!  That will be left for a dry, warm day... 

It is now sunny and supposed to get up to 47° after a low of 22° - this also means SAP!  I'll be watching the trees closely, as the bags have a tendency to fall when they get too heavy.  We'll be switching to buckets next year and tying them to the tree to prevent swaying in the breeze.  You learn by default... we figured the bags wouldn't rust and thus last longer... we were wrong  ; )  We've already lost 4 - gone.  We do, however, have almost another full pot ready to boil - I'm excited, more syrup!  I can't believe how much we'll have our very first year...

"Be joyful, brothers and sisters. Keep your faith, and do the little things that you have seen and heard with me."

St. David of Wales, pray for us!