QQ

I will not cry. I absolutely refuse to be reduced to tears by a stupid insect.

But, over the MILLIONS that are raping and pillaging my orchard right now, I might just have a breakdown.

Do you see this? THIS is what has been happening in our orchard. When we arrived, Sam and I didn't know a thing about Japanese beetles. I was worried about it (not worried enough to do some research, though. Stupid, stupid, stupid!!), but we didn't have our apple trees yet and didn't know what these disgusting little suckers could do.

Not so sure I'm happy about earning this kind of education.

When we were planting our trees, I freaked out because there were tons of grubs. Sam assured me it would be fine (that man has GOT to stop making statements just to calm me down), and we planted anyway. (Not sure what else we could have done at that point anyway.) Well, now we know that the particular grubs we have turn into these awful, horrible, no-good, very BAD beetles, that are sucking the life out of our trees.

Well, we've gotten to work. We've ordered nematodes, we're finding a supplier for milky spore, and we've had to use insecticide, which we were NOT going to do. Thankfully, we weren't going to be able to use the fruit from this year anyway, but still...IT SUCKS! Plus we have traps (which we have to change almost daily--understand, each trap is a BAG, and when we change them they are FULL of these things!!) and I have the pleasure of going down to the orchard several times a day and plucking the darn things off the plants. You should see the amount of beetles we've collected by hand. It is insane. We have a huge bucket full of soapy water and it gets a little more full of beetles everyday. I kid you not, people, it is crazy.

A word of caution: do not take beetles lightly. Just sayin'.

T's First Day

Back to school. Back to school. Gotta prove to my child that I'm not a fool. She's got her backpack packed, her shoes tied tight. Please bless her, Lord, to not get in a fight. And don't let me cry, or blubber, or wail. Let me escape the school before my heart can fail.

OH, back to school....

So, my baby is in first grade. (Isn't she gorgeous?) Today, she leaves me for her first whole day. I woke up with a sick heart. Just this awful weight following me around. But, after getting an e-mail from a friend urging me to put things in perspective, and realizing that my scowl couldn't have been helping my girl, I decided to pretend as much excitement as T wouldn't suspect as fake.

It helped. I got her to her school room dry-eyed (both of us) and smiling (both of us). Her teacher seems great, which really helped my heart. I hope T holds to my words about how wonderful she is and how great she'll do and that it's easy to make friends if you act like a friend...

Six more hours to go.

You know, I didn't even cry. And then, in the car, I hear this choked sob come from B in the back. Oh, man.



I'll survive this day. If T can, I can.

Right?

Disease-FREE!!

Big day for Rock Chalk Goats, folks. Big day. We just found out that our herd is disease-free!!! Whew! We can move forward with life on our little farm as normal. Yes! :)

Being the Goat Lady of Illinois...

Okay, I know this picture doesn't include goats. And, I am also aware that I am far from being The Goat Lady of Illinois. So none y'all goat women out there who are so much more advanced and talented than myself get bent out of shape. (I bow to your wisdom. :) This is merely a title bestowed on me by a dear friend.) I just had to share it, because I think it is SO great, and I can't sleep, despite being booooone tired. So, here you go.



Don't they look ecstatic? Ahhhh. I just smile every time I see it. :)

Little Kindness

My six-year-old made my bed. All by herself. With no one asking. This is not an expectation we have of her or one of her usual chores. She just took it upon herself to do it.

Baby B woke up with a nasty case of the whinies. Oh, my. Every time I turned around it was something. Getting ready for church is...let's just say "challenging" enough for me when the kids are cooperating. Cooperation level for B today: negative 50 might be a kind estimate.

When we were at about T-25 minutes to church and I was still running around with wet hair trying to manage B, T said quietly as I ran past, "I'm sorry you are having such a hard time." Bless her heart. I gave her a quick squeeze and thank you and then ran back into the bathroom to finish B's hair. After a few minutes, I hear the sound of fabric rustling on my bed. I figured someone had just hopped up there and was laying or playing around.

When I came out, there was this beautifully made bed, nearly perfect. You wouldn't believe the mad bed-making skills of this girl! We're talking throw pillows and everything. It looked so nice. I gave her a big hug and told her, "You didn't have to do that, sweetie. Thank you." She said, "I know. I just wanted to do something nice for you."

Man, I love that girl.

OH, WHAT FUN!!! (lame title, but it totally was.)

I've been getting asked a lot, "How are things at the farm?" Totally natural question, and I appreciate the interest. To answer in one word: BUSY. We're learning a lot, which is fun, but also has us running a lot as we have to do or redo some new thing or get supplies or buy food or groom or treat or test someone...you get the idea. It keeps us hopping. Well, Sam had this week off. It was scheduled before he started working, as we were supposed to vacation in Tennessee this week, but it didn't end up working out for us. So, we had to do SOMETHING vacation-like, but we couldn't really leave town because of the animals, so we took our first "real" break yesterday and went here:


It was crazy fun to watch the kids squeal and laugh and splutter and splash and relax. It was such a fantastic day. It was a relief to not have to do anything but just have fun. My girls love the water like their mama, so it was just too much fun to experience this with them. B braved the "big" slides, which never got old for me, watching her splash to the bottom. T even went on the BIG slides with daddy! That girl! She surprises me with her guts sometimes. She's a lot tougher than she lets on.



Sadly, these are not pictures of my own children, just promotional ones for the resort, because I'm understandably banned from taking the camera to waterparks. Truthfully, I probably would have been too busy to take many pictures. But, this kind of gives you an idea.

See the blue one in the back? That's the one B went down over and over. Pretty impressive, right? By herself!! I wish I had one to show you of what T went down. It was BIG. *Sigh.* My girls are cool.

Fun day. Need more of those.

Some of My Talented Peeps...

Okay, y'all, just wanted to take a minute and brag on some of the cool people I know. My friend Lora is a genius jewelry maker, not to mention one darn cool chick. Check out her website!! (Oh, and if you haven't yet discovered Etsy, you are very welcome.)

betru2u.etsy.com

(And if anyone wants to buy me a present, I'm in love with "Namaste." Just sayin'. ;D)

Oh! And check out her older site, that still has some really cute, cute stuff, too!

LoraCornellMcKelvey.etsy.com

Simply Silver, Peace on a Ribbon, and the Letter Pendants--Love!

If you haven't noticed Cassidy's blog link to the side, check it out! It's updated everyday, and he often has cool t-shirt and hat designs. Pretty awesome. I got one of these for Sam for Father's Day, which, of course, he loved. They are limited edition, and genius! Get clickin'!

thejcw.blogspot.com

Anna the fabulous just opened up her art shop--way cute! I don't need to say anymore. Just go. Click. Now!

eyecandy4kids.blogspot.com

Christine also has a fun shop, with all cute things baby! Way cute, reasonably priced, handmade, and $1 from each purchase goes to support cancer research.

www.totrags.com

or

totrags.etsy.com

Marne just rocks my socks! She is the saving guru and amazes me with all her thrifty know-how. Check her out!

wantitall4free.blogspot.com

If anyone has any other fantastic sites, wants to brag on a friend, or even herself/himself, lay it on me!

Have so much fun basking in the bodacity of my acquaintance. :)