This year in review is getting out of control. Three parts, indeed! Who do I think I am?
(To catch up, start here.)
So, our summer was quite busy with WEEDING, camping, gardening, WEEDING, canning, WEEDING, beach-going, WEEDING, and general animal husbandry. And is not “husbandry” a fun word?
I vote yes!
We chased ourselves a lot of animals with the help of our trusty fishing nets.
We gardened and we canned.
We went huckleberry picking. For no summer is complete without the search for the purple gold.
We went swimming.
David turned 32. Such an old-timer now.
We started school in August. Who knows why? Clearly we did not have our thinking caps on.
Sweet Pea started 4th grade, Daisy Mae started 3rd, and Handsome Dude started Kindergarten. Little Dude either joins Handsome Dude for Kindergarten or ditches us to play trains. Whatever floats his boat.
I drove a rooster and several varieties of hens and rabbits to the county fair in a truck with four kids and zero Davids . . .
Only to discover I was supposed to PRE-register. And I had to take them all home, head hanging in shame.
I learned the very, VERY, very hard way that canning is not good for smooth cook tops and blew up my cook top whilst canning millions of peaches. It was super convenient. We went without one for a bit and snagged a great deal on The Craigslist for $100.
It was all very thrilling.
David was “blessed” with road kill moose during our Labor Day Camping extravaganza.
Horrifying, yes?
Towards the beginning of September, I threw another homeschooling fit. It lasted for a good three weeks. It is a good thing I am not prone to drama or anything like that. But it is so hard for me to coordinate the teaching of the three different grade levels. I wash my hands of it!
Stay tuned for an epic homeschooling fit when Little Dude joins in on the fun next year!
Daisy Mae helped David “harvest” wood.
And, yes. I just said “harvest.”
This is how we talk, we peoples of the country.
We got another kitten. He was supposed to be temporary, but he is still here. So there you go.
His name is Mr. Poppers. In case you cared.
We also got ourselves seven pigs. Because that is precisely what was missing around here.
Pigs.
And, just like every other blessed creature that comes to live with us, they got loose.
And I, yes, I, Taylor Maliblahblah, had to chase them all about.
Around the end of October, we began to finally start painting the peach walls. We moved out to Ruralville in June of 2010 and the entire house was painted peach. Finally, and I mean FINALLY, we started to slowly repaint.
And do you remember how I blew up my cook top by canning in August? Well, David stood on the replaced one and cracked it while painting. We can use two of the burners on it still and we are still searching for a good Craigslist find.
Cook tops. Twill be the death of me.
We celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas with family and had a lovely time, per usual. Sweet Pea entered the double digits and turned 10 on the last day of 2012.
We gathered for a sledding party with David’s side of the family.
That’s Amy and I. Amy is my super cool sis in law. Please try to keep up.
Daisy Mae enjoying a warm cup of cocoa.
I refused to sled. You see, dear readers, even though it might seem like I am the outdoorsy-adventurous type, I am not.
Consider yourselves fooled.
Well, after much peer pressure, I did go down, and Jason snapped a photo. Which we are all grateful for.
Basically, what you see there is me freaking out and putting my leg out to try to stop the sheer force of my great speed, but in the end, all I am doing is spraying snow in my face.
So, there you go. Our 2012 in review.
What was your favorite memory of 2012?
Cheers!
Um, the reason your year in review is out of control is because your YEAR was out of control.
Praise God none of those canning jars contained meat this time.
You and Amy look like such beauties in that photo. (Because you are.)
You definitely don’t look like the stereotypical homeschooling country farmer’s wife who catches rabbits with a net and pigs with her bare hands. Such a great picture of you with your sister in law! And I love the picture of Daisy Mae with the cocoa.
You had a full and memorable year which you will one day look back on with a smile. Your family is so cute!
Mr. Poppers is the best name. And that year sounded awesome. Except for the weeding.
What a great year! You are blessed!
As for the home-educating fits, (home-educating~the new and way more cool way to state it), I’ve been reading The Self-Propelled Advantage by Joanne Calderwood. It’s about kids 4th grade and up TEACHING THEMSELVES and how it relieves the mom and gives the kids an advantage. She had home-educating (there it is again!) total burn out and this was the result. Interesting stuff. URtheMom.com is her site.
Forget about the cooktops doing you in, it seemed like the weeding was going to. Or the cleaning of your rental property. I’m just glad you survived and lived to tell about it. And, that the canned food pictures were anything other than canned chic_ _ _!
WHY is Handsome Dude tweaking Little Dude’s nipple in the Huckleberry picture?! Just asking!
The nipple-pinching cracks me up. Such brotherly love. Have you really only lived in the country since June? Seems like longer. Bet it seems like longer to you, too!
Total typo!! Good catch. I meant to type 2010, not 2012! Thanks 🙂
Funny! I was thinking how much time flies, but that would explain it!
I arrived to your mom’s after flight to Spokane and she had gluten-free bread and hot dogs and hot dog buns! Wow! And I got to see y’all again. Had a special tour of your outdoors with HD, one on one with your sis and even yore bro. Was the subject of much intense study from DM. Saw the animals, a baptism, a couple birthdays. A special pedicure, a baby moose. S’all good.
Just think….and you still have one more to start in school…joy oh joy!
You need cows.
You need horses.
You need ducks.
You need goats.
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Then your life will be crazy.
Then, your life will be complete.
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And I so want to live vicariously through you! Because there is NO way I could do that life!
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You my dear, are amazing and deserve the pat on the back I gave to an Argentinian man I don’t know because I had a lot of fun trying to learn how to do Argentinian dancing.
See what you are missing by not living in the big city?