Our build started & some farm updates

We broke ground on our forever home on October 1st 2020. In the midst of a pandemic and so much political/social unrest this is certainly a bright spot for us. The old farmhouse we are in is such a blessing because we don’t have to pay rent on top of a construction loan & we are right next door and can monitor the progress (& get excited) by taking a short walk. Here are a few photos of the progress so far...which only include a road and some footers but we will take anything. 

This next photo is a comparison of when we had footers poured on our last house to these footers. What a difference 9 years makes...we went from a newborn and toddler to 3 kids running ❤️.

We got 2 farm cats (which has turned into 3). Neal is allergic to cats and isn’t a big fan. I like cats but don’t ever want an indoor one again. We all thought having one to kill mice and things would be fun but also love animals so much that we wondered if we’d be good at making them stay outside in cold or bad weather. I found a 5 month old kitten on Facebook that had only been outside and she was so cute. So we decided to get her. Her name is Lollipop and she is perfectly happy outside but is also the sweetest, most cuddly and prettiest cat. My mom decided she is lonely and needed a friend so we went back to the people we go Lolli from ans for her cousin, Speckles. He’s a little less cuddly and a little more playful and so pretty himself. Well a ferrel cat has decided he likes their food and keeps coming around. We would shoo him of at first but now they run around as a trio and all seem to get along and love each other. He/she comes near us now but is still unsure of us. We’ve had a lot of fun having outside cats! 

Our chickens started laying eggs this week, finally!! We’ve had them since the end of May and have been so excited for this day to come. I think about half of them are laying and we have gotten 16 eggs in 7 days. It has been such a fun week because of this new excitement. 

Ella’s 9th camping birthday party

Ella’s birthday party request was a bit non-conventional this year. She wanted to have a chicken themed camping trip on our property that includes her girlfriends and their whole families (these poor parents) 🤣. Most all of the families jumped at the opportunity and excitedly came out and camped with us. 

Gigi & Pop graciously slept inside with William. The wind was terrible and made setting up the tents more difficult and squashed our plans for a big bonfire. But we roasted marshmallows on the grill and made the most of it and ended up having a blast. Her 9 year old party goes down as her favorite one so far 🥳!

Out of quarantine, mostly

I’ve been so terrible about keeping this blog up since having a 3rd baby. The pandemic is far from over but we have eased back into regular life, for the most part. Quarantine was hard for us all but we survived and there were some bright spots. 

During quarantine I had my supper club girlfriends over to socially distance but the pond and talk and drink. This kept me somewhat connected. Neal working from home in the afternoon some days so that I could mow, sit in my car or run an errand truly did keep me sane. The time we got to spend as a family and the girls helpfulness was truly a gift because we normally are running from one activity to another. We all enjoyed being able to sleep in. Now there was also some fighting/arguing, feelings of hopelessness that it would never end, lots of missing friends and wondering when we would get back to any sort of schedule. 

School started back up in late August. The kids don’t get any of their regular events and they have to wear masks but they are oh so thrilled to be back in school. They have the best teachers and I think this will be a year to remember for teachers and friends...& because they are just so happy to be back in school. 

Reese and Ella are playing sports again. This has felt mostly normal aside from the fact that parents cannot go in and watch practices. Ella joined a club soccer team and we recently went on her 1st travel tournament. Reese played volleyball again this season and they won the championship. Hey both made the Mini Mounties basketball team and games just started this week. 

We are feeling thankful for this sense of normalcy. We still can not wait for church to open up at more capacity and for children’s programs to start back up. Cases seem to be on the rise, especially for kids in schools, last week. I am interested to see if any changes are made over the holidays but I’m hopeful that we don’t go back into full quarantine. I’m praying that we determine a way to end the pandemic and return to regular life.