One thing about living out here is that there's always so much for us to do--together! This month as a family we enjoyed such projects as planting new trees and plants in our yard and vegetables in the garden...we built and painted a new garden fence, put up a pretty new humming bird dinner bell, added a home-made tire swing to Enoc's swing set in the backyard...and we cleaned out an old mobile home and fixed it up to become our new storage unit; something I've been wanting to do for months! Last Friday evening for our "date" we drove out to the Florida Mountains with the kids just as the sun was setting. There we collected a truckload of river rocks for our ongoing landscaping project. Enoc always loves being right in the middle of all the action and tries to help in any way he can. And Eden just enjoys going along for the ride in my baby backpack. As long as she's not left out and can see what's going on, she's a pretty happy little girl.
Diego keeps very busy helping his dad with the trailer restoration business, the gardens and the new root cellar project (tough, messy work). Then in any spare moment he has, my amazing handyman husband works on my endless honey-do list--without complaint. He also tends to our yard and trees, builds cool things out of wood (booster seat for Enoc, wood lamp for the living room, etc.)...he recently took up a new hobby--tanning beautiful skins (rattlesnake, skunk, rabbit, coyote, badger, bobcat)...he helps me cook when possible, plays with our children...and just when it seems he should be collapsing into bed exhausted from another crazy day--he always stays up longer to read his favorite Gospel books or study for his Sunday classes. What a gem of a man he is.I spend most of my time at home with our two sweet babies. I manage to keep them entertained as I cook, clean, do laundry, work on video and photo projects on the computer, etc. Usually I'm either holding Eden or Enoc--sometimes both!--and it's funny how as moms we find ourselves narrating our life story one action at a time just to keep the kids amused--so they don't feel left out, anxious or ignored. "LOOK honey, Mommy found the broom! Now she's sweeping....Uh-oh! Is Eden crying? Ok, Mommy's picking her up. Little baby girl, don't get mad...oh, there's that smile...Oops, did mama almost trip on the dust pan? Scary. Let's see who's texting mommy's phone...where is it? Here it is! Ok, Daddy's gonna be home soon. Let's put on Thomas so mommy can cook. Choo! Choooooo! All right! Woohoo!..."
Yesterday I spent a good chunk of my day transplanting all our houseplants to larger pots. Like the kids, they're growing up so fast! I buckled the kids into the double stroller then took them with me out to shovel up a few bucket-loads of chicken droppings and horse manure which I added to my plants' new soil. It wasn't until all the plants were trimmed up and settled into their new areas in the house that I realized...oh boy, something stinks! I guess some fertalizers just aren't meant to be indoors. No problem, I just plugged a new Glade air freshener into the wall, and in minutes the house was filled with the scent of fresh berries!
I enjoy my daily walk with the kiddos to collect the mail from our box up the street aways...or to throw our food scraps out to the chickens or hand feed the horse. Getting outside for even a few minutes can be so therapeutic! Today I enjoyed a nice bike ride on the orange basket-bike with the kiddos. I snatched a little yellow plastic chair out from under an old trailer in the "junkyard" section of our land...that's where Enoc sat--ever so merrily in the front basket next to Eden's baby seat. The three of us biked out to the mail boxes...then, feeling ambitious, we went the extra mile out to Red Onion Road.
Then we turned around and came home: "Hold on tight!" I tell Enoc, as we cross over the bumpy cattle guard..."Where's the big bird?" I ask, as we search for the fenced in emu that mysteriously appeard out here some years back..."Oh, sad. Look Enoc...is that a little bunny on the road?" (fresh road kill)..."Yucky trash...see? By that cactus?" I'll usually pick up any debris that gets blown around out here (beer cans, grocery bags, paper). I stuff the trash anywhere I can until we get home and I can throw it away. But today I didn't want to lose momentum, so those cans will have to wait til later. Enoc is filled with words and lets them all burst out suddenly, "Cactus? Pokey? Owie? Trash? Bird? Bunny? Scared? Mail? Walking? Bike? Sun? Bright? Hat? Sister? Eee-in? Mommy? Mommy? Dada?"We were about 5 minutes away from home when I noticed Enoc's little head bopping around in front of me...although he was still sitting upright in his little yellow chair, holding our mail tightly in his hand--he had fallen asleep! Afraid that he might fall forward and into the road, I reached forward to hold his shoulder back with one hand while steering the bike with the other. Two beautiful sleeping babies and one very proud, enamored mother. "Happy, happy," as Enoc would say.
