Things we do in the winter when we're bored...

Around here, we're kind of all about the family time. When we're not working, we spend pretty much every waking moment doing something together as a family, even if it's just hanging out at home. It's just who we are. Mr. Blue Eyes and I would rather spend time together and with our kids over doing just about anything else apart, so we stick pretty tight.

Now that our kids are no longer babies, it's been a lot easier to leave the nest with our little birdies. Last summer we had a really fun trip to Nebraska, for a family wedding, had another family wedding in which Miss Peaches was the flower girl, and even embarked on the misadventures of goat ownership. We also squeezed in enough time to have a pretty decent garden, which doesn't sound like such a big deal, but when your kids finally get to the age where you can let them wander around freely with you outdoors, it makes life a whole lot easier.

In the winter, however, recreation becomes a little more challenging. Every once in awhile we venture out in the evenings or weekends for a little fun, but for the most part, we're still pretty content to tinker around at home. We do things like...

...giving Timber his first bath in about four years.

It was entertaining for us.

I don't think Timber agreed. Poor old doggy.

You may be aware that a lot of Minnesotans like to go ice fishing in the winter. We too like to fish in the winter, but instead of freezing our hineys off on a frozen lake, we like to go...

...cat fishing.

(And just in case you're wondering, yes, it is 'catch and release'.)

I'm guessing you may also be familiar with how some people like to go skiing in the winter. One of these days we'll probably take the kids on their first ski trip. For now, we're prepping Little Blue Eyes...

...by giving him some quality training time on the Nordic Track.

(I can't seem to stay in control on that thing, but my five-year-old can. Go figure.)

And, when we're really bored, we like to stick the kids out the door in their tank top and shorts...

...and see how long they can stand it. We're prepping them for the 'Polar Bear Club'. In February we're going to have them start practicing the cold water plunge in the horse's water tank. But don't worry... It has a tank heater in it.

(Just kidding, on this last one. Except for, well, the one time when I snapped this picture. But it was totally her idea. Well, maybe it wasn't exactly her idea, but she was happy to play along.)

What about you? What have you been keeping busy with this winter?

Regarding Henry

First of all, if you are interested in learning how Henry came to live here on our farm, read this. And then read this. And then... Read this. And then type 'Henry' in the search box here on my site, and read all those posts, and you should pretty much be up to speed on all things regarding Henry.

(You may want to grab a cup of joe and settle in before you do so.)

It's a brutal fact that Henry simply doesn't get as much face time here on my blog. It's a cruel truth. It's an unfortunate side effect of being a completely black animal. He's harder to photograph.

It's easier to photograph him when there's snow on the ground, particularly when it's on his face, and the sun is shining. The problem with this is, I'm usually not outside during the day in the frigid winter weather, with my camera, to catch him in this state, so I don't get too many photos of him.

But that doesn't make it right.

So, today, to make it up to him, I'm dedicating my post to sharing some less brutal truths about Henry. I'm sure he'll be delighted when he reads this.

First of all...

...I present this photo to make two points...

1) It truly is quite difficult to get a photo of an entirely black dog. I just needed to prove my point.

2) Henry enjoys eating horse poop just as much as Burley does. But Burley catches the limelight when it comes to my horse poop posts because a) he has seniority; b) he holds still while I photograph him; 3) he photographs so much better.

It's a cruel truth.

But I've already established that.

More about Henry...

He's pretty much sweetness all around, except when it comes to strange men he doesn't know. Then he's kind of a jerk. We're careful to try to not let him be out cruising around when we know someone Henry doesn't know might be stopping in. If it weren't for his otherwise exceedingly sweet nature, this might have bought him a ticket out off the farm, but we're trying to help him get over it instead.

When he first came here, he was a little bit oblivious about certain 'farm dog' things. This dog did not hunt. He frolicked and sniffed around, but that was about it. Since then, Burley has trained him to be a finely tuned hunting machine.

Kind of.

He doesn't hold a candle to Burley's skunk, raccoon and miscellaneous vermin hunting skills, but he has greatly improved.

He's pretty well-behaved on a leash, for a dog who is almost never walked on a leash, but he's kind of a big clutz otherwise. Burley, despite his size, can daintily walk through and area and not disturb a thing. Henry can stand in one place and knock down everything around him.

Whereas Burley and Timber are content to lounge around and take naps on their own, Henry is much more prone to full-contact, with anyone who will lay still long enough. If you get down on his level, he will lay himself across you like a heavy blanket and stay there until you say, "Uncle."

True to his breeding, he is a total water dog. He has actually taught Burley, a previous water-phobe, to enjoy the water a bit on hot summer days. It is the water in our dredge ditch, which is pretty grody, mind you, so I don't particularly appreciate this habit, but I get it.

Bottom line...

...he's a good doggy, and we love his black, black self.

Snow Falling on Farm

Yesterday (and continuing off and on throughout the weekend) marks the first real snowfall of the entire winter. It was so beautiful, I had to sneak out and take a few pictures.

It was perfectly serene.

It was perfectly sparkly.

It coated our imperfectly kept farmyard with a little magic.

And to be honest, it's made all the more perfect by the fact that it is past the middle of January! I think all the Minnesotans are breathing a collective sigh of relief that we can enjoy some snow for two(ish) short months intead of four or five.

(Knock on wood.)

I walked outside to find Burley, sitting on his furry hiney, just gazing off into the horizon, totally enjoying the peacefully snow day. Even the animals enjoyed the perfect little dust of magic.

Remind me of this if we're buried under six feet of snow in March.

Apron Strings

This morning I 'urged' the kids to do a little tidying up in their rooms. Then I went on about my business in the other rooms of the house. I should've known, when Miss Peaches came out and asked me to help her tie her apron strings, that she meant business about cleaning up, but I didn't have enough presence of mind to notice.

About a half hour later, she came and got me to show me her room, and this is what it looked like...

Pretty impressive for a three-year-old, huh?

(Actually, I think that's pretty impressive for any age!)

Apparently she has inherited my organizational genes.

Yes, we have her sleeping arrangement rotated so that she sleeps the opposite direction on her bed. It gives us room for all her snuggly stuffed animals to sleep up there with her, and also gives more space in her quite small room. It's a cozy little nook!

Her brother, on the other hand, told me he has his room just the way he wants it...

Uffda.

We may have some work to do here.

Wednesday Random

1. Winter has finally befallen our part of the country. Not really much snow to speak of, but it's seriously cold. For some reason this eases my conscience. As much as we have all fully enjoyed the unseasonably warm weather we've been having, I was starting to feel a little guilty. I mean, no one deserves to live in Minnesota and enjoy weather that comfortable in December and January. It was just unnatural. Wonderful. But unnatural.

2. I hosted a Pampered Chef party last evening, and it was perfectly lovely. Lots of ladies and Miss Peaches, one little boy, a baby and really good food. A couple months ago I thought to myself, "You know, the middle of January is always such a drudgery, I'm going to plan something fun." So I did. And it was.

3. We celebrated Mr. Blue Eyes birthday. Sometimes I withold gushing about how awesome I think my husband is because I don't want be boastful, but he is. He's so awesome. We had a great weekend together as a family, then he helped me in innumerable ways to get ready for the Pampered Chef party last night. He's the best.

4. The drop shadow angle on all the post photos here on my site is -56. I just thought I would share that, in case any inquiring minds wanted to know.

5. I had to take Little Blue Eyes in for his five-year check-up yesterday. It was an adventure. He had to pee in a cup for one of the routine tests, and he did really well until I told him to stop peeing so I could move the cup out of the way. He couldn't stop, then panicked a little and peed all over my hand, the toilet and the wall behind the toilet before getting things realigned. He did great for his finger prick, but the shots were a little rough. Miss Peaches, on the other hand, who observed the whole ordeal, could not hardly stand to see what was being done to her brother. During both the finger prick and the shots, she just about lost her composure. It was sweet. Traumatizing, but sweet.

6. Between a couple of social engagements on Sunday, Mr. Blue Eyes' birthday, and the party I threw last night, I've consumed about two blocks of cream cheese. It was good but it was filling. Weaning myself off of it is going to be a little rough.

7. Getting five children to all nap at the same time is my happy place.

8. I'm planning on working off all my cream cheese intake by tackling the organization and clean-up of our basement, which contains all the clothes that the kids have grown out of, all the clothes they will grow into, all the toys I have banished from the main part of our house (the loud, annoying, or simply un-played-with ones), and about fifty-seven other random things that have been shoved down there over the last couple years. I'm not looking forward to it, but I am looking forward to achieving, God willing, new heights of organization and cleanliness.

I say 'God willing' because I know... I know how true the phrase, "Man plans, God laughs," is. I know that I have this big basement clean-out plan on my radar, but it's very possible that our household will be plagued by another flu bug, or we'll get side-tracked with social responsibilities, or a tornado will hit our house, or my husband will surprise me with a trip to Hawaii and I will be whisked away.

If any of those scenarios plays out, I'm hoping it's the last one.

A gal can dream.