weekending : sad face + sheep

From the weekend: 

Testing out my sheep print on some different things. I'm liking this fabric tote. Needs a little something else, but it's definitely taking shape. 

I broke my daughter's heart apparently. I wouldn't give her a yogurt stick. 

Then, I broke it all over again, when I wouldn't let her spray the piano keys with window cleaner. 

My middle child ate more pomegranate seeds than should be legal. And then she ate some more. (A simple how-to de-seed a pomegranate here.)

And we celebrated the birthday of a very special two-year-old with a crazy cake overflowing with animals. And sprinkles. (try to ignore that mess behind-the-scenes, please.)

Happy Monday, friends.

More soon...xo.

Spring lambs: One year later

A few weeks ago, I stood outside in the parking lot of our 4-H meeting talking with our club leader about her new batch of baby lambs. We made the decision not to breed May and Penny this year in an effort to keep things a little simpler (mostly, on me). But sitting there listening to her stories of her babies, a little part of me missed those weeks just over a year ago, when we were welcoming our first-ever baby lambs to the farm. 

And while I wouldn't recommend your first crop of lambs arrival to be simultaneous with the fixing up and moving to a new farm, those days of romping, leaping fuzzy-headed lambs in the barn sure were sweet. 

A year later, and it's hard to believe what big beasts Pete and Paige have become. Just this weekend, I scheduled their appointment with a shearer and hopefully we'll finally be able to see their sweet eyes again under those fluffy cheeks.

Though I do the occasional fill-in for chore duty, Emma is their person. As soon as the back door slams and they know she's headed to the barn, the shuffling around the gate begins. 

By some magical contortions and animal husbandry tricks, she manages to get all animals out of the field and sorted into pens, fed, watered and bedded down for the night. 

In a few days, we'll add two more lambs to our flock that will be Emma's 4-H project for this year. There are pens to be built, hay to be bought and trucks arranged (or else we'll be carrying them home in our laps, not unheard of in my family.) 

After this year off, I'm thinking that we might have to get back in the baby lamb business again. Looking back at these pictures is like flipping through the pages of my girls' photo albums...I'm probably only remembering all the good and forgetting the stress, worry and sleepless nights. But still, we consider doing it all over again.

Little things, two of them incredibly cute

Oh, people. Remember my list of "Things That Are Stressing Me Out"? Well, last night at dinner the girls said to me, "Guess we can cross off 'check if sheep are pregnant', and 'find out what I need for lambs' birth', and 'set up lambing pens "!

Totally unexpectedly, and probably for the best, I was greeted at my bedside very early yesterday morning by my breathless husband...."You've got lambs. Two of them!" He was on his way to work and just as he was pulling out, remembered something he forgot, and as he stepped out of the car to get it, he knew that the sounds he was hearing from the sheep shed were most definitely NOT Penny or May.

We have babies, people! 

I pulled on my boots and went out to the barn in the dark of yesterday morning to discover two sweet and still-wet baby lambs being every so carefully cared for by Penny. 

Those first few hours were nerve-wracking, I tell you. Watching them struggle to nurse and latch on. Me, lying under a very patient Penny and making sure her milk was starting, trying to direct teats into tiny mouths...(yes, I may have over-managed this a bit.), but little by little, under my nervous eyes, all is well. Though one is smaller, they both seem to be nursing. Dan and I took turns checking on them throughout the night and we made it with no problems. 

I couldn't have asked for a better mother. Penny is patient and calm and just the right amount of protective--that stamp of her foot at the cats wandering into her pen, or when too many people are visiting her, lets us know she needs her space. 

And the babies, keeping with the tradition of naming them with the same letter as their mother, are being called Pete and Paige. A boy and a girl. 

Next comes May. Maybe Penny's little ones will trigger something in her. She is definitely keeping a watchful eye on everything. 

Spring is most definitely just around the corner.

In other news....

I was most-honored to be asked to write something up for new-to-me site 3ThingsForMom. Joined by other lovely contributors like Heather of Rookie Moms and Pilar Guzman of MS Living (hello!?!) I shared my 3 things this week--a truth, a tip, and a find. I think some of you may recognize my truth. It was a lesson that needed some serious re-visiting in my life these days. Be sure to check out Lauren's lovely site. It is a well-crafted collection of mama-wisdom. 

My favorite way to procrastinate is to pour my energy into all the wrong things. Case and point, I'm about to do a major move and redesign of this blog. I'll be moving to a new host which requires pushing the figuartive "big red button" and moving my eight years of writing over to the new space. So if things look wonky or strange for a few days, bear with me. I hope to have things ironed out soon. 

We have a moving date! The Woodlawn house will be HOME beginning the weekend of March 9. Ack, just over a week away. Perhaps it's time to pick out a faucet for the kitchen sink? We're living in the land of chaos, but every time I step foot in that sweet old house, my heart thumps in my chest with anticipation and joy of calling it home. I can't wait to share more of the process and projects with all of you! 

Happy weekend. Happy March 1st. More soon....