100 yard dash



Mikael and Livi - 4th of July 2012

There is a story told in my family.  My Mom still wants to cry when she recalls that day.  It was spring 1983, my Mom left her 4 little girls in a running van and with heavy steps made her way inside her Dad's house.  She was 9 months pregnant with #5, who would later be known as Addie.  Back in that world of no car seats, 2 year old Lindsay made her way to the front seat, and somehow managed to take the van out of park.  The van that was now in reverse was headed for a nearby ditch or beyond.  When my Mom noticed the now moving van - She ran for her life.  The van beat her to the ditch and stopped.  I have heard her describe the terror she felt many times.  I can only imagine.  Her girls survived, without a scratch but my Mom was in bad shape.  She had to be picked up and hauled into her Dad's house.  She could not walk.  Her pregnant hips had given out on her after her 100 yard dash.  Two grown men hauled her to the bathroom and sat her on the toilet.  My Mom was on the brink of hyperventilation, extreme humiliation, and imminent labor.

Labor did not come that day.  Or the next.  Addie would arrive on her due date a couple weeks later and my Mom's hips and pride would eventually heal.  I would assume that my Mom caught a glimpse that terrifying day of how much her life could and would change with the birth of her 5th child.  I'm sure she contemplated her predicament.  I'm sure she wanted to take me out and beat me.  I'm sure she cried to my Dad that night.  5 babies would be a lot of work and worry.  And maybe, just maybe running after that van that day would not be the only time as a mother that she would feel like she was in the sprint of her life.

And so now, here I am, 9 months pregnant with my 5th child.  I'm at times terrified.  Hyperventalating.  Eating humble pie.  And sprinting toward the finish line.  (The finish line less than 3 weeks away)

So please excuse my long absence? 

And please excuse the following photos.  They have nothing to do with this post.  Here is just a glimpse of what we have been up to:



Mikael - Milwakee airport June 2012

Noah - Lake Powell July 2012 - Was quite the wakeboarder this year!

Mikael's "baby" - That cat has a special place in heaven for putting up with her

Family Pic on Pioneer Day 2012 (some of us in costume)

Mikael and Ezra bike riding on the newly poured concrete

1st day of school 2012 and a house still under major renovation

Mikael has a slight obsession with books right now

Jace's favorite past time - breeding.  Anything.  Me.  The llamas.

I do not like sheep.  Jace does.  They get out of their pen every time Jace leaves town.

Jace buried the trampoline this summer.  That baby can help herself to a few jumps whenever she feels the need.  It's fantastic.

Smells like spring

We have been practicing with our sprinkler system.  Turning on every zone.  Checking for broken sprinkler heads and even coverage.  The smell of wet dirt has made my heart so happy.  We weren't here last year for the all the fruit tree blossoms and the sight of them has me so excited at the prospect of trees hanging heavy with fruit.  I am reminded why we bought this old place.  The potential is amazing.

One of the local hardware stores where we have an account has recently made the mistake of selling baby chicks, feed, and other exciting products.  As I was inputing bills this week for our plumbing company, I noticed invoices with material named "Pearl White Chics" and "Chicken Stratch" feed.  Not exactly what plumbers need to fix clogged lines and such.  That Jace.  And he says I am the sneaky online shopper.

Good thing its Easter.  I stopped in town yesterday and bought a new skirt for the occasion.  Now we are even.  He said his Easter present will bring us eggs and happiness for years to come.  I told him my new skirt will bring me and my closet happiness as well.  Who cares if you can't eat it, right?

The baby chics were ready to move out doors today on this Easter sabbath.  The air is warming up and small, soft feathers now line their small bony bodies.  Jace rounded up a couple chicken wranglers to do the job.

Happy Easter!  I'm so grateful for this time of year and the opportunity we have to start anew.  I hope there is a dust storm of commotion at Mi Casa in the coming weeks.  We need a new roof and a new septic tank by June.  New windows would be lovely as well as new exterior paint, planted grass, and shiny, white baseboards.  Not too tall of an order is it?

Valentine's Day is for lovers; Part 2

Jace came home late one afternoon last week.  He found me sitting in the window sill of the above pictured dining room.  I was in my grubby clothes and was even wearing an apron.  The paint was still wet in my hair and on the walls.  Jace was chomping at the bit to share with me his great find of the day.  Llamas!

Llamas??

"What do they do?"

"They spit."

"Oh.  Do they bite?"

"No!  They spit."

"Can you ride them?"

"Well, maybe.  Well, no but that thing reared its head back today and then spit! Like this...."

Insert Jace spitting like a llama.

"Oh."

He pauses for just a moment here.  Looks around.  Sniffs the air.

"Have you been painting?  Did you repaint this room?  The room we just painted with chalkboard paint?  You tick me off.  We just spent $ on paint and now we are doing it again?"

I stop.  Look him square in the eyes and say,

"I have one word for you.

Llamas."

And that is how it works around here.  Jace loves the new paint.  I can't wait to see those llamas spit. It makes no sense at all but that is how Jace and I love each other dearly.  Happy Valentines Day!

Priorities

We are suppose to be busy finishing a house.  The house we are moving into next weekend.  But things keep getting in the way.  Some of the things cause me to stomp my feet and growl when I talk.  Like the new chicken coop for example:

Remember when the chicken coop use to just be the kid's tree house?  And it looked like this?

Sometimes I may not know when to pick my battles.  And this is not one of those times.  I know you will all agree with me that my bedroom should be completed before the chicken's.  All of you except Jace and the other crazed chicken sympathizers out there.  The saddest thing of all is that 4 year old Ezra thinks Dad built him 2 tree forts now!  Who is going to break the news to him that this newly constructed "fort" is for our feathered friends only?  Not me.

Distraction #2:

Jace gets a little Phil Weston on us every Saturday morning.  He loves to win.

He is the only coach in the league running up and down the field with his players.  Yelling.  It is pretty fun to watch.

And this little guy is so fun to watch.  He has had another great season.  Our Noah never fails to surprise and impress us.  Another reason I love this kid?  Check out his Obi-Wan Kenobi costume below.

All that he needed was a robe.  He wasn't worried.  He told me after the trick or treating that "everybody knew who he was."  Sweet, because his older sister had just a few wardrobe meltdowns.  "Everyone thinks I'm a pirate!"  And I don't even have to point out what the younger sister thought of her piggy costume.  She. Was. Not. Having. It.  And Ironman there in the middle was a repeat of last year.  Love that.

Remember those boring tile pictures I promised?

Enjoy.

Master bath.  I tried to talk Jace into doing the entire bathroom in the white marble.  As you can see he didn't think that was one of my best ideas.

But I don't mind the beige tile he picked.  It's kind of growing on me.

Kid's bath.  Was hoping for dark brown subway tile.  But white will do.  It will do.  

Up in Smoke

Every ugly (burnable) item that we hauled out of our casa this summer, landed here.  In a pile in a field behind the house.  It made my heart happy to see all that ugliness in flames this past weekend.  But you know that Jace, he can't pass up an opportunity like a "Baum" fire.  That sort of occasion calls for an old fashion feast.

No.  We did not eat the cow.  In fact, just the opposite.  We spend our time bottle feeding this guy.  Noah has name the cow Stephen.  And sometimes we yell at Stephen "because he only believes in science."

Nacho Libre jokes are still funny at your house too, right?

These two cowgirls here rounded up our dinner.

Ono.

Dos chickens.

Close your eyes for this next part if you sympathize any animal activists groups.

Oh yes they did.

And I was surprisingly sad for the birds.  The very same birds that start crowing at 2 AM.  If you are not a crying, nursing baby waking me up at that hour - you deserve to be killed and then eaten.

A rooster beat me up real good as an infant.  Ask my parents.  It was brutal.  I've had a tricky relationship with the species ever since.  I wish I shared the same enthusiasm as my husband.  And I wish I could say the chicken tasted real good that night but apparently these were grandpa roosters.  Grandpa roosters = tough meat.

So, don't say you weren't warned.  When the Baums invite you to a dinner party - you now know what you can look forward to.

UPDATE on Mi Casa:  Interior of house is completely painted.  House still looks like a P.O.S.