Our neck of the woods...

Spring has sprung on the farm. I looked out the window last week and saw a faint green haze covering parts of the ground and realized that it was grass popping up! The birds are beginning to sing, the noises from the river are louder in the evenings, and the animals are feeling frisky again after their winter slumber.

John's birthday was February 18th and man, oh man, did he have fun with mommy, daddy and both sets of grandparents! Gaga brought Thomas the Train noise makers, napkins and plates and mommy made a yummy cake with Thomas' smile on top.

After the big birthday bash, Gaga, Papa, mommy and John headed down to Nashville, TN to visit John's cousin Steve for the first time! We practiced saying "Steve" on the way and John was a pro by the time he shyly said his name for him! He took to him immediately (...a boy's boy all the way) and wanted to hold his hand while Steve showed us around the Vandy campus. He had fun in our hotel room trying on Papa's shoes and eating yummy breakfasts every morning. He woke one night for two hours and Gaga and mommy consoled him b/c he missed "Daddy!!!!" so badly. Poor little guy. He finally exhausted us and himself!

Mom and Dad Neal came down to help us upstairs as we prepare to finish the closet over the stairs, the walls around the bedroom and bathroom and more. We had all come down with a stomach flu (Gaga, Papa, mommy, John, Grandma Neal and daddy) and didn't get as much done as we would have liked. But, we had a friend come over and work on our rocks (read: boulders!) around the house. We put them in place and need to till the dirt (mud for now!) for spring grass and beds! I am beyond excited to have some color in the yard, some order in the chaos that is my life outside these four walls!

We are pleased with how our Ameracaunas have feathered out and are still not sure if we have two rooster and two hens or 1 rooster and 3 hens. Time will tell! (Or, lungs and a comb will tell.) We moved them outside about 1 week ago and they are quite content with their new digs. The other two mature hens like to hang out under their coop and talk about laying an egg. They get around the laying at about 11am. So far they alternate every other day. So, we have 1 egg a day. I say that's a good example of quality communicators...
And, in addition to those 6 chickens, we have 30 coming from Ohio in the mail on March 31st! We are excited, as those are laying hens as well as roosters that will be dinner one day! We hope to be able to sell the eggs and need to come up with a farm logo!

In other news, some friends are adopting 2 boys from Ethiopia and you can visit them here http://kinnells.blogspot.com/2010/03/1st-anniversary-party.html We are so excited for them! Their twin girls have been home one year and we all celebrated with a party last week! I won't duplicate that post...Amy said it perfectly. Our dear friends who introduced us to THOGL are in process again too! They expect their son, Logan, at the end of March. Though, we are in prayer for them b/c we just heard yesterday that they are having difficulties with paperwork on both the Taiwan end and the U.S. Lift them up if you will!

My cousin, Laura, who was a jr. bridesmaid in our wedding, will be going to Sr. prom this year. She will look stunning in this dress...http://www.eddress4u.com/long-gowns-8697.htm#! She is busy with her senior year, working at NHA and picking out a college.

So, as you have read, we have had a busy March already and we're only halfway through the month. I, of course, tried uploading images, but after 1+ entire hour of failed attempts I had to give up. Hopefully they'll come later!

Irish blessings this March,
the Neals

A Christmas llama from Aunt Kim & cousins Laura and Steve!

Our wild man ~ excited about the snow!

John with his buddy, Braden, my besties, and a beautiful amaryllis that our friend, Darlene, gave us for Christmas!

We woke up to snow again this morning...I'd rather have that than rain in the winter! Oh, how I wish we lived in the Caribbean year-round. Ha! I say that...but, I know I would not be happy if I couldn't watch the seasons turn year after year.

Stay warm!

Wearing daddy's ski cap, Sherpa napping in the sink and John helping mommy in the laundry room.

A Trick of Light

The fire is warm behind me as I'm typing at my makeshift desk in the dining room. I am blessed to be able to stay home during these few years that my son is little. I read about how little minds form so much in the first five years...and I know now how true that statement is. John is asleep again after his huge week with the grandparents. Well, right now, he's talking about the people in his life...Mommy, Daddy, Gaga's, Grandpa and Papa. We just finished Charlotte's Web before naptime and I remember that I wanted to share with you this very sweet book that my mom gave me for Christmas. Has anyone hear of The Little Big Books?

It's full of all the stories I remember, and more that I don't, from when I was a little girl. The illustrations are a beautiful collection. It has recipes like Baked Apples Stuffed with Granola and Frozen Chocolate Bananas. "Do Your Ears Hang Low?" and "I'm a Little Teapot" are a few of the finger games, and songs, stories, nursery rhymes and poetry fill the rest of the book. Thankfully I am in the midst of these treasured days that Robert Louis Stevenson writes about.

"You too, my mother,
read my rhymes
For love of unforgotten times,
And you may chance
to hear once more
The little feet along the floor."
~ Robert L. Stevenson

An abbreviated version of the best parts of Charlotte's Web was compiled by the editors daughter...here are a few snips.
"I don't know what a magnum opus is, " said Wilbur.
"That's Latin, " explained Charlotte.
"It means 'great work.' This egg sac is my magnum opus, my great work - the finest thing I have ever made."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Charlotte, " said Wilbur dreamily, "are you really going to have five hundred and fourteen children?"
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Welcome to the barn cellar. You have chosen a hallowed doorway from which to string your webs. I think it is only fair to tell you that I was devoted to your mother. I owe my very life to her. She was brilliant, beautiful and loyal to the end. I shall always treasure her memory. To you, her daughters, I pledge my friendship, forever and ever!"

Further along in the book is another Robert L. Stevenson quote..."The world is full of a number of things. I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings."

And, I'll part with an excerpt from Amy Herrick's essay on "Mortal Terrors and Motherhood." (Because the cynic in me is never silent for long."

She says, " You are forced to see, not only how heartrendingly fragile a child is, but also that your own childhood is over, that there is an inevitable time limit to all things. Yet, faced with this, do you throw your hands up in despair and sink down into lassitude and indifference?" (And, to that, I say, "YES! Some days!") "Certainly not, because here before you is that which you would jump into a burning building, or out of a speeding locomotive, for. Here, before you, by a trick of light upon the bathwater, is the little stroke of genius- the face, the sign, the map - to show you your next move, to lead you through the doors of your own mortal confines to where you will outlast yourself."

Snow, Cold, Bright

Happy New Year all. I'd like to say I'm going to try blogging more in this new year. We'll see how that turns out. We have had a wonderful Christmas on the farm...it's not over yet though. My folks are coming this weekend, weather permitting, and John has another Christmas morning to look forward to. We're not sure he can make it through another one. He was exhausted after Dec. 25.
We are recovering slowly but surely as we are waking, eating and napping. It's nice to recover from the holiday bustle with a 1 1/2 year old. I now have a perfect excuse for the naps that I so love. John will be 2 in February and I am amazed by him every day. We laugh so much together and talk about the silliest things. I don't watch Oprah very often, but I did the other day just b/c it's her last year, right (?) and she had an episode about "joy rising." I didn't catch all of it, but what I did see was the dude with the job in The Great Barrier Reef. Wow. What a job. Did anyone see that!? Back on track...John is our Joy Rising. He woke up from his nap yesterday and it was snowing outside. He proceeded to tell me about the out of doors as he said, "snow, cold, bright." He's not even 2 and he described the weather with three adjectives. Can you tell I'm amazed and proud!?





We've placed our order for baby chicks and have a hatch date of March 29th! We ordered laying hens, which we'll cull for fryers as well as roosters, Cochins, and Mille Fleurs. The lady on the phone might have been from Versailles, KY (they say Versails) as she pronounced them Milly Flewers. Yikes.
We're also planning to till the front yard in preparation for some landscaping this spring. And, we'll be starting seeds in flats this year!
Yes, we still need crown molding in the living room, finishing touches on so many things inside, a little flooring in the hall has yet to be laid, and we need to hang window treatments inside. But, we decided we are going to work on all of that simultaneously b/c we can't resist the outdoors another season.
So, that's how our new year is shaping up...thanks for reading and many blessings to you and yours this 2010.
xo,
Jackie