Snow Day!

As promised, here are a few pictures from this week's snow, which has mostly melted at this point.

View from the front porch:

Going sledding (Isaiah refused to wear gloves):

Abbie, the purple marshmallow, who was missing a glove:

Isaiah looked so cute afterwards, with his toussled hair and rosy cheeks

Christmas 2008 - part II

What's in the stocking?

Daddy helping Princess Abbie put on the crown and fleece cape

Yes, I'm one of *those* parents who put fruit leather in their kids' stockings. But doesn't look like he's complaining!

Thomas actually didn't mean to pick up the Dora version, but as you can see, Abbie was thrilled to open her Dora Play-doh thingie.

The kids playing with their new trainset, still wearing their capes.

We weren't planning on buying this, but glad we did. Abbie and Isaiah both have already spent hours playing in it.

Christmas 2008 - part I

Best picture I could get of all three of them

Isaiah and Grandaddy (Isaiah's trying to "steal" his glasses from his pocket)

Putting the angel on the tree... oh wait, that cherub is Oliver!

Decorating the tree

Just a cute shot of Abbie

Going Camping!

On Wednesday, my mom, sister and I took to the mountains on a much-needed camping trip. While nursling Ollie tagged along, this was my first time away from Abbie and Isaiah overnight. But, I knew they were in very capable hands at home with daddy. (Plus, it was a chance for him to get a glimpse of what *my* daily life is like!)

We got a late start on Wednesday, so that evening was just spent around the campfire, chatting about this, that and everything in between.

Ollie stayed bundled up in his carseat while we worked on dinner (tinfoil turtles) and pitched the tent. Afterwards, he blissfully dozed in my arms by the fire.

It got down to the low 40s, but inside the tent was surprisingly warm. I had a a fleece sleepsack over Oliver's pajamas, and made sure he was snuggly in the sleeping bag beside me. It was so cozy, compared to the chilly fall night.

The next morning, we woke up early to go bird-watching. Since it's peak migratory time, we were hoping to see lots of birds, especially warblers. We ended up seeing 20 different kinds of birds, including a red-tailed hawk, a kestrel, a great-blue heron, a winter wren, and a chimney swift. (The latter 2 are new ones for me, and will go on my life list!). But alas, not a single warbler!

Later that evening, we packed up camp while we cooked salmon, shrimp and rice over the fire. Ollie and I relaxed a little in the hammock, which he loved. He found the contrast of the green leaves against the blue sky to be just mesmerizing.

We had so much fun, I didn't want to go home. Although, I was more than ready to see Abbie and Isaiah, who both tackled me with hugs as soon as I stepped in the door. I'm disappointed that we didn't get to go camping as a family any this summer or fall, so I'm definitely hoping to do a lot next year!

Our peach trees have brown rot! *sob*

The other day, I walked around the side of the house to check on our fruit trees, and was HORRIFIED at what I saw. Our biggest peach tree, heavy with almost-ripe fruit just a week ago, was now filled with rotting peaches, hanging on brown branches.

It made my stomach weak just looking at it (both from the yuckiness aspect, as well as the realization that we wouldn't be getting any homegrown peaches this year). I snapped a few pictures, then turned to Google to figure out what on earth went wrong.

I came across this page, and it became quite obvious that our peach trees were infected with brown rot, which is a fungus that affects stone fruit. Upon closer inspection, the 2 peach trees that are immediately adjacent to the biggest one are also infected. The ones further down the property seem to be okay, although we'll be keep a close eye on them. I really don't want to have to spray fungicides, but I'm not finding many other alternatives. I'm planning on spraying this fall after we harvest everything from the other trees and garden. Then by next spring, hopefully the chemicals will have been diluted and dispersed enough where there isn't a concentration right where we grow food.

Has anyone else dealt with brown rot? What did you do to prevent it from spreading/returning the following year?

Affected fruit:

A whole lot of mummies...

Golden peaches shine like a beacon of hope. These peaches are furthest away from the affected peach trees, so we're hoping they won't become infected before they are ready to pick (not too much longer now!).

Abbie and Isaiah: future masons?

We're replacing the crappy vinyl siding around the bottom of our house with a concrete blocks. It's going to look SO much better... not too mention be a whole lot more energy-efficient!

Before:

Abbie's outfit of choice for the task at hand:

Mixing the mortar (and getting sprayed by the hose):

Looks good to me:

I *heart* this picture:

Dumping out some mud (we had to mix some mud for him to play in, since he wouldn't leave the mortar alone): End results: Fortunately the back of the house is less than 2 feet off the ground (as opposed to the 5+ in the front), and we've finished off the entire front. Hopefully we'll be done in a couple weeks, expecially since that means we can move on to our next project- building a swingset for the kids!

Happy Solstice / Holidays / New Year's!

Wow, it's been forever since I've updated, hasn't it? Sorry! Just been busy with the holiday chaos, working on custom orders, etc. I did sit down New Year's Eve, signed into Blogger, and had every intention of squeezing in a last-post-of-the-year... but then Isaiah started violently puking on me. So, that attempt was quickly aborted. (The excitement never ends around here!)

I know every is sick and tired of everything Christmas, so I'll try to keep this part of the update short and sweet. We celebrated the Winter Solstice by baking a peach pie with a sun motive. Unfortunately, it looked a lot better than it tasted. We used frozen peaches that picked this past summer, and it made it too mushy for my liking. We also made a wreath using evergreens (actually just the clippings from our Xmas tree). I never done anything like that before, and it's harder than it looks. I'll spare you a photo of my lowly wreath, though. I have it hanging in the kitchen. If it holds up, I'm going to save it and burn it in our Summer Solstice bonfire.

As far as the rest of the holidays, it was chaotic as usual. It was great visiting family, though, expecially my dad and stepmom. We hadn't seen them since this past July! The Littles got SO many presents. Fortunately, the majority of them weren't the annoying, battery-operated kind that I despise. Lots of books, blocks, bath toys, art supplies.

Here's a picture of the kids on Christmas morning. As you can see, Abbie was quite literally bursting at the seams with excitement. Isaiah was a little dazed and confused, but he still had a blast! Abbie is sporting her new Buzzy Bee knitted hat, that I bought from THIS Etsy seller. She's also wearing her new backpack, but that truly deserves a post of it's own, so I'll wait to rave about that. Other than seeing the sheer delight on my children's faces, my favorite gift would have to be the pair of binoculars that my mom gave me. She's turning me into a bird-watching addict, just like her! And, her beau gave me a Birder's Life List & Diary. Now I can keep track of all the species of birds that I see! To top it off, my sister gave me a gorgeous cedar suet feeder. Hopefully I can attract some nuthatches and woodpeckers soon. I hope everyone else had a wonderful holiday season. I have so much more to post, but I figure I'd break it up into smaller entries. I promise I'll write more soon!

Wordless Wednesday: Abbie the Butterfly