February Festivities

Last month was full of fun, and here are a few other happenings.

Lance is now the third child to need vision correction...Before

AFTER: He wasn't very happy about having to get

 them, but has since warmed up to the idea of being able to see much better.

 I think he looks rather handsome, although I am completely biased. I think he looks very teenager-ish, don't you?

 We visited the library and grabbed a few things to read. These three books were my selections.

 So naturally we snuggled up and passed our time reading them before we had to give them back.

 February also included a party with our Sunday School class. We always have such a great time together...Love...Love...Love this group of people!

 This is probably my favorite picture I captured this past month on my IPhone. I looked up and saw this in my rear view mirror, and immediately stopped and snapped this picture. Jasper thought he needed to ride along to pick up the boys from a science day field trip.

 Julia and Justin enjoyed a Daddy/Daughter Date night together. She totally loves having her dad to herself. He treated her to Mexican food.

 I have also spent LOTS of time baking and making an ample supply of elderberry syrup. We ran out for a few days.....then we got sick! Lesson learned, ALWAYS have syrup on hand.

We have a couple of big projects brewing around here, I can't wait to show you what we've been up to! I hope to post more on that next week!

Sleepover Mania

Winter is a slow down time for us and this year the boys have really been living it up with sleepovers nearly every weekend. We either have a house full of extra kids or they are away having a blast at someone else's home. Several weekends ago I caught a few pictures of what it's like to sleepover at the Gaertegang Homestead.

First, there is a lot of eating, which requires lots of cooking on my part. I'm bracing myself for what this will mean in the years to come. After supper, Justin told everyone a story. He is such a great story teller......the kids LOVED it!

 There is usually some Wii playing with lots of laughing, and animated instruction giving to whomever has the remotes.

 No sleepover would be complete without a movie or two and some popcorn.

 If all your brothers have friends over and your the only girl, you and your mom have a tea party, play hair dresser, or quilt together.

 On a recent occasion Julia was able to have her first girlfriend sleepover party herself. They had a grand time together.

We are enjoying our time with friends before the many busy months ahead begin and sleepovers become harder to arrange until after the 4-H fair.

Snow Much Fun

This winter hasn't given us as much snow as my family would prefer, but it has provided enough on occasion for some entertainment.

 Lance is heading up the sledding party

 I barely caught this separate incident on camera...

 Project snowman demolition quickly followed! They are so proud.

 Ta-Dah.....Look what we did, Caleb exclaimed.

 I simply LOVE this moment...It looks like a warrior call, don't you think?

 I hope your enjoying the hopefully fleeting days of the winter months. Now that March has rolled around we are getting very excited about Spring! 

All Things Fall

Fall is such a lovely time of year. Bring out the hoodies, start up the bonfires, and enjoying life at a little slower pace. I'm not exactly sure if "slower" pace is accurate but it is compared to our summer pace anyway. This last weekend I spent some time finishing my fall decorating. Here are a few shots of what it looks like around the homestead. Let's start at my back door....

 Someone gave me these adorable pickets last year. I have one on each side of my garage door.

 I love this rustic flower sign. I picked it up at a local sale just a week ago.

 On the warmer sunny mornings I am still enjoying some quiet time outside in the mornings.

 This is the entrance to the covered porch.....

 As we move through October the kids and are going to start our

"Thankful Lists". 

Each day we will write one or things we are grateful for this season.

We will then read them aloud to each other right before Thanksgiving, cultivating thankful hearts at harvest time is a set-up leading into the Christmas season.

A Little Landscape TLC

Since we moved in April 2011, landscaping has been on my list. Not high on the list, but on the list. I do LOVE to landscape, but for this project I was going to need some assistance. These are the over grown and under cared for scrubs in the front of the house. We also had a set of three boxwoods I detested in front of our other set of front windows. This gives you an idea of what ugliness I'm dealing with!

 So with my helpers all ready to help....we set out to RIP THEM ALL OUT!!

 We I decided it was a great project after we had received some much needed rain. They did a GREAT job and made quick work of getting rid of them!!

One by one all those ugly guys got hauled to the burn pile! I don't have an after pic...sorry. I have since planted beautiful hydrangeas along the sidewalk path. (They look pretty bad since being transplanted, but I'm hoping they are just shocked and will rebound nicely next Spring. I also decided to plant more Hydrangeas on the other side. I just LOVE them! They are so beautiful, long blooming, and low maintenance, which in my opinion is a winning combination! I'm hoping next Spring I will have the beds planted and can show you the "after" then.

Fall is a great time to transplant so if you have plants you want to move, now is the time.

Beyond Busy

Well hello there, I Am just popping in to reassure you all that I haven't given up blogging. I just have hardly had enough energy left to drag myself to bed after non-stop busy days of harvesting and canning. I haven't taken the extra time I snap many photos lately either. I am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel and harvest time is starting to slow down a little. I am over the moon thankful for all we have been blessed with this year despite the terrible drought. I have noticed many of the blogs I LOVE to follow have been pretty quiet too, so I think many of you understand my silence. Also in the crazy mix, I'm gearing up for another great year of schooling my kiddos! 
So while I continue my blogging break to take care of the things I love to do.....Happy Harvest to you all. As well as, Happy back to school time.

Homestead Happenings...Projects Completed!

Amid running the kids to different camps, I have had the opportunity to finish up a few projects in June. Here is a little run down of the "Mama Happenings" and what I've been up to.

In our dinning room I was in need of new curtains to keep the HOT summer sun out. For the first year we lived here I had hung some burlap up and then tied it back with some binder twine. Although cute, it wasn't efficient and keeping any hot sun out of your eyes while eating supper. I sent Hubby in search of a curtain rod that would match the one we already had in the room....no luck! I persuaded him to let me try an "out of the box" idea I saw on Pinterest (LOVE PINTERST)! 

 Yep, it's pipe you pick up in he plumbing dept! I went with the black finish. This "rod" and all it's parts was HALF the price as an actual rod of this size. We are so happy with the look and the sturdy rod that I think we are changing out our other one in the room! I was having trouble finding a curtain that was simple with a little primitive feel. So I bought some fabric at a local quilt store and went to work. Then I edged with some fabric I got a garage sale earlier in the summer.

At the beginning of the spring I made a list of things I'd like to find at garage sales this year. One of the things on my list was a chair that I could use in the corner of our dinning room. I was more than trilled when I found this little gem for $5! I had a friend fix a couple things and that cost me $20. I am more than thrilled with my $25 investment!

 I got a call from Aunt Cindy who had some currants she wasn't going to use, and she was generous to let me take them off her hands. Aren't they such a gorgeous shade of red?

 Julia thought is was important to snap a picture of mommy while I was picking.

 I had never made jelly before (only freezer jam) so I was not to sure how this adventure would turn out. You never know till you try it though.....I was excited when we gave it a taste test! AWESOME! Not to mention that it looks just lovely in the jelly jars........ahhhhhhhhhh

 I also completed a t-shirt quilt from the boys' old soccer shirts. I have had the top done for a while but hadn't finished it. So I took the plunge...machine quilted it myself, then bound it! I'm happy with how it turned out. and I backed it with camo...in true BOY style. I've also been collecting vacation bible school shirts for a few years as well.....I plan to make a quilt from those as well.

 I think it's great I even found this soccer fabric on clearance at a quilt store this winter!

That's the fun I've been up to this past month. Now we are gearing up for the 4-H fair! So hang on to your hats it about to get CRAZY for the next two weeks! (Did I mention our sweet corn is also ready.....ahem....ya CRAZY! Not sure where we will fit that in!)

I'm linking to The Homestead Revival Barn Hop...check it out here!

VBS/Day Camp

Our second camp was Vacation Bible School (grades pre-K to 2) & Day Camp (grades 3-6). I taught the 2nd graders this year (my first teaching experience with Day Camp). I had 15 kids who were all very well behaved and were honestly a real pleasure to have all week. Zach was even in my class, but he didn't seem to mind his mama was teaching. Here are a few pictures that sum up our week.

The theme was Incrediworld Amazement Park.....

 In VBS & Day Camp the focus was on the 6 days of creation

 Here is Zach with some sort of furry creature on his shoulder, compliments of craft time

 Caleb is practicing his singing...he's the goof in the yellow tank

 Zach showcasing yet another craft project....these little inventions were so cool!

 Julia is practicing for the program (she in all the way on the right in the 2nd row)

  Here Caleb is showing how well our week went at CAMP #2!

Lance was there all week as well. He got to hang out in the "teen room" for his class time. Our paths just didn't cross all week which equals no pictures of him.

Summer Happening

 My boys have found a series on Netflix called "Top Shots". It's all about shooting all types of guns at all sorts of targets. With this inspiration, the boys got their bows out and enjoyed a little practice shooting at the bear target. Zach shot first.

 Next up was Caleb....

 Lance bringing his bow down to the right height.

 Also this summer we've been taking lots of pictures. Making memories of all the fun things we do!

 The boys have also taken up "trap making". They each designed their own squirrel trap.
 Here is Zach's creation.

 Lance went with the crate option....

 Here is the funny man demonstrating his trap in action.....

 Caleb's design involved lot of materials, including LOTS of binder twine.

 Miss Julia doesn't shoot bows, but she cheers for them on the sidelines! She's not into trapping things, but she helps them collect bait. She's a good sport for having three brothers, and just likes to hang out with them.

 Her thing lately has been making tents in her room. I think she slept in this "tent" for at least four nights out of seven last week. The two oldest boys went to camp last week, so she wanted to "camp out" in her room too, cute huh?