All Time Favorite Christmas Photo

This may not be what you expected, but this is my all-time favorite photo from Christmases of the Wilson past.

My darling daughter, CW, was proudly showing me the painting she made for me on when nature decided to call :)

 

A millisecond after I snapped this, she was running down the hall toward the bathroom hollering "I gotta go potteeeeeee!!!!!....."

 

Priceless :)

 

Hope you got a little giggle like I did when I came across this :)

 

Sarah :)

The Many Faces of the Little Boy on the Prairie

Lesson learned...by trying to fix a typo in the original version of this post with my iPhone, I accidently deleted the entire thing!  So I'm going to try to re-create the original, because I was quite pleased with all but that one misspelling :)

Here we go, again...

The little boy on the prairie will be 10 months old next week.  He is a joy. He is a lot of work. He is many miracles rolled into one little human.

He has red hair. This means the Bedgar genes are strong with this one.

He is getting teeth...see...all the better to bite me with, my dear.

He is inquisitive.  So am I. Where did he get that scratch on his cheek anyway?

He is determined.

So much so that he found a loose piece of trim in the hallway and ripped it off.

Then he tried to eat it.

All.

Boy.

This face? This is the "I'm gonna change your world, Mama" face.

He has.
For the better.

I love him so.


"...I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." John 10:10, King James Version

The Wee Wilson's- Foolin' Around on April Fools

Has it really been this long since I put up a post!? Gee, I wonder why...maybe it's because we've been scrambling to get ready to plant our crop, or yet another round of the flu bug came through, or we took some time to celebrate the Easter season and that our risen Lord has freed us from sin, or perhaps, it was because I decided that the piles of laundry and dishes just HAD to go...I think it was a little of all of these, but either way, I'm putting up a few fun posts of our family being just us these past few weeks.

Here are a few fun pics of the Wee Wilson's fooling around on April Fools!  April Fools isn't just any day around here, it is my dear Grandpa Thomas' birthday, and although we miss him dearly, I know he is getting such a kick out of watching these little hooligans from heaven :)

Retro 80's boy.

Yep, that lasted about three seconds.

C.W.  jumped in for a kiss. That didn't go so well.  Oh, and my children are walking billboards on any given day. Want your business advertised? Just give them temporary tattoos! Fun Fact: Bobcat's are made in Gwinner, North Dakota. See www.bobcat.com :) 

I think he enjoys conversation from a bit of a distance instead of being covered in girl germs :)

This is the "I can't believe you made me wear polka dot GIRL sunglasses, Mama!" face.

The wee redhead couldn't bear the sound of sister and brother having so much fun without her, so she decided to join the party :)

 Did you get fooled on April Fools Day? I did: C.W. told me, "Mama, today you get a nap!...APRIL FOOLS!"  She was right. No nap, but lots of laughs.

Thanks for stopping by!

Apfelschorle!

I first tasted "Apfelschorle" at a farm museum in Germany.

 It was a beautiful place, overlooking a picturesque valley.

I could have spent a week there, but we only had a few hours, which included one of my favorite hours, the lunch hour :)

My fellow McCloy fellow in agriculture, Erin, introduced me to this wonderful drink. 

Here's what Wikipedia says about Apfelschorle (pronounced Ahp-fell-shore-luh).

"Apfelschorle, also known as Apfelsaftschorle, is a popular soft drink in Germany. It consists of carbonated mineral water and apple juice. The broader category Fruchtschorle consists of any fruit juice mixed with carbonated water, but Apfelschorle is by far the most common. Spritzer (that is wine mixed with carbonated water) is called Weinschorle.

Apfelschorle contains fewer calories and is less sweet than pure apple juice. This makes it popular in summer and among athletes. Commercially available Apfelschorle generally contains between 55% and 60% juice.... However, in most bars and restaurants, Apfelschorle is mixed ad hoc from apple juice and carbonated water."

I make it at home...a lot...ever since I introduced my children to "the special drink".

I love that it is bubbly like soda and not as sugary.

And it's SO simple to make!

1 part apple juice.

1 part sparkling water. (I found the "Mendota" brand at our local grocery store called Hugo's)

If you REALLY want to knock the kiddos' socks off, serve it in a wine glass, just make sure it's a wine glass you don't mind having broken. I don't know about your place, but my kids break stuff. all. the. time.  :-)

When served in a wine glass, Apfelschorle can also make a pregnant lady feel like she's drinking something alcoholic.  Not that I really NEEDED something alcoholic when I was pregnant, but it just felt nice to have that glass stem in my hand :)

Also, my oldest daughter, C.W., takes the ingredients for Apfelschorle when she's "snack kid" at her pre-school.  She has done this three times and it's always a big hit! 

However, I found out that this last time she was "snack kid" some of her classmates requested to only have the sparkling water.  When I asked WHY they only wanted the sparkling water she informed me that "it made them burp a lot".  Uhuh.

Well, I THOUGHT Apfelshorle may somehow impose some class and culture on them, but leave it to kids to just be kids! LOL! :)

Have fun making Apfelshorle!  Special THANKS to American apple growers, like my friend in Michigan, Jeff Vanderwerff !

Thanks for stopping by,
Sarah :)

Bang, crash!...well, what do we have here?

I sort, I wash, I dry, I fold, but I don't empty pockets.  When I do laundry, I figure if you wore it, and you put stuff in the pockets, it is your job to take the stuff out before you put your clothes in the hamper.

This can be dangerous, considering I'm married to a farmer.

However, it's also entertaining, considering he still wears the clothes that had the permanent marker in the pocket, and yes, I still wear the clothes that had the pink Chapstick in the pocket.  So this is NOT me pointing fingers, but I do want to tell you about one particularly exciting, and downright shocking, experience I recently had with our clothes dryer.

Here we go...

A few of these items are fairly standard...

Carpenter's Pencil.  Yes, to be a farmer you must be a "jack of all trades"...carpenter, plumber, electrician, welder, accountant, agronomist, chemist, biologist, wildlife behavior and nutrition expert, human resource manager, etc.

Pretty standard stuff here.  A few washers and a screw, although I'm surprised I didn't get a puncture wound from that one.

Alan Wrench, left over from the assembly of the crib.  Farmers, with their "jack of all trades" talents and their "I've seen in all, so this is no big deal" senses of humor, make GREAT husbands and are WONDERFUL fathers, if you don't mind the constant flow of mud/grease/dirt/smell of diesel fuel into your home, can be a mostly-single Mom 9 months of the year, and can handle phone calls like "Um, Jeremy's driving himself to the emergency room and he's bleeding pretty badly, you might want to meet him there." :-)

Told you I wasn't going to point fingers. Check out this collection of bobby pins I found...yep, those are mine :)

Pretty pink hair accessories...the kids certainly help with the collection of goodies that is building up in my laundry room.

 But NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING prepared me for the sound of what I thought was the dryer self-destructing and possibly igniting into a fiery ball of lint and Carhartt coveralls.  I had just put in a load of work clothes, and I do mean WORK clothes.  This load was so muddy they could have stood up on their own, and they bore the smell of manure from when Jeremy helped the neighbors move some heifers (young female bovines). 

All I heard was this HORRIBLE banging and crashing. I took a deep breath, opened the door of the dryer and what to my wondering eye did appear, but ten HUGE nails!  Together they must weigh a pound.

What the...!!??

It may be time for me to add a new step in my laundry routine...checking pockets :)

Oh, and here's a fun game for this Marvelous Monday, I'll send ten bucks (seriously) to the person can identify this item that I found in my dryer. I bet my fellow farming Mama's will be able to identify it, and I'm betting I'm not the first parent who's had a kiddo rip one of these off.

  

Have a GREAT week everyone!  - Sarah :)

p.s. And if you're having a not-so-marvelous Monday, consider this...

"Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you." - Peter 5:7, NIV.

Wordless Wednesday: Tea for Two and Two for Tea

Here the wee red head (age 2) prepares and serves "hot tea" (a.k.a. the fleece scraps from the Peter Pan Halloween costume I sewed for Jeremy). These scraps are amazingly versatile. Some days they are scarves for stuffed animals and other days they are "spinach soup"...and they make this really fun sound when vacuumed up...."foomp"!

Meet Moose...

And Mouse...

And White Puppy...

Hope you enjoyed stopping by our little tea party :)

Sarah :)

Baby Its (Only a Little) Cold Outside!

This week we've had a rare warm spell in February in North Dakota. This sudden ability to walk outside without the air being so cold it takes your breath away, and being able to leave skin uncovered for short periods of time without risking frostbite, has caused me to look back and see what kept our little family so busy these past months while we were in "hibernation".


Really, there is no such thing as hibernation in North Dakota. We just have another season which I call "winter recreation". The snowmobiles (a.k.a. "sleds") come out of their sheds (and often cruise through the streets of town), and new communities of ice fishing houses crop up on the local reservoir. It really is just as much fun to live here in the winter as it is in the summer. Perhaps I'm a bit biased because in our marriage, Jeremy and I have divided up the family duties and HE'S the one who shovels/blows/plows/scrapes/attacks/hurls the snow. We've had well over 40 inches thus far...and it's only February!

When you've got a 4 year old and a 2 year old with cabin fever, you get creative.....so here's our guide on how we've been keeping the Wee Wilson's busy this winter...



You can rearrange furniture. Perhaps even buy new bunk beds. The children can help with assembly....




...until they're too tired to help anymore...




You can play outside on the swingset.....

...Until the snow gets too deep. Then you bury the swingset under a GIANT snowdrift, continue to blow snow on it, until you have built your very own sledding hill on top of what used to be your garden....
If you're married to a guy named Jeremy Wilson, he may just build a series of steps up to said snow mountain to accomodate for girls who have lots of enthusiasm, but have short legs :) Here they are waiting in anticipation for their first ride on their "yed" (that's "sled" pronounced by the wee red head :)


Then you will teach said children how to avoid being wiped out by an oncoming "yed".

Note: No children were harmed in the making of this film (but I have to admit, it was a close one!).


Pay special attention to Jeremy's instructions at the end of the video...



In case you missed that, he said "When you see a sled coming, you gotta dive out of the way!". That's some good advice, Papa :)


After all that sledding...find a friend who has a fireplace and go to their house to thaw out. We don't have a fireplace, but we enjoy a friend's on occasion...Ahhhh......




Then whip up some "hot chock-it" (the wee red head's pronunciation of "hot chocolate") in your "Moo Mixer". If you don't have one of these gadgets, you NEED one. Now I'm not a big fan of gadgets because we've got a small kitchen, which means we have small cabinets, which means we do not have room for many gadgets, but this one's a keeper! THANKS for sending this to us Aunt Lynne! Someday you'll have to c'mon over for some "hot chock-it" :)


(Warning: The Moo Mixer can crank out some serious r.p.m.'s. So before you cut the kiddos loose with it, teach them how to "pump" the button, instead of "hold" the button, or you'll be wearing your "hot chock-it" :)


Well, that's all for now folks. Happy Winter from balmy Jamestown, North Dakota!

Wordless Wednesday- Life on the Funny Farm- You Write the Caption

I'm giving my first "Wordless Wednesday" post a shot.

These are simply a bunch of random pics from our home and farm. We're just like every other family in America. We're quirky and downright ridiculous at times, but we love each other "no matter what", as my four year old will tell you.

It just so happens that the vocation we have been called to is feeding YOUR family.

This post is so wordless that YOU get to write the captions!

Have fun! And keep it clean, this is a family show :)


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Enjoy the rest of your week! THANKS for stopping by!

Sarah :)