Tomatoes and chicken feet

Fall is here and things are winding down. Now is the time to pull in tomatoes from 3 plants...I either have to do up green tomato salsa, eat lots of fried green tomatoes, or find places to let them ripen....maybe all three!

I still have a few beets and lots of acorn squash to bring in. Then we need to cover the garden spot with compost. A 100 foot square spot with 12" of mulch should do!! Guess to get that we have to muck the barns first! Whew! Everything hinges on everything else... And if we have more time we will go to the fields and pick up unharvested corn for our animals this winter. Every bit helps!

I took 20 birds in the back of the van up to the processing plant yesterday. It smelled like a pig farm in the van. I was frustrated because the back windows haven't opened in a year and I couldn't remove the stink. God was so gracious in opening the windows for me!! And I didn't even pray about it...

Then after I got there and had to pay I was just hoping that I would have enough money  to pay. Every time I have gone, somehow God sells something and gives me the EXACT change. This time was no different. I had exact change. I got goosebumps and almost started crying as I looked at Matt and said," God's done it again! Why do I doubt??!"

The lesson is that if God Cates aboit the small things that I haven't prayed about, how much more the things that are big and life-changing?! Thank you, God, for being so amazing!!

I brought home all of the chicken feet. Yuk, right?! Well, washed and peeled they will make delicious and healthy soup stock! The girls, however, aren't so sure!!

Life with a two year old

I'm just going to state here...if you ever meet a stay at home mom of a two year old,whether she is young and single or middle aged or old and raising grand babies...give her a hug and tell her she is doing great. She might not be doing as well as you would like...but raising a two year old is HARD work. Now, I've raised four others. I should know. And on some level I do know. But you forget the details. Like having babies. Would any mom really do it 5+ times if they REALLY remembered?! We forget enough to make us do it again. I'm here to tell you that you might THINK you remember...but you don't!!

In a three hour period of time Z has broken a picture frame that sits on a high shelf, broken the soap dish in the bathroom, ripped books, spilled dry beans and kicked them everywhere. She has such a disorganized brain that she cannot attend to anything for more than about 30-60 seconds. I've tried oil on a plate, shaving cream, bubbles, stickers, paint with water, puzzles, therapy ball, water play...

Whereas C never ripped but one book (and stuck the pieces up her nose), Z rips every book she can, thus...no library books.

Of course her favorite thing to do is to wander around the yard and pick up "poo balls"... And yes, that is her only 2-word sentence!!

She is thinking she'll give up naps and stay up late. I'm thinking something else!! How can a woman get any school done with the others if I can't get 5 words spoken in a row?!

Her other favorite things are being two with the dog...pulling fur, twisting ears, laying on her,pushing her out of the way of the window and then saying " come!!" AND she loves picking unripe raspberries!