Day Eight: Playhouse Progress, Possums, Puppies

Monday! The days of the week don't feel regular, so I have to remind myself what day it is all the time. I let myself sleep in yesterday, but today I woke up early to do some work. Right at 8, the kids were up and I whipped up some pumpkin waffles for William (thank you, Andrea Chesman, for your pumpkin waffle recipe in the cookbook Recipes From the Root Cellar! We make it ALL the time) and oatmeal for myself and Taiya.

Taiya wanted to do a computer program called Epic, where some computer lady reads stories, and it highlights the words as they go. She loves listening to stories but doesn't love reading them herself yet, so I'm more than happy for her to take in stories in whatever way she wants at this point. She and William listened to several books about a mermaid town called Aquamarina or something like that. The main character mermaid has a best friend that's a narwhal, and they solve mysteries? I have so many issues with these stories (a narwhal? would they be able to exist in the same habitat as mermaids? and how do they talk to each other?) but I have to remind myself not to think too hard about it. Because, mermaids.

We made a bit of progress on the playhouse. We measured and dug the holes for the posts that we're setting to put the platform on. Jeremy lugged up giant cedar logs on his shoulder, while we cheered him on. I was able to give Taiya a lesson on soil horizons with one of the corner holes. It's moments like those that I think, this homeschooling thing isn't too bad! I can handle this! I got to teach her vocabulary (horizon) and soil science. And we had some sensory play--feeling the sticky clay subsoil, comparing it to the topsoil and the sand in the sand box. If you need an activity for kids, I highly recommend hole-digging.

The chicks are still doing fine. We've caught two possums so far outside their pen. William wanted me to cook the first possum for him. Where he got that idea I can NOT imagine, but I told him there was NO way I would be cooking a possum. He kept insisting on it, and I kept shutting him down. No. Nope. Not gonna happen. Nopeity nope. Later in the day I was looking at a cookbook, and he asked hopefully, "Are you looking for a possum recipe?" Still. No. Who knew I would ever be having this argument with my five-year-old who won't even eat pizza or bagels?

Goats grazing on a gray day. 

Taiya and I went up to feed the puppies their afternoon snack. We drove up and then walked out to their pen area. There were only two puppies there, so we called for them, and the rest didn't appear. We walked out to where the goats were grazing and found Skye, doing a good job watching her herd. But no puppies there. We walked back, and Bonnie the new mama goat followed us back. We found her baby curled up napping in a shelter, and they bleated at each other and the baby nursed. It was good to see Bonnie taking such good care of her! After we got them sorted out, we looked up and the five missing puppies were scampering across the field. So we had a good ol' puppy pile for a while.

Bonnie nursing "Bittie Bonnie".

Taiya and William have been asking a few questions repeatedly: "what's better, x or y?" is one set-up. "What's better, a field full of cute animals, or.... cow poop!" or "What's better, Gammie's cheesecake, or... butts?" The other one is, "what's your favorite thing to do with me on a sunny afternoon?" or "what's your favorite thing to on a 'yes' day when it's lunchtime and we're near a bunch of good restaurants?" So that's how our conversation went while we walked back to the barn. It is never dull, and usually hilarious, hanging out with my kiddos.

Extra-fragrant, ruffly daffodils we picked after puppy time. 

When we got back, I saw that I had a last-minute meeting for work scheduled, so I sat in on a Skype call for an hour while my babysitter Netflix kept the kids busy. Then I had to scramble to get dinner ready. I made a rosemary garlic potato soup that had silken tofu pureed into it. It was delicious with leftover bread and a dish of pickled beets so our meal wouldn't be entirely beige. Taiya said of the soup: "Each bite is like a mouthful of joy!" William ate Cheerios. You win some, you lose some.

Before bed, I read Taiya the first two chapters of Danny, Champion of the World, and William a book about Monarch butterflies and the classic, Chewy Louis, and then it was time for light's out. So another day is behind us. I don't think we've settled into a routine, exactly, but we're making it work. We get some work-work done, some home/farm projects done, some "educational" work done, and we try to keep the house at some level of functionality. There's usually a pillow boat, fort, or castle constructed somewhere in the house by the end of each day, so I guess that's part of our new routine too: everyone find the pillows so we can all go to bed.