Hair post

Here a few shots of a recent style that Lizzie wanted.  For dance class, they were supposed to wear a "low bun" so for the recital, I took the beads out and made a bun out of it.  Lizzie is so patient for braiding, though Martin has no interest in letting us work without his "help".  We manage just fine.

Dance photos

A few weeks ago, Lizzie had her pictures for dance class.  Here are a few of the pictures that Ryan took on that day.

John's birthday

Kate had a bunch of family over to celebrate John's birthday this year.  She picked a great day - very warm.  The kids celebrated in the pool on her deck.

 All the kids get to help with the candles.  Thanks Uncle John!

Garden update

Here is a garden update for you.  As you can see, Indy is a large, but relatively relaxed boar.  Here is Tim giving him a back scratch.

 The piglets are enjoying themselves - Indy let himself into their penned area to be near Scarlett and hasn't caused any trouble so far; we are hoping that continues to be the case.

 Last week was the first Hampden Farmer's Market.  Ryan does a great job to have early produce for market.

 The kids and I made the trip to check it out.  The market was well attended and everyone was having a great time!

birthday

A few more birthday photos:

Martin!

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A few more

I tried to get a variety of shots of Martin's different facial expressions to post, but in the end, all but this one are completely blurry!  He is a boy on the move!  But so handsome, so I have to share at least one of the photos.

 There are a few kittens on the farm these days (anyone want one?) and here we are showing the kids from a good distance.  You know things are changed around here when the space normally reserved for lawn equipment is overtaken by ponies, tricycles and little wagons!

Piglets!

On May 1st, Ryan was greeted early in the morning with 10 squirming piglets - by the end of that day, 12 had been born.  Eleven piglets and Mama Scarlet are all doing well.

It was very exciting to take the kids up early that day to visit the pigs - I remember a lot of calf births from my childhood and hope we can offer Lizzie and Martin similar experiences.

 We also let the cows out into the field.  No problems on day 1, but they have gotten out a few times since.  It seems Princess Buttercup isn't afraid of a little shock from the fence.  Luckily, she loves grain!

 Uncle Dan was around this weekend too - he looks "Ford Tough" here, don't you think?

 Not a bad place for these girls to spend their days!

Surfs Up!

We had some very windy days in April!  We used to call this a "boat sinking day" (you may have guessed why).  Luckily, we only had a few sections of dock out and though one of them came away, it only floated to shore.  We will have some work to do before we use these sections again, but I am sure we will get them secured again at the first chance.  We have a lot of people here anxious to go fishing and kayaking!

 Mom took some pictures - I don't make the blog very often, so here you go:

 I was home by myself when the last section of the dock started to come away.  I called to the farm for reinforcements.  There really wasn't anything to be done but wait for the wind to relax, but it was nice to have the visit!

Many faces of Lizzie

Are you kidding me?

 That's more like it!

Surprise!

The only way to really surprise someone in this family is to plan a party that is not very near the actual birthday.  We were able to really surprise Mom for her birthday this year by holding it the month before her actual date.  We invited her side of the family and many were able to attend.  We were at room capacity, so it worked out perfectly.  After losing our Dear Aunt Louise just a few days before (not long after her 96th birthday), we were all especially glad to be together (as Dad said in his toast, "if she could have been here, she would have been here").

These pictures would benefit from some editing (due to tricky lighting in the space) but that will have to wait for another time.  Happy Birthday, Mom!