right now, I AM

....listening to the frogs croaking *grin*.

They're back! Over the last couple of days nature has made a sudden and very vocal comeback and it is music to my ears :) There are so many more birds now visiting the feeder and chirping away, dozens of robins can be seen scouring the fields all the time as they look for bugs and turn the manure piles over and tonight the frogs are singing. And not just one frog but a chorus of them. Not long and there will be multitudes of eggs clinging to the reeds and grass around our pond ready for little fingers to poke at and inspect :)

Hubby and I were just talking and making plans for future camping trips to. He figures it's a little to cold to go now but come the end of April I think we'll start venturing out. I'm looking forward to going further north to one of our favorite spots where we can camp right at the top of the beach along the ocean. It's a little chilly in May but is the only time that we can just pop out whenever we want and get a front row seat to the ocean. I love to spend the afternoons scouring the beach with the children looking for shells, crabs and other cool things that we come across and then at night we get to sleep to the sounds of the waves crashing up onto the rocks :)

There are so many things I am looking forward to :) How about you?

Hugs,
Rosina

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right now, I AM

...loving the creativity that is the crazy board games the kids have been making :)

The last couple of weeks has had them taping giant pieces of paper together and making grids covered in colored pathways and a menagerie of fisher price little people, mario & luigi cut outs along with anything else that happened to find its way onto the board *grin*.

I'm quite thankful that it has kept the youngest two so busy as I've been so busy this week with their older brother as we have been working hard on a large country study that he is completing for our homeschool book club. We read Around the World in 80 Days and then each of the children picked a country that Phileas Fogg visited and we are learning about Japan. So far he has a good sized research paper, a 3D model of japan out of salt dough and we're going to be making sushi on Friday to share with the others. That will be very interesting as none of us has ever eaten let alone made sushi so we should have fun doing that together :) I'm looking forward to seeing him present everything this weekend!

Hugs,
Rosina

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right now, I AM

....popping in to say hello and let you know I'm still here *grin*.

The time change brought with it warmer weather, melting snow, longer days and a break in the heavy rain showers which in turn has given us a chance to finally get outdoors and get down to our yearly farm spring clean :)

We've been busy little bees rebuilding the chicken coop, pulling burrs and alders, clearing brush, cutting windfalls for firewood and burning really big piles of brush. My oldest has been helping out with the firewood cutting and I love seeing him run around in his bright green ear muffs to protect his ears from the loud sounds of the chainsaw.

I've got lots of photos to share and hope to get back to my regular blogging real soon. I've been so tired by the time we finish dinner and all the children are in bed that I've just been hanging out with Hubby and enjoying some much needed down time :) I didn't even get my yarn along post up this week! Now that's a first *grin*.

Hope you all are having a fantastic week!

Hugs,
Rosina

right now, I AM

....inhaling that new book smell :)

Is it ever to early to think about new school books?? Apparently my 12 year old thinks it is LOL. I've been saving my money since last September and early last week I put in my yearly curriculum order with Sonlight. This fall we'll be starting grade 7 and normally when the new catalogue comes out there's always a handful of items that have increased in price so I'm beating them to the punch and buying them now :)

So many good books this year! January and February always seem to be the months when I sort of feel tired with what we're doing and having all these new novels is really going to spur me on to finish up this year by the end of May. Plus I really want to read some Charles Dickens with him. Maybe I'll have to pack some of them along when we go camping this summer *grin*. I just won't tell him they are school related *wink*.

Hugs,
Rosina

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right now, I AM

...amazed that no matter how cold or wet my children get while playing in puddles, giant ones in this case, they just keep stomping and splashing :)

We came across this huge ice covered puddle today and they all had to stomp through it breaking up the ice as they went until my daughter finally slipped on one of the pieces landing on her knees and quite deep in the water. You think she might be slightly concerned that she had just filled her boots with ice water but she just got back up and kept on going *grin*.

I was the same at her age, daring and fearless and not willing to admit that I was freezing because I was determined to keep playing and playing hard! LOL.

Hugs,
Rosina

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right now, I AM

....in awe of the magnificent bald eagles that grace our presence on a regular basis.

Today on the way home they were literally everywhere! The kids and I were able to watch them soaring through the air on giant wings, observed a group of them sitting on a log of driftwood calmly surveying the ocean before them and another appeared to be bathing in a stream leading into the ocean as other onlookers quietly watched from a distance. Of course my camera battery was blinking and I was unable to capture any of them on film but they will be forever etched on my mind's eye :)

During Hubby's last trip south an old friend came calling though and I thought you might enjoy seeing a photo. This is Boomer, a rather tame bald eagle that loves to come and check out what they are up to. He comes very close to the tug boat and isn't skittish when they take photos. How cool is that!

Hugs,
Rosina



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right now, I AM

...chuckling to myself as I go through my latest photos :)

Only in a logging community would it be acceptable fashion wear to strap on a pair of cork boots and those trademark wool socks with the lovely red stripe and head out into public *grin*.

I remember as a little girl balling up those exact same socks for my dad on laundry days. I don't think that he even owned a pair of regular cotton socks. It was wool ALL the time and not just in the winter. He even wore them in his sandals in the dead heat of summer LOL. So when my mom joined us for a walk down to the mail with the above footwear all I could do was have a good laugh and see that those good old socks were still being put to good use :)

Hugs,
Rosina

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right now, I AM

....longing for the snow to return.

How is it that only 15 minutes north of us this is the beautiful winter scenery that awaits me yet here at my home we are completely green again?!

I want to go back... or at least for it to return to me :)

Hugs,
Rosina

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right now, I AM

....failing miserably at fighting off temptation!!

Today I made mass amounts of icing for the children to decorate their sugar cookies with :) Oh what fun we had with sticky fingers, red and green m&m's and sprinkles. At one point my 4 year old was nearly naked as he had so much icing stuck to his shirt that we had to remove it LOL.

But now I have been left alone with an unguarded stash of the sweet little cookies and I'm having an awful hard time not taking a nibble every time I pass through the kitchen!

I am SO weak *grin*.

Hugs,

Rosina

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right now, I AM

....one proud mama :)
Today was the end of our swimming lessons and two out of my 3 children passed their levels. Above is my little guy who took lessons for the very first time. He was bursting with pride when he ran over to show me his book with its sticker in it indicating that he was ready to graduate from 'sea turtles' to 'salamanders'. For me it is neither here nor there if they actually pass. I just want them to get comfortable being in the water although knowing how to actually swim will be a bonus next summer when we get to go camping on the lake again *grin*.

Hugs,
Rosina

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right now, I AM

...being silly!
I told my daughter I had thought of a new way that we could warm up her pajamas so they wouldn't be so cold when she got dressed for bed. So I stuck them on the brick wall *grin*. Our main woodstove chimney is right behind the bricks and the wall gets super toasty. The fuzzy jammies stuck to the rough bricks like velcro and they warmed right up for her :) Definitely got some giggles out of her before bed *grin*.

PS. please excuse my massive laundry pile. Anyone feel like folding? I'll pay you in cookies :)

Hugs,
Rosina

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right now, I AM

...smiling.
Winter has finally arrived with gusto and the sledding, snowball throwing and snowmen building marathon has begun. My days will now be filled with squeals of delight each morning as the height of the snow is re-measured, breakfasts gobbled and children being stuffed into snow suits multiple times :)

I love this time of year most of all.

Hugs,
Rosina

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right now, I AM

....marveling at how there is always a calm after the storm!
Last night the wind and rain blew so ferociously that I thought our roof would lift right off yet today it is clear and bright. I was teasing the kids that there mustn't be one pine cone left on the trees above our house because it had sounded like McSquizzy and his army of squirrels had pummeled our house with every one up there *grin*. If you don't know who McSquizzy is you can see a quick one minute animated clip of him and the rest of his Fuzzytailed Clan here *grin*.

Hugs,
Rosina

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right now, I AM

...thankful to be home with my backseat full of precious kid cargo.
236 kilometers (roughly 146 miles) later we have made a round trip to the city through heavy morning fog and icy conditions this evening. Everything is glistening outside tonight and we are sure to awake to a carpet of prickly white in the morning. What a pretty sight it will be :)

Hugs,
Rosina

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right now, I AM

...enjoying solitude, a moment, a snippet of time, entirely my own, no sounds, the room is empty, the beds are full and I can reflect on a day well spent.

Solitude is soul’s ‘solo’
Without it heart is hollow
~ Mula Veereswara Rao

Hugs,
Rosina

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right now, I AM

....savoring the sweet moments I just had with my youngest baby this evening as we shared the enchanting scenes and sweet poems from one of Salley Mavor's books full of three dimensional felt people and scenery. The pictures provided prompts for such wonderful questions and a much needed snuggle at the end of a busy day :)

Hugs,
Rosina

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right now, I AM

....thinking about our pet geese we used to have.
I saw the above fella today and it reminded me of when the kids and I raised a flock of beautiful white Embden geese a number of years ago and over time we slowly got down to our one very big male named Tom and when he passed away I missed his honking and welcoming hisses terribly. Such striking animals and are just like watch dogs. You never made it past the front gate without old Tom alerting us *grin*. I used to joke that we really had no need for a dog because all we had to do was let the geese loose and no one dared come near LOL. I think we're going to add some goslings to our spring chick order :)

Hugs,
Rosina

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right now, I AM

...bending cedar tree limbs that the children collected into hoops that we will use to create woven nature hangings. We scoured the yard for red leaves, twigs, pine cones and other little bits to use and tomorrow we will finish our 'secret' project. I haven't told them what all of the collecting was for *grin*. I couldn't help myself, I love to keep them in suspense! LOL.

Hugs,
Rosina

right now, I AM

...thinking that today's swimming lessons looked more like a visit to Club Med *grin*. When I was a kid our swim teacher stood over us on the pool decks and barked out orders like a drill sergeant and you worked your buns off treading water, doing laps or learning some sort of skill. Heaven forbid we ever had a moment to actually play. As I re-read that I feel like the old guy that tells the story of how he had to walk to school up hill both ways without shoes in knee high snow but I kid you not our swim teacher was the devil in disguise! LOL. I sure am glad that their lessons are much more playful :)

Hugs,
Rosina

right now, I AM

...reflecting on how blessed I was to be able to take my youngest son, in the middle of a busy morning in the city, on a mini nature walk excursion where we sucked up the sun, spotted jelly fish, smolts ,waterfowl and watched a sea plane take off all while big brother and sister were at the museum. A special time for mama and her boy :)

Hugs,
Rosina