December 19

 

Eli in a Cousin Trap (one of only two photos I took yesterday... gotta get with it...)

December 13

 

Bringing home the tree!

Family Adventures Week 2

For the second week of our Sunday afternoon outdoor family adventures, we headed up to the Blue Ridge Parkway and made our way to the Indian Gap parking area. Just a short walk down a wooded path and we arrived at Indian Rocks. And the kids didn't stop climbing and exclaiming for at least the next 30 minutes. (You can click on the photo collage for a bigger image.)

 

A flat-topped rock served as a perfect picnic table and PB&H sandwiches were enjoyed by all. Then back to the climbing and a bit of hide and seek. Curt managed to take a nap. Yes, lying on a rock. I tell you, the man has crazy sleeping skills.

We only had to have one "serious talk"-- I won't name names, but it involved a lengthy discussion with a certain 4yo about the consequences of pushing his siblings whilst they stood near the edge of a rock with a 20-foot drop to the ground. Ahem.

Stay tuned! I'll try to get the week 3 adventure post up soon so we can be caught up and ready for current updates.

Sunday Hikes

We've been living here in this beautiful area for almost two years now. There's always something to do around the house and certainly on the farm, but we're also surrounded by wonderful outdoor opportunities beyond our little hilltop that we want to take advantage of more often.

I have been inspired by Renee at FIMBY (Fun In My Backyard) (and also at AdventureinProgress) and her family's plan to set aside one day a week to spend as a family, observing a sort of sabbath and exploring the outdoors beyond their own backyard. Check out this post for both inspiration and practical tips to make it happen.

So three weeks ago we set out on our first Sunday afternoon outdoor adventure. And two weeks ago we did another. And yesterday, yet another! I think we're catching on. Right now, what is working for us is to set aside Sunday afternoons for this. The hardest part for me is to not think about all the things that need to be done here at home- a house to be cleaned, clothes to be washed, things to be planted, weeded, etc., but I'm getting the hang of that part, too.

I waited to see if this new plan really had a chance of "sticking" before I blogged about it, so now I have three to to report on. Here are some photos from our first outing- at Douthat State Park. Soon to follow are the other two- and maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to make a habit of keeping up with our weekly outings (boating is high on the kids' list once it warms up a bit more!) and a weekly post about it...

 



 

Sick Days

Greetings from the land of the puny children! We seem to have had one little thing or another taxing our immune systems here this week. And to qualify myself for the Bad Mother of the Year Award, let me just say, if they're going to be sick, can't they just feel bad enough to be still and quiet and sleep? Instead we've had just enough symptoms to keep us home and away from social contact. And grumpy. Did I mention grumpy? The kids have been a little out of sorts, too. ;)

I've been the healthy holdout so far. Although I am sure it is certain doom to acknowledge that fact. The three kids have each had different symptoms, all spaced out just enough to where you think things are back to normal before someone else goes down. And Curt has had the good fortune to get a little bit of each ailment. That or he is a hypochondriac. But don't tell him I said that. We're just starting to be nice to each other again.

A benefit to all this, though, is that my calendar, which was fairly full this week, got weeded out considerably. And though extra laundry (yes, Eli was *that* kind of sick) and caretaking has called for much of the newly-available time, I have also managed to catch up on some of my neglected to-do list and fit in a little time for catching up on email, phone calls and now, a long-overdue blog post.

In our downtime we've enjoyed lots of board games, some play dough creativity that left my floor a disgrace, and a fair amount of read-aloud. There has been room rearranging and closet cleaning tucked in there, too. All in all, not a bad week.

Growing a Blog

The self-imposed pressure of writing the perfect first blog entry is too great for a soul like me to ever hope to start a blog. Solution? Suck it up, intentionally write something imperfect, and get on with it.

Another challenge? The naming of said blog. I know I am silly, but the major obstacle to starting a blog for me has been the naming of it. How to decide? Seriously, I have been thinking of starting a blog for 3+ years, but couldn't get past naming it. Well, except for those three times I started a blog, name and all, but within a couple days (and before I could write the perfect first entry) decided the name wasn't quite right. You laugh, but I'm serious. I often try to hide my perfectionism (I do particularly well at this in the housekeeping department), but here I could not. I have word, language, grammar and naming hang-ups. Imagine the process of naming my three children. Thankfully, I have a husband who vetoed 99.9% of the baby names I suggested, so the field of choice was very narrow. But, I digress. Anyway, as someone who likes to rearrange as much furniture as possible on a monthly basis, who knows how long I'll be happy with the name, but for now it seems perfect, if somewhat grandiose.

Our endeavor here can hardly be called a farm right now, but our plans and dreams are big and with hard work and a little divine providence, I think we can grow into the blog's name. Besides, farmkitchentable was available and kitchentable was not.

So using the term "farm" in the title is a bit of a stretch, but the kitchen table connection is solid reality! Firstly, food and family take center stage at our house, and we currently eat all our meals at a beautiful, round table that graced my paternal grandparents' house as far back as I can remember. I imagine the topics of food and family (particularly my children's antics) will take center stage of this blog. Also, we homeschool our children, and many of our messes and masterpieces are created at our kitchen table.

Another hope for this blog is that it is a way to keep in touch with friends far and wide. One of my favorite ways to spend time with friends is with good food and good conversation around the table in a cozy kitchen. This little corner of the blogosphere will hopefully provide a small dose of that connection, albeit inferior to face-to-face company.

To top it all off, I just happened, this week, to discover and fall in love with a song by Tish Hinojosa titled, "The Kitchen Table."




So here's to all the celebrations of family, friends, food and all the messes and masterpieces I hope to record and/or create here at my little Farm Kitchen Table. And may I not be paralyzed by my desire for perfect grammar and phrasing of my blog posts.

Enjoy!

KM

P.S. Why yes, I have edited this entry 3 times after I first published it. Wanna make somethin' of it?