More pics...

Here are a few more pics from the latest collection...

Jonathan is pretending to be a moth and is flying around the family room.

I love seeing the big guys interact with the little guys. Today Matt took Jonathan with him to deliver some firewood to a friend. Jonathan was thrilled to go with his big brother. It's not unusual for him to go up to Matt on the spur of the moment and give him a hug.

Tonight Ian has been helping Nathanial do the dinner dishes by turning on the rinse water...Ian calls it "playing dishes". I call it future dish washer in training.

This afternoon it got warm enough to sit out on the enclosed side porch and enjoy the sun. I took my spinning wheel out on the porch with me but after awhile I decided to curl up on the lounger and just soak up the sun. It felt wonderful. I also spoke to our neighbor who goes to FL for the winter. She says she'll be back the first weekend in April...that's only a few weeks away! Spring isn't as far away as it seems.

Yesterday as I cleaned out the alpaca pen, Mystifier was a bit rambunctious...he ran and hopped across the pen. Indian Paintbrush decided to show some life, too, so he and Mystifier started wrestling and butting each other...I think they're experiencing some spring fever, too.

I wish I had had my camera when I went out to the barn yesterday. The boys had a new bale of hay in their manger. When I went through the gate all 4 of them came to the barn door and looked out at me. Mr. Wonderful (the tall black one) had hay hanging from his head in several places. He usually looks so dignified and stuffy, but this time he looked comical with hay hanging from each of his ears, his topknot, and his nose. When I went into the barn you could see where he had burrowed a hole right down to the bottom of the manger...and had spread hay all over the barn!

Tomorrow Katelyn and I head to Albany first thing in the a.m. to go to the pediatric dentist. I told her that by going so early (we leave here at 7 a.m.) she'll get her appointment over and we'll be on our way home before her day has barely begun. She's not too eager for the trip, but we try to redeem any dentist appointment trips with a trip to a favorite bookstore in Albany. Somehow it's not as bad after spending some time browsing through books. (Yes, she's certainly my daughter...book lover that she is!)

Pictures of the gang...

This time I'll include pictures of the kids...It's been awhile since I've gotten some shots of each of them so here are the very latest.

Yes, that is Matt and Marc doing dishes!!

Rachael and Katelyn are great with the little guys. Here's evidence that they do read and play with Ian. (Jonathan wasn't holding still long enough to get his picture with them. More pics in the next post...

February in NY

A typical Saturday involves cleaning out the alpaca barn. This particular Saturday was a typical February day...bright, sunny, and c-o-l-d. There's ice everywhere and it can be tricky walking out to the alpaca pen. Thankfully, the layout of the pen minimizes the ice where the alpacas walk but sometimes they like to follow behind their human visitors so we have to keep an eye on where we walk. A little bit of hay spread on the slickest spots help them avoid falls...that and their toenails.

The 'boys' were more than willing to pose for the camera yesterday. Rachael got a picture of Mom cleaning the barn...someday I hope they will remember that going outside to do their 'business' is a good thing.

The last picture is my new 'toy'...this is a drum carder which makes carding fiber so-o-o much easier (and faster) than using my hand cards. We decided to use some of our tax return $ to invest in the carder so there would be less time spent on my carding and more time for spinning. I'm eager to get more fleece washed so I can get busy carding and spinning.

Smiles and ice...

The past week has been filled with challenges...complete with 2 visits to the ER and doctor appointments. There have been some tough moments, but there have also been moments when we realize once again how blessed we are. Coming home to a houseful of kids who have done their best to keep things running smoothly while we've been dealing with medical issues has been such a precious gift. The notes and phone calls offering to help in whatever way possible remind us that we're not in this alone. And the other day I received a "smile" long distance from a dear friend in Maine...her gift of flowers turned a bleak January day into a day bright with good memories and reminders that good memories are being made even in the midst of trials. So I'm sharing my flowers a.k.a. "smile" with you. Thanks so much Sue!!!

The other news of the week...we've had an ice storm as evidenced by the pictures. Matt's truck is thoroughly coated (as is everything else), but the coating on his truck convinced him that it wasn't a good idea to go to classes today.

The road crews certainly had a tough day of it...one of them got a bit too close to our mailbox. We'll have to figure some way to set up at least a temporary box until the ground thaws enough for us to replace the post.

Well, it's a perfect night to pull the spinning wheel up in front of the woodstove and get some spinning done on this cold, wet night so I'll close and get spinning.