Outside work

While nearly all of our efforts and energy have been toward the inside of our home, but with a huge yard of dirt surrounding us it was bound to grab our attention sooner rather than later.

 Our family friend, Sharon Boese drew a landscape plan for us and we are so thankful for the work she did! We hope/plan to simply take parts of the plan and plant them one area at a time.

 I think some mulch would really set things off nicely, but to simply have plants growing in front of our house makes it feels even more like a home to us.

 We also planted three maple trees out in the yard. We've got our fingers crossed that they take hold and grow.

 Ben got the waterway and mound system planted with a mix of native grasses and flowers just before a nice rain.

 I put all the pumpkins and gourds we bought at the pumpkin patch to good use around our front door.

 Maybe I went a little overboard...but I started and pretty soon I had quite a bit of things set up,

 and I was having so much fun with it I couldn't stop until it felt balanced. When I asked Noah to take me on a 4-wheeler ride to gather hedge apples, Ben just smiled at me, knowing that some sort of outdoor decorating was underway.

Pumpkin Patch

Nothing says fall like a visit to the pumpkin patch!

 It was chilly this morning, and there was plenty of mud thanks to the rain we got yesterday, but that didn't slow us down. The boys slid down the big slide, then we ventured toward the patch. A new feature this year was a short maze that the boys tackled all by themselves. Levi made it!

 And here comes Noah!

 After a brief stop to play on the playground equipment we hauled our wagons to the patch. There were so many pumpkins! I let Noah pick his pumpkins all on his own.

 He ended up finding two unique and awesome pumpkins.

 Ben helped Levi find and cut his pumpkins,

 but Levi did the heavy lifting.

 Pumpkins sure are heavy!

 Then back through the maze to enjoy a few more activities.

 The boys did the Straw Scramble - a two minute long opportunity to find as much money and candy in straw.

 There were a few excited finds,

 but they mostly came up empty handed. Although, the few nickles and pennies they found, in addition to the banana flavored Laffy Taffy, was thrilling for them.

I was reminded this afternoon while on a walk with my mom, that we didn't used to have pumpkin patches and corn mazes. We simply bought our pumpkins at Dillons. The boys are fortunate to have a fun pumpkin patch only a short drive from our farm!

House Progress: Moved In

So we're done! We moved in to our new house one week ago. I'm hoping and praying this is the last time I move...I do not enjoy it.

 I took a week off from work to move and spent time with my family at the hospital during my mom's mastectomy. It was an incredibly tiring and full week! Mom came through surgery well and is at home recovering, and working with her doctors on determining the exact next steps of treatment.
The farm house wasn't looking too great in the last days that we lived there...

 But on Saturday morning, we had a bunch of (wonderful!) friends come over and help us move everything we hadn't been able to move on our own. The weather could not have been better so the kids enjoyed playing football and exploring on the farm.

 And the adults got our stuff moved from one house to the other and then enjoyed a great lunch prepared by my cousin Megan. It was fun to have friends around to laugh with and it was incredible to have a delicious lunch prepared for all of us!
That night, we chowed down on pancakes, scrambled eggs and bacon in our new kitchen! We all worked together to make the meal and there was room for all of us in the kitchen, it felt magical.

 This photo for two reasons: 1. A new house has a way of showing you all the dirt, dust and hand prints - and yes, I mean ALL of them. 2. Each morning, we get to watch the sunrise and it's good for my soul.

 I walked around the house this afternoon and snapped photos - just a glimpse into where we're at with settling in.

 Ben's office - if I can't find him I know to look in the office. He's been waiting for three years to have an office and has this corner of the house perfectly organized.

 Seeing my dishes - the ones we eat off of everyday - through glass doors has been a dream of mine for the past 11+ years.

 The storage room is doing its job - storing stuff.

 The boys are enjoying have their own rooms and Levi has clearly claimed his new big brass bed  (which actually came from my great-grandma's house).

 Noah's settling into his room, too.

 And holy cow, we have enjoyed our new shower! The shower in our master bath doesn't have glass yet so we're all using the boys' bathroom. The shower head puts out lots of water and there's a light near so we can actually see when we're inside it! Ahhhhhh.

 The master bath is working out nicely,

and so is the closet!

 Tractors are slowly taking over the living room upstairs.

 The wooden barn quilt I painted last Thanksgiving is sitting on the floor waiting for me to find it a home.

 The sun room - the room with random furniture is looking a bit dreary on this cold and rainy fall afternoon.

 Our old hand-me-down kitchen table is serving as our dining table...and I smile at how odd it looks each time I see it.

 I baked pumpkin chocolate chip muffins this afternoon and it was so nice to have the kitchen smell and feel warm!

 There are a few boxes hanging around still, but slowly they're all getting unpacked and thrown out.

Looking back at the process of building this house, it's easy for me to skim over the parts that were stressful (the floodplain, septic system questions and expenses, etc.) because the rest of it was fun! I enjoyed working with our builder and I enjoyed laying out the floor plan and picking out finishes. In some ways, I'm sad that it's over. But in lots of ways it also feels really good to make this house our home and to share it with our family and friends.