Giving Thanks

2 months have passed since Miriam Jane joined the family and we are well into the school year and the fall season...

Keeping up with this blog has become more of a challenge since she joined our family, but I was thinking the other day how often I look back at my old posts to remember when certain things happened and to be reminded of various stages of the kids growing up and I realized how valuable it has been and will continue to be if I can manage to keep it updated.  And in this digital day and age the blog has become a "scrapbook" of sorts for my kids to look back on one day.

Right now I type as I listen to my 11-lb, 2-month-old scream in her crib.  Long daytime naps have become a rare luxury around here.  I've grown accustomed to 20-30 minutes here and there and a lot of crying in between.  But, thank the Lord, she sleeps great at night.  From about 7 pm to 7 am she is in a solid sleep with only 2 quick feeds in between.  If that keeps up, I can survive the crazy days.

I've been meaning to post about how we chose Miriam's name, especially since a few people have asked, so here's the baby name scoop...

By now it's no secret that Erik and I are partial to Biblical names.  The names Micah, Keziah and Silas can all be found in the Bible.  But in this stage of life, the choice of baby names grows narrower and narrower as more and more of your family and friends and others in your social circle have their own kids and "use up" potential names.  It seemed as though all the preferable boy Bible names had already been snatched up by others, and there wasn't much left to choose from if this baby had been of the male gender.  Who knows... our child may have very well ended up with a name like Nahum or Jehoshaphat or Melchizedek simply in order for us to stay true to our genre :)

So, lucky for us, she turned out to be a she and we were able to use a name that we've kept coming back to for the past 9 years.  We had the name all picked out when we were pregnant the first time around.  If Micah had been a girl, the name would've been Miriam Keziah.  I wanted Keziah for a first name but Erik was still a little unsure about it, so we agreed on Miriam.  But, of course, it turned out to be a boy, so we had our Micah.  When I was pregnant the 2nd time, the name Keziah had grown on Erik so much that we opted to use it as a first name (Silas was our top boy name for that pregnancy).  Out came a little girl and we named her Keziah Katherine, using my mom's name as the middle name.  Then pregnancy #3 rolled around and Miriam was back on the table as our top girl name.  Of course, we didn't end up using it when it turned out to be a boy.  So, with the 4th and final pregnancy there was no question that we would use the name Miriam if it was a girl.  As soon as the ultrasound results were in, the name was set in stone.  We never once discussed boy names together and the kids immediately started referring to their baby sister by her first name.  Our intention was to keep it a secret from everyone else, but that didn't work out so well.  By the time Miriam was born, Erik's whole family knew the name as well as a few others who either guessed or overheard it from our chatty children :)

We chose the middle name Jane because we thought it was sweet and went nicely with the first name. Miriam means "wished-for child" and Jane (which is also a Hebrew name) means "gift from God".  Such appropriate meanings for this special little girl.  A year ago I wouldn't have believed that we would have another daughter in our family.

So we are feeling blessed!  There are so many things to be thankful for this year including a beautiful property to enjoy.  Life on the farm continues to be exciting.  We're currently waiting for about 30 hens that might inhabit our newly built chicken coop as soon as today.  We're also anticipating the birth of a new baby calf any day now...

(This is Bambi the heifer who is about 7 months old)

And construction on the house keeps moving forward, slowly but surely.  Some days it feels like it will never be complete but every day gets us nearer to the goal!

I am counting my blessings this fall season and feeling grateful for many things, least of which are these four little ones... :)

Kids and Cows

We haven't made much noticeable headway on the bathroom, so I'll refrain from posting disappointingly un-progressive pictures of it.  Instead, here are a few from last week when Dad Toews cut some hay for our hungry cows and the kids helped deliver the fresh treat.  With the lack of rain the grass had been getting pretty sparse in the pasture, so the cows quickly got over any people-related shyness and came running.

Cocoa nibbling on Keziah's knees.

Willy the calf.

Up on the haywagon.

This kid is pretty fearless.

Micah getting mauled by cattle...

I think that was the last warm, dry evening of our amazing fall.  A day or two later the rains started in earnest.  So, today I celebrated "real" fall by trying a recipe for squash soup (turned out delicious, by the way) and some pumpkin pie for dessert (thanks to my Mom for leaving me a stash of pie dough in my freezer).  It definitely smells like October in the kitchen today :)

First Day of School

I feel like this picture pretty much sums up how our morning went:

Keziah is quietly thinking about how excited she is to go back to school, Silas is thinking, 'Man, how come they get to go to school?' and Micah is thinking, 'I DO NOT want to go back to school!'

I was finally able to leave the school at about 10 am after much tears and panic on behalf of the eldest.  Middle child acclimatized within seconds to her classroom - she may not have made a peep all morning, but at least she was happy.  And the youngest tagged along with his Tinkerbell backpack in tow.

Here's hoping for less drama tomorrow...

Starbucks in the Oven

'Tis the season of all things pumpkin flavoured and I certainly haven't held back from trying out all sorts of fall pumpkin goodies. The first recipe on my pumpkin to-do list was the Starbucks-inspired Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes:

My finished product may not look as good as the picture above, but they definitely passed the taste test. (I opted to skip the caramel drizzle).

And since I ended up buying a whole tin of espresso powder in order to have 3 tbsp's worth for this recipe, I could make them a few times over yet.

They were delicious! Now, if only they fell into the healthy recipes category...

On another note, I recently learned that mini cupcakes/muffins actually fit perfectly in an empty egg carton. A great idea for gifts.

You could even decorate the outside of your egg carton and tie it up with some pretty twine if you're so inclined...

(image found here)

The second recipe I wanted to try was the Starbucks Pumpkin Scones:

Mine turned out pretty well, except for the icing part. There is a white glaze and a brown spiced icing which was supposed to be a bit thicker for drizzling, but mine were both pretty runny and, once again, not at all like the impressive picture above. But, it really does come down to taste, and they were pretty good!

Also on my pumpkin baking list was pumpkin cheesecake bars (they were so-so) and pumpkin muffins (a big hit with the kids - made these twice so far).

I have to admit, I'm getting a little bit pumpkin'd out.

But, there is one last recipe I'm interested to try. It's called pumpkin pie dip and it promises to not only be addictive but actually kind of healthy too since it's made with greek yogurt. (A tad healthier than the apple dip I've been making with cream cheese and loads of sugar... )

But first I think I'll take a little break from pumpkin. If it's true that "you are what you eat", I won't be surprised if our whole family is round and tinted orange by the time it's Halloween...

Fireside

My most favourite thing so far about living on an acreage is having evening bonfires. The fire ban was lifted at the beginning of the month, so for the last few weeks we've been having fires at every opportunity.

Let's just say there've been an awful lot of hot dogs and marshmallows consumed this month so far...


We've been enjoying a string of clear sunny days that are finished off with crisp, clear fall evenings. And if we've learned anything from living in the lower mainland, it's that we'd better enjoy them now because we all know the rains are coming.




Our life has become a fine line between country and city living. Our fireside was accompanied by the honking of Canada geese, the howling of coyotes and, of course, a few low-flying airplanes and a helicopter (all equally entertaining for this bunch).


I think Keziah still had some supper on her face...


And the only way to end off a fall fireside?

S'mores of course.

A Walk In The Park

After church finished this morning the weather was too beautiful to go back home. We headed to "our park" (Delair) for a bike ride/walk with the kids.

Micah and his new bike:




Silas has been napping in his car seat in the church service for the past several Sundays. I know this can't last forever, but in the meantime I'm thankful for every Sunday that Erik and I can enjoy the service uninterrupted.


This weekend I noticed that the trees seemed to all be changing colour at once. I love the fall!








Micah didn't want to take his helmet off for this picture...


He's doing great on his new bike!


I love Silas' blue eyes here:


It reminded me of a similar picture of Micah at this age:






Hello down there!!!

A Day On The Farm

Micah had his first preschool field trip on Friday to Willow View Farm. One parent was required to go and siblings were welcome to join, so I left Silas napping at home (in Grandma's care) and took Micah and Keziah to meet his class at the farm.

We rounded up as many of them as we could for this photo. Can you find Micah?






We spent some time in the barn with the animals - goats, pigs, bunnies, turkeys... you name it!


Then it was time for the hayride. Here they are smiling for the camera but their eyes were too busy looking everywhere else :)


That's better!


Driving through the pumpkin patch:




We got to get out and let the kids each pick a pumpkin to take home.


The "corn" horse:


Enjoying a freshly picked apple:


Little Miss Muffet and a sneaky spider...


All in all, a fun morning with the kids!