7/52: Homestead News & Helpful Big Kids

It's not that life has been particularly busy around here, it's just that my free attention is mostly focused on reading about keeping bees (good news, Virginia residents! The beehive grant program is still going on!) and chickens (we just ordered a dozen chicks from our local feed store and the kids are DYING with anticipation) and garden stuff (where to dig the asparagus trench! where to plant the strawberries! why did John Paul click the "3" button for Okra seeds when he was helping me order things!).

So really, if you have helpful resources for any and all of those things, I'd love them!!! I still know basically nothing so you can assume ground zero for animal information :)

In the meantime:

We got a new-to-us laundry sorter for the kids and apparently it has inspired them to go to great lengths to do their laundry! Cecilia (5) dragged her bag downstairs and washed, dried, folded, AND put away her entire load! Plus she added the dish towels and wash cloths to it and got John Paul to fold THOSE and put them away.

And lest you be wary of John Paul (6.5) in the mud room, he hasn't flooded it even a little bit! 

The mud room, though, is still in need of rather a lot of work... Andrew put down most of the floor but the contractors who came to give us an estimate on sanding down the uneven portion still haven't gotten back to us 3 weeks later, so we've hit a standstill. Which is frustrating, and then add to that the fact that the cabinet we ordered arrived smashed on the side and had to be sent back? A lot of stuff is just lying in piles on the floor, as you can see.

Peter (15 months) is apparently easiest to get pictures of in his high chair. But you're not complaining, because look at that face! He needs another hair cut, but I'm hesitant because it's just so beautiful and I know the red will be gone with the next cut...

Mary Claire and Elizabeth (3) have been playing with homemade play dough a LOT lately - the other day it was at the big table for THE ENTIRE DAY and they only took a few breaks from making "Bobs" and "Larries" out of the mishmash of brown dough (remnants from the red & green I made them for Christmas).

They finally got a hold of the colors John Paul and Cecilia were keeping meticulously separate, so I think we're reduced to nothing but a drying up brown supply now. I'll let them play with it as long as it's not totally disgusting, and then it's going on the trash! But when it's too muddy to go outside, this at least fills that sensory need for a while.