Firewood

Aimee here,
Wow, today was very interesting.
A man that lives near to us told us we could go get some wood off his land, it was really nice: it was already cut and split (he had hired some guys we know to do it), I guess he just had more then he needed.
Some friends very kindly came and helped us move it and stack it. Thanks guys! They brought their trucks and wheelbarrows, which was very helpful (even though some of the guys could carry 6 pieces in their arms!) Being one of the only females on a work site is very strange because for some reason all jokes, comments, pickings-on, or sniggers when you squeal about a mushroom that’s growing out of a piece of firewood, seem to be directed at you. I couldn’t help screeching a little bit when the whole woodpile almost fell down on me while we were loading up. This seemed to be highly amusing to certain people who will remain nameless! I’m gonna have arms that would look great on a man but rather strange on me (do I remind anyone of Popeye?)—don’t answer that!
We brought the enormous load of wood to the house, and unloaded it into the garage because we don’t have a shed and tarps don’t work. The water condenses on the underside of the tarps and gets the wood all soggy! They parked the truck in the garage door, we made a chain, passed the wood down the line to the stacker, and soon we had a big, big pile. While we were waiting for the guys with the other truckload of wood, we drank hot chocolate. One man was stirring his hot chocolate with a sliver of firewood! Complicated immune system!?!
Ok, I’ve rambled on enough, here are some pics; sorry the lighting is sooo bad!!!

What Time is Breakfast?

Hello, this is Kate. This is my guest disappearance on my sisters’ blog. As the third-born in a family of 8 children, my privilege is to make breakfast every morning. One night, we stayed up late, so Dad agreed that breakfast could be at 9 the next morning. Since breakfast would be simple, I set my alarm for 8:30.
After sleeping for awhile I woke up. Looking at my alarm clock, I realized it was 5 am, and went back to sleep. Later, I woke up at 6:47 and, (not realizing the time) I thought I had over-slept my alarm. I groggily rushed out of my room, and, after fumbling with the light switches to find the right one, made it into the kitchen. I stared in disbelief at the oven clock. “6:47... what am I thinking?”
The truth is, I wasn’t. I went back downstairs and, after finding the right switch, turned the stairs light off. Then I got back in bed. I woke up again at 8:05, but stayed in bed to wait for my alarm to go off. It finally did and I went back upstairs to open a can of peaches and butter some bread. Breakfast was almost on time. I hadn’t cut enough bread so I had to cut more, and certain people in our family are not early risers so they can take awhile to get to the table. I am though... 5 a.m.! I make these muffins for breakfast sometimes...

18 Muffins
2 cups whole-wheat flour
1 ½ cups white flour
2/3 cup sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoons salt
2 beaten eggs
1 cup milk
½ cup plain or vanilla yogurt
½ cup cooking oil

1. Line 18 muffin cups with papers. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Mix dry ingredients.
3. In a separate bowl mix wet ingredients. Add to dry ingredients. Stir together.
4. Fill each muffin cup 2/3’s full. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a fork will come out clean.

Serve with 18 scrambled eggs.

Nine Candles

Recently I turned 18. My birthday was pretty low key: a little cake, a little icecream, and a really nice pair of Gingher sewing scissors! The cake was super fancy... made by Aimee. She frosted a round cake bright pink, used bright mint green frosting for a border of swirls, added purple and red polka dots, and 9 candles. Why 9? Because 1 + 8 = 18 –sort of, and 2 x 9 = 18! But it was a pretty cool cake... huh?!

I got phone calls from a couple girls I know and one of my aunts, and an e-mail from a family in AZ. The next day my uncle called and sang, “Happy belated birthday to you!” It didn’t exactly fit rhythmically, but the sentiment was nice!Dad made a little speech on my birthday about me being an adult. He said he wasn’t going to kick me out now that I’m 18 (which I already knew!), and that I was now in charge of deciding when to go to bed and get up, and when to shower and when not to shower (which I was already deciding!).

That night my little sister asked, “Dad, does Perry still live here?” Dad said of course I did and wondered why she asked that. “Well, she’s a grown up now!” she said matter-of-factly. Just this evening at dinner, she asked, “Dad, is it time for Perry to get married now?” Dad laughed and told her it wouldn’t be time until there was a man who wanted to marry me. (And that’s not an advertisement!) So many questions for a 4-year-old trying to figure out what it means to have a “grown-up” sister!

Looks like Narnia!!!!

Yay, it snowed!! Last year I would have promised you I’d never say that, but this year since we moved to our cozy house with the nice woodstove it’s a different story. It’s actually quite fun to go out and get cold if you can come back in to a roaring fire!!!! Today we sledded down the driveway: very fun!! It was funny to see your ancient sister CRINGE as she went whooshing down the driveway!! There were no serious injuries, just one slip. Anyway, it was fun. Here are some pictures.

Jot it down...

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