Backwoods Wife

Belated Mother's Day photos

Mother's Day afternoon we took a little trek into our very local National Park (lucky us!).  The weather was beautiful, we saw a few garter snake stragglers who had moved along to their summer grounds yet, we had an enjoyable little hike, and enjoyed cookies and 7-up on the giant rocks bordering the parking lot. 

 

A pre-trip game of tag with Dad.

Fun on the lawn!

Isn't he handsome?

A princess leads the way

Look out for the ice Mom!

 

Into the wild...

 

Emma's first hike

 

It's fun in the forest, especially when you have a pinwheel.

 

Pondering something.

 

Looking for garter snakes

 

Scaling large boulders is one of this princess' favourite activities.

 

Family photo!

 

Photo credits for some of these go to my dad. :)

Ready to go!

 

 

Little Miss Riley had a sleepover at Grandma & GrandBarry's a week or so ago.  There was great excitement over going to their place "on my orn".  She had all the necessary clothes, blankies, a balloon, and her new lion puzzle, as well as some laundry soap for Grandma (we bought the wrong variety for our machine).  She had a fabulous time "on my orn" and enjoyed a leisurely morning with Grandma & GrandBarry that included snuggling up in their bed watching "Riki-Tiki-Tavi" on the laptop.  She came home quite content and acting a little bit more grown up for having had a special sleepover on her "orn".

 

 

First Field Trip for Hendrik

Not too long ago Hendrik went on his first school field trip and, probably of more significance to him, his first school bus ride.  There was great excitement over that first bus trip.  The field trip was looked forward to as well, but the destination was somewhere we go fairly often as a family anyhow.  It was so sweet to watch him prepare for this event, his little backpack stuffed so full of the required gear that it almost pulled him over backwards.  He had a very good day, and I was glad to be able to make the dash into town to get a few photos of him with the bus!

 

 

 

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Goofing around...

It's fun being seeing yourself moving around on the computer via the web cam!

 

 

The Littlest Big Sister Helps Out

One afternoon as I was busying myself in the kitchen, I took a wander back to Dwayne's man chair to check on Emma. I found that my littlest helper had been trying, and succeeding, in keeping her baby sister entertained. Not everything brought to Emma was age appropriate but the gesture was much appreciated by her nonetheless. Some of her facial expressions made me wonder if she knew what a haul Abby had brought her - "Look at all this cool stuff that I don't usually get to play with Mom!". Here's a little photo series so you can see for yourself! :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the Nutella shortage at our house tonight...

"Maybe the little monster got the Mutella and made a sandwich all by itself." ~Abby

Sick day

It's official.  Now two kiddos have a stomach bug of some variety.  Today is going to be a busy one at home I figure.  I was already planning on washing bedding today, now it is not an option.  Hopefully, like most stomach bugs, this will leave as quickly as it arrived.  We will have a day of stories and gentle food and naps.

"Surprises''

Lately the two older girls have taken to building "surprises" first thing in the morning.  These surprises are constructed from Duplo and can be anything from a baby rattle, a castle, or something to make Mommy's back feel better.  Usually something is made for each member of the family.  If their big brother and daddy have left for school and work, respectively, then their surprises are carefully placed on top of the kids' bookshelf in the living room.

Here's a sampling of some recent surprises:

 

 

 

It is said that necessity is the mother of invention.  Or in my case, the end of procrastination.  I needed to do laundry today but I ran out of laundry detergent yesterday.  I did go to the store yesterday but purposely avoided the detergent aisle.  Why?  For months I have had the supplies to make my own laundry soap powder but haven't gotten around to it.  Today, I desperately needed to wash clothes and soap was necessary.  So, guess what?  The laundry powder got made today.  The first load is washing as I type. 

 

 

I had two cute little helpers.  That always makes this sort of thing more fun.  I recommend using your own cute little helpers if you have them.  Or ask to borrow some from a friend!  ;)  I got the recipe from this post on Amanda's blog.  

 

 

Here are the ingredients you'll need: castille soap (I used Dr. Bronner's citrus castille soap), baking soda, Borax, and washing soda.  Follow the recipe here.  Stir it all together and you're done!  Store it in an air tight container.  I'm trying two tablespoons of laundry powder per load.  That means 40 loads per recipe.  Not too shabby!  I imagine you'd need to adjust that based on the relative hardness or softness of the water where you live.   I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

 

(Isn't she lovely?)

Emma Fix