Ever since we moved, Aaron and I have talked about getting the kids involved in 4H someday. This year, we finally made it to the Leavenworth County 4H Fair at the fairgrounds in Tonganoxie, Kansas, and it was a blast to see in action. We coordinated the day with when my brother, his family, my mom, my dad and our …
The Farm Dogs
We’ve fallen into a weirdly natural routine of being a 5-dog family. I fought it. Hard. For a very long time. But, when a fox knocked out most of our chicken flock last Spring, I caved to Aaron’s many requests for livestock guard animals. The addition of our twins pushed us well into the crazy category of dog ownership and, …
Hay Bales in the Morning Sun
Hay week has come to a close with our pastures being fully baled. The sun rose this morning over a field of haybales in our front yard and the view was a genuine stunner. The amount of work and care that goes into this process each year is amazing. It brings with it an energy that is contagious through the …
The Drop-Dead Gorgeous Terrazzo Tile
A few weeks ago, I spotted the most incredible Terrazzo tile online. It was a remnant, barely enough existed for our bathroom and I figured it would be an absolute long shot to get it. I was right. That particular tile was purchased and no longer available, but the rep encouraged me to take a look at several other remnant …
Haying Week Has Arrived
Hay harvest week is here! After all the work that went into weeding and fertilizing our pastures this Spring, we’re all excited to see how much hay we will be able to harvest this year. With a year of experience under his belt, Farmer Crossley jumped into the fields today to get through the first steps. Aaron, my dad Dave …
The Sheetrock is Mudded
There’s a phrase I never really anticipated myself using. Look at me sounding like a real general contractor. Today, the sheetrock is officially mudded. That means all of the sheetrock is on the walls and all of the seams have been filled and smoothed. We have smooth walls. It only took 6 months from the time we started chopping everything …
Progress on the Hall Bath
Our remodel continues to run very slowly. But, with sheetrock installation wrapping up over the last week, we’re finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. One of the obvious next steps in this process is to get tile installed in the hall and master bathrooms. I’ve been avoiding this like the plague, honestly. I haven’t been finding …
Volunteer Sunflowers in the Garden
Our sunflowers have returned! No thanks to us. When Elin arrived in March, we really put the kabash on anything to do with the garden this year. I refused to stretch things too thin by trying to juggle a new baby, renovation, all of our usual work, our toddler, our animals, our many projects and a garden. What do you …
Camp Crossley
We are ready for the 4th of July weekend! Yesterday, we set up a tent in the backyard and took the kids for a side-by-side ride into town so we could stock up for a weekend of fun. Camp Crossley was officially open for business in the backyard. In addition to our new family-sized tent, we’ve got a water table …