Saturday, September 14, 2013

Well, fall harvest is upon us. We have had a nice little break with the rain we have been getting lately. It has been nice to have Chris home a few days to try and get a few projects done on the house and to just get to spend time as a family!

The kids entered projects in the fair and did a great job. Cayleigh took first with her crayon leaf. I have mini cake pans so, she picked one out and went through her crayons and peeled all the paper off of the broken ones to put in the pan. I put it in the oven for her to melt the crayons. It turned out really pretty. Her brother was snatching all the blues and greens so, hers ended up being fall colors. Josiah took chocolate chip cookies and ended up third. He learned so much like units of measurement and here he thought he was just having fun and making a yummy snack.

Homeschooling is also in full swing. It has been a lot of fun, but also full of challenges. We are all learning what works best for us (me as the teacher and Josiah's learning styles).

Chris just got home with the skid-steer and I better get out there to help him put our driveway back in order where the rain has washed it out.

God Bless,

Monday, July 22, 2013

Farm Life Gets BUSY!

Well as you may notice it has been quite some time since my last post. Life has been very busy. We just finished wheat harvest, but I suppose I should go back and start where I last left off.

Jeremiah was born April 30. He took his sweet time getting here. He was a week and a half late and took three days getting here. We went to the zoo while waiting for him to make his appearance. He was fine and I was doing OK so we just waited.
 
I had a successful and wonderful vba2c. My doctor thought I was crazy, but I had some wonderful midwives that were very encouraging and supported me in all my decisions, and a husband that was amazing through the whole thing. I drove 3.5 hours to every appointment so that I could vba2c. My first baby was 7 lbs 13.9 oz., my second was 6 lbs 4 oz so, we were expecting around a 7 lb baby. That was what the midwives thought as well. Well, when Jeremiah got here he was 9 lbs 1 oz. 20.5 inches. I am so thankful God allowed me to vba2c and gave me an exceptional birthing experience (not to mention a healthy baby and momma).

 Life with a newborn, a toddler, and a preschooler is hectic and I wouldn't trade my days with the kids.


Then mid May Ebony had her kids and Josiah named them Fluffy and Comfy. We have had a fun time bottle feeding them and playing with them. It is so wonderful to have fresh milk again. We also added another puppy, Striker. By this point you can tell it is spring at the Stum household with all the babies (ducks, geese, puppy, kids, and our new little one)!

A fried of mine got married in North Dakota so that meant it was time to travel. All three kids did wonderful for being in a car 11 hours one way. We took our time coming home through the Black Hills. We saw and did a lot of fun/neat things. We rode the steam engine, saw "George Washington and his crew" (according to Josiah who is 4), and went to Flinstone village among many other things.

The last day of our trip was Josiah's 4th birthday so we found him what he wanted for breakfast and then had his birthday party that weekend,

We get resettled in and get into a routine and then it's time for wheat harvest. We had some late freezes that did a lot of damage and then had a hail storm. We didn't have much left to harvest. We thought it should only take about three days. Well a three day harvest turned into a two week harvest with breakdowns and just waiting on wheat to be dry enough. Wheat harvest is now finished and it is time to start getting ready for fall to make sure everything is in excellent repair for a much longer/larger harvest, God willing.

That about gets you caught up on the happenings here!
God Bless,

Jennifer











Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Crocheted Slippers

My house shoes finally gave and being the cheapy I am decided I was going to try and crochet some. I have done baby slippers before and figured it couldn't be that hard. So, the search for the perfect pattern began. Only problem for me was I either didn't know a stitch or didn't like something about the way they turned out. I am not a fancy person and wanted something basic. I decided it couldn't be that hard to figure it out.
The first slipper was way to big for me and I did not like the way the heel turned out (it was puffy!). My husband woke up this morning and learned that it fit him. Yes, I only did one , but he has a prosthetic so it worked...except that it's pink.
I will share with you what I figured out and do my best at recreating my pattern. I should have counted better to give you a better idea, but hopefully you will get the idea

I wear a size 7 1/2 shoe and would say my foot is as small as I would go in this pattern, but it would stretch and be comfortable for feet bigger than mine. It could also be adjusted pretty easy, just don't ch as many for the sole and then adjust the sc and dc accordingly.


I used 2 colors of worsted weight yarn and an H hook.
ch - chain
sc - single crochet
dc - double crochet
hdc - half double crochet
sl st - slip stitch

Sole
Ch 20
Round 1: 3sc in 2nd ch from hook, sc in each of the next 11 ch, dc in each of the next 6 ch, 7dc in the last ch and turn. dc in each of the next 6 ch, sc in the next 11 ch, 2 sc in the ch with the original 3sc

Rounds 2-5: sc in each ch increasing when necessary to keep your work flat (around the toe and heel). When complete with round 5 tie off.

Top
To begin the top find the center stitch of the heel and attach your second color.
Rounds 1 & 2: sc in each ch

Round 3: sc in each ch.When you reach where the curve of the toe barely starts *skip 1 ch, sc in next 4ch*, repeat * until you are at the opposite side of the toe, continue the round sc in each ch.

Round 4: sc in each ch.When you reach where the curve of the toe barely starts like round 3 *skip 1 ch, sc in next 3ch*, repeat * until you are at the opposite side of the toe, continue the round sc in each ch. Skip the last ch of this round. This reduces the heel and helps hold the slipper on your foot.

Rounds 5 & 6: sc  in each ch until you reach the curve of the toe again hdc in ch, dc in ch, *skip ch, dc in next 2 ch* repeat * until around the toe. Skip ch, dc in next ch, hdc in ch. continue sc in each ch. skip the last ch of round 5.

Round 7: sl st in each ch and tie off.

I hope this makes sense. Sorry I didn't take pictures during the process. I wasn't thinking about them at the time. I hope the ones I posted help. Feel free to ask any questions and I will do my best to answer them.

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Crystal ABC's

Well today I started school with Josiah. He had so much fun and did wonderful! (I'm sure I'm not biased) After much research and sorting through so many resources I picked from here and there and came up with our own thing that works for us. Josiah is really active so I knew it had to be short, sweet, and hands on!
 Through play he already has a lot figured out. He can count to 20, knows his colors, knows his shapes, and can say his ABC's. We said our ABC's when we washed our hands basically since we started washing his hands. While potty training we had a color and shape book that we read and it worked to keep him on the potty long enough to go and was educational. When we tired of the book we started pointing to different things for shape and color. We travel quite a bit so we would count trucks on our way. He is all boy and a semi is so much cooler than some minivan.
We are working on letter recognition. Josiah loves to read so we have done some, but haven't pushed it hard. This week we are working on the letter A. So we colored a picture and read a story about an alligator. Played some free online games about the letter A. Then we made crystal A's. There are so many free printables out there that with a little research you will have more than you need. We made a capital A and a lower case a. Josiah had so much fun shaping them (I did help to get the lower case a to stay by doing the twisting).

Making the A's

What you need:
Pipe Cleaners
Borax
Yarn
Popsicle Stick or Something to tie your letters to
Hot/Boiling Water
Glass Jar

 I started water in the tea kettle. I figured that would make it easier to pour in the jars.
 Then we made our A's out of the pipe cleaners. There is no right or wrong way as long as you get an A that fits in your jar.

Tie one end of the yarn to the A and the other to your popsicle stick so that your letter will hang in the jar.
Before you put it in the jar fill the jar with the hot water and start mixing in the Borax until no more will dissolve. I let Josiah stir it since I was right there.
Finally hang your A's in the jars and wait.
 As the water cools it can not hold as much of the Borax and it will start to separate out. Borax is a crystal in nature and will return to that state.




I had to put them in the window above my sink to keep little hands out of them. He can't wait for tomorrow to see what his A looks like. I think an entire alphabet would be fun!

Update 1/30 - We took the A's out of their jars this morning (they sat for 24 hrs), and they are awesome.They are hard, the plate was just to keep the water mess contained.