Happy Halloween!

We had such a fun Halloween this year! Steve got off work early and we went into town to eat dinner together and then head over to a Halloween Festival the firefighters set up at the Palmer Firehouse. Our little Hobbit was so good at dinner and Steve and I realized how much older he really is getting! So much has changed since last year, when he was a little baby bat.

It was a rainy Halloween this year, which is odd since usually theres at least some snow or ice on the ground. But it was nice that it was a little bit warmer, since it meant we didn't have to bundle Riggs up under his costume. It can be hard sometimes to tell what exactly someone is dressed up as when they have to wear snowpants, a winter coat and snow boots with their costume. Riggs had to put shoes on for trick or treating, which took a little bit of authenticity (ha ha) away from his costume, but everyone could still tell he was a hobbit.

We ate together at Turkey Red then walked over to the Firestation in the drizzle. Riggs was having so much fun carrying his pumpkin 'bag' (as he called it) and cheesin' it up for the camera.

At the Firehouse he was instantly aware of the all the balloons they had and we made sure to get one for him first thing. He had a death grip on his balloon the entire night, but right at the end, it slipped away and flew up to the ceiling. I was so proud of him because he didn't throw a fit but just said, 'bye-bye-balloon' and watched it for a while before he got a little more candy and we left.

He loved playing all the games they had set up for kids, especially basketball ('eye-ball'). He also loved the table they had set up with 'scary' things like a big 'dragon eye' and bottles of 'goblin snot'. Then he got a balloon sword, which we called 'sting', and his little hobbit ensemble was complete.

He was pretty tired by the end and sort of walked around in a daze. He didn't even perk up when we were leaving and he got to sit on the fire engine. Such a sleepy head! Overall I was so glad we went into town and we had a lovely evening together as a family.

It was a very happy Halloween and I can't believe we're now on to November!! I'm excited for Thanksgiving and pies and family get togethers and for being one holiday closer to my most favorite holiday of all (Christmas!!!!).

weekend visitors and stormy weather

Saturday while I was working on finishing the netting for the chicken yard, my father-in-law and his wife arrived at our house for a weekend visit. It was so great to see them both and to be able to spend a few days with them just hanging around our house. They run an eco-tourism business (kayaking, photo-safaris, and cabin rentals) across Kachemak Bay from Homer and so they're busy busy busy in the summer and we rarely get to see them (see photos of their gorgeous home from our previous visits here and here). 

I just loved watching Riggs bond with his Opa and to see three generations of Harness men talking, laughing and playing together. 

We went on a walk around Reflections Lake and I asked Rick (Steve's dad) to take some family pictures of us. I'm not sharing any of them yet (I will later though, promise!) but he managed to get these hilarious pictures of Riggs' boot falling off in the in water and I had to share them here.

The progression of these pictures just kills me. It wasn't so funny (at least to me, everyone else was laughing) at the time, at least until Rick was able to fish the boot out with a long stick. You're my hero Rick!

They brought a little wooden car to 'build' with Riggs and he just loved it. Ever since they left all I've heard about it the car (it's actually an ambulance) that Opa built. "Opa...Cah!" over and over, so cute!

The last night they were here (Sunday night) there was a crazy windstorm and we lost power for about 12 hours. In the morning we were able to go out and survey the damage. We lost about four spruce trees, but we were thankful that none of them fell on any buildings or vehicles. Still, it makes me sad to see the beautiful trees knocked down and destined to die slowly or be cut up and stacked away somewhere. An ongoing chorus of chainsaws could be heard throughout the neighborhood from late morning through the afternoon.

Steve came home early from work and Riggs 'helped' him clean up around our property both from the storm and to get ready for snow. I loved seeing them working together, it just warmed me from my head to my toes. It was a fun, crazy, busy weekend and I'm looking forward to a quiet week around the house to recover.

chicken problems

Remember when I just had four chickens, and I went on about how easy it was? Then last week on Thursday, I picked up four more chickens to add to our brood, and ever since I've been dealing with chicken problems. The new pullets are Rhode Island Reds, and I specifically wanted that breed due to their winter hardiness and prolific egg laying capability. What I didn't count on was how sneaky and crazy curious these new birds are!

the newbies hiding in a tree while the others inspect them 

caught in the act

They spent the first day they were here escaping as many times as possible. Luckily they are very friendly and I could walk right up to them, scoop them up and put them back. But they also watched me like a hawk and wanted to follow me everywhere I went, including in the house. So they'd fly right out of their coop, hop along the edge of the fence and then hop down and stare in the back door looking for me. Sounds pretty cute right? Well it was, the first time or two. Then it was just maddening.

You can understand why I made them spend the next day in the coop. I went to get netting right away to cover the chicken yard so they couldn't fly out, a 30 minute drive one way to get to Lowes. But I only found metal mesh stuff and trying to put that up all the way across the yard by myself (with Riggs in the Ergo on my back) was so idiotic that it was actually comical. I worked on it for nearly two hours, kneeling down under the four foot height to connect all the 'mesh' together, which felt horrible by the way (and Riggs hated it too). Oh man it was quite the afternoon and I'll admit I may have cursed the new chickens and promised horrible methods of death during those two hours of agony. And then guess what? I didn't even have enough to cover the whole yard. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just gave up and went inside. Pretty dang perturbed, but I assume that goes without saying. Poor Steve, he came home to a frazzled, fuming wife that night. Saturday we had a class at church first thing in the morning, so we couldn't go right away to get more mesh stuff. We didn't make it to Lowes (again ugh) until about 12:30, right around Riggs' nap time. Not a good time to wander around a big department store (remember this? not pretty). The good news? Steve found actual netting and so we purchased enough to cover the entire yard with the plan to tear down the sagging metal mesh I had worked so hard to put up. Bad news? Riggs was on the verge of a major melt down the entire time and I had to take him out to the car while Steve checked out because he had started crying and screaming.

Luckily everything calmed down once we got home - Riggs went down peacefully for his nap, I went out and got all the netting up and was finally able to free the newbies from being 'cooped up' (I guess that's where that saying comes from lol).

finished up the netting just before the sun went down

Sunday I was able to go out into the yard and spend some time with all the girls and I was happy to see they were all getting along AND that nobody was trying to escape. Let's just say the new girls better start laying asap to make this whole fiasco worth it...

motherhood

I have been so busy the last couple days that I haven't been present here on my blog. Sorry about that! Today is my last busy day and so I'll be back to regular blogging tomorrow, but I just had to stop by quickly and share something with you.

Just before bed last night I was able to read a few pages of Anne of Ingleside. Anne is one of my most favorite characters in the world of literature and I've read all of the books more times than I can count throughout my life. But as I've become a mother, I have a newfound love for the later books in which Anne herself is a mother. 

One of Anne's thoughts especially stood out to me as I laid in bed so tired from and especially busy day of being a wife and mama. 

Mothers were the same all through the centuries...a great sisterhood of love and service...the remembered and the unremembered alike. [Anne of Ingleside, p 155]

I love being a mother to my beautiful, sweet boy so very much and wouldn't trade it for the world. And I also love being part of that 'great sisterhood' that Anne speaks of - all the other mothers out there in all the stages of motherhood who inspire me and encourage me. Thank you to all you great mama's out there who have supported and encouraged me along the way in my own mothering journey. You are amazing!

27 years of me

It's my birthday and I'll cry if I want to. And really, I kind of feel like shedding a tear or two. 27 just feels old to me, wah wah. It's an odd, in-between age and I'll admit I like 25 a lot better. Despite all that, I'm so excited to find out what my 27th year of life has in store for me!

In honor of my birthday, I'm going to share 27 random facts about me for your reading pleasure. Lucky you ;)

me back in 1989 at around two and half

remind you of anyone?

one | I like cookies

two | I only wash my hair three times a week

three | cooking and baking have become favorite activities as I've gotten older

four | Public Radio is on nearly all day every day in my house

five | watching my chickens scratch around their yard relaxes me and always puts me in a better mood

six | I play piano, french horn, trumpet, and guitar and I sang in choir in high school

seven | speaking of music, my 'comfort' music that I can always listen to includes Simon & Garfunkel, John Denver, Jewel, Gordon Lightfoot, Bob Dylan, Loreena McKennitt, and Ray Lamontagne.

eight | I've never lived outside of Alaska

nine | I've never been east of Michigan (but I want to!)

ten | Alaska, Canada, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Nevada, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri, Illinois, Michigan, and Indiana - all the states I've visited.

eleven | I have at least three times as many books as clothes

twelve | X Files is my guilty pleasure right now and I'm always trying to squeeze one or two in during naptime

thirteen | I may or may not have a crush on Agent Mulder

fourteen | I don't have cable tv, just bunny ears

fifteen | I lived without running water in my cabin for a year in college

sixteen | high school sports: cross-country skiing and cross-country running

seventeen | I spend two to four hours outside nearly every single day

eighteen | bangs are my thing, I've always had them

nineteen | I can't stand when my fingernails are longer than my fingertips and I always have nail clippers with me just in case

twenty | I wish I could draw and paint well but I'm pretty much horrible at both

twenty-one | I love houseplants and am slowly adding more and more to our space

twenty-two | spring, summer, fall, and winter are my favorite season ;)

twenty-three | I lied on my vision test when I was little because I wanted glasses

twenty-four | my favorite books when I was a kid were the Emily of New Moon series by L.M. Montgomery

twenty-five | since having Riggs I'm the lightest sleeper ever

twenty-six | I've never broken a bone

twenty-seven | I still feel like I'm 19 years old, what happened?

paper garland for fall

Early on in October, I saw this blog post for a DIY paper garland from Amanda over at Happily Ever After and I put it on my mental to do list (check out her blog for instructions and much cuter pictures). I finally got around to getting some card stock and went to work cutting out circles yesterday. I have a little circle cutting tool that made it pretty easy and I may have even cut out some red, green and white circles for another upcoming holiday...

When I was finished sewing them up, I hung them up in Riggs' room to go with his fall/halloween books and his little pumpkin 'bag' (what he calls it) he picked out at the store last week. I think it turned out pretty dang cute :)

linked up with Nicole at frontier dreams blog for keep calm, craft on [crafting on]

cleaning day and free cleaning checklist printables

Everyday is pretty much cleaning day in my house. Between having a dog and a toddler I usually vacuum every day and I try to tidy up every evening before Steve gets home. But after the weekend with Steve home and lots of activities, Mondays are pretty-much always my deep cleaning day.

I might be slightly crazy, but I actually enjoy a good cleaning. And it's even more enjoyable when you have a good list to check off after you accomplish each task. I saw a cute [free!] weekly cleaning checklist printable over on Shayla's blog, Moons & Junes, and thought I'd share it here too. (click on the image above to link over to the original source for the downloadable file)

After finding the checklist above, I started thinking it would be nice to find something a little more customizable. So I began searching for customizable cleaning printables and found a great resource over at this blog. Head over and check it out if you're interested!

This amazing resource includes daily, weekly and monthly cleaning checklists that are fully customizable to fit your needs. They're also really cute, and as the author of the blog suggests, would look great printed out, framed and used with a dry-erase marker each day/week/month as you check off your finished cleaning.

Happy Monday everyone!

guest post on LIVE TEACH ALASKA blog

I was so excited when Natalie over at LIVE TEACH ALASKA invited me to answer a few questions about life in Alaska for her readers. I have loved reading Natalie's blog since before she and her husband even moved to Alaska (from Korea!) to teach kindergarten in Bush Alaska. I definitely recommend you click over and make yourself comfortable in her space and get to know her a little bit.