Category Archives: Family Life

Sometimes just doing life together is the best way to learn. Here are ways to incorporate learning into your family life.

Weekend Reading at the Library

It has been less hot this week then last but I am a lot more comfortable due to the window air conditioner Proeun installed. Normally I would be all for naturally experiencing the change of seasons but pregnancy is a different case and I want to be cool. So after the farm work is done I like being inside. And what better to do when you are inside but

Reading!

Even though it was a busy warm week we made a sojourn to our local library this afternoon. If I had thought of it I would have brought the camera to photograph the event but I am not used to bringing my camera everywhere. We have a great old neighborhood libary with classic architecture and a community room. Oh and a wonderful section of readers. It will be closed for the next 3 days so we had to get our weekend stash in.

Whenever I feel like I don’t have enough time for myself I realize a couple minutes journaling and reading a good book does wonders. Farm work has been really heavy right now so journaling and reading just to center myself is a must. I have been working my way through the most recent issue of Homeschooling Today magazine. Also my trip to the library brought home a copy of Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross. I heard about this through Soule Mama. She wrote about making a smocked dress for her little girl and I knew my girls would love one as well. There are oh so many great patterns in it, I’ll have to  pick one or two to try.

I also noticed a book I picked up at this spring’s MOSES conference called, Ecopreneuring by John Ivanko and Lisa Kivirist. I heard them speak and was really impressed with their overall philosophy of life and business. Life has been so busy since then and this great tome has been neglected. Now it is calling to me, perhaps for this weekend’s reading? I am taking the weekend off, be back Tuesday.

Camping Away

It’s amazing how the weather can change in a couple days. Last week we were working in rain and drizzle and mid sixties for temps if we were lucky. After a weekend retreat on family owned land we come back to almost 80 degrees and I am trying to remember how to keep my house cool. Oh well we had a great time. Here are some pics from our trip.

It was a bit of a working trip. Proeun and his brothers hunt on the land and so there is much preparation for next year. Here’s Proeun and his brother Samnang working on a chainsaw to do some clearing. We are fortunate to have this land to go to and it has become a bit of an outdoor mecca for both sides of our family whether hunting, fishing, hiking, relaxing, or,

Mudding!

The ATV was a hit,

as was the tractor.

Then there was tadpole hunting.

Cards at night. And relaxing with family. We had both sides up including two of Proeun’s brother, 3 cousins, my mom and dad and 2 dogs running around.

Matthew and Naomi love camping.

Sambath and Junior relaxing.

The

The girls enjoying the camera.

It was so worth it getting away to the great outdoors. We found some wolf scat (poo) and heard frogs all night long.

Now back to work, although Proeun took off the rest of the week to get our planting in.

Small Miracles and Wisdom Teeth

Friday Proeun had the wisdom teeth removed from the right side of his mouth. We had done the left side last November and were anxious to get it all completed. I cleared my calendar of all farm jobs and jobs for the newspaper I write for, cleaned the house earlier in the week, and made crock pot meals for the day so I could just focus on taking care of him.

We scheduled the appointment early in the morning and when we got home mid morning all he wanted to do was sleep. Wow I didn’t have anything else I had to do, he was sleeping and it was cold and rainy outside the perfect day for getting some projects done.

Here are some of the projects I have been working on. A sweater for Mavis, a quilted picnic blanket and a photo album of our California trip (yes from last August). Austin (the black cat) just loves acomfy spot, like I set it up just for him.

I had cut out the pieces for the quilted picnic blanket last February when I was first introduced to Soule Mama and her book Handmade Home. The top is now completed and since the book has long since been returned to the library I have to remember how to do the back. All the material in it is from other projects.

I love sewing and knitting and doing all kinds of projects but have had to accept that this is not the time of my life to work on these projects very regularly but I am getting better at finding time to fit them in. Like working on Mavis’ sweater while driving to the farm. I am using some great Peace Fleece yarn from years ago when my mom and I had a big enough order to order wholesale. Then I ran out of the yarn early last week. I quickly ordered some more hoping the dye lots would be close.I ordered on Tuesday then realized that Friday would be a great day to work on the project. Friday morning I prayed for a small miracle, that my yarn would arrive that day. I didn’t really think it would but hoped. And it did, even early. So I had plenty of time to work on it. The body is finished and one sleeve almost. Soon I will be finishing it. The pattern is  Little Turtle Knits Swing Thing. I love their diaper cover patterns as well.

And the photo album. My camera is getting pretty full. I try to clean off the work pictures and the blog pictures I don’t need printed but still I have of 1,200 pictures on it. So I am working on printing some of the old ones and  putting them on CDs if neccessary but it is quite the project. But it’s great to have all these albums to look at!

All in all it was a pretty great day and Proeun is feeling much better.

Avril’s Camera

Avril has been very interested in my camera for awhile now. In an effort to keep mine functioning and nurture her creativity we bought her her very own for her birthday. Her’s a sampling of some of her and her brother’s pics.

Happy Birthday Avril

This weekend we celebrated Avril’s 4th birthday. Birthdays are more of an excuse for the family to get together and eat a bunch of food. Proeun has 5 brothers and sisters and there 8 grandchildren so far (with 2 more set to join the family this fall). Then you have my parents, grandparents, sister and her husband and it ends up being a pretty full house.

Over the years we have gotten better at planning the food so that it is enjoyable for us as well. This year it was all about Jamie Oliver. We had chopped salad, and chicken korma (a great Indian style curry) and basmati rice. Proeun’s mom brought over a huge pot of chicken and rice soup which was a huge hit with the children and of course cake from Jerebek New Bohemian Bakery they did our wedding cake and I really love the cake with sliced strawberries in it. Anyway it was a great day.

Henry and Avril working on a puzzle.

The girls enjoying last year’s present.

Avril loving it.

The cake.

Opening gifts.

Our girl.

Minnesota Children’s Museum

Friday nights our local children’s museum is open until 8:00. With our unique family schedule it is easiest for me to get out with the children after at least 3:00 in the afternoon. As far as playdates and activities geared towards young children there are not many options at this time of day. We don’t really mind, our schedule has been helpful in simplifying our life. Still when I decided that I needed to try to engage my children more I immediately thought of the children’s museum. Thanks to my aunt’s volunteer work we got a free family membership for a year! Quite the gift. So early in the week I scheduled a trip to the museum (yes scheduled, that’s the only way to make sure it gets done in our house) and we were off.

There was so much to do, and luckily we didn’t have a lot of crowds to deal with.

Painting with feathers.  

and cleaning up, this was Mavis’ favorite part.

Looking cute at the evening jamboree.

Exploring China’s wildlife,

and theater arts.

Shopping at our local market.

Exploring the world of water,

and dinosaurs. Mavis was not a fan of the moving T Rex, but this still model was OK.

Quite a lot to accomplish in on evening.

I am addicted to TV

There I have said it, I own it. Though I consider myself a recovering addict there are still times when the old tendancies rise up, like when I or one of the children is sick or late at night when I don’t want to go to bed and am too exhausted to even talk to my husband. I am not sure how it all began, boredom maybe way back some 25 years ago when I first discovered TV and found it was way better then actually using my imagination or thinking.

I normally did more than one thing though, reading in the commercials, knitting while watching movies, etc. But now I am raising children and my tendencies are passing on. We have good times, when TV is limited, we have plenty of quality time, the kids are using their imaginations and playing well together and a lot is accomplished around the house.

Then there are days when I go to bed thinking, I can’t believe I let it happen again!

I am still working on it. As with any addiction I may struggle with it for the rest of my life, unable to do the things normal people do because it is far too easy to slip back into the old habits.

And what of the children? Two is already showing signs of too much interest in TV. It is a really really good day if he watches less then 4 hours of TV (this is a confession here). The girls luckily are not so interested in TV. Normally as soon as Two is up in the morning he wants the TV on. I am trying a new tactic. Limiting the types of shows to only the highest quality shows. I should have been doing this all along but it is so easy to get distracted and lazy. If he chooses not to watch those shows he can play. This morning he chose playing. Bringing his box of dinosaurs to bed to play with his sisters.

I had to smile. Even in the midst of the day to day struggles with children in your life there is always something to be happy about. We were even able to have worship before I got out of bed. A good thing since morning sickness has really been messing up my mornings for going on 5 weeks now.

Mavis especially loves it when her siblings give up the TV and pay attention to her.

First Fishing Trip of the Year

Last year we vowed to fish more, we also wanted to camp more and just be together, outdoors enjoying ourselves more. Farming certainly gave us an opportunity for that but there is something to be said about fishing, especially when we have an avid fisherman on our hands. So amid a weekend of celebration we took time for our first trip of the year to nearby Keller Lake.

When we got there Two was off like a shot to pick out the best spot with his rod and tackle.

The girls were a little more distracted by a hole in the bridge

and our neighbors.

It was cold and windy. The wind was in our face and with the lay out of the lake there wasn’t really anywhere we could go that would carry our bobber away rather they pushing it towards shore. There were a ton of carp jumping but try catching a picture of them. We didn’t catch anything but Mavis had a great time feeling the wind in her face and Two and Avril explored while I reveled in the idea that my children were completely content and happy in this setting and being there as a family.

We did find some other treasures though, like this mummified frog

and a fresh water snail.

In the end it was a perfect end to a wonderful day and weekend. Even if we didn’t catch anything.

Proeun is Back to Work!

Today is Proeun’s first day back to work after throwing his back out a week ago Saturday. That first weekend was really a scary experience for us as nothing that severe had happened to either one of us. Then of course you feel really vulnerable, like anything could throw your back out. I remember when I broke my leg in High School playing soccer. It was hard to mentally recover from the injury because I just felt so weak for so long after it.

Luckily Proeun is a strong guy and through analyzing what led up to the incident together and with the help of his chiropractor we are working on a plan to heal, strengthen and move on.

As the only healthy adult in the house for the past week it has been difficult to take on extra duties, especially while dealing with morning (all day) sickness. At least it gave me an opportunity to be thankful for my health. One thing that we are trying to do as a family is look for the positive in every situation in this one they include–enhanced appreciation of health, oodles of quality time, practice being a servant for me and the children, knowledge that you are loved no matter what condition you are in for Proeun (and I suppose for me and the children as well since we know daddy would do the same for any of us), appreciation of a good job with lots of sick time.

We need to be really careful for the rest of the year however and save up a bit of that time for the birth coming in October.  I am also thankful for the opportunity to return to a more normal schedule.

Treating the Children to a Movie

We have made a conscious effort to do as much together as a family as possible. This is not always convenient, but it is well worth it. This afternoon I went to a class for our Farmer Training Program on Record Keeping. I brought Mavis with me and Two and Avril stayed with Proeun at home. When we returned home little Mavis at 19 months was so excited to see her siblings. Avril apparently was excited to see Mavis as well. Proeun had called me to warn me the Avril was in a bad mood and asking for me. When I walked in the door with Mavis Mavis immediately went up to Avril with arms wide open. Avril stopped fussing for a while and gave Mavis a big hug.  I have seen this time and again. They are all so used to being together that if any member of the family is missing for even a brief time that person is sorely missed. Being apart is not a common thing in this house.

One sort of down side is that the children often come along to events they would rather miss. I tell myself being together as a family makes it worth it for them (as in the case of the Midwest Organic Conference). But I am not kidding myself that it does ask a lot of a 5 year old, soon to be 4 year old and 1 1/2 year old. So whenever possible we try to treat the children. This lets them know they are appreciated and loved and that we understand we are asking a lot of them.

This weekend “How to Train Your Dragon” came out. We had been watching and waiting for this movie and I knew Two in particular was really excited about the movie–and it was in 3D! So at the spur of the moment we decided to take the children to a movie

complete with popcorn and pop. The movie did set us back a bit financially (by about a tank of gas) but it was worth it to see how excited the children were at this new outing that includes fashionable eyewear.

Unfortunately the interest in the 3D feature wore off about half way through the movie for Avril and a little longer for Two. It was fun to see a movie in  3D but I think next time we may have to opt for a regular presentation just so the children don’t have to stare at a blurry screen if they want to take their glasses off.

Mavis was a little harder to keep occupied, but one good thing about doing things together–even if one person doesn’t care for the activity at least we were together.