This weekend I finished my first sweater in a long time Shalom by Meghan McFarlane. I was inspired to do the sweater after reading Soule Mama. Finding good patterns has always been an issue. By good I mean easy, fun and attractive. This one fit the bill. I added sleeves and took out the shaping so it is more similar to Soule Mama’s version.

I love, love, love it. Handknits are perfect for this time of year. My goal is to finish the sleeves on Avril’s sweater and make one for Two before our first camping trip the middle of April. I may even have time to get something for Effie in if I pick the right pattern.

The flu is working its way through our family so now we are still bunkered down. At least I have some quiet knitting to do so I don’t feel like I am wasting the day.

So I don’t know if it was the warmer weather to blame, that tempted us outdoors not properly clad for February in Minnesota or if it was the January/February “doldrums” Blue Collar Daughter was talking about but it has been a tough week. Maybe it’s the flu that has us all dragging our feet (by all I mean mom and dad while the children bounce off the walls). Oh well, one more day till the weekend.

On days like today I have a new anthem. A little pick me up I heard on the radio. The new single by Francesca Battistelli “This is the stuff.” If you are having one of those days I hope you enjoy it, if you are not having one of those days it’s still a fun song.

So I have really gotten into knitting again. I think I mentioned before how much I love the Soule Mama blog. I am really inspired and I love that she makes suggestions about patterns. So I picked out a pattern and went to our local yarn store, Knit’n from the Heart where I promptly fell in love with this pattern,

Admittedly I splurged a bit on the yarn, but after kntting it up (it was supposed to be one size fits all) I found it too short for me. So I knit another one adding a couple rows. So one skein gave me two bandanas.

So now Avril and i have matching ones. It is the “Bo Ho Bandana” I bought a printed pattern, and Misti Alpaca yarn. Now Mavis wants hers, but the yarn is gone.

I did fix Mavis’ sweater though and now she loves it. It was even warm enough this weekend that we were able to go for a want wearing a sweater only! As a brief aside we were taking Proeun to work today when Two yelled Mommy look grass, green grass!” Yes it is very exciting.

Another thing I have been really excited about is Ravelry.com. This is like a social networking site for kntters and crocheters but so much more. I signed up a year ago because of the patterns I didn’t realize until just recently you could search patterns from all over the world and receive suggestions from friends. So now i have added some projects, favorite patterns and am working on my knitting stash. If you would like to visit me over there here is my page. It’s a little addictive though. I am almost finished with my sweater though and then I hope to finish Avril’s and make one for Two this spring. Big plans.

Friday is art day here at Angkorian School (named for Angkor Wat, the largest and oldest temple in Cambodia). I don’t really know if I am an artsy person. I love knitting, sewing, creating and such but I often use instructions and really depend on them. But heh what is motherhood if not a life long journey of expanded comfort zones.

Now that we have officially started homeschooling I really wanted to ramp up the creativity in useful ways. So for our Valentine’s Day craft we chose Roll up Candles from Hearth Song. I am just discovering the cool stuff this company has. The kids have been excited all week about the prospect of making candles for their friends. Then of course mommy had to come in with my notepad and planning hat to make sure we had enough. But soon enough it was time for the rolling.

We made round ones and tapers.

Then decorated them.

I was really surprised at some of the choices like pink for grandpa. But oh well. The hardest part was not micro managing them and wanting to make the candles look like the pictures. Also next time I will set aside more time for projects like this. Normally we have 1 hour set aside for Math and English in the morning, but that wasn’t nearly enough time and soon it was time to make lunch. Unfortunately I had to stop the creativity only to resume it in the afternoon. Some day I will make my own crafts but right now kits are such a good way to jump start.

So remember that animated movie a few years ago with Mel Gibson as the voice of a rooster called, “Chicken Run.” Turns out that is a play on words. For those not in the know a chicken coop is the house the chickens roost in while a chicken run is the open area outside the coop that the chickens have access to. Most small farms have chicken facilities made up of both. Our chicken coop is an old playhouse the children never got into. Our run is the old dog kennel surrounding the coop giving them ample outdoor room. Protecting the top from arial attacks of hawks (don’t laugh we have had a northern harrier sitting on our clothesline) and raccoons that could easily climb the fence we stretch chicken wire across the top followed by a tarp for shade. This have served us well for three winters.

However last week when I was planning on working on the computer all week I came out one afternoon to see this,

Well not exactly this. This is after I shoveled out freeing the chicken trapped in the house and chased down the ones that we perched in the yard, luckily they don’t like walking in the snow.

As I was shoveling near the house I found feathers, alot of feathers still attached to a bird. Now I know these are chickens that often are people’s food and that may or may not be their fate. Plus I am planning to move to a farm where we will have animals to eat but I tell you I got so choked up when I saw that. What a way to die, being crushed by fallen snow.

However as I continued to shovel carefully trying to figure out what to do with this chicken it suddenly moved. Then I thought for sure its back would be broken or something and I would have to put it out of its misery but no, as I shoveled enough snow away it jumped up and ran in the house. All chickens are present and accounted for but shy and not into pictures. The chicken we saved looks like this.

This weekend’s agenda includes fixing the top.

Well I am back. Still not done though, but I am realizing that things like websites will never be exactly the way you want them to be. In addition to working on our website and blog we have been writing our business plan and filling out all the paperwork to become an official, legal business. Yeah lots of fun.

As you can imagine I have been a little tense lately. While I love writing I am not a huge fan of computer work. When I really don’t like doing something I tend to get tunnel vision–totally focused on completing my task so I can move on to something more fun. I do try to tackle these tasks when the children are busy knowing that I have a tendency to get very short with them. But when the tasks seem almost endless sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do with children running around.

Yes there has been quite a few tense moments in our home. But I wanted to share with you one of the best solutions I know for when your children are getting on your nerves and you feel yourself spiralling downward. Grab your child and give them a big hug. You might not feel like it at first but I guarantee once your child is in your arms your heart will begin to soften and most likely the heart of your child.

This works wonders with Avril. She and I have the most similar personalities. So I understand her, but we still clash the most out of all the children. Once I felt like I couldn’t handle it anymore and I really really wanted to run away. Then I heard that still small voice telling me to hug my child. I didn’t feel like it but I embraced her anyway. I felt her little body crumple against mine and I realized that she had been feeling the rift between us but did not have the skill or knowledge to reconcile us. When I held her in my arms she knew she didn’t have to, that I loved her no matter, what I would take care of her.

And I was reminded of my sacred duty to my children–that nothing, nothing is as important as raising them.

The hug lasted quite awhile. Sometimes in those real battles of childhood a long hug is necessary to heal our wounds. But it does, just let yourself go and reconnect with your child.

I underestimated how much time it would take me to tackle the project of revamping our blog and website. I will check in next Monday. Have a great week!

We are transitioning from a blog account to an official website this week and weekend. We are using our same carrier and it should not effect the blog content. Until the transition is complete read our blog at blog.crazyboyfarm.com. Thanks for understanding.

Effie has been with us for 10 weeks now. She is such an amazing little girl and really starting to engage with the rest of the family. The last 3 months before she was born were pretty hard on me especially and the rest of the family, but she is so worth it. We are blessed to have her. Happy Birthday Effie!

I visited a friend of mine this week. She has a home just a little bigger then ours and manages to make it work with 6 children (soon to be 7). I was interested in seeing how she organizes her home. Between this visit and continued reading in Large Family Logistics I am getting all sorts of ideas for our home and things are going so well.

The key is areas and places designated for everything. “A place for everything and everything in its place.” So now as I type in my little corner of the living/dining room this is what my area looks like.

No more piles of papers on the printer or around the desk. So much nicer. Here are a couple tips from this week’s work.

* Shelves are wonderful. They are a great and easy way to utilize wall space. It has done wonders for our computer area, entryway and children’s bedroom.

* Sorting toys by type of play. Example, I gathered all those fun and silly clothes and put them in a bin under the children’s bunk beds. Now it’s a dress up box.

* If an area isn’t working the way it was intended change it. Our playroom is in the basement, but in actuality it had become a dumping ground for toys. Today the task is to box those up and use the mats as kind of big kids playground. Proeun studies martial arts in his “free time” and this weekend lessons will begin for the older children and cousins.

* Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and get rid of things. That leather jacket I never wear, those high heels that just don’t work for chasing children, that shirt that forever wrinkles, and those clothes I am waiting to fit into again. This weekend I am taking 2 big garage bags full of clothes to the Alley shop, a local church runs a thrift store out of their alley that provides professional clothes for low income women and more.

More next week.