The Hunt

Today Michael texted me all these pictures "for the blog." Hint taken! Michael was so excited to hunt here in Iowa. He got a tag for a deer and spent several days looking for a good shot. It was COLD too! The boys joined him for one full day. They did lots of sitting and waiting. They said they loved climbing the trees, but Conrad liked sitting still and quiet less. Sadly, that day was a bust with no sightings. 

Is Conrad asleep or just bored out of his mind? Who knows?

Michael hunted another day with a friend, and a third day all on his own. Doesn't it look like fun?!? 

So, did he get a deer. Sort of....While he never even took a shot because he didn't spot any deer, he did harvest a deer that was hit by a car while he was out hunting. So, yes we're enjoying some Iowa venison which honestly tastes just like beef. Did he have fun? Yes, very much so. Next year he's hoping to do some bow hunting too (which gives him a much longer season and hopefully some better weather). 

He boys also got to spend a day pheasant hunting with friends. This they LOVED! They got to scare out the pheasants from the long grass/corn. They can't wait to do this again next year. 

I'm glad they had a great time. I love that they get to spend this time with Michael learning new skills and enjoying the outdoors. 

Boys, boys, boys, boys

These four boys make life so much fun! We were firmly girl parents for a long time. But the boys won out in the end. They may be messy and weird and sort of gross, but they're also so much fun, full of adventure, and bursting with life and laughter. I hope we're raising the best kind of boys. Those that can work hard, have a good time, treat those around them well, and be the steady strength the world needs. 

Notice the mud stripe up his back from riding through every puddle he could find??

Nice pictures with mom? Walter wouldn't let that happen

Lionel adores mud

They do clean up pretty well! 

Conrad spent the best dollar of his life on this pogo stick at a garage sale

Toga baby. The girls definitely had something to do with this one

Wild Weather

When my mom has a sewing project that isn't going her way, she puts it in "time out." Well, the blog has been in time out. 

I recently discovered that all of the pictures from before 2016 are gone from the blog. This is our family journal and the kids LOVE going back to read things, so this has been sad for all of us. After many failed attempts, I haven't been able to recover the old pictures. Thankfully, most of them are backed up on old SD cards. It's just that the task of linking everything back to the correct places feels impossible. I'm enlisting the help of AI to hopefully get everything sorted and backed up this summer. In the mean time, I haven't wanted to add to the untrustworthy blog. 

But, it's time. I love having this record, so I want to get back to recording things. I've set myself a goal post everyday between now and July 25th when we leave on vacation. 

Today's post... Iowa weather. I had forgotten the crazy weather found in Iowa. These pictures were all taken within 20 days of each other in March. 

March 5th - Crazy thick fog!! (On a side note, the girls and I decided our beautiful house needed a name. We're still undecided between Lamplit Cottage and Lamphill Cottage)

March 8th - The weather was gorgeous! We hung hammocks again and sat out in the sun without coats. 

March 10th - Out of nowhere we had a HUGE hail storm. It only lasted about 10 minutes, but by the time it was done the road looked covered in snow. 

March 15th - There was a blizzard overnight. Our power went out and we had to get out candles and everything. The kids said it felt very Little House on the Prairie. By the next morning though, the sun was shining and they had a blast playing in the snow. The highlight was Lionel "penguining" down the hill on his belly and cracking up.  

March 25th - even warmer, sunnier weather is back. The little boys even got outside to play with their water table.

Yay for Spring and crazy weather!