Happy Friday to you.
Thank you for dropping in even though it has been a very long time since I last posted.
I have to say, I can't wait for my life to drop back to a normal pace. The thought of the end of this semester is certainly what is keeping me going. It would be impossible to sustain this kind of schedule if I was unable to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Let's see what has been going on around here... still boiling off syrup, tending baby chicks, etc.
The chicks are quite big by now- they are about a month old I guess- and feathered out. They have been moved to the barn since they tried to burn my house down early last week. They knocked their heat lamp down and it burned a hole in the tupperware container they were living in and melted a weird mixture of plastic, newspaper, and chicken poop to the floor of our front porch. Luckily I smelled the burning plastic and found it before it started a blaze.
Cade can crawl- very fast. I can always tell when he is about to get into something interesting (ie. naughty) when he starts breathing fast. Whenever I hear rapdi breathing, I run to catch him just before he escapes into the mud room, or bathroom, or any other super secret doorway we usually keep closed off from our crawling crusader.
Since reading Before Green Gables I have watched Anne of Green Gables the movie, and am almost through with Anne of Green Gables the book. I am truly enjoying my leisure reading. This is the first time I have ever doneany just-for-fun reading during a semester, but it is one small bright spot in my life that is quite therapeutic to me. I am also slowly reading through Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows one more time. That book kind of depresses me though, because it makes me sad to think I will never anticipate another Harry Potter book release. :(
My brother came home with me from our Easter visit to the Adirondacks and has been looking for a job in the area. If you know of any good job available, please let me know.
Well, Caillou is all over and Brilyn is looking for her lunch, so I have to say ta ta for now.
Have a lovely weekend,
XOXO
Joce
(No picture today, I hope you can forgive me.)

Since Jocelyn hasn't posted in a LONG time, I thought I would post so she wouldn't lose her three regular readers (haha). Anyway, life is really busy. We can't wait for the semester to end so we can spend time together as a family. Jocelyn is Interning 4 days a week and I have the kids, so it is a bad situation all around (haha). Really though, I am psyched about summer and planting gardens and food plots for deer, and fishing, and pretty much just having nice weather so we can go outside and hang out. Lately we have been boiling sap off constantly. We have boiled off about 30 gallons in the last week (which takes forever on the stove, but boy is it unbelievable). Here is a super secret deal for you loyal readers: If you stop by the house we will let you have a sample of our syrup for FREE. That may not sound great and worthwhile (especially for those of you who live 3-5 hours away) but it would be well worth it, trust me, our syrup is absolutely amazing. Anyway, we have been busy trying to figure out what to plant to make a little money this summer (corn, strawberries, clover, etc). Any ideas let us know. Ok I gotta go, Brilyn just Sat on Cade and he is about to retaliate (and he is almost bigger than her, so he may hurt her). Take care all.

Joe

Hello! I need your help...I am in a wedding (Congratulations, Adam and Nicole!) and have a hair do dilemma. Please comment on the two pics I found for formal short hair.

Okay...so here's number 1- Kinda neat...But, my hair is not that blond...so I'm not sure it would look quite the same. Although I think it would fit my face better than it does her's. Tell me how you think they did that to her hair though- the picture is not super clear. I think they used little rubber bands, of which I have plenty (thanks, Dr. Deeney).

And....Number 2! Obviously I would skip the grotesque flower. But, my idea is to borrow some curlers so my hair would be mildly curly, and I would use a silver ribbon to go with the shoes I will be wearing.

Here's the dress in case that helps you make your decision.

And, in case any of you can't remember what my hair looks like, here's the pic my hairdresser uses to cut my hair.

And, here's a pic of me with a fresh hair cut. So, you get the idea. Okay friends, give me all your honest thoughts, I don't want to look frumpy.

XOXO

~Joce

Well, I am getting in the mood for St. Patrick's Day!

I made some Tillaboro Maple Cream Whiskey (it's good!) and Joe made some corned venison (that's good, too).

And I have a few blessing for you- my readers:

May the road rise to meet you

May the wind be always at your back

May the sun shine warm upon your face

And rains fall soft upon your fields.And until we meet again,

May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.

May the roof above us never fall in. And may the friends gathered below it never fall out.

May God be with you and bless you,

May you see your children's children,

May you be poor in misfortune, rich in blessings.

May you know nothing but happiness

From this day forward.

Don't know if you're Irish? Easy to figure out- Does the sound of bagpipes make you cry?

And/or- Does the picture below make you thirsty?

For you Irish (by heritage or by choice)- May your glass be ever full. May the roof over your head be always strong. And may you be in heaven half an hour before the devil knows you're dead.

As you can see- Cade is mobile! We went to the doctor on Monday. He is 21 pounds and 29 inches. Big boy!

Well, this post will be a bit different in style than my usual posts. I just don't have the energy to post new pics of our baby chicks, even though they are very cute. Next week, then. Mostly, I am just under a lot of stress and I don't really feel like reporting on any of our creative endeavors at the moment. Except I will tell you this- We had 9 chicks hatch and I think we are going to build a bigger hen house and possibly start to sell farm fresh eggs out of our front yard. That should be fun.
I just started a good book- It is called Before Green Gables by Budge Wilson. It came out on the 100th anniversary of the original Anne of Green Gables. Anne of Green Gables is one of my all time favorite books, and I would recommend the movie as well. Anyway- I will let you know my thoughts on this new book. We'll see if Budge (what kind of a name is that, anyway?) can do Anne Shirley justice.
Hmm, let's see, back to my stressful life. I just have too much going on. The worst part is, I don't believe in busyness. I think everybody ought to take it easy. And that's what I plan to do starting May 15th or so. My semester is just a pain in the booty right now. Let me just give you run through of my week. (Please bear with me, I just need to vent and then I'll drop it.) Monday: Every 2nd and 4th Monday I have MOPS steering team meeting. This is something I WANT to do, but because I have so much else, it seems like an obligation instead of an enjoyable commitment. Tuesday: Drive to Batavia at 8:15, do internship, drive to Brockport, go to class, drive back to Batavia, more internship, drive home at 8:45 p.m. Wednesday: Internship 3:30 to 8:00. Thursday: Class, 5:30-9:30. Friday: Thanks goodness I don't have any obligations here.
All I want to do is stay home! Please let me stay home till I actually want to go somewhere.
And, I really want a dog, but I don't have time right now, and Joe isn't sure that he wants one. So, that feels like more stress even though it shouldn't.
Okay, thanks for listening. It's amazing how a little wine, I mean whine, can make you feel better.
Hmm, now that I feel better, I will tell you something more interesting. I don't know if I have mentioned this before, but my mom got me a subscription to Countryside magazine for my birthday. I LOVE it. I have gotten a lot of good ideas and useful information already. Here are my two favorites from this month's edition.
1. How to throughly clean a cast iron pan- Throw it in the fire. Any fire will do. It just burns all the gunk off and then all you have to do is rinse it and re-cure it. SWEET! This method means that now if you see a nasty old cast iron pan at a garage sale that you normally wouldn't bother with because of the amount of elbow grease it would take to get it clean- you can buy it and clean it up like new!
2. How to simplify your life even if you don't want to become Amish- Turn off the lights one night a week. Joe and I are going to implement this neat idea as soon as I am actually home one night a week. The way we are going to do it is when he gets home from work on the chosen evening, we are going to turn off all our electrical appliances and cook, eat, and socialize by daylight and/or candlelight. When we get our woodstove (Thanks Uncle Sam, for the extra cash) we won't even need to use our stove to cook. Should be fun, and a great way to save on utilities!

Well, I have two crying kiddos, better go see what it is they might need from me. Most likely it is just hugs.
Have a great weekend!
XOXO
~Joce