Journal: keep on keeping on

Out my window: Windy and chilly. We have had a few good hard freezes over the past week so Autumn is officially here. All my potted plants are dead.

Clothing myself in: jeans, brown longsleeve shirt, sweater and jacket zipped up. I hope we can get the chimney swept out soon!

Around the farm: Butchering went well this past weekend, the final count was 87. Unfortunately the night before we needed to fill up the scalder to be ready for the morning. Neither of us thought to drain the water from the hoses afterward, so we woke up to ice-blocked hoses. We dragged all 8 of them into the family room and started a fire to thaw them out. We ended up with a few cracked ones, but that was the only delay to the whole day (which is good compared to some of the issues we've encountered).  Since we had to move it up a weekend (due to fast growing birds) we also hired a few young fellas to help out last minute. Watch out Mary and Ryan, these guys were super fast! We were all finished by 3 p.m., which is a new record.
It was so nice to be done with a bit of the day left for other things, and Joel was sweet and took me out for a birthday dinner at the Mexican restaurant in town.
I am also trying keep our hens laying this winter. After they molt the hens don't lay as many eggs in the winter because of the increased darkness and cold. I have mixed feelings about this, since I think giving them a natural winter break is probably good for them. But I don't see the benefit for us if I keep having to buy store eggs. So I set a timer to turn on a heat lamp at 6 a.m., turning off around 8:30 a.m. when it is daylight. We'll see if egg production speeds up.

Baby Xavey: He's getting pretty brave standing up. He does this really cute thing where he gets himself balanced by holding onto me, then lets go and raises his hands up in the air. He has also been better at Mass the past two Sundays. We only had to go out once! this weekend. This compared to a few months ago, when I'm pretty sure we had to take Xavier outside a number of weeks in a row for screaming before Mass had even started. Progress.
Still follows me around like a wounded puppy if I don't hold him.

The kiddos: I heard the boys downstairs being a bit noisy last night, but they settled down soon after. When they came up this morning they told me they had cleaned their room. Jude picked up the clothes, floor and dresser, and Gus had made all the beds. They can be unexpectedly sweet sometimes. Then Gus proceeded to sweep the basement hall and pick up the Lego room without me asking! I'm just trying to enjoy it.
We also started moving Xavier into Zelie's room at night. For a while we have been layying Xavier down in the port-a-crib in our room at the kids' bedtime, then move him to the family room when we were ready for bed. I know this sounds weird and kind of like bad parenting, but it works amazing since we don't wake him with our moving and we don't get woken up by his movements. I can hear him if he starts fussing and just nurse him back to sleep in the family room when needed. Since he has been sleeping so well, we decided it was time to put the two little ones together at night. Once we are ready for bed I nurse Xavey while Joel moves the crib into Zelie's room. There has been some Xavey night waking, but I think he'll get used to it soon.

Crafting: Joel was a dear and took all the kids bowling Sunday so I could finish the capes. We wanted to give them to the kids together on Jude's name day (which was Sunday, nothing like waiting until the very last minute). They loved them, I wish I had taken a video of all the sound effects and superhero moves they showed us when they first put them on. Ironically, I don't think anyone is going to be a superhero for Halloween. Oh well.
I started Xavey's hat, just in time for the cold weather.

In the kitchen and garden: Kielbasa, apple and onions over puff pancakes tonight; a roasted chicken; chicken and sweet potato pot pie; lemon butter broiled fish; chicken alfredo pizza. Spinach and lettuce is still alive, go me!  I need to get the sweet potatoes dug up, I hope its not too late.

Bringing me joy: Joel is reading Jude and Gus Charlotte's Web for story time, he's such a good daddy and they beeeegg for another chapter every night.

Thinking about: Praying more and trying again to go to daily Mass. Winter hibernation, I wish I was a bear.

Pictures to share:

Gus dug out a potato plant and took it for show and tell.

Carving pumpkins!

I don't think Joel knows I have a blog, so I'm going to use his ignorance to post this picture.
This is Sir. Reginald von Housen. He is a "substitute"
teacher that comes in to teach the students about proper nouns.
I'm so glad I have this for future uses.