Sandboxes, Bike Jumping, Horseback Riding, Oh My...

 A lot of firsts happen in our life and we consider ourselves very fortunate to be able to experience them.  Not to be outdone by his older siblings, Nolan decided it was time to ride his bike.  We are so excited and proud of him.  He doesn't mess around when he sets his mind to do something.  Nico wanted to build a jump for his bike so we gathered the necessary supplies and put something together for them.  Of course, Nolan wouldn't stand for that and needed a toddler sized jump.  Harlan couldn't care less so he just ran around and did his own thing.  

By the way- if you are on a mobile device and can't watch the videos (and want to), scroll down to the bottom and click on web-view.  That should allow the videos to play.  

We decided to expand the kids' sandbox because we had so much sand left over and because we realized the 6'x6' was not big enough for our five kids, let alone if they have cousins or friends over.  We doubled it to a 12'x6' and had just enough sand!  

We have had some rain over the past week so we had a few inside days so I pulled out our fidget bin and cleaned it out.  The twins have had free-reign over the items in there and it wasn't in good shape.  The Thera putty was smashed to the bottom of the bin and fidget toys were stuck in the mess.  I also pulled out our counting bears so Nico could practice counting up (for math).  Eric fixed our puzzle ball which stumped me and even our master fidget, Tristan couldn't do it.  Nico has been obsessed with his legos from Auntie and Uncle and has built them all a few times each.  He also found all of the finger puppets in Nolan's stuffed animal bin.  

Lily and Nico took a YouTube paint class and loved it.  We plan to do them a couple of times a month.  Nico has to add another dinosaur to his because he had a paint mishap.  

We have had several chipmunks caught by the kids, dogs and cats.  The kids let theirs go in the forest.  Tristan caught one and set it free so Missy couldn't 'love' it too much.  

We started moving the rock and leveling it out in front of Eric's shop.  It was a lot of work and we are only like half-way done because we still need to put the drain pipe around the shop before spreading the gravel.  

Nico loaded up all of the trash and recycle for the dump with a little help from Lily.  I was impressed so I decided to document it.  He did almost all of it on his own because he loves to go to the dump.  We go weekly and it's free.  We have little dump stations and its super convenient and we don't pay for trash service.  We started cleaning and organizing our big shed so we had all kinds of stuff to go the dump this time.  

Animal photos...  We had a cold-snap (hopefully our final frost of the season) and had to use our fireplace again.  Rosie was not sad.  

I am pleased to report that Mama Hen, Goldie and her chicks are doing fantastic.  She is such an awesome mama and the chicks are thriving under her care.  I am convinced that chicks raised by a hen do sooooo much better than the chicks raised under the heat lamp. 

Aurora and Harrison broke into the barn (Eric left the front door open so their breaking in was just walking in) and helped themselves to the alfalfa for Maybelle.  Aurora then went into the stall where we have the grains stored and did a little clean-up.  Luckily, we didn't have any bags of grain out and open so she made quick work of the crumbs on the floor and was done.  Neither horse wanted to touch Buttercup's orchard grass hay with that bale of alfalfa available.  

Since we are growing hay in the pastures, we needed a spot for the horses to graze that is not in with the cows.  We have an extra 50' round pen (yay!!) so we fenced off the garden area, orchard and flower garden and let them out on all of the property by the barn.  That gave them an extra acre to two acres to graze.  Here is what we did:

This is out behind the garden and orchard

This is next to the arena where Buttercup is.  She is so happy to have her buddies back nearby. 

 We got our milking machine delivered last week too.  I could not believe the size of it. I  should have known since it had to come on a tractor trailer from a freight company.  We can't wait until we have our milking parlor set up.  I actually have to learn to milk Maybelle myself by hand.  

This is kind of a silly thing to post on here but I wanted my mom to see...  I bought Sketcher "berks" at Costco the other day and had to share.  They are so comfy.  Berks are all my mom wore when I was growing up.  Eric laughed when I pulled them out of the car and said "your mom would be proud"...  So, I thought I'd share... 

Twin shenanigans.  These two...  

Potty training is starting up pretty well.  I have zero intention of having them potty trained in a weekend or even a long weekend.  BUT, they are showing more interest and we've have a lot of talks about it and they are starting to understand more.  Harlan likes to wear his big-boy undies over his diaper and Nolan prefers to just be naked.  Tristan is a HUGE help with the potty training and will take them whenever either of them says anything about it.  

Lily has been working with Harrison daily and let me tell you, he is starting to LOVE her.  He runs to her now when he sees her coming.  She watched some videos on how to braid the mane and tail and yesterday even did hair chalk on him.  We did have a little step-back with her though because she was hopping on his back with no supervision and without grooming him first.  He didn't really appreciate it and she then would come to me a few minutes after and say Harrison just wanted back in the pasture so I am all done.  I was like "uh, nope".  So, that's been resolved now and she will not be hopping on his back anymore for the time being (unless we are there with her).  BUT, she seems to be natural around the horses and Harrison really likes her.  He LOVES getting the attention.  She just needs to keep her attention span with him.  

Since this picture was taken, she has learned new styles and practiced more

Today is Buttercup's follow-up vet appointment and the Farrier will be here at the same time.  Patch has only let our Farrier trim three of his hooves one time and Reese has only let him do one hoof one time.  They are over-grown and as much as we hoped to avoid it, we have to sedate them for a good hoof trim today.  I am super nervous and have never had to do this before but we all (including Russell- our Farrier) believe that Patch and Reese were abused in the past, especially with the nippers.  So, at this point, it's necessary.  

Buttercup is showing a lot of improvement and I can tell is doing much better because her sass is back.  I am hoping for some good news from the vet today.  

Also today, I am packing and loading the car for a vacation that I am taking the twins and Tristan to COLORADO!!!  We leave tomorrow morning.  Some of our good friends are there right now renting a vacation home and invited us to stay with them.  Unfortunately, we can't all go because of the farm and other commitments so I decided to take the twins and Tristan.  Tristan is wonderful with the twins and will be a huge asset in the car on the drive.  Then, he can enjoy the property and have fun learning more about Colorado.  We will stay with them about a week and then come home. Thank God I have a big car, I keep thinking of more and more things to bring...  

Packing has begun but the other seat has to go down to fit everything. The most important things are already in the car- as you can see (my tea and the twins' clothes)

 

We will be back about two weeks or so when Eric leaves to take all five kids to Iowa for our nephew, David's high school graduation.  Again, we can't all go because of farm chores, dogs, etc.  So, I am staying back and holding down the fort.  They will be gone about a week as well.  Tristan and Lily will then stay in Iowa for two weeks with Grandma and Papa Tilford then come home about mid-June. They will miss the twins' 3rd birthday party but it's no biggie.  Tristan asked me to FaceTime the party, which was sweet but not happening.  I told him I'd FaceTime for cake and singing though.   

Then, the first of June, Gramps heads to California for about a month to grab his tractor and take care of some business with vehicles, visit family and (hopefully) behave himself.  

After all of that, Lily and I still have a trip to California that we actually have tickets banked with Southwest.  I am still figuring the best time to go and it may be in the heat of summer here or late fall.  Mid-June will be a year since I left California.  

Eric plans to get a lot done while I am gone to Colorado and I am praying the pool is done when I get home.  Everyone, cross everything.  Lol. Nico has been hounding us daily for the pool and I am right there with him.  In August, I plan to start and end my day there with little else in between.  

Lots and lots happening, as usual.  

I am sending my mom love today and thinking about her as she is working through her treatments this week.  We love you!  

I am bringing my laptop on vacation but I am not sure if I will update or not until I get home...  

Until next time! Take care!! 

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly... and more celebrating!

Our week has been full of ups and downs.  Murphy's law has kicked us right in the butt this week and I regret saying that we had an uneventful week last week.  I also regret saying it's not always sunshine and roses.  Lol.  Read to the end for the fun stuff...  

Monday night, while feeding the horses, I noticed that Buttercup was coming up to eat super slowly.  Normally, she is very food-motivated, feisty and a quick mover.  Rewind about a week--  I had actually noticed that something was wrong about a week prior and was getting worried.  But, I saw no big signs of anything obvious.  I looked her over and she seemed "fine" other than being kind of depressed acting.  She also kind of separated herself from the other horses which was the scariest sign that something wasn't right with her because she's very social.  She is a little Houdini and can break out of most fences and has been doing so since moving here (and before).  I couldn't figure out if she had gotten her legs caught in the trench while she was out and about or if she ate something poisonous or got kicked by one of the other horses or cows.  I checked her gums for the toxic line, I checked her back and legs and when I rubbed her legs, she would turn and bite me.  So, I knew it didn't feel good but her legs weren't hot or cut or swollen.  

So, on her way up to eat on Monday evening, I saw her little legs give out and she took a little stumble and I, of course, panicked.  After losing Maverick so suddenly and unexpectedly right before Christmas, I am NOT okay with another loss.  I ran inside and called our vet, Dr. Russell.  She didn't have her truck with her but was willing to go to her office and get it- but she said that she'd check with the vet who came out and stitched up Buttercup's eyelid when she ripped it off.  Dr. Graves was just finishing up a call in Knoxville and said she'd come right away.  She got here and almost immediately realized that Buttercup was suffering from founder.  We have never worried much about it in the past because we never had this lush, rich, green grass that she has been inhaling the past few weeks.  She has also been breaking into the grain bins and can even open the doors (that we now keep locked) to get into grain.  Anyway, Dr. Graves gave us some anti-inflammatory for Buttercup and told us to follow up with Dr. Russell in a week.  Meanwhile, Buttercup was to be taken off of all grain and grass and was only allowed to eat the least nutrient-rich hay that we could manage to find.  So, she got moved to the arena where there is very little grazing.  We also have to get her a grazing muzzle and she will have a turn-out schedule when she is well enough again to be out.  She can not have any springtime grass as it is much sweeter than autumn grass and she is only allowed to have a handful of high-fat, low sugar and starch grain for extra nutrients.  So, around 10:30pm, Dr, Graves left and we were so relieved to know that with a plan and diligence, Buttercup would be okay.  

Dr. Russell called us the following morning to check on Buttercup and asked if it would be okay to come out and have her own look and do x-rays.  We agreed and she was here about an hour later.  She took x-rays and did an exam and agreed with Dr. Graves' diagnosis.  She did give us a lot of hope though.  She said with our plan and Buttercup's new diet, she would be able to run again and be back to her spunky self. It would just take some time.  But, the good news is, she is alive and it's not a broken bone or back or anything internal (that we are aware of).  Meanwhile, Buttercup is to be stalled in the barn or she will be in the arena full-time.  We went that same day and got her the recommended grain and some low-nutrient hay.  She is not pleased at all.  Now that she is in less pain, she is beginning to protest and is downright pissy about her "prison".  She does love the grain and will tolerate the hay.  

Lily started working with Harrison today.  Our hope is for them to bond and he can be her horse for training and riding lessons.  Harrison has been through it all, we believe, and is very well trained.  He can be stubborn but likes kids and is basically a gentle giant.  He is around 20 years old (maybe a little older).  Lily brushed him, led him and spent about 90 minutes talking with him and then hopped on him bareback and rode him for a few minutes today.  

After Lily's time with him, we put Harrison in with Buttercup for a few hours to give her some company.  She has been super lonely since her diagnosis.  We plan to get her a buddy, but we are being very selective.  

There is a property about five or six miles away from us that was up for auction on Saturday.  It was a 64+ acre parcel that could be divided or bought as one property.  There also were a bunch of farm implements for auction.  That's what we were looking for.  Gramps stopped by the place daily prior to the auction to get the scoop and eye what we wanted.  They had a couple of hay rakes there and that was the final implement we needed to grow, cut and bale our own hay.  Anyway, Eric and Gramps went Saturday morning and they got us our hay rake!  

After the vet left on Tuesday, Eric took Harlan and Tristan to go to a big hay-barn in a nearby town called Maryville.  I took Lily, Nico and Nolan to Tractor Supply in the opposite direction in a town called Rockwood.  We got our necessary supplies (we also needed a few things for thew cows) and when we were at the register mortgaging our home to pay for our necessary supplies, I mean, paying for our items, Nolan saw a firetruck that he needed to drive.  I also found these amazing little citrus trees.  No joke, one of the hardest things about leaving CA was leaving our amazing, established citrus trees.  Citrus doesn't grow well here because of the freezing winters, so, when I saw these patio citrus trees, I had to have some.  I did not buy them right then but I went home and did a little research and figured we should try them out.  We will plant them in large pots and bring them in or cover them well in winter. 

Eric got power to his shop last week too!  The inspector came out and approved the power company hook up but had an issue with our ground wire.  Interestingly, Eric wrote down what the inspector told him to get and he had told him incorrectly.  So, we changed it out and he will be back probably Tuesday for the final.  Meanwhile, the electric company came and hooked us up. 

Nico had a pretty incredible team of teachers at Sutters Mill Elementary School back in CA (all of the kids did).  One of Nico's teachers, Mrs. Fadel, gifted our family a spinning saucer swing.  We had it hung in our big oak tree back in CA but we haven't had a spot to hang it here because all of our trees are either too young or not the right type for the weight.  Well, I started looking at some of the branches of our Bradford Pear and they appeared to be strong enough, so, Eric and I hung the swing out by the horses in that tree.  I love the spot because I can see it from the kitchen, the garden, the barn, the front porch and the shop.  The kids LOVE having it up and have been playing on it around the clock.  

 Our garden project is well under way.  Eric and I spent all day Sunday building the raised beds, getting them set and filling them with soil.  We did 6" x 12' raised beds this time with chicken wire on the bottoms to (hopefully) keep critters from pulling the roots.  We built 10 beds for now but have the lumber (under all of Eric's sheetrock in the shop) to build a few more.  I also have pallets to plant more bulbs and perhaps some lettuce.  A few days ago, my sister sent me pictures of her incredible garden and I saw that she had used pallets.  We have several so I thought, why not?  I love the way it looks.  Plus, we have an old wagon we will add and maybe a couple of other things to make it look rustic and country.  We have all of the posts to frame it in and we need to buy the fencing.  Here, we have to do 6' deer fence because the garden is just far enough away from the house and out of sight to allow the deer to get some good grazing in before being noticed. Across the top of the fence, we will do solar lights, also similar to my sister and brother-in-laws garden.  

Friday was the "due date" for our chicks and right on schedule, they started hatching!  The mama hen ended up hatching all 10 chicken eggs that were under her.  She had a Guinea Hen egg that we added (on day 1) hoping it was fertile but it was not.  She ended up with six black chicks and four white chicks of mixed breeds.  

Once the final chick hatched, we set her up in a temporary brooder pen to raise the chicks so our cats can't kill them.  That was my biggest fear with hatching the chicks because we had two clutches of chicks killed by our cats back in CA.  After setting up the temporary pen, we quickly realized that if we hope to keep them and future chicks alive, we'd better make something a little higher quality.  Eric built this amazing little brooder in a couple of hours and we love it so much!  I LOVE having a handy hubby.  We put the dog crate inside of it with eco-flake inside for extra security and warmth.  

This is the temporary pen.  

Harlan had disappeared for a few minutes so we were looking for him and Lily had asked to go spend time with the chicks...  The next thing we knew, Harlan AND Lily were coming to us crying.  Lily had a very sad looking chick in her hands and it was bleeding.  She said she found Harlan in with the chicks holding two of them by the heads.  Well, they both were hopeless looking but Eric and I didn't have the heart to "do anything" about it so we told Lily to put them back under the mama and let nature take it's course.  We woke up the next day thinking we'd have to go remove one or two from the pen and have their little funeral but they were just fine!  Lily said she had said a prayer for them at bedtime.  They are thriving and eating and running around and seem perfectly normal.  

I made fluffy slime for each of the kids in the color of their choice.  My preference is still cloud dough but the fluffy slime was pretty cool for as long as it lasted.  

A couple of months ago we bought a Belgian waffle maker and have used it twice now.  I'd recommend this one if you are looking to buy one.  We only owned a tiny waffle maker that I had when I was single, so it wasn't enough for our family.  This one is a double and makes nice, thick, fluffy waffles.  It's a winner in our house.  

Our dinner menu for the week.   Yes, repeats again because Gramps changed up his day last week and we didn't thaw meat one night so we improvised.  Plus, I didn't feel like going to the store to get the stuff for deli sandwiches so we had something on hand instead.  

A few days ago, Eric was tied up with the shop and couldn't get out to milk Maybelle right away so I jokingly told Tristan to go milk her since he helps Eric so much and knows what to do.  So, as I was helping Eric in the shop, I looked up to see Tristan running out to the cow pen with the milk pail.  I figured he'd try it our for a second then decide it wasn't a good idea but he actually milked her!  It was so cute.  

Oh, we gathered all of our tax info up and sent it off for our taxes to be done.  A couple of months ago we found out that our existing tax accountant in CA was able to continue doing our taxes for us and I cannot tell you how happy that made us both.  We love her so much and think she is incredible.  I know it is late in the season but if anyone needs a tax professional, we highly recommend Accurate Tax in Placerville.  Caroline is our tax accountant (now friend as well) but I am sure anyone in her office could help you.  The office is amazing.  They serve drinks while you are there!  😉😊. Not only that, but Caroline is a really good person.  Like, one of the rare ones.  

Here are some random pictures from the past week, just because...  

There are like six cats int his photo and Otis

Otis is still with us, by the way.  I cannot tell you how much both Eric and I appreciate you all reaching out to us about him from my last post.  Thank you so much for the comfort.  It's pretty obvious we have to do something soon but I keep thinking of reasons not to do it and hoping nature will do its thing.  But we can't let him suffer, so, unfortunately, we will likely have to make the decision.  

Today I took Nolan to the eye doctor to follow up on his lazy eye.  He has glasses -that he has never worn for more than an hour- that he got back when he was just over one year old.  Anyway, the eye doc wants to try glasses again and even said that there are drops that we can use for four nights in a row to make his vision blurry for two weeks and then we offer the glasses each morning and he will start to "rely" on them to correct his eye muscle.  If after three months we don't see improvement, we have to discuss surgery.  I'm hoping the glasses do the trick.  

Oh, I have to share-  Eric and I decided to kick AT&T to the curb and switched our cell phone carrier (to start).  Since then, we have had so many glitches and issues and at one point had to re-sign up with AT&T in order to keep our phone numbers then leave them again.  Well, today while I was out with Nolan at the eye doctor, I could not use my phone.  It actually started last night while I was texting with Jes and Leslie (separately) then continued this morning while I was sending people Nico's videos and "thank you" messages.  Eric called the new company late this afternoon and as it turns out, they hadn't fully activated our account yet.  So, we should be all good now.  Fingers crossed.  Sorry to everyone getting like 564 of the same message from us or no reply at all.  It should be better now.  🤞

We have the sweetest people in our life.  We are soooo feeling the love.  We got another care package from another friend.  The Flannery Family sent us the most thoughtful gifts that they had been collecting for a while for us.  You guys really made us feel special and loved and we cannot wait to return the favor (to you and all of our sweet friends and family).  We love you beyond measure!  Thank you! 

Now, for the BIG CELEBRATING!  Today, Nico turned 8 years old!  Can you even believe it???!!!  How in the heck is he already 8 years old and where does the time go?  Between the birthday party a couple of weeks ago and his special day today, he was spoiled and shown so much love.  Thank you all for making both his party and today so special for him.  He is feeling the love big time.  He picked Chili's for his birthday dinner restaurant because he remembered a drink called Blue Lagoon that Lily had back on her birthday in September.  Hahahaha.  Nico is so full of personality and is quite the comic.  When he doesn't cross the line, he is so funny and quite the character.  Our intense, passionate, smart, loving, energetic, creative, witty little boy is 8 years old.  Nico is going to be an amazing adult one day.  He thinks that day was like 2 years ago, by the way.  Tonight, as we were driving out of Chili's parking lot, he said "I want to go to a bar".  Um, what??!!  This kid.  Eric looked at me as I was laughing and was like "where did he come from?"  Lol.  Nicolas Austin Tilford.  Our little man, so anxious to grow up.  💙

Aunt Leslie and Uncle Brian sent the raddest clothes and movie.  He loves you both! 

Aunt Leslie always wraps so beautifully. 

Auntie Kelsey and Uncle Martin sent two rad lego sets.  One is a dragon and one is Iron Man.  After he builds them, he can play with them.  He finished his dragon today.  He loves you both!  

Auntie Kate, Uncle Jeremy, Madison, Holland and Nora sent this awesome disc shooter that flies like 165 feet in the air!  He can't want to try it (on a non-windy day).  He loves you all!  

We saved these gifts for him to open on his actual birthday and it was KILLING him.  He loved tearing into the boxes today.  

Blue Lagoon #2 and an ice cream treat at Chili's.  

He got text messages, phone calls, mail and so much love.  We are so thankful for our circle of family and friends.  We have the best people in our life.  

Anyway, our cup is full and we feel so good despite our week not being perfect.  We are living and learning and loving life.  Thank you all for continuing to be a part of our crazy and imperfect life and sending us all the love.  Even if you aren't hearing from us much, please know that we ARE thinking about you and sending our love your way as well.  I mean it, you all mean the world to us.