Vacation :)

   Vacation is my favorite time of the year ;) and I'm thankful that I get to take a week in October. I try to take it before the holiday rush and they cut us off and this year I'll even have a week left for Jan or Feb which I'm really liking. I can't complain about 4 wks vacation a year...but I do wish I had more lol
   Monday we slept in, a rare treat around here. I've decided there is nothing as content and soul satisfying as hearing your babygirl giggle in her sleep :) After a nice long cuddle time with Miss Kaya and some serious giggles and "girl" talk we decided to head down to my Dad's for the day. It been a bit since we had seen him and Kaya loves to play at his place. Lots of open yard to run and explore. She found a million caterpillars ;) she said lol (in reality she did find a lot..she had them in a pan till we made her let them go lol), played with Pappaw's dog and just had fun. We had a really nice visit and poked back home the back way on the gravel roads. The trees down home are simply popping with color!! 
    

Kaya oohed and awwed about all the beautiful colors. And yes I took this picture of the pond behind Dad's. :)

 Once home we decided the frost watch was warning enough to get the air conditioners out of the windows (I'd love to have central air someday..but thankful to just have air!!). Stored them away and decided we needed to build a hoop style hot house to save our peppers which are in bloom!! We enclosed the peppers, the rouge cabbage lol and we shall see how it works!!

And that was just Monday LOL

 Tuesday, today, we went to our aunties and picked persimmons. Kaya was more impressed with what was on the trees not the more squishy ones on the ground lol We got a really good amount of them. After the dentist appt (previous post) we came home to process the persimmons. I LOVE the smell of persimmons as you squish them..it's a fall smell all of it's own and ranks up there with the first scent of tomato vines in the spring garden. We washed the persimmons, took the stems off and we squish them through a fine wire strainer (we used a cup to do the squishing cause it was easier on Kaya's little hands). We ended up with 15 cups of pulp!! That puts me up to 44 cups in the freezer :) Considering it goes for 4 to 6 dollars for 2 cups (enough to do one pudding) I'm a pretty lucky lady :) I'll have more than enough to make some goodies this winter! Kaya did great helping and we will save some of the seeds (showing spoons!!!) to plant for our own trees!! Steve is wanting persimmon trees bad.

  Top pic: persimmons in the bucket
Left: persimmons being pushed through the strainer
Bottom: rendered pulp (persimmons used to be considered a food of the Gods by Native Americans because they were so sweet)

We finished up the day with Kaya passing out early (lots of playing outside today) and the smell of pumpkin seeds baking in the oven. Steve uses a fall mix...brown sugar, cinnamon, white sugar and a little salt and melted butter then bakes them for 10 mins each side at 350 degrees. The seeds are out of our pumpkins we carved.

  My best part of vacation? Being with my insanely funny, tad bit nutty, always awesome little family :) Still have 5 more days to enjoy not being at work :)

Dentist visit

   Kaya had her routine 6 mo check up and cleaning today. She absolutely loves the staff and her dentist. I'm thankful to have a great dentist for Kaya that honestly cares about her and his staff is superb with children and adults. When your child LOVES going to the dentist then they are doing something right :)
  Nearly a perfect bill of health other than one small spot between two baby teeth that the dentist said was no big deal right now. He said her teeth looked awesome, that her adult molars are starting to cause gum swelling and pushing (right on schedule) and that she has not only the loose tooth on bottom (next to the one she's already lost) but two on top that are starting to get wiggly!! They cleaned her teeth, flossed and put her protective paint on. 
  She also got her first set of xrays today. Dr M likes to do that when there is some molar swelling and they hit the 5 1/2 mark so there is a good record of her tooth growth and to watch for spacing issues with her adult teeth. She did AWESOME. Sat perfectly still, bit down on the tray and didn't have to repeat any frames because they all came out great. :)
   Dr M also gave her gloves and a surgical mask for her Halloween costume. She was very happy about that. A vampire nurse needs supplies LOL

Pumpkin time :)

  Well the pumpkins are done at the Hacienda and looking pretty good if I do say so myself :) Kaya decided she wanted to draw on her white pumpkin with a black marker and had a ball. She drew Jack Skeleton, her name, you name it lol and was very pleased with the outcome. Steve decided that he wanted to do his with a drill bit. He used it to make holes and spell out Boo, then we used clear Cmas lights and pushed them into the holes and it came out great. I did mine saying Fall on the front and a swirly flower design on the back :) We had a ball doing them. Kaya loves the "ooey gooey guts" lol and the compost will probably have a few volunteer pumpkins next year. 

Kaya's beautiful work of art. It actually came out looking pretty hip with the dark ink against the white. It shows up really well on the front step :)

  Our Fall and Boo pumpkins. They really looked good at dark :) Steve did the cutting, cleaning and I did the lettering and weaving the lights in them. 

SAH vs WOH

   One thing that I've been seeing consistently online and in articles in magazines have me thinking. And that  is stay at home Moms vs Moms that work outside the home.
   I find it entirely hilarious that as women we feel the need to label and defend ourselves in this day and age. I hate that people feel the need to break apart what a woman does. I find it senseless that our bodies are mature enough to produce a child and we are adult enough to have our child(ren) but we feel we have to check off boxes as to why we are the way we are or to have someone else defend us. And I find it absolutely unnecessary for any man to say "this is what my wife does". 
  I'll be blunt. Any woman that has a child that she loves, that she cares for, that she feeds, she clothes, she daily involves herself with..is a  Mom. Whether that Mom works from 7 to 4 at a job outside the home or is home all day..she is a Mom. Any woman that misses sleep in the middle of the night to soothe a nightmare, that rushes to an appt, that juggles more than one thing (and don't we all) is a working Mom. If you bandage booboos, ooh and ahhh over less than desirable pets, hang crookedly drawn crayon art on your fridge..you are a Mom. 
  I don't ever find the need to say "I work a job from 7 to 4 but I'm still a Mom." Sorry I just don't. I'm a Mom 24/7 and I just happen to have one job that I clock in for and another that I'm on the clock all the time.  I also never expect a SAH Mom to say "I have my children all day but I still work". That's redundant. Being home with your children is just as much work as working a job that you clock in for.
  As a WOH Mom yes things are different than if I was a SAH Mom. I do leave for work in the morning and I come back home at 4pm. I work 7 days a week at least once a month to be able to have 2 days off during the week for dr. appts, dentist appts etc. I know in my home my income is needed but it doesn't mean that my child suffers. Every single minute at work I'm thinking of my kiddo. If she is sick breaks are used to call home and if she's very sick my vacation time etc is used to be AT HOME. Yes that right...us WOH Moms are still there when our kids are sick, when they need us and when special events happen. We don't miss out on school events, we don't miss out on big moments, we don't punch the time clock while our kiddo is desperately ill. I'm tired of hearing how WOH moms miss special moments or are so rushed around that we don't get fully involved. Granted I'm not every mom and there are some WOH Moms that do not juggle time or put family first..that's not my style. Some WOH Moms have no choice but to NOT miss work and I'm lucky that I have options. The minute my feet hit the door at home I'm in full Mommy mode..supper, play time, learning activities, bath time etc etc. WOH Moms have to do the same things as SAH Moms we just do it in different time frames.
  I get tired of society hitting on both types of Moms. We do what works for our families and what we have to do. It's not societies business what works nor is it media's right to label us one way or another. There are many well rounded, well involved SAH Moms but there are many that do not use the full potential that they have ..and by that I mean their kids are not "at home" they are in a million activities, the Mom's put themselves first 100% of the time, time is spent anywhere but at home bonding. There are many WOH Moms that juggle a full work schedule and a full home schedule and do it beautifully but there are many that put work first, themselves first or forget that being a Mom is more than just giving birth. But it is not the medias place to tell us what is "right" as far as whether a woman HAS to be at home or at work. Nor should a woman be made feel guilty about her family decisions.
  Even more aggravating is the fact that women feel the need to say you have to have one way or the other or it's wrong. That if you are a WOH Mom you must not want to be involved fully with your kid, miss out on important things or your child is less in your heart. Or that if you are a SAH Mom that you let your husband take care of you,that you have a lazier schedule than other Mom's or that you are not using your degree/capabilities etc. I find it crazy that women judge each other on such a sensitive issue. Instead of raising each other up in victory....her kid is fed, she's googling healthy recipes, she's making decisions for her whole family, she's taking some time to reenergize...we try to pull each other down. A WOH Mom shouldn't say anything when a SAH Mom writes an article supporting SAH Moms but a WOH Mom writes an article then it's fair game for an attack by SAH. And I can admit at times it's that way on both sides of the fences. But society largely makes a WOH Mom feel super guilty about everything she does and how she does it and if a WOH Mom even mentions she's happy with her life then society doubly guilt trips her. I can't speak for the SAH Mom simply because I am not one but I'm sure they too feel that way. Society feels the need to make one side of the fence look greener than the other when in reality both sides can be green with the proper care and nurturing.
  I also cannot stand when men feel the need to say "My wife stays at home" "My wife works but she's still a good Mom". Give me a break. If we judged all men under the lump sum of what was accomplished at home then more than one would be seriously lacking. It's one thing to say "I'm blessed to have a wife that can juggle home and work and be an awesome wife and Mom." Or "I'm blessed my wife gets to be at home helping to raise our children and is an awesome wife and Mom." Totally different than saying "My wife stays at home" "My wife works" 
  I think we need to stop focusing on where a woman is for a part of her day and instead focus on what she brings to the family, what she brings to her children. We need to start complimenting Moms that are doing it right. As women we need to start being there for each other not talking about each other. We as WOH Moms need to stop thinking SAH Moms are putting us down and SAH Moms need to stop thinking WOH Moms are putting them down. We need to start seeing our blessing of being a MOM and gracefully be exactly what we are!

Awesome weekend at the Hacienda

  Very blessed that every day, every weekend at the Hacienda is awesome simply because we are together. Thought I'd show a weekend at the Hacienda in pics as well :)
    Saturday was a gorgeous fall day so we headed to the Farmer's Market. Love that our local Market is wrapped around the small town park so once we are done browsing  Kaya gets to play :) Was doubly surprised when this Saturday was Family Fun Fest. Lots of veggie/food booths, lots of vendors, bands, and bouncy houses. Kaya had a blast. Of course we had to go down slides and do a lil swinging ;)
  

Then we loaded back up and cut back some farm roads to watch them harvest the last fall fields and to see the Amish fields all done up in corn shocks and getting ready for winter.

Amishman going to hook his horses up to the wagons. 

 Amish fields done in corn shocks. Kaya LOVED this as well as seeing the animals out and about.

   
  Local farm working up silage

  Then home to work in our garden and lots of play time outside.

 Sunday dawned beautiful but my fave part of the day?

Getting to sleep in all cuddled up with my snugglebug :) Rare treat that we get to sleep in. Then I got a double treat because Steve made some awesome homemade pancakes and sausage links :) 

  Rest of Sunday was hauling trash and recycling and stopping in to check on my mother in law who had surgery. We had a nice visit and my brother in law helped Steve pick the pears off their trees and gave them to me! 2 buckets later I now have

Lots of pears chopped up and froze in slices in the freezer for desserts this winter. And a good amount of pear puree which became 

Yummy pear butter :) 12 hours of cooking it down then I let it cool. Some will go in the container in the fridge (Kaya loves pear butter) and the rest will go in freezer bags laid flat and froze for this winter use :) I was very happy with my pears lol

Rest of Sunday was round out with trampoline time, Kaya laughing her head off over a fat worm on the walk lol, laundry,freezing up a bunch of banana peppers etc but an especially nice treat was a 

warm cup of homemade hot chocolate with marshmallows courtesy of my sweet hubby and daughter :) We even got a few minutes as the sun went down to sit on the church pew on the porch and enjoy the cocoa before heading in to start baths and bedtimes. 

 I'm a very blessed lady in many ways. Maybe the Hacienda doesn't run like another family's home but we sure can have a good time on very little because we've learned the real rule in life: family matters. I cannot imagine my day without Steve or Kaya, without our four legged or multi legged (LOL) pets, without our own unique sense of humor and love of life :)

 And that is a typical weekend at the Hacienda. We have fun, we enjoy each other's company and it's never boring ;)

Forecasting winter...

   People use all types of things to predict upcoming winter weather. I was raised not only on meteorology but also on nature clues. Some I think can predict, some I think are just interesting. 
    

Caterpillars (or wooly worms as they are called around here) are often used to forecast the winter. The more narrow the band of orange the worse the winter. The bigger the band of orange, the more mild. If you see a large amount of caterpillars out scurrying along then it's said that cold weather is soon to approach. The fatter they are the harder the winter. This year we saw them scurrying alot the end of Sept, first of Oct, pretty plump but with a wider band in the middle.

 

Persimmon seeds are another huge way around here that winter is predicted. Persimmons are a delicious fruit that only comes on in the fall and seeds not only showcase weather but the whole fruit is squished through mesh and the pulp is used in things from pudding (my fave) to cakes, cookies you name it. Even wine locally!!  The signs are Spoon: heavy wet snow. Fork: mild winter. Knife: cutting sharp winds. This year the seeds are showing spoon for heavy wet snow.

Animals showcase upcoming weather too. Pigs gathering lots of sticks early in fall means a cold winter. Squirrels gathering nuts early means an early winter and if they gather in abundance a long winter. Animals will take their winter fur ...and then winter is not far off. Thunder and fog in August/Sept is used to say when the first snow will be.  How high a hornet builds it's nest will forecast how many feet of snow overall you'll have in the winter. Abundant and large spider webs mean a hard winter. A dry summer will mean a wetter winter. A late summer will mean a late winter. A heavy dew in the morning means a clear day.
  Lots of folklore goes into forecasting weather but farmers had to have the heads up on something..since they are usually right! I grew up with my grandparents and local farmers using the above methods. My Dad and my cousin when they farmed together would often see how the dew was in the morning before trekking to the farthest fields to plant/harvest. Same as many people would laugh but if a certain farmer had put his hay down to dry...it was guaranteed that a rain storm would happen within a day or two. And they were always right! LOL
 The forecast this year is for a below normal to way below normal bitter temperature for the winter with a chance for a heavy snow later in the season.

Proud moments!!

    Hacienda has been hopping with lots of proud moments! 
  First Steve sold his first pallet project :) Very proud of him and his skills. He is much more talented than the realizes and always comes up with interesting ideas. He sold a 13ft planter :)
    

My little brother just started his first week of college in the big city of Los Angeles and seems to really like his classes. Very proud of him for never letting anything stand in his way, putting his head to it and accomplishing something even if it's scary. Hoping it continues to go smooth for him and he succeeds at everything he wants :)

My little cousin..sigh not so little cousin as he's a senior this year!!!!!...got accepted into the diesel program at the college he wanted!! Seems like only yesterday he was tinkering on his PowerWheels and now in a few months he'll be college bound. He's one of those rare guys..big heart, smart and all around good kiddo :)