Country Life...One year in

We moved out to the country just over a year ago and I have to admit, life is different here!  No longer are we surrounded by other houses, hearing sirens, or strolling through the neighborhood on a daily basis.  We are now owners of 5 chickens (one of which turned out to be a rooster), maintain two big gardens, ride around on a Polaris Ranger, and we look out the front of our house and see woods, a pond, and gravel roads.  This year has had its fair share of challenges...some we would rather not deal with like the Peoria house (I could go on and on!) but other wonderful things like our baby boy William being born, a big house to furnish, and lots of work at the hospital for Tom.  We really do enjoy our place and the work we have put into it.

Clara and Tom picked me these flowers this morning.  Tom artistically arranged them in the huge canning jar.  I think it looks awesome!  So pretty and they fit right in on our farmhouse table.

Tending our gardens...this corn is HUGE!

Canning pickles - a new experience for us.

We had these little 'twins' visit us this morning.  Can you see their spots? 

On a side note, William is almost crawling!  He's doing the army crawl right now and should be moving on to the real deal soon.

4th of July pics

We spent the 4th down in Arkansas at the lake.  It was our first time to actually get in the lake this year and the first time ever for William.  He had his first boat ride, but didn't get to jet ski yet.  Maybe that will come in a few weeks!

Both my parents and Tom's parents, along with my grandparents,  live at the lake full time and we were able to spend some time with everyone. 

We watched fireworks from the state park which was a nice change.  The weather was perfect - cool and a little breeze.  So unlike many of the years we have spent sweating it out.

Clara and I jet skiied around a little bit.  She and Tom also tried to tube behind the boat but wasn't too big a fan once they hit some waves.

William needed a nap!  Luckily Grandma Trent was able to get him to sleep for a little while.  He always sucks his thumb with one hand and holds his ear with the other.

Clara was able to play in the lake and really enjoys it this year.  The life jacket actually fits her (as opposed to years past where it practically swallowed her up) and she is strong enough and coordinated enough to swim around.

We had brunch at Gaston's on Sunday morning.  Yum!  I wonder when Clara will actually pose for a picture instead of just turn around or run away!?