It looks like winter is right around the corner. The leaves are falling, the nights are cool, the days are getting shorter, the spiders are weaving Taj Mahal webs, and the persimmon seed reveals a spoon, which according to folklore, indicates a heavy winter of shoveling snow. Our family motto this season is to "be prepared". Unlike in years past, when we found ourselves foraging for kindlin and sticks of firewood in the snow and ice, we have been cutting and splitting firewood like busy little ants this past week. Everyone took a turn operating the log splitter, even Hunter. 
Jordan is a worker. He ran the log splitter most of the time. 
When it was Hunter's turn, he had to make sure Dakota was doing it to his specifications. He just likes things to be done his way.
Riley ran the chainsaw and helped cut up the huge logs. This is his kind of work, rather than splitting and stacking.
Hunter was hamming it up for my camera, so I just kept taking pictures. Right after these shots, Riley accidentally rolled a log over on him and gave him a nice goose egg on his forehead. After the crying was over, he needed an icepack and a drink break. Poor kid. All in all, we got a lot accomplished and if all else fails, we will have a cozy fire to sit next to this winter.
A milestone can be defined as an achievement, a successful completion, or a significant moment. Throughout our lives, and especially as mothers, we will personally experience, witness, and perhaps even record many milestones. First steps, first words, trading the bottle for a cup, finally giving up the pacifier when the kindergarten teacher takes it away, a bike ride with no wrecks when the training wheels are removed, the first visit from the tooth-fairy, feeding the pets without being nagged, the first girlfriend and the devastating first break-up with said girlfriend, and, well, the list just goes on and on. However, there comes a time in every mother's life when certain milestones are more monumental than others.
I had my first baby when I had just turned 19. Coming from a family of 10 children, I thought I had it all figured out. My mom made it look easy, in fact, I never hardly heard a baby cry in our house. So when I gave birth to this crying, colicky, 24-hour breast-feeding, alien-looking bundle of joy, needless to say, my world was turned upside-down. Kieth would drive back and forth down the street in front of our house in his old broken down pick-up just to get him to calm down. The motor in our vacuum cleaner eventually burned up from running so much, and we would purposely put the television on the wrong channel in hopes that the fuzzy white noise would give us a much needed moment of sanity. In the end, the only thing that really worked was putting the baby in bed between us and snuggling. Kieth also worked the night shift, so it was much easier to have the baby in the bed. Little did we know that the decision to create a "family bed" would stay with us for the next 14 years. When Riley was born 2 years later, he secured his position in the bed. Dakota eventually moved on to the couch in the living room. At this time we lived in the long mobile home and the kids rooms were all the way at the other end. Kieth also still worked the night shift. So, it was just more convenient and safer to have the kids nearby at night. When Jordan came along precisely 2 years later, Riley found his sleeping arrangements moved to the living room as well. Most of the time, however, I found myself waking up next to a newborn, a two year old, and a four year old in bed with me. And so it was. But somewhere along the way, Kieth went to the day shift, and now we had him home every night, and we also had 3 kids in our bed every night. So when we decided to build a house, the first priority was making the kids bedrooms so awesome that they would want to sleep in their own bed. In fact, we built the entire upstairs solely for our kids. They have huge bedrooms with comfortable beds, a bathroom, and a playroom. But, do you know where Riley and Jordan sleep about half the time......on the living room couch! We are working on getting them to sleep in their rooms full time, but life is a work in progress.
Now, I realize I got off track a little with my original story, but I felt like I had to give a little background so that everyone would understand the significance of the milestone our family has just experienced. After Jordan was born, we thought we were finished having children. After all, we had three boys, what more could we ask for. But for some reason, about six years later, we felt like we should have one more baby with the hopes of having a daughter. That's when little Hunter came along. And, as if he knew exactly what to do, he claimed his place right in the middle of the family bed. So for the last 14 years, Kieth and I have both clung on to either side of the outer edge of the mattress while our 4 children have blissfully slumbered away in the middle. Even when we were able to upgrade to a King-size bed, somehow it just made more room for the kids, not us. I don't even put my gum on the nightstand anymore because that's where I always seem to have my head when I wake up. Especially if Hunter has had a dream. But, this is where milestones come in.
Last night Hunter put himself to bed. He was falling asleep on the couch and suddenly got up and said he was tired and went to his own bed. We bought this bed last year and I have been trying to get him to consistently sleep in it for a long time. We have moved the bed all over the house, in many different rooms and configurations to determine what location would do the job. In the end, my bedroom was the winner. (Hey, I'll take any victory, no matter the size). This is the second night he has slept in his bed. The night before last as we were getting ready for bed, Hunter crawled into his own bed. Kieth, not being used to this new turn of events, said, "hey buddy, come up here next to daddy and sleep". Hunter turned to him and in his delightfully husky three-year old lingo pronounced, "that's okay dad, we can still talk to each other". We were floored. After months of reassuring him he could sleep all by himself, he turns around and reassures his dad that he is right there and they can still talk to each other! What an angel.
So even though we have experienced the milestone of successfully getting children out of our bed many times, the accomplishment of getting the last child out of the bed is much more significant. It means that, except for the occasional bad dream or illness, Kieth and I can reclaim our bed. No more sleepless nights with cricked necks and sore backs. No more tossing and turning and somersaults and waking up in the middle of the night with feet in your face. It will take some getting used to, but this is one milestone that was 14 years in the making and I'm enjoying its outcome.
I love shopping at yard sales. But more importantly, I love having a yard sale. Sure, it's a lot of hard work, and most times the monetary payoff is not what you put into it; but there's just something wonderful about getting rid of stuff you don't want anymore and seeing someone else be able to put it to good use.
Here is what Lesli's front porch looked like. We had clothes hung up the entire length of her front porch and half-way down the other side. You will also notice two large tables sitting in the yard with clothes piled high on them. We had another table of treasures in the yard and miscellaneous stuff displayed on every surface imaginable. It was quite the production.
Jesse, Hunter, and Harley had a great time playing dress-up. They all took turns being batman.
They also made lots of beautiful music with the drum set. Too bad we sold it at the end of the day! Sorry, there are just some things you wonder why you ever bought. All in all, we had a great week. The weather was beautiful, we met lots of interesting people, and best of all, we got our houses uncluttered. (Well, I actually just made room for more thrift store treasures and finds, but don't tell Kieth, I'll just have more stuff to sell at next year's yard sale)
