Author Archives: Jess

and life goes on

Robert Arthur Croker as a little boy

Who does that little boy up there look like?

There is a little bit of him I see in all of my boys, but more than anyone my Ian is the spitting image of his Grandpa Croker– complete with the dress up hat and gun.  Barry’s dad passed away today and he was able to be there at his side along with his mom and sister.  All night and all morning he said  it was so much like waiting for a baby to be born (we have quite a bit of experience with that).  The inevitable is going to happen soon, but you have to be patient and let nature take its course.  Like a birth– to another phase in God’s eternal plan.

I’m here on the other side of the country with a yard full of boys in swim suits running around with water guns.  They are so alive.

I like to think that little boy up there is out there playing with them.

strawberry pickin’

Last weekend Barry and all 4 boys went on our annual church Father-Son campout, so Brenna, Eva and I were on our own.  It is so fun that there are 3 of us girls now!!!  We decided to head up to Berry Patch Farm one morning to pick strawberries.

We came home with a few strawberries, two heads of really pretty lettuce, and a new basket to carry around my current knitting project in.

strawberries and pretty lettuce

a one project basket

We came home with a lot of photos on my phone too.  Brenna was the camera wielder, I was the baby wearer.

strawberry pickin'

strawberry picking with a baby on my back

little berry

squat, pick, stand, step, repeat

golden beetle

roosters

baby fingers

yum

Eva was really good and seemed perfectly content, even when I was squatting.  My legs sure got a workout–squat, pick, stand, step, repeat–with 22 lbs. on my back.  I had planned on getting there at 8:00, we got there at 10:00.  The berries were pretty picked over and it was hot, but just when we were ready to head back to the barn we tried one more spot and it was perfect– lots of big red berries just there for the picking.  If my legs hadn’t been shaking from our previous hour of super squatting we would have picked more.

We all thoroughly enjoyed the hens and roosters pecking around the picnic area.  There were a lot of roosters.  I think they outnumbered the hens 3 to 1.

Store bought strawberries just can’t compare those little organic, red through and through, nuggets of deliciousness.  We didn’t have enough for jam, which means that we’ll have to go back.  That’s okay.  We got to eat them all!

strawberry eater

the ride(s)

the ride

Here’s a photo from tonight’s ride.  This magpie just sat and posed, then as soon as I put my phone back into my pocket a deer walked into the meadow.  By the time I was ready to snap a picture of her her head was down in the tall grass and you couldn’t see her in a photo.

I forgot to post my photo last time.  The yucca is in bloom.

yucca blooming

Isn’t it lovely?

I had lots of time to admire it.  I got another flat tire.

a backyard addition

We live in a great neighborhood with lots of kids nearby, but living in suburbia has left us with a backyard that is pretty uninspiring.  Our yard in Ohio has become a legend and when my dreams of rural living with lots of space for kids and chickens to roam didn’t pan out quite how I envisioned with our move to Colorado I was left wondering what my kids would do outside.  We have a trampoline and a sand box and lots and lots of rocks, but I have been scouring craigslist for a play ground of some kind for years.  Then one day a neighbor called to ask if we’d want a big wooden play set– for free.  YES!

We borrowed a little old pick-up from a friend and hauled the heavy pieces home in a few trips.

play set in pieces

building

squinty

a break from heavy lifting

help

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finished

tire swing

acrobats

hanging

It was hard work, but totally worth it.  We’re a few days into it now so the tire swing squabbles have subsided and my little boys are loving LIVING at the park.