Science Experiments in my Dining Room

Friday’s in the winter I get to stay home with my girls and I am cherishing the moments. We snuggle in bed and watch Dora, we play games, we play with Play Doh and we do “science experiments”.  Jill (Jeff’s wife and farm wife extraordinaire!) called and told me about a project she did with the kids she watches and I knew Miss D would be so excited.  Miss D is totally into investigating and experimenting right now so I knew she would love this.  I wasn’t thrilled about having Miss K trying this, I could for see the mess that would ensue.  She did great though and much to my surprise kept all the milk on her plate!

Tie Dyed Milk

     1. Pour milk into a paper plate (enough to just over the bottom)

2. Drop a few drops of food coloring into the milk.  Drop them in close to the milk so they stay small and don’t spread to much. I used all 4 colors in the box.

     3. Take a toothpick and dip it into some dish soap and immediately stick the toothpick into the food coloring.

     The food coloring spreads out away from the toothpick and makes very cool designs in the milk!  Even I was having fun and the girls had to do it a second time because they loved it so much.  It was quick and easy and something new that was good for a rainy day.

                                                                

The Loves of My Life

Part of why I wanted to do this blog was to give you a personal, honest, no bones about it, look into our lives.  I have given you the skinny on the Sherman side of things but have yet to introduce my loves.  I think I have mentioned a couple of times that I am the mother of two kiddos and I have been married for 8 years to my high school sweetheart (just like a fairytale right? ) . For the sake of anonymity I am taking the advice of a friend and will refer to these guys without actually using their names but there will be plenty of pictures 🙂

Mr. Big (I was a huge Sex and the City fan!) and I have known each other our whole lives.  He is a few years older and we hit it off in high school.  He was a senior and I was freshman…long story short, he took me to my first party, got me lost on logging roads in the woods and never brought me home on time.  After I graduated and went to college for one drunken year we moved in together, bought a house, ran off to Florida to get married, all in that order.  He makes me laugh, makes me feel comfortable enough to laugh at myself, and most importantly, he likes my cooking.  Mr. Big does not work on the farm, we would be a statistic in the national divorce rate if he did. He is in the excavation business and plows snow in the winter. My girlfriends and I refer to ourselves as “Plow Widows” during the winter months.  I often sleep alone in the winter and wonder who the guy with the beard is that I just passed in the hallway.  He is snoring next to me as I type after being out since 3am 🙂 I can honestly say that he is my best friend and he understands the passion I have for my family business.

My two girls, Miss D and Miss K, are 3 1/2 and 2 1/2. They are 14 months apart…I know, I know!  Miss D is my little princess,  I’m not sure where she came from!  She is all girl, loves to wear dresses, likes to have her nails done and wants to be a cheerleader.  She is smart, funny and wildly imaginative.  Miss D can usually be found dancing, singing or stuffing her socks with the crust from her sandwich (she thought feeding her feet would make them grow) She asks questions constantly and you can tell that she is always thinking. She is the cerebral one while Miss K is the physical one.

Miss K is a firecracker! She has her daddy’s, sarcastic wit and is always up for a good time.  She has my quick temper and knows exactly what she wants, how she wants it and won’t stop until she gets it.  She will look you in the eye and do exactly what you just told her NOT to do. Miss K has a fire in her eyes that scares me sometimes. We joke that she is spawn of the devil!

For two years I felt like I was lost in a sea of poopy diapers, always on the verge of drowning in breast milk. A friend of mine told me once that having kids so close in age is like being pecked to death by a duck.  I still don’t know exactly what that means but  I know that the last couple of years haven’t been pretty! After finally admitting to Postpartum Depression and seeking the help of an acupuncturist for a drug free alternative, I was back on the road to being me.  About a year ago when Miss K was 18 months I started to remember who I was. It was like I looked in the mirror and said “Oh hey you’re back!”   I was getting sleep again, I could take them out alone, they could go play in their rooms by themselves. By the grace of God we made it through infancy and I am loving the stages of their little lives and watching my family develop before my eyes.

I am lucky enough to have my family so close and have them all play a part in the upbringing of my girls.  Miss K and Miss D love being at the farm and thrive in the fresh air and family atmosphere we work so hard to provide them with.  My goal is to one day be in the same place my mom is, working along side my children and Jeff’s children. I want the farm to be the place they call home for a very long time.

The view from my office

The view from my office....what's not to like?

Ok I have not been very good at blogging as often as I originally planned.  I feel like life is going full speed ahead and I always seem to be 2 steps behind.  I have been deep in the trenches of end of the year paperwork and taxes, when I leave for the day my mind is blank and I feel numb.  Winter has never been my friend,  the lack of light and vitamin D always gets me down.  I have been exercising faithfully and even bought snowshoes to get out and get the blood pumping.  I am finding that sitting behind a desk all day makes me feel like a caged animal if I don’t get out and get moving. My new position at the farm has had a huge learning curve and I am finding it to be harder then I imagined.  I really love the responsibility and I have my hand in every aspect of the business.  I hold the power when someone wants to buy something 🙂

Back in July I took over the bookkeeping end of the farm and have grown our social media marketing. These two things are a full time job! I have never been afraid of work, getting dirty, or breaking a sweat. I love being barefoot in freshly rototilled field with the hot sun beating on my back, planting the seedlings we so lovingly started from seed.  Sitting behind this desk has been some of the hardest work I have done, I go home at night exhausted mentally and drained physically.  I handle all of our accounts payable and receivable, invoicing, online marketing, and human resources.  I feel like I am finally getting a handle on things and making the office MY office.

I am really am the luckiest girl in the world, I am not complaining by any means!  I am sitting here in my office in my sweatpants with  an old ratty pair of slippers on my feet. I left this morning for my yoga class and take off into the woods for a quick snowshoe at lunch, if I need to stay home with one of the girls, I do.  I can blog from home, send out newsletters from my couch, write checks in sweats and slippers.   I always took this life for granted and now I appreciate all that working for my family has opened up for me.  I can be a mom and have a career without either one getting in the way of the other.  My kids are growing up in the same place I did, learning the same things I learned, playing in the same dirt I played in.  I never thought that that would make me as happy as it does!

The Gawker-verse

I have a new obsession I HAVE to share.  Get ready for it…

THE GAWKER-VERSE

Yes it’s true, I sit in front of my computer and get lost in amazing pictures of food and dream of craft projects.  But seriously Food Gawker might just be the best website out there for foodies.  Food Gawker, Craft Gawker, Dwelling Gawker, Wedding Gawker, all these great websites in one convenient place .  I’m such a geek when it comes to these easy to find recipes with beautiful pictures! I am not one to sit down to a craft project but some of the things almost make me want to bust out my sewing machine and make a valance.

I have made it my goal (no not a resolution, though there are a few of those) to make one new recipe a week and with food gawker it is so easy to find something that we all will like. My husband is so picky and such a meat and potatoes man that cooking had become boring.  I am finding my groove again and love being in the kitchen on a Sunday afternoon.  Having willing taste testers makes it all that much better!

Check out the GAWKER-VERSE, you’ll be hooked!

Support Local Dairy Farmers!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Visit our friends at the Granite State Dairy Promotion. They are a great organization that helps dairy farmers to increase the sale of milk by promoting, educating, and enhancing the image of the industry. They provide great support to farmers and are such great advocates for the dairy industry.

They have a cool page for kids and sell t-shirts and tote bags!  It’s also a great source for dairy facts and nutrition.