Five Thoughts on Livin' in Farm Country

Random sheep pic I found

1) There's no need to rush. I should have gotten a picture of this! The other day while driving into town (Ronan) I was stopped by a herd of cattle crossing the road. A few miles later, I saw a small burgundy Toyota Corolla herding a bunch of sheep. The farmer was in his car and the sheep were crowding around and following his car. Who knew sheep would follow a car? It wasn't even a farm truck.

Living out in the country is making me more aware of how I am constantly rushing the kids. Why do I have ZERO patience in the mornings? Rushing out the door, rushing to church, rushing everywhere. I tend to leave closer to the time I'm actually supposed to be there and conveniently forget about travel time! Not so good for first impressions.

Looking back, all of my most treasured memories were captured in moments when time seemed to stand still. I was not rushed or pressured to perform. I was creatively, meticulously, making a Christmas ornament or wrapping a present. I have so many memories "making" with my Grandma Trudy during this time of year. She was so crafty and planned Christmas projects & ornaments for her grandkids to make every year. She was a perfectionist, for sure, but never rushing our creativity.

I'm focusing on slowing down this Christmas season and really living in the moment and actually enjoying it instead of just trying to cross things off of my To Do List. Instead of being upset that the farmer has made me late, once again, I just smile and laugh at how the sheep are following his car.

Maybe that's my lesson for today. Follow the shepherd! This verse really touched my heart today, Zephaniah 3:17.

This calligraphy was hand done by a friend of a friend & then made into vinyl. Here's the blog where I found this pic: http://oldbarnrescue.blogspot.com/2011/12/our-windows-decorate-local-pottery-barn.html

2) In this area, our reputation preceded us! Mike's dad and lots of his cousins grew up here so when I signed the kids up for school, they actually knew how to spell "Normandeau". I could not believe it! It's even hard for me to spell sometimes.

3) People take you at your word. You don't have to show your paperwork trail to prove who you are or where you live. People believe what you say and trust you, I guess, until proven otherwise. I have a feelin' in this small town, I better be careful what I say because everyone knows everyone and everyone is related!

4) Plan ahead for a trip to town, even though a trip to Ronan is only 15 minutes! In Ronan, we have a Ford dealership, a gift store/pharmacy, a True Value, Western wear and Farm Feed stores, grocery store and some small shops. I can travel 15 mins. to Polson for Wally World (Walmart). And that's about it for shopping around here. I was told if you say you are going to town, that's Ronan and if you say you are going shopping, that's Missoula (about an hour away). It's so strange not being close to my favorite strip mall. I especially miss Target!

3) A little chaos named "Lacy" is a good thing! Here's our new pup. She's now about 5 months. She's so cute and has tried to eat all of our fave shoes. So far, she hasn't done too much damage because she's still got her puppy teeth.

Our Springer Spaniel, Nickname: "Lacy Lu" -  Full Name per James & Corina: Lacy Nora Normandeau

Our Brittany Spaniel, old dog or old man "Pete", I think he's around 11-1/2 years. Registered Name: Sweet Pete II

Our Golden Retriever - Nicknames: BellyBoo, Bellion (like Hellion), Princess Belle - Full name: Belle Normandeau

4) Goats are not only funny looking but they are fun to watch too! We don't know much about goats but we do know they like grain! Mike feeds them a handful or two a day and they beg for it all day long! They are super friendly and will eat right out of your hand. We bought the goats from the young couple who rented this house before us and they spoiled those goats. Their names are Hope & Ike. The female is older and can be used for milking, if we get her pregnant. The male is younger and called a "Wether", that's a castrated male goat. He keeps Hope company and sometimes he runs around all crazy-like and shows off for her. It's hilarious!

Mike does well with all of the animals. This is Mike & our Momma Goat "Hope"

5) Our new hobby is chasing voles! Mike, the kids & dogs all are having fun catching or smashing or eating these mice like rodents. The locals call them Pocket Gofers. Luckily, the kids & Mike haven't stooped so low as to eating them yet, but the dogs & cats love the chase. Our puppy Lacy has eaten so many of them whole, it's amazing she hasn't gotten sick. We'll be investing in lots of De-Wormer. The hawks & owls have thousands of choice meat running around through our land. We were told that every 3-5 years there's a huge influx in the population of voles but then the birds of prey move in and the population goes back down. I heard that we even get those gorgeous white, snowy owls. They come down from Canada and also help take care of the vole overpopulation problem. Bring your BB gun & come on over!


God bless you, and bless you indeed this coming year. I can't believe it's almost 2012! I think I'm still stuck somewhere in 2010!

First Christmas in Montana

Cori took this glorious pic of the sunrise.

It's a white Christmas, here in Ronan

 

By Corina Normandeau

 
It's our first Christmas in Montana. Wow! It's been an adventure! Now we are in our new house with all of our furniture. It's been pretty hard for me. I felt like I had lost everything when we got into our hotel. I think the hardest part for me was going to a new school.  I'm a 5th grader at Ronan Middle School. Jamie goes to Elementary school (he's in 4th grade), and Will (he's THREE) is going to preschool in January. I made new friends quickly but it was hard because I didn't have my best friend anymore. We just got all of our animals yesterday. Yes! Now we have Lila, Sedona, Belle, Pete, our new puppy Lacy and two new kittens.

And don't forget our new goats Ike and Hope.

My b-day was fantastic! I'm now 11 years old! And I KNOW this Christmas is going to be wonderful. In spring I get a horse too.  The family is jumping for joy that the Zemke's (our Spokane neighbors)  are coming next week.  It will be the first time they will come to our new house! But we wish everybody could come Line's and Normandeau's. There are some great things about Montana too though. Such as the views.  Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

     LOVE, CORI

Bye, Bye Poo Poo, Poo Poo Bye Bye!

Oh, Day, Oh, Glorious Day! Oct. 11, 2011, will forever be memorialized in our family. Wow! Will went poo poo on the potty all by himself!

We've been working hard (Mike & I) over the last two months trying to get this potty training thing down. I think it was more of a game for Will. Mike and I were doing all we could to encourage him. We promised him a million dollars, we bought Hot Wheels everytime he went number 2. Our neighbor, Brian, in Spokane, offered him a dollar each time he did his business.

Will was finally ready last Tuesday to say, "Bye, Bye Poo Poo, Poo Poo, Bye Bye! We watched the old classic, "Bye, Bye, Birdie" the other day and the morning of the great event Will & I were watching Sesame Street. On Sesame Street one of the little monsters was learning to say "Bye, bye" to her pacifier. So, that morning Will and I made the song "Bye, Bye Poo Poo, Poo Poo, Bye Bye!" to make it more fun & less pressure. All things work together, right?

All I had to do is leave! We were staying in the Hotel in Polson, MT, while waiting for our new home in Ronan close.  So on this exciting morning, I was praying like crazy that this would be the day and left for a few errands. Mike was home with Will and working in the other room and Will actually used his potty all by himself. I was working so hard to be the cheerleader and to bribe him into it that I forgot one key ingredient. Every man needs his privacy! As soon as I left, the magic happened! I was surprised Will accomplished this feat in the middle of the chaos of our transition and move.

Potty training is more for the parents than the child. The child just does it when he/she is good and ready. All of the rewards and promises I made didn't seem to convince my strong-willed Will to use the toilet. Some kids are so easy to train, they practically train themselves and every child is so different and unique. Why do I forget that?

The Big Move #2 and Port Polson Inn

Mid-Sept Moving Truck packs us up!

We have arrived and are settling into our hotel-apartment in Polson, MT, the "PP Inn," as the locals call it. It is very strange watching everyone around us hustle and bustle while we hang out and try to home school in our hotel room. Our room is actually pretty nice. It's fully furnished, it's got a laundry room down the hallway and it's got a usable kitchen and dining table. The room has a 70's feel but it's totally comfortable. What I like best is we have lots of closets and lots of room for our excess stuff. With homeschooling, I brought boxes and boxes of books but forgot to pack winter jackets and most of our shoes! Most of our stuff is in storage in Spokane. I was still in summer mode when we moved and didn't think it would take quite so long to get into a home.

Hangin' out in the Hotel

The kids decorated our hotel frig to make it seem more like home. Can you tell we are getting a puppy soon?

So if I back up a bit, you'll get the whole story. Our home in Mead, WA (North of Spokane) sold in 6 days. We had professional movers come and pack us up in mid-Sept. We traveled to and from Spokane to Polson a couple of times and now we are working at getting into a new routine.

Some fun home school projects

We lasted about one month of homeschooling. I would have liked to keep going but the kids really needed more interaction with others and they were fighting and competing constantly. They both decided they'd be happier in school where they could meet people. James really likes being a leader. He's so good at leading other kids in the right direction with a great sense of humor. Cori is so social she really needs some girlfriends to feel connected. Will will enjoy a little quiet time with me while the big kids are at school. I do feel I've failed at not being able to maintain a home school schedule and keep everyone happy but it was just too many variables and unknowns all at once. I really look up to all of the moms I know who do home school and I really enjoyed it. It was much more fun learning and teaching than I thought it would be. Monday morning 8AM, Cori and James will start school. Cori's in a middle school in Ronan with 5-8th grade and James is in an elementary school. I was impressed with the middle school schedule. Cori even gets to take a graphic arts class once a week, in addition to music, P.E. and keyboarding. The middle school kids in 6-8th can take a robotics course and James was super excited about that!

November 9th, we'll move into our new home on Rolling Rd in Ronan, MT. The hotel we are in now is about 15 mins from our home-to-be. Mike's busy working and traveling. He keeps promising me that his travel schedule will slow down, but we'll see. We are enjoying the amazing view from our hotel. We are right on Flathead Lake. It's gorgeous here with the lake in front of us framed in by the Mission Mountains. I'll have some new pics to share once we move in.

This is James: mom did her best with home school. I love mom, she has been making it past these hard times but she keeps us active and she is the best mom ever!