This Week’s Miscellany: Vol. 146

Greetings from the muddy farm! It was a full, but fun week starting with Daniel’s birthday. We just had a few friends over to eat sausage from one of the pigs and to sit around a campfire. There was also a giant cowboy boot piñata.

I always get nervous about throwing Daniel birthday parties because he’s very good at throwing birthday parties and I always feel like his birthday isn’t as fun as he makes everyone else’s birthday. But this year, I think we nailed it.

Then the very next day we had a visit from *drumroll* THE FULWILERS!

You know Jennifer Fulwiler, right? Blogger, author, and radio show host extraordinaire? (Look how thrilled Gwen is. She had just woken up from a nap.)

Jennifer and Joe and three of their little ones stopped by for a farm tour and then took us out for Thai food. The only other times I’ve talked to Jen in real life have been at the Edel Gathering which is wonderful but such a whirlwind. This time we only had the distraction of six young children at a restaurant so…pros and cons. It was such a treat to spend an evening with the Fulwilers. I really look up to Jen. And not just because I look like a dwarf maiden standing next to her.

The other big news of the week is that one of the farmies, a live-in volunteer Christine, got married today and the farm threw a pretty fantastic reception for her. Everybody pitched in with food and decor. Daniel was given the task of bringing Christine’s favorite goat to the reception and I did her hair for the wedding so it was a farm extravaganza.

In other news, Daniel has been trying out all kinds of different goat cheeses in his cheese making endeavors. This is feta and an Italian farmhouse cheese. His ricotta might be my favorite.

The kids are big fans of the bunnies these days.

And the piglets.

One of my favorite things about living here is how patient and sweet all the interns are about letting the kids help with tasks around the farm. They learn so much and love to feel helpful!

And I couldn’t resist showing you this picture of some of our chickens next to Bing and Danny. Because TWINSIES, right?

Links:

Some interesting food for thought from this week!

Why the British Tell Better Children’s Stories: The Atlantic

The Collapse of Parenting: Why It’s Time for Parents to Grow Up: Maclean’s

Review of ‘Defenders of the Unborn’ by Daniel K. Williams: NYTimes

Bearing Children at the Intersection of U.S. Racism and Sexism: truthout

And our latest podcast:

Let’s Talk About Catholic Baby Names with Kate Towne of Sancta Nomina. This one was SO fun! We chatted about names, why Catholic names are valuable, and Kate even gave both Christy and I one of her famous baby name consults for future little ones. She was spot on!

And my friend Katie Kimball, Catholic healthy living blogger over at Kitchen Stewardship, is sharing a FREE video course on teaching kids knife skills and safety so they can get into the kitchen. I watched the first one last week and it is awesome! I’m looking forward to teaching her methods to the kids because Benjamin in particular is really into cooking right now (oatmeal, sandwiches, quesadillas) but when he is using a knife I get so nervous. So check it out!

Wishing you all a wonderful rest of the weekend!

Haley

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