Meeting a 'Blogging Friend'

Today I got to meet my "blogging friend", Leigha, from Indiana! Leigha and I began reading each others' blogs about a year ago and have gotten to know each other better through emailing. I never imagined we'd actually get to meet, but several months ago, Leigha mentioned that she and her husband would be traveling through Richmond on July 4th. We began discussing details and praying that it might work out for us to get together. All of the details did come together, and Oliver and I met with Leigha and her husband, Lucus, for lunch today at a Chick-Fil-A along their route. I am so glad it worked out for us to meet!

Leigha brought me a sweet gift of an Apple Pancake Mix and a jar of Apple Butter! I look forward to trying both of them. :) I encourage you to visit Leigha's blog, Help Meet in the Making. She is a dear sister in Christ with a heart for serving the Lord and I am privileged to have had the opportunity to meet her. :)

The Beach

We had so much fun at the beach! Our pictures follow:

It was just Sheridan's 2nd time at the beach and the first time was when she was only a few months old. She loved it so much and wasn't the least bit scared of the water.
Daddy and Sheridan

Harrison had so much fun riding the waves on Daddy's back

Our whole family enjoys riding the waves Sullivan, Oliver, and Harrison

Sheridan

Harrison
Elliott
Sullivan

Sheridan got chilly in the late afternoon so I wrapped her in one of the boys' t-shirts

Heading back to the van as the sun began to set after a perfect day...

Off to the Beach for the Day

Tomorrow after the morning milking, we're heading off to spend the day at the beach! I just checked the weather and it's going to be sunny with a high of 91-- a perfect beach day.

Taken in Kitty Hawk, NC in 2006 during a lunch break while I was in real estate school

I found the following poem in a coastal decorating magazine and loved it~

Home By The Sea by A.P. Carter

There's a lonely cottage by the sea side
Where the water lillies through the shore
It was there I passed my happy childhood
With a loved one that's gone before

Then give me back my dear old home
That old home by the sea
And I never will wander far away
From my home my dear old cottage home

Many years have passed since there I wandered
But the old cottage has been forgot
And my heart in fancy oft returned
To that dear old familiar spot

Yes my heart is like the humming sea shell
That tells of its birth where ere it roams
I will sing of my cottage by the sea shore
Of my home my dear old cottage home

Week of Relaxation & Fun!

Several weeks ago, Daddy said that once we were finished moving to our new farm we could enjoy a "week of light duty" by only doing the "essentials". Of course, our "essentials" include a lot of work-- milking twice a day, preparing orders for deliveries, delivering the milk, processing about 100 chickens tomorrow, and all of the normal, daily tasks associated with the house and family, but at least we aren't taking on any new projects this week.

Our exciting plans include a cookout, a game night, a movie night, spending a day at King's Dominion, and- my very favorite- spending a day at the beach!
I've finished unpacking and organizing my room, so I am also looking forward to sewing pillows and a few other decorative items this week. I'll be spending all of next week doing tractor service work in NC, so I am hopeful to completely finish my room this upcoming week. If so, I might be able to post "after" pictures of my room by the end of the week. :)

Ice Cream Cake

Ice Cream Cake is an Alexander family favorite! Everyone chooses an ice cream cake when it's time for me to make their birthday cake. It's so easy and it's such a delicious summer time treat.
Ice Cream Cake (my grandmother's recipe)

~1 stick of butter
~1 package of Oreos (for my brothers' birthdays, they sometimes choose the coffee Oreos or mint Oreos to try something different)
~1/2 gallon of ice cream (any flavor-- sometimes we do half of one flavor and the other half a different flavor)
~1 Cool Whip/whipped topping (we rarely use the Cool Whip brand, but usually just get whatever is cheapest)
~1 hot fudge (homemade is really good, but store-bought hot fudge works great also)

Crush Oreos and melt butter. Stir together and press on the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Spread ice cream and pour hot fudge over the ice cream. Immediately put in freezer. Let freeze for several hours, then add the Cool Whip layer. You can use leftover crushed Oreo crumbs to 'decorate' the top. Enjoy!

Day at King's Dominion

Yesterday was Harrison's 8th birthday, so we celebrated by spending the day at King's Dominion! It was so nice to have a one day vacation from moving in and the farm work. We are so grateful that our farm-hands, Hannah and Landon, are able to occasionally milk the cows for us now so we don't have to be home in time for the evening milking! Sheridan riding the carousel:Sheridan was so happy to meet Dora from Dora the Explorer (Although she looks a little nervous in the picture, she is still talking about 'holding Dora's hand' today!). We spent most of the day at King's Dominion's water park, so that is why we are in swimsuits and swim cover-ups!Harrison's favorite ride is the "Flying Eagles":

When we finally got home, we enjoyed Harrison's ice cream birthday cake!

Finally Moved to the New Farm :)

On Friday, the cows were moved over to the new farm, so now we are all officially living here! I am so glad and especially hopeful that our lives will settle down soon. We (or at least Mama and I) still have the goal of having the interior and exterior complete (unpacked, decorated, painted, landscaped) by July 4 (less than two weeks away!).

Milkings are going slightly faster because the boys are bringing all of the cows (we have 8 cows milking right now) into the barn's stanchions and going from one cow to the next with the milking equipment. We used to have to bring them into our small, makeshift milking barn one at a time.Elliott hooking one up to the milking machine:Gertrude was being stubborn and didn't want to come in with the rest of the girls: Elliott in the temporary clean room processing the milk: Sweet Sheridan sitting in the milking barn:

The cows and calves look so happy grazing on such green pastures! "The Lord will greatly bless His people. Wherever they plant seed, bountiful crops will spring up. Their cattle and donkeys will graze freely." Isaiah 32:20

Unpacking, Sipping Lemonade, and Chasing Chickens

Clean clothes are hanging out on the line, calves are grazing in the lush, green pasture, birds are chirping, and a soft breeze is flowing through the open windows of our 'new', old farmhouse...

The farmhouse is very slowly starting to look like a "home"! It is still going to be a few weeks before I can post any "after" pictures, but it is very exciting to see visible progress in each room. We are by no means "settled in"-- we're still sleeping in the garage apartment, spending our days working at the farmhouse, and milking cows at the old farm, but we are hopeful to get the cows moved over here to the new farm soon, so we can officially begin living here.

Over the past week, I have been unpacking, cleaning, processing chickens, helping milk the cows, baking cheesecakes for The Nicholson House, billing Sullivan's Tractor Service clients, and trying to stay somewhat on top of the other business-related tasks. In the evenings, we are at the garage apartment with little to do in the short time before falling into bed (well-- "bed" on the floor), but I have been making progress reading Radical Womanhood by Carolyn McCulley, which I am thoroughly enjoying and learning a lot from. Maybe I will post a book review once I complete the book.

Last Thursday, in the midst of many errands, I was able to schedule lunch with my friend, Chelsea, and then we quickly went to the river in my family's NC neighborhood to swim and lay out. We could only stay for an hour, but it was long enough to get a decent amount of sun.

After church on Sunday, I went to my friends' Abigail and Rebekah's piano concert. Abigail and Rebekah are very accomplished pianists and Abigail is also an amazing singer. God has gifted them greatly, and they have invested many years of practicing as they've developed their talents. As I listened to the beautiful music, it seemed like stepping back in time as Anna and I sat on the steps of the grand old plantation house on a sunny Sunday afternoon listening to such lovely music fill the house crowded with people.

Anna and I enjoyed lemonade and cookies while Abigail and Rebekah greeted their many admirers. :)

After the concert, Abigail, Rebekah, Anna, and I went to our good friend Emily's house to surprise her for her birthday! We visited with her for a while and went to see her new calves, kittens, and help round up her chickens that had gotten out. On the way home, I reflected how funny it was that just a few hours earlier, we had been prim and proper southern ladies enjoying beautiful music and sipping lemonade and then we were chasing chickens! I want to be more of that kind of girl; who can be proper and feminine, yet also not afraid to get dirty. :)

Hopefully next time I post, it will be with the news that we have moved in to the farmhouse!