Pioneer Dress #1

 Okay, remember the little girl who went to pioneer day in a modern dress because "Mary wouldn't wear a red dress"? Well, lo and behold this same little girl, when choosing her "Mary" fabric, chose a RED floral print from Joann's VIP by Cranston. Personally, I think it is flipping adorable. I could look at her all day in this little dress. This morning she wore it to church, bonnet and all. I love this kid. I love that she wants to be Mary, the eldest, and not the obvious Carrie, the youngest. For once, she gets to pretend to be older! She wanted to be called "Mary" all day today and called me "Ma" again. I had a lot of fun making her dress using Simplicity 3725. I have finished Lila's, but she hadn't put it on with bonnet for me to get a picture of. I will share when she does.

Eastern Woodland Indian goes to Muddy Fanatic

Well, we did it. We finished the Muddy Fanatic 5k. It was muddy, it was wet, it was pretty fun. The run started at 8a with groups going every 30 minutes. Luckily, we were in on of the last groups to go through because earlier folks complained about the long back-ups at obstacles. We had to wait a couple times, but not bad. Our team made it through and the training day we had really helped those who made it.

One of the most fun parts was helping Cam get ready for the event. Costumes were encouraged, so he decided to dress as an Eastern Woodland Indian. He has some Native American blood in his ancestry that he's quite proud of. He spent a lot of time researching looks and clothing of the various groups in this area. We helped him paint his head and chest and shave his head.

His "Fascinator" was made from squirrel tail and chicken feathers. It was really cool.

The finished look. He got lost of requests for pictures and the paint stayed on surprisingly well through the obstacles and mud. The hand-prints on his chest washed off, but they stayed on long enough to leave a hand-print shaped tan line!

This is Lila's portrait of her Daddy all painted up. I love it.

We are Muddy Fanatics!

Team Lachos after crawling through the mud.

Had a super fun day last weekend with some great folks. I was talked into signing up for the Muddy Finatic 5K Adventure Race. I'm so glad I was! "Team Lachos" got together and had a training/team building day at Old Glory. We pulled the tractor up a hill, ran the trail, jumped in the creek, climbed the barn wall, crawled through mud, tried to turn a tarp over while standing on it, and generally made fools of ourselves while having such a blast.  

 After seeing some photos of the race, some of my teammates were freaking out. However, after this training day, we are ready and pumped. I think it was just what we all needed to get up our confidence and show us how much fun we can have. It's been a great reason for us to get into healthier habits and get moving. If we have half as much fun on race day as we did on training day, it will totally be worth it!

The Ingalls come to O'Bannon Woods

 Last weekend we participated in "A Day on the Farm as a Pioneer Child" at O'Bannon Woods. It was a lot of fun! They had asked Cam to bring a goat and do a milking demonstration and we were all able to go. The best part was, my friend Diane was able to loan Lila and me some period attire. The girls were running around all morning calling each other "Laura" and "Mary" and Cam and me "Pa" and "Ma".

The girls were technically too young for the activities, but they let them participate anyway. There was goat-milking, bread-making, feeding of oxen, brushing out horses, and more. They both really enjoyed being with the big girls. 

 The dress that fit Maggie was red and she really didn't think that Mary would wear a red dress. At least that was her reasoning for not wearing it. So, she's not very period-friendly, but she sure is cute!

 Here's Ma. Diane had two potential dresses for me. One was much fancier than the other and I was sure Lila would pick that one for me. But, she chose this one because it looked "just like Ma". I brought some knitting along and sat near the goats.

 Here's Pa. Cam shaved his goatee the night before for more authenticity. It's kind of rare for me to see his face! The kids all loved the demo. All but one of them tried milking. I was impressed at their willingness to try.

Here's Olga being spoiled by clover the girls were picking for her. There were quite a few other volunteers there that day and they were all so friendly and welcoming. The whole experience makes me want to sew some of our own pioneer clothing and do this more often. Diane to the rescue again, she is hunting up her old patterns!

Spring

cream of asparagus soup... so yummy... my girls slurp it up

Fried morel mushrooms

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 Cam has been working more which means I have been working less. It's about this time of year when I start getting the itch to stay home more, so it works out well.  I have been reveling in all the springy things happening around here. Baby bunnies, piglets, fresh veggies and even strawberries! Beautiful mornings, weather nice enough to hang laundry on the line, and sunshine on my shoulders. Love it.

First Strawberries of the season

asparagus from our perrenial patch

new piglets "brown nose" and "brown nose"

Smoky Mountain Trip

The Howards at Laurel Falls 

We took an awesome trip to the Great Smoky Mountains last weekend. We all had a great time. We went hiking, creek jumping, picnicking, shopping in Gatlinburg, out for ice cream (twice...don't judge me, we were on vacation!), and all in all had a blast.

Mommy and her favorite Maggie

Maggie right before she fell in

Laurel Falls is a fun place to play

Maggie has the best seat in the house to Laurel Falls

Cam and I took turns toting the girls on the trails. (Okay, Cam did most of the toting, but I did help!) Handily, the frame pack he bought for an elk hunt can double as a child carrier. The girls enjoyed hopping off and down. We hike Laurel Falls and Chimney Tops. Chimney Tops is some business, let me tell you.  I did not tote much on that hike. It was some serious stuff. I was really impressed by how much the girls hiked on their own two feet. Kids have so much energy!

Enjoying rock jumping and picnicking

Three bear cubs in Cades Cove

Morels from home frying with venison brats

We were planning to stay at Elkmont campground, but alas, when we arrived they were full.  So, we moved on down the road a piece to Cades Cove.  While driving the 11 mile look around Cades Cove the next day, we got to see three bear cubs and their mama. So. Cool. The wildlife are practically tame. We got very close to deer, turkey, bears, skinks, snakes, and birds. Fun stuff. If I had to guess, I'd say the girls' favorite part was becoming "Tennessee Rock Jumping Experts". There were so many creek and river beds to be found. They got really good at jumping from stone to stone up, down, around, and every which way between.

View from inside the tent

Maggie munches lunch at our picnic spot

Silly family in the Smokies

Mommy dictating Lila's journal entry

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Lila's journal entry 4-13-12 (shared with permission)
     "Next, we got to the campsite, and we couldn't find room! So, Daddy searched and searched and
     finally we found one. And, we goed scooting. It was glorious. I thought the Smoky Mountains
     wouldn't look like it was. The moral of this writing is have an open mind when you don't expect all of
     the adventure to the Smoky Mountains or any other mountains." Amen, Lila, Amen.

Easter!

We had a great Easter with lots of family, fellowship, play, food, and friends. We dyed eggs Saturday night and even had glitter to add to them. Luckily, the dye washes off little fingers for church.

 Cousins are always happy for an excuse to get together. They hid eggs, colored on the sidewalk, pretended to be dolphins, mermaids, and little girls... it was fun.

  

For some reason, my niece is always a lot more cooperative for pictures than my girls.  Here she is with her Opa.

 She's convinced we looks "Just Alike!" (Even though she really looks just like her Aunt Renata)

 Family tradition of Easter family pictures.  Maggie is traditionally not very cooperative! Today being no exception.

 A room full of friends, family, and food= good times.

Nana and Lila on a beautiful Easter day.