This face!!

I know I am biased....but this face!  He looks more and more like his Daddy,

and is such a handsome young man!  

After our visit to the tv station in November, we went to place Christmas wreaths on my grandparents' and sister's graves.  While at the cemetery, they closes the exit that I usually go out and we became lost in one of our city's largest and oldest cemeteries!  As we drove around, we saw this old ornate bridge and had to stop and get some pictures!

I'm SO glad we got lost and took the time to not be stresses out but to take the time!

My little boy is not so little.  And my goodness, he is so handsome.  Someday soon I will have to share him with some VERY lucky young lady, but for now....

My boy is UNIQUE!

Most teenagers I know won't go out unless they look "just right".  

My kid definitely is so secure in himself that he can laugh at himself and do very brave things (braver than I was at that age!!)

The teen group had a Christmas party with an ugly sweater contest....He went all out for it!

Yes, those are lit up lights on the hat!

Don't miss the blue snoopy snow socks!!

For the same party, we decided the morning of that we would participate in the cookie exchange too.

Only 10 dozen cookies needed in a few hours!  Luckily I always have ingredients on hand for my Mama's Buckaroons (Secret Recipe) which are kinda like Macaroons but with oatmeal instead of coconut.  So like a sugar cookie with oatmeal. (that's the most info I will give!)

The big reveal! Boy is 16!!

Unbelieveably our guy is now 16 years old.  He's getting his driving in to get his license.  He sings bass.  He's over 6 feet tall (And very handsome, in my unbiased mommy opinion.)

I wanted to do a big "To Do" for the special day, but he's more low-key.

But as I alluded to the other day...I did work on a monumental (to me) project for his special day. Since he was 3,  he would hand me shirts and ask me to put the "in the memory box so my kids can wear em" For two cycles of the 101 list (so about 6 years now), I've wanted to make those shirts into something special. A t-shirt quilt.  

I found a great group on Facebook and after reading their posts and seeing their pictures, I jumped in.  3-12 hour days later and a blister on the knuckle of my middle finger (isn't that odd??) it was ready a day early!  Good thing too, because we actually did a festival ON his birthday.

And as my Man says...that 1-oh-done!

Harvest

The view out the front door.  All the machinery has pulled in to start the corn harvest around us.

And WHO is THAT in the combine??

Yup!  That's our Boy.  He did an afternoon 4 hour shift and then went out again after dinner and did an evening shift of 4.5 hours (until 12:30 am!!

The animals came out to watch too!

ONLY TWO DAYS! Until our Blogoversary!

OH MY!!

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Now, about that picture......

My dear handsome boy was up on our roof cleaning out the gutters to get ready for the rain and the winter.  He's in a great mood so was hammin it up for me!

He makes my house look so small!!

Look out below!

Just kiddin!

It's called a "soft opening"

In retail when they open a store with very little fan fair, just to see how it goes, it's called a Soft Opening....then in a few weeks after all the hiccups are worked out, they have the "Grand Opening..."

School started today as a "soft opening."  We've been so busy on the farm and with the CSA and with SALSA...that school snuck up on us.  So this morning there was a scramble to figure out what Boy was going to work on while I had milk delivery and "town day".  Next week (or soon..) I will hopefully have it together and have the chalkboard "First day of School" photos..as this is likely our last year of Homeschool (sniff, sniff).

Here he's working on....um...something...maybe science? at Nana & Pawpa's house.

Off to Camp #TBT 6/7/15

Each summer, our Boy looks forward to going to "sleep-away" camp.  Out of the past 6 years, he has gone to the same camp, every year but one (the summer of the infamous black eye!)  I love the camp he goes to because it's less than a mile away as the crow flies and in the evening as I am weeding in the garden, I can hear the kids singing in chapel.  Sign. Smile.

He's gotten SOOO Big!

Dad wearing HIS camp shirt!

Every year he makes new buddies, and usually sees some of the same friends from year to year.  Here is this year's cabin.

Mommy's Day #TBT 5/10/15

I am so blessed. 

14 years (and a bit) ago I got to be my Boy's Mom.

Look at the gorgeous flowers he bought for me!

Tilling the Spring Garden #TBT 5/1/15

Here I am looking at my poor garden all dying and finished and waiting on winter....however here are the promising pictures from spring!  I am so blessed to have my big Boy who LOVES machinery and likes to do things like till up my garden!

You can see the big Tom Turkey in the background 

watching what is going on..his name is Stuffing

Turning the tiller is hard work!

Sadly, we did not do the CSA this year. Our garden ended up not doing very well due to the excessive spring rains and cool temperatures.  The tomatoes all drowned, and the later ones we put in just started turning red as the leave started changing. I missed doing my CSA and having a bigger reason to garden.  I'm hopeful that next year will be better!

Making Pens

Man and Boy have always enjoyed their time in the woodshop.  

Back when Boy was six, he turned his first pen at an event at a woodworking store where Man was the manager.

Since then, they go in cycles of working on the wood lathe and not.  Since Man's surgery, he's been trying to find more "little" things to work on.  

The guys had a father / son weekend and now all the lathes and equipment is out and they've been going to town making some beautiful stuff.

SteamPunk Pen

My handsome young MAN

Well, it has happened.  My Boy is no longer a Boy, but becoming a Man!  

I will still call him Boy (as he will always be to me, my Baby!), but as you can see from the pictures, it's not a very accurate term!

Today he turns 14 (Sob)

I am very proud of who he is becoming.  He is pretty thoughtful and polite.

He's becoming more responsible.

He has always been a sweetie!

He's taller than I am, and weighs more than his Daddy did when we got married.

It's hard to see but the markings on the wall next to me below are his measurements since we moved to the farm 5 years ago.  The first mark is near my elbow.  Now he is about 6 foot!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MY PRECIOUS SON!

A Homestead Birthday Gift from Boy's Best Friend

Boy's Best Friend gifted him a great homestead gift of a chainsaw.

He's so excited to use it!