You have to be wondering if we will ever get this done. We feel the same way, we wonder this pretty  much daily. Each time we think, yes we are ready to move on to something like roof or siding, we realize we were wrong. 
   
It could be we have never ever built a barn before. We read several books on it. Right now Frank is putting up the braces along the front and back truss. he measures, I cut and hand them up. 
   
And um, this picture... is showing you, well this picture is for me ok. He does go to work and I cannot look at him at that time. I need photos during those dark times.
   
Tad is usually helping us outside, Nathalie often is. Today Nathalie worked in the house a lot, cleaning and cooking. 
   
I do not like nail guns, ok I like finishing nailers. Pneumatic tools are not very easy for me to use, even the pancake compressor can be a pain. The nail gun wears on my bad wrist. I prefer a drill and screws, but that is slower and he is the one using the nail gun. I would like to add that there are MULTIPLE times that I have to use the nail gun. I guess I could refuse...but I do not want to be total unhelpful. 
   
This be mine. The saw, not the 2x4. The saw was my mother's day present 2 yrs ago, and it burned up in the shop. So we ordered a new one, from amazon.com and it cost less than when we bought it on sale at lowes. It is a 16" compound miter saw. I think it cuts 12" wide board, but as it slides you can cut 16."
   
Nathalie has come out to take photos, we are putting up house wrap in order to try to cut down on some wind. We will put siding on the outside, and if need be we will do insulation inside with wood on the walls. We are not sure yet. 
   
My ladder is what Frank is using, his is on my right. That is because his is 4 ft taller than mine and mine is easier for me to move. I am a girl right??? But it isnt my fault, I am of smallish size. I can work hard, but I just cant manage things 3 times heavier than myself and several feet taller.My poor husband... It is a good thing Tad is growing up so big and strong. 
   
Tad is holding the housewrap after he wore out handing daddy nails. IE he became distracted and forgot to hand him any nails. I was singing to myself, holding up the house wrap also not paying any attention but I can come down to earth if need be. 
   
Finishing the job, somehow the wrap makes the barn look huge inside. It seemed pretty big, now it seems enormous. 
   
You cannot grasp the enormity from this photo. This is the best I can do anyway. It is going to be very nice when we are done. We plan on finishing the fencing (almost all posts are finished as of yesterday) this week, and hopefully get the rest of the roof framing done and possibly get particle board up. Either way the turkeys, geese, duck and the duck's rooster friend will move into their this wkend. As soon as the fence is done, they will have a tarp inside the barn to go under and they will live in the barn yard. We will put the baby goats out there at least during the day, they will not respect house wrap as walls but they need space. 
   
While we did this, Nathalie was cleaning the kitchen. She let me know for the 3rd week in a row that we do not own a mop. Which is reasonable, and I will pick one up sometime soon. very soon. Also we are out of dishwasher detergent but we found something that works just fine. 
 
Before Tad came out to help us, he spent a couple of hours cutting up strawberries with Nathalie. In Ks, we waited for them to go on sale for 1$ a lb. Here, we are grateful for 3$ a lb. we bought a lot, and we are going to go get more.
   
Nathalie put them up in quart bags when they had made juice, we sprinkle sugar on them and it creates tons of juice. this winter we will eat them, in many different ways. primarily we eat them on pancakes and waffles, but also in pies and other desserts. You know, I love making desserts. Not cake, but anything else. Nathalie wants to make cake so I will let her. She is not allowed to do oven things, she has to call one of us other 3 to help her. she is a little girl and has nice skin, I want it to not be burned. 
   
She said she could make pizza dough for dinner which she can, but I came in to take pictures.
   
Yep she made pizza dough. Nice. It takes about 40 min to rise to this point, the book says wait 2 hrs but we do not. I have learned in the winter to put it on a heat vent and we have dough in 20 min, ready to put in the oven. 
   
We learned that putting a little less flour, and then knead in more before rolling out makes easier to handle-throw/toss, the pizza dough. nathalie cannot toss the dough yet, it just flops but she is learning. 
   
Rolling out 3 crusts. Yes, we eat 3 pizzas between the 4 of us. 
   
I am glad that my children can do so much independently. I regret that they are so big in some ways. I so wanted more of them, and these are so big. I miss babies, I enjoy this age just as much as babies. But its hard for them to grow up big. Nathalie will be 10 in 7 days. She has been able to clean the whole house, alone, and cook some meals since Frank's 2nd deployment at which time she was 6. She turned 7 more than halfway through that one. Tad can carry almost as much weight as I can, and he can also clean the whole house, they can both do the chores alone including milking. I think we have done a pretty good job, and they are really great kids.