WEEKEND RUNNING

We had a very productive weekend, despite neglecting our big projects. ^ We even fit in fifty or so belly rubs for sweet Rosie.

We started the weekend plant shopping. We loaded our car up with all kinds of beauties. I’m someone who wants the inside to look as much like the outside as possible.We have enough for the inside, porch and  deck. Friday night was better than Christmas for me!

We killed our first two chickens. They were our two biggest, and the bullies of the bunch. They were destroying (and in some cases, killing) our other hens. Hopefully now, the other hens can flourish, and live a happy, stress free life.

We may also have a rooster in the mix. We don’t want a rooster, so if we do keep him, he may have to roam free from the ladies. We don’t want our chicken population to get out of hand. We may end up giving him away (unless his papa is already attached…he has his daddy’s appreciation for all things birds).

^  Amelia tried to steal Daddy’s broom. She’s kind of a job thief.  ^

Penelope was a mama’s girl big time!  I am blessed with two snuggle bugs, and Miss Penelope delivered big time this weekend.

The girls found some canvas boxes and had races & train rides for days. 

Every year we find new plants popping up around the yard. ^  This bush is one of them. We also have several patches of pink flowers, and some orange wild flowers (so far).

Rosie has been getting a lot of time with us, and even gets to come in for a bit most days. She lays just like ^ this ^  in the kitchen the whole time. I guess she just likes being closer to us…or she likes the cold floor.

We also went grocery shopping!!! Since we cook three full meals from as-close-to-scratch as we can, we run short of stuff quicker than we’d like. Noodles, rice, and beans are pretty much the only things we get that keep a while.

Zack has four and half days left of school! By lunch time Friday we plan to be celebrating by camping and enjoying the river! The rain can stay away for a day or two, right? It hasn’t shown any evidence that it is capable of staying away, but if it does, we’ll be camping!

MAE’S LAST DAY OF PRESCHOOL / YEAR 1

Miss Penelope finished her first year of preschool this morning!! I though for sure her first week I would die of a broken heart going 2 1/2 hours without my Penelope. Here I am, alive and well, and ready for a fun Penelope-packed summer!!

You can see her first day here.

SPLASH GOES THE WINNER

I have had enough of fevers, chest coughs, snot, and swollen baby gums (and the inside of my house, if I’m being totally honest). We needed a break from sanitizing and nose wiping Monday afternoon, so we took a trip to the beach.

The blue towel is water, and the white is sand, and that is good enough for them!

Supplies: :

Nutella toast, water and lots  of icebergs (ice cubes).

A ballerina one piece, a surf ready two piece, enough sunglasses to go around and plenty of sunscreen.

Towels for lounging (or swimming on), iPad for music, and magazines for browsing.

She reads magazines back to front like her momma before her and her momma’s mom before her.

We played games with bowls and cups full of water, paired with an endless supply of icebergs. Penelope created all of the games – my favorite had to be, Splash Goes the Winner!  – in which you splash your ice cube into the bowl of water. You’d think, well then does everyone win?  You’d think, but Amelia ate her ice cubes, so she didn’t qualify.

We are in our element during these warm sunny days!

RAINY WEEKEND

It rained all weekend here. Naturally, I fought the urge to crawl in bed and sleep away my days. We managed to work all weekend and make head way in quite a few projects, and deep cleaned (most of) the house.

^  She is drawing Mommy and Daddy hugging and Penelope and Amelia hugging. :) She is getting so good at drawing!!

This lady ^ ^ ^ made mac and cheese with hotdogs start to finish all by herself!!! I’m so proud of her! I didn’t even supervise, in fact I wasn’t even in the room.

We also made apple fritters from scratch, and ended the weekend with some pizza that involved a new crust recipe.

There is evidence of on going projects all around the house. Someday we may just finish one!

Zack is putting a cedar tree in the new coop for the hens to perch on! Right now it is nearly the size of our porch. He’s so creative. We sat on the porch during a downpour of rain and pealed of some bark. Well, I watched Zack from the comfort of the porch swing while he peeled some bark off of the tree. Moral support. :)

DEAR MAE

Beautiful Mae,

Your smile is as bright as a summer sun and your soul is as warm as a spring breeze.

You long to see the moon each night, yet are sad when the sun goes down. You see beauty in all things. Beauty I often over look.

You remind me to slow down and observe. You remind me to return to my younger days when I would sit and observe the world in silence. You are such a blessing to 27 year old me.

Mamas are here to guide their children through life, but you are guiding me to a much richer  life. One that wandered down a different path when I wasn’t looking. I should never become too busy that I don’t have time to grab a cup of tea, plop down in a rocker, and listen as the wind blows across the tree tops.

I love you. I need you. I want you. I adore you.

TRAIL HOPPING

In my typical fashion, I abandoned laundry (but did the dishes!) and took the girls out. This time it was for location scouting, but I ended up just taking [a million] photos of my girls enjoying themselves on the trails.

Miss independent. In her own little big world.

Last Saturday the girls and I took and day trip to get the girls summer clothes (and of course  accessories!!). We picked up my mom and made it even more fun of an outing! Penelope chose dresses over shorts, and I am LOVING the choices we made!

She saw a “money.” By that I’m sure she meant a large bird. :)

Oh! The hand holding…

At trial number two we had a picnic! We started out at the picnic table, but the wind picked up and we polished lunch off in the back of the van.

We had a little shoot on the railroad tracks, and Penelope scored a rock on her way back to the car. Amelia did a face plant, and scraped her arms and hands pretty bad, so we cut our trip short. Well, we were 2+ hours into our outing, but only walked one of the three trails we intended to.

No doubt on the next sunny day we’ll finish those trails! I’m so grateful I can stay home with these beauties!!