These last few months...

...we have been very busy around these parts. Busy living life, doing and building new things and painting....lots and lots and lots of painting. As a result, the computer has gone by the wayside and with it, blogging. I didn't want you to think I've given up on my "try one new thing every week" resolution, because I haven't. I just don't have the time or desire to blog about every little thing we've been up to. You're welcome. However, I've compiled a list with the main points of what's been going on with us over these last few months.

We've been:

*having a deck built in our backyard and painting it. And then putting a second coat of paint on. And then a third. And my husband keeps saying that it needs a fourth very soon. I pretend that I'm deaf when he says things like this.


*buying and putting together patio furniture for the new deck. This involved two different trips to my least favorite store in the entire world. K-mart in Wasco. You've never been, you say? Lucky you.

*becoming big hockey fans. During the last few months of our local team's season we went to at least one game per week.. Jake and Emma went to many more together, just the two of them. We had a blast! We even ventured to Stockton to see the final playoff game...and visit my aunt and uncle. They went to the game with us and my uncle, who had never been to game before, fell in love and called later in the month to tell us he had gone to more playoff games. :) Also, we happened to be the only fans for our team at that Stockton game and may or may not have had our cow bell confiscated because they feared their fans would do us bodily harm. lol

*celebrating our littlest girl turning six. I still don't want to talk about it.

*celebrating our first-born's ninth birthday. Hold me.


*planting, weeding, watering and picking our vegetable garden. I have to say, we loved the mild June weather we experienced this year. Our garden, however, did not. It's just not producing quite like it has in years past. That's how it goes with "farming"...you have some good years and some not so good years. Or so I'm told by my husband and father-in-law. ;)

*raising chickens and building a coop! Phew! This has been one of the biggest projects we've taken on. Raising chickens from chicks is hard work and building a coop is even harder. Chicks are messy, prone to dying and just plain expensive {and when they're still inside in a crate because it's too cold outside at night, they like to get out and fly all over your kitchen leaving quite a mess in their wake! eew!!}. My husband keeps reminding me that by the time they start laying eggs {I'm guessing sometime this Fall}, we'll have about $100 sunk into each chicken. I'm pretty sure he's expecting an omelet every morning for breakfast, too! To date, we have 5 hens {2 white leghorns, 1 buff orpington, 1 silver laced wyandotte and 1 silkie [silkies are not prolific egg layers, but every time I look at that chicken I laugh...so I figure that's her contribution!]}.

*feeding out and butchering 3 lambs for meat. And consequently, searching the Internet for lamb recipes. I will admit I was less than thrilled {and by "less than thrilled", I mean "completely disgusted"} at the prospect of having a deep freeze full of meat that I didn't even like the few times that I had tried it. Of course, like all things "home-grown", our lamb tastes nothing like the lamb you buy in the store or are served in a restaurant. Trust me! I spent the first several meals willing myself to hate it, but it is actually really good. It has no weird after- taste that I had previously associated with lamb. I use the ground lamb for almost everything that I would have used ground beef for and I honestly cannot tell one bit of difference. I still buy chicken and beef on occasion, but it's really nice to have a freezer full of meat that we raised ourselves! We're talking about getting a pig and finding someone to go in halves with for a side of beef.

*listening in amazement as the girls play the piano! Emma has left me speechless! Who knew there was this little musician inside her just waiting to come out!? Three months into lessons and she has flown through the first piano and theory book and knows and can play almost every note by sight. Her teacher is amazing and wonderful and raves to me about how much she loves teaching Emma. At this point, Lauren is sort of suffering through and doing well, but not loving it. I'm not sure if it's her age or if she just really doesn't like it. I'm wondering if I should keep making her do it or avoid the battle and let it go until she's a bit older or more interested. Suggestions?

*enjoying one-on-one time with each of my girls while the other participated in a week-long sports camp. Emma chose basketball and loved every second that she spent flitting around the court, twirling in circles and generally avoiding the ball. Lauren chose soccer and particularly enjoyed playing goalie, even if it meant going fist-to-cuffs with a little boy who also wanted to play goalie. She was very proud of the fact that the other team did not score one goal during her stint in front of the net. To say Emma and Lauren are complete opposites in just about every way imaginable would be a major understatement. ;)

*trying and loving new classes at the gym! My favorite has become Straight Up Strength...a weights class. I love it. I don't love falling on the floor when I get up the following morning because of the pain. It's mornings like this that I'm exceedingly glad my husband leaves for work long before I rise or the mocking might never end. ;)

*buying a new fridge. It's not as exciting as it sounds. However, it is the first fridge we've ever actually purchased!

*researching and ordering curriculum for the coming school year. I either already have or am awaiting arrival of all of the books we need for Fall! This is a very good feeling!! Maybe I'll do another post showing what we chose after I have all of our books in my possession. And let me just take this opportunity to say that we absolutely love our charter school. Love, love, love! Our resource teacher, the enrichment classes, living history camp, amazing field trips and wonderful friends...all of it!! I can't imagine being anywhere else! And Lauren is ecstatic that one of her favorite little friends will be joining her there this next year!

*switching bedrooms. The girls are now in their own rooms! There is still some painting that needs to be done before I post pictures of the bedrooms {so you can expect those sometime next century!}, but Emma's walls are done and she is quite happy in her new blue room {she picked the color and I happily obliged even though I am so not a blue person!}! She was also very excited to learn from her National Geographic Kids magazine last night that people with blue bedrooms tend to be more creative. It's all starting to make sense now....

*reading and reading and reading! Emma is in love with the "Who Was..." series. She's read several of them {usually she gets through an entire book in one sitting} including, "Who Was Amelia Earhart?" and "Who was Ronald Reagan?"...and then she comes out spewing random facts about that person with such enthusiasm that I can't help but be interested! :) I've been reading a lot too and highly recommend "The Forgotten Garden" and "Water for Elephants" {more soon on why I originally chose this particular book to read}.

*continuing to bake almost all of our own bread! I heart my bread machine. I also heart fresh from the oven garlic & cheese bagels. And cinnamon rolls. And focaccia bread. And pretzels. And the gym. Fortunately.

*enjoying our laid-back summer with friends and being by the pool and taking the occasional trip to the beach. It may not be my favorite season, but I'm soaking up and loving every minute of it!

So, what have you been up to?

It's that time again...

...where I revert to an eight year old. A few days ago, it was my half-birthday! My mother-in-law remembered (because she always does) and bought me the most fabulous gift!!
It's a chicken topiary! :) We went to the BC Garden Fest earlier this year and there was a vendor selling these. Her husband makes the "forms" from what looks like plastic coated chicken wire. There were humming birds, life-sized golfers and football players and just about everything in between! We all fell in love with them and I actually bought my mom a turtle for her birthday and she adores it. I admired the chicken, but wouldn't spend the money on one for myself. I was completely surprised when my my mother in law pulled it out of her trunk the other day and gave it to me! Man, I love that woman! Just ask my friends....they get real annoyed that I don't have any MIL complaints! She is the best....and not just because she completely spoils me (although she really does)! :)

The front view....

And I just so happen to be babysitting the turtle because my parents will be gone much of the summer. The plant that came with this one was much smaller, but the woman did say that it should be mostly filled in by the end of summer.

Now if I could just figure out a way to make these, my yard would be just like "It's a Small World"....only without the annoying music! ;)

Also, it should be noted that my husband did remember this year and sent me a text in the morning that said, "Happy half birthday. Because apparently that's a holiday now." heehee I think he's finally getting on board with this and frankly, it's about time. ;)

Meet Butter

A few weeks ago, we discovered two new kittens. What we didn't know was that their mother(and there is still some disagreement as to who the mother actually is) was refusing to feed them. That is, we didn't know until Jake stepped out of the back door and saw this.



Poor, dear Jasmine. She knows better than to be mean to kittens and she knew Jake was standing there so she dared not move. But look at that expression on her face! I can just imagine what is going through her head....and it makes me laugh every single time I look at this picture.

Much to Jasmine's relief, the girls and I took over feeding the kittens. I fed them milk every few hours for several days. We even took them to the beach with us....and they took a turn for the worse while we were there necessitating a trip to Cayucos Market where I spent $14 on a bottle of infant Motrin because I needed a small dropper (I washed all the medicine down the drain which sort of killed me!) and a bottle of Pedialite because they were dehydrated. Oye. Unfortunately, the smaller, weaker kitten never quite recovered and now we are left with one. Emma named her Butter. Don't ask me. I'm just relieved we have moved past the hourly feedings and now Emma can go out 3 times/day and give her a bit of cat food.

And for her trouble, Jasmine is allowed to eat the leftovers. But she likes to sit and look the other way and pretend she's not waiting for the leftovers. Every so often, she glance at me out of the corner of her eye, but never turns her head.

That dog kills me. I love her.