Photo highlights from the past week

We've had a busy but wonderful week. We had new baby chicks hatch, my Dad and I have been busy putting up a new cedar playhouse for the girls, the garden is growing strong, we went to the drive in movies for the first time ever (what fun!), my little Ella got new glasses, and Gwen with a bouquet of flowers and a thank you card in hand said a joyful yet sad goodbye to her favorite teacher and hello to summer break.

Yay for eggs!

They may be a little bit smaller than your average store bought eggs but they don't get any fresher than this! I still hold onto my dream that one day I will live in the country again maybe and collect a big basket of fresh eggs from all my hens, but for now I will thoroughly enjoy what I have been blessed with in this life and appreciate the daily miracles in my day to day life such as a freshly laid egg from a sweet little urban backyard hen. *smile*

Strawberries, Chickens, and Moonflowers....oh my!

Let me just say my Dad is the greatest. I feel so blessed to have such a great Dad. :) Last week he took us strawberry picking. We had such a good time and picked a bucket full of sweet, juicy berries (and a cool-whip container full of strawberries that were devoured by little mouths on the ride home). We enjoyed fresh yummy strawberries and whipped cream and even made a delicious strawberry pie. Mmmmmmm. I so love strawberry season.






Then today my Dad called and surprised us. He had found us three bantam hens at the Amish auction he went to this afternoon. So now we have 3 new little hens! Yay for little fresh eggs again! My poor little chicken coop has been empty all winter and spring long...but no more! :)

Ella LOVES the new chickens, she cried when it started to rain and we had to go inside the house. I think she could sit there for hours poking little dandelions and blades of sweet grass into the coop and watching little beaks gobble them up.

This one the girls dubbed "Chocolate Chip" lol

This tiny little hen (who laid and egg already today...wohoo) Gwen named Daisy

and last but not least, meet Lady Daffodil *smile*

And to top off my evening when I looked out my window I noticed my German Moonflowers blooming for the first time this year.

Please excuse the crappy photo but there was not much light (obviously since they bloom at night lol)...but I just had to share it with you. :) Hope you have a lovely evening.

Hello again.....

So dear blog I bet you thought I abandoned you eh? Well I'm happy to report that I'm back dear little blog. It's not that I forgot you... it's well that life was just...well life. Things get crazy busy, stuff happens, life gets lived. Rinse, repeat, and all that jazz.

Well on with the post. *drum roll please* ;)

So today's adventures included my MIL almost tripping over a baby squirrel in our doorway who later ran away with a giant peanut butter and birdseed filled pine cone in his mouth, finding hatching baby praying mantis, incubating chicken eggs, a trip to the park where Raven poked a frog in the butt (don't ask lol), 2 yummy cookouts, the taste of the first lettuce of the season, a crazy game of dodge ball in the front yard (only 2 plants we're taken out...okay well maybe 3), and super duper loaded ice cream sundaes while the sun set in the background *cue music, roll credits*. :)

Ella peeking into the bird feeder where we
found tiny little baby praying mantis
hatching from their cocoon.
Why hello there.
Welcome to our garden,
do stay awhile.



Raven and Ella's p.b. and bird seed pine cones...
a big hit with the bushy tailed crowd

17 new eggs compliments of Dad (thank you Dad!!)
a mixture of Araucana, bantam seabright,
and misc "mutt" chicken eggs into the incubator
*crossing fingers*
1 day down, 20 days to go till hatchin' day! :)

Spring Cleaning and Springy Weather

So today marks day one of my official Spring Cleaning! Last night we all went to bed early ready to wake up early and get to work! After getting Gwen and Raven ready and off to school I started on the kitchen cabinets and pantry. I pulled EVERYTHING out (one cabinet or drawer at a time) and cleaned out, wiped down, organized, and purged/sorted items as needed. Everything in all my overhead cabinets is now neatly organized and sorted and I can actually find everything in there now and I no longer have to worry about piled up things avalanching out onto my head and killing me when I open a cabinet door, lol. :D

I also cleaned out the pantry, the medicine cabinet, cleaned out the bathtub, cleaned the shower, paid the bills, got my co-op order together, and cleared out the long front flower bed by the fence. My purple crocuses came out for the occasion, so now I little bits of purple and yellow peaking out from the winter beds a beautiful reminder that spring is truly on it's way. :)


It was so warm and spring like today that I opened up all the windows to let some fresh air in and air out the house. Ella had fun playing in the living room curtains as they fluttered in the breeze.


When the girls got home from school I helped Miss Gwen with her homework and then we all headed outside for a much needed break to enjoy the absolutely beautiful weather and of course some chocolate ice cream cones.....yummy! :)

I relaxed in the hammock with my ice cream cone, soaking up the glorious sunshine, feeling the warm breeze play with my hair, and read a book while the girls ate their ice cream and played in the yard. Sigh. Life doesn't get any better than this. *smile*

Today's Lunch

Today's bento style lunches or also known as their "fancy lunches" (what the girls call them lol) are pictured below. :)

Today's menu included an varied assortment of grapes, cantaloupe, Colby cheese, edamame, p.b. and j sandwiches, carrot slivers, and rice balls with nori and black sesame seed.

Crafty Weekend

Paper flower mobiles

Gwen and Raven decided to decorate a sleeping little sister with flowers lol

Gwen's google eyed girls