Overextended

The past two weeks or so at our house has been hectic.  It's a manageable hectic and it's one that we've learned to expect each year as the looming tax deadline approaches but it's not a time we look forward to. I've spend more evenings than I'd like at work the last two weeks and Mike has spent a little too much time playing  the role of a single (soon to be) step-parent.  Although I probably don't articulate it enough to him, he really does a great job getting dinner on the table, homework done and wrangling the dogs and chickens when I need to stay late.  And he does this without complaining.  (Okay, without complaining too much.)  Things in our house are not running as smoothly or with the usual routines but we are getting by.  The necessary things are getting done, everyone is fed and healthy and even managing to get to lacrosse practice two nights a week (seriously, what was I thinking).  I'm trying to remind myself that sometimes just getting by is okay and I'm trying to let go of all the things that I just don't have time to worry about, like cleaning and healthy meals 5 nights a week.

A few pictures from the week.

Fail

I came home to chickens enjoying themselves in the backyard.  Chickens who were supposed to be in their run.  We were bad chicken owners this past week.  Friday I took the dogs out when I got home from work to find the door to the run open.   Another evening last week, Mike was so busy doing all the things I praised him for earlier, that he forgot to close the chickens back up.  I came out the next morning and almost jumped out of my skin when one of our Barred Rocks jumped out of a bush next to the coop.  It looks like the coop door blew shut before she was able to out herself away. She was not very happy with us.  I'm just thankful she was smart enough to hide in the bush.

Fail

It's hard to tell in this picture but Twig decided the house was such a mess that the best option for a place to lay was on top of a pillow that was quite literally hanging off the table.

Since clearly we are taking stellar care of our current pets, we decided to pick up a few chicks at the feed store this weekend.  I'm reasoning with myself that they don't take that much work and that the stress relieving ability of chicks offsets the work.

Thankful Thursday

Being present is something I've always struggled with. This is an exercise for me in taking the time to notice the things throughout the week that I am thankful for. Not the big things like my family but the little things it's easy to miss in the hustle and bustle that is life. Please join along if you'd like and leave a link in the comments.

This week I'm thankful for time to bake. Our weekends are currently a little too full with sports, home projects and working weekends. I stole some time Sunday evening to make two loafs of bread (which saved me a trip to the store). The bread turned out great and I think Garrett was a little too excited to get sandwiches on white bread for a change.

Thankful Thursday

Being present is something I've always struggled with. This is an exercise for me in taking the time to notice the things throughout the week that I am thankful for. Not the big things like my family but the little things it's easy to miss in the hustle and bustle that is life. Please join along if you'd like and leave a link in the comments.

This week was an easy choice.  It has been wet around here and our backyard looks a lot like a swamp.  The majority of our little plot of earth is a hill and we have a lot of trees/shade which results in a backyard that I often refer to as "soupy". 

Since the dogs need to go out and the chickens need to be feed regardless of how muddy our backyard is, this week I'm thankful for my coop boots.  I eyed up some pretty boots last fall but couldn't bring myself to spend much money on a pair of boots that would be used for little more than wading through mud and chicken poop.  So I found this pair for $12 at our area craft store and was sold.  They're worth their weight in gold.

Special thanks to my favorite camera guy

Spring Treaser

This weekend was a nice reminder that Spring really is right around the corner.  We had two beautiful days and although we didn't spend all weekend outside, we did get a good bit of Vitamin D into our system.  I also got to test out a few recipes for things I've been wanting to make at home instead of buying at the store. It really is frustrating how many simple things we buy at the grocery store with ingredient lists far longer than what is necessary.  The organic yogurt we buy at the grocery store?  Fish bones are listed on the list of ingredients.  Really Wegman's?

So we started out the weekend with a quick dinner and then movie and popcorn night.  The boys watched Wreck it Ralph while I made homemade yogurt and granola.  This was my second attempt at yogurt after hearing how easy it was.  The first batch turned out good but it was more of a drinkable yogurt and we were looking for a nice solid yogurt that Garrett can take in his school lunch.  My second attempt was a complete success and all it really involved was getting the milk a bit hotter on the stove.  I stored them in mason jars and when the batch was done, I could turn the jar on it's side and the yogurt stayed in place.

The granola recipe was the one posted on Soulemama.  We were attempting to replicate Michelle's Granola which is the first granola I've gotten Garrett to actually eat.  While this one was good, it wasn't really sweet enough for our taste.  When we used Michelle's Granola, it was sweet enough that we didn't need any other sweetener in the yogurt.  But this was still good and probably a great granola for families who don't like their granola very sweet. 

Next up on my list of things to make was English muffins.  Since we eat eggs most mornings for breakfast, I'm constantly looking for ways to change them up.  After eating a 3 egg omelet for almost the entire school year this year, Garrett has decided that he is completely done with omelets.  In order to keep him from begging for the sugary cereal at the store, I've started making him egg sandwiches on English muffins.  The ingredient list is a little better than some of the store bought breads with closer to 15 ingredients rather than 30 but still way more than what I think is necessary   So I found an easy, no knead English muffin recipe that turned out fantastic.  There was some rising in between but I was able to make 15 English muffins Sunday morning while doing lots of other chores during the process.

Then Sunday afternoon Garrett and I headed off to his first lacrosse practice.  I would be lying if I said I didn't tear up seeing him all suited up playing catch with Mike in the front yard. I kept staring at him completely covered in pads and helmets and remembering watching him toddle around when he was first learning to walk.  I felt like he needed a helmet and pad then.  

(Don't worry, he didn't wear his chucks to practice)

Thankful Thursday

Being present is something I've always struggled with. This is an exercise for me in taking the time to notice the things throughout the week that I am thankful for. Not the big things like my family but the little things it's easy to miss in the hustle and bustle that is life. Please join along if you'd like and leave a link in the comments.

Today I am thankful for a random snow day.  It was a pretty sorry excuse for a snow day, in our area we got mostly just rain and the little snow we got didn't even stick to the ground.  We were promised 8/12 inches so Garrett was pretty disappointed.  But we did some baking, and lots of reading and knitting by the fire place.

And completely random but I had to share this.  These crazy chickens of our love one nesting box in the coop.  Apparently Blanche was taking too long and Rose decided to stand over her and wait.  There are two empty nesting boxes to the left but I guess they just aren't as cozy.  They will seriously lay eggs under the favorite nesting box before they will resort to using another box.

Weekend Review

This weekend was a busy one for us.  It was kicked off with a happy hour to celebrate the promotion of a good friend.  We celebrated at Mt. Washington Tavern which is a great little restaurant/bar in an even cuter neighborhood.  Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures but hope to get back there with Mike sometime soon.

Garrett had his indoor soccer game Saturday and spent the 2nd half of the game defending the goal.  He did great and the score ended at a very hard earned 0-0.  We headed to Wegman's for a quick grocery run, kicked off with lunch in their cafe.  I usually do my grocery shopping alone but it was fun to bring him along on this quick trip/lunch date.

Saturday evening we celebrated my future father-in-laws birthday with ribs and crab cakes.  Garrett ordered a desert that was almost as big as his face.

Sunday was filled with church, Sunday school, some work for me and our first football game of the Spring season.  It was freezing outside, especially for those of us who couldn't stay bundled up on the side lines.  But it was great to be outside running around with friends again.

Willing Spring

I really don't love Winter.  I try, I really do.  I know there are people who are able to focus on Winter's ability to slow our internal clocks and allow us to rest and spend quite time together indoors.  I've read plenty of blog posts this winter to this affect and every time I walk away thinking about the positives I can be focusing on.  And there are times when I appreciate the slow, dark pace of the winter months. But most of the time?  Most of the time I am willing the sun to stay up later, the cold weather to leave and wishing it was time to dig my hands into the dirt.

Ordering this years seeds was a needed reprieve from the bitter cold that has been keeping us inside with much more screen time than I would care to admit.  Mike and I spent many nights dog earring pages and comparing varieties to compile an impressive list of seeds for our garden this year.  I can't think of anything I would have rather done to pull me out of the winter slump that hits this time of year.