Questioning Sparrow Morals

Just thought that I would share some random thoughts from a fabulous Saturday with the family.

1) I am slightly concerned about the moral values of the house sparrow taking up residence in our bird house. He came around house hunting with a little lady.

Today while the lady was out gathering goods for their nest I saw him fluffing feathers at a lady bird. Now it's possible that this was the same lady bird however if they have already found a house shouldn't they be past the feather fluffing stage in their relationship? Just sayin'.

2) I just looked at pinterest and now I want cream puffs.

3) I love picnics in the park. I wish I had a picture of the one we took today. An unfortunate incident involving a misunderstanding about the state of the security device of the door, resulted in my camera being left at home, along with my keys.

Aside from that we had a wonderful time at the park. The kids played, I laid in the shade. Then my Beloved took the kids on a treasure hike so I could continue lying in the shade reading a book.

4) On Friday, my girls new swimsuits came in the mail. They picked the same suit for this year.

The exclamations from Beloise were priceless, and included sayings such as:

"This is AWE-some!",

"OH, it's perfect!"

and

"I just LOVE it!

Beloise is particular about her swimsuits. I had a hand-me-down princess swimsuit for her, however after being spoiled with a Gymboree swimsuit last year she refused the most likely Target purchased princess suit.

To her credit the swimsuits at Gymboree are fuller in the bum and have a reinforced layer in that region. I probably wouldn't have noticed the differences if she hadn't complained. Plus they were on sale!

I hope that your Saturday was as thought provoking as mine.

~And So That's What She Did

Auntie The Great

Last Friday my Aunt, known to my children as Auntie the Great, came for a visit. I cleared my normally busy Friday schedule to make way for a day of shopping at Cascade Station (Ikea, Ross, Marshall's and Target were on the must hit list).

This was Beloise first time shopping 'till she dropped. After we got home, and long after proper nap time, she zonked out while watching Planet Earth or Tom and Jerry I can't remember which it was.

. . .

My Beloved likes to bring things home from work. Sometimes they are alive. I'm just thankful that the creatures he brings home tend to be small and fluffy or fish and I don't have to worry about being obligated to touch them. 

 Friday evening my Beloved brought home these adorable little duckies. The girls named them Minnie and Daisy. We put them in the bin that my Beloved had fashioned into a pet home when we brought the baby chicks home. Day one he used straw on the bottom and by that evening the straw was soaked from all the ducks in and out of the water.

While he was cleaning it out he had to find someplace to put the little duckies. He chose my empty pot. This was when we first realized that these little guys can fit through the chicken wire on the lid.

I was bathing the girls, Beloise was out of the tub at this point, diapered as above, while going back for Ballerina I heard a few squeals of delight and thought nothing of them. When I came out there was only one duckling in the pot. The other, as our Pointer pointed out, was in a corner. Just sitting there like a mechanical dog that has run into a wall. Unaware of the ability to TURN and continue on a different course.

I gently scooped her up placed her back in the pot and watched as this determined little duckling continued to jump. . . and jump. . . and jump to squeeze back out to freedom.

Since Friday was also Auntie the Great's birthday we had cake with strawberries and whipped cream. My Aunt is gluten sensitive so it was a gluten-free box mix and it took FOREVER to bake. Didn't help that I used one tall 8" pan instead of the two 8" pans the box called for. So around 8:30 we sang Happy Birthday and enjoyed some cake and berries.

Before bed I placed a cooling rack over the chicken wire to keep the ducklings from getting out in the night and getting lost in the house or "played" with by the dog.

Sadly when I woke Saturday morning I found both little duckies had died in the night. Poor little guys. Ballerina was very upset. Wild animals are so hard to domesticate, I figure they probably just gave up when they discovered there was no escape.

Since Ballerina got the privilege of sleeping on the floor in the guest room with Auntie We let Beloise sleep with us. My Beloved was kind enough to snap this shot after I had fallen asleep. I know that most mom's do not like pictures of them sleeping or on bad or no make-up days but I cherish the pictures of my kiddos snuggling with me no matter how I look in them. I took many of my Beloved snuggling the girls but when I snuggle them there isn't usually anyone around to take a picture.

~And So That's What She Did.

A Whole Lot'a Simplicity

My relaxation of choice while the kiddos were napping. A little wine, a little chocolate, and a whole lotta Simplicity.

This year we decided not to plant a garden. . . well we more let the garden bed go too far this last year and therefore did not feel the desire to tackle it in order to get garden fresh veggies that our children shun over store bought canned veggies. However I have always wanted an herb bed but didn't know where to put it. My sweet, handsome, muscular, Beloved built me this sweet raised bed. I bought some starts and placed them by the front door, hoping that they would magically find their way into the soil. . . and they did! 

I love my husband.

I decided to plant half the bed with strawberries and the rest is cilantro, which is laying down on the job, lettuce, see it there with it's hand up, I think it has a question, and in the back is some oregano. There is one spot in the back that my Beloved wants to fill with a tomato plant. I'm not sure how well it will do in this location but for the prospect of fresh salsa we are willing to try. :)

I'm also brainstorming for some ideas on how to label my sections. I want something cheap, as in free, but pretty and possibly whimsical. Here's what pinterest and I have come up with.

In My Own Style

I like these but they mat be a little too DIY.

My Chic Life

Love this and I might have a few corks laying around.

Studio Blog

This is great as well. I think it would look best in front of rosemary or lavender of which I have neither.

Design Your Revolution

I would love the spoons but since I have never done anything like this I think it would have to break my free rule. Perhaps someday.

Which is your favorite? Do you have a link for something better. . . ooooh do tell.

My Beloved also spruced up this area. Which if you remember I teased that we were going to do something with and I think we might be getting close to possibly making that happen-ish. I'll let you know soon. We get side tracked easily and our yard plans change from year to year.

Aaaahhh this is my family doing what we love. . . I'm on the swing on the porch with a drink and a book watching all of this take place. . . HA I wish, I think I was actually cleaning mud out of the living room rug.

I do love to watch the girls play. Especially when they have no idea that I am watching. Beloise was playing down on the slope eating a Rice Krispy treat, humming to herself and wandering aimlessly until she suddenly stopped turned on one heel and spun around then wandered a little further only to repeat this action. . . So sweet. . . I wish I knew what she was thinking at those moments. . . I remember I used to run out into the fields of tall grass around my house with my mom's Tom Sawyer book, spread out a blanket and pretend I was reading. Or my sisters and I would tie the grass together at the top, for a doorway, and trample sections down for our houses and then go visiting each other. I miss fields. Even the ones I used to play in are much more developed now. Not houses but horses or shop garages, orchards and gardens. My tall grass is gone.

. . . *sigh*. . . that's progress.

This weekend Ballerina ran, sobbing, into the house where I was preparing breakfast. Apparently my Beloved had told her that Dora (the Rhode Island Red chicken from the original batch gifted from my Dad) was going to be butchered that day. Not being sure why this would bother her, since Dora is the meanest chicken and chases the children whenever she is out of the pen, I asked her what she was going to miss about Dora. "I just like her color," was the reply. Perfect, I thought this will be an easy fix, "next time we get baby chicks we will get a red one okay?" At first she wasn't okay with this solution because she wanted a BIG red one but after a while her sobs subsided and she was okay with it . In fact she ran into the kitchen later that day, hands clasped, with a large grin on her face.

"Mom, I have a suprisemint for you!"

"What's that?"

While jumping up and down with joy she opened her hands to reveal a large brown egg.

"Dora laid her last egg!" 

I am going to warn you this next picture may be disturbing for animal lovers not used to farm mentality that some animals although loved while living and serving a purpose are eventually killed for meat. . . . 

Well it isn't terrible, if you have seen a chicken at the store it's pretty much the same. . . .

but with a neck. . .

Last chance to skip ahead really fast to the comment section.

Ta-Da. This is the first chicken that we have butchered. I say we but those of you who know me, know that my Beloved did all of this, I won't touch it until it looks like something from the store. He said it was pretty simple, he watched a few YouTube tutorials so he's an expert now ;D. 

The girls were fascinated by this and now they keep asking to see Dora in the freezer. I'm hoping that she will make a tasty soup perhaps next week. If I can wait that long. Before every meal I get the question from my little monsters "Are we are going to eat Dora?"

That's healthy right?

Perfectly normal? . . . I'll check into therapy *sigh*.

~And So That's What She Did.

A Week of Summer in Spring

This last week the weather seemed more like summer than spring. It was De-lightful!

I can't wait for summer schedule. We eat breakfast, the girls get dressed, we have worship and they spend the rest of the morning outside until lunch. Which gives me incentive to do yard work. Even if it is just weeding one flower bed.

After lunch if there is time they head back outside for a half hour or so and then it's down for naps, right during the heat of the day. I stay in and clean while they nap and after naps, you guessed it back outside they go. I love it. The house stays a bit cleaner. . . well not cleaner but less cluttered.

This past weekend I finally managed to make the breakfast I have been planning since mid-winter. Huevos Rancheros (recipe to follow) and Pina Coladas on the back porch. My Beloved was very happy with this choice. I'm on the look out for some umbrellas for our drinks. I am pretty sure that Party City will have them if Winco doesn't.

After breakfast and worship the girls begged to put on their swim suits and play in the sprinkler.

My Beloved just purchased a new spray nozzle with something like 7 settings so they had fun playing with that.

This is how we do a water slide!

"Oh no, slides wet!" Beloise doesn't care for being sprayed with a hose. I don't either. I'm planning on picking up a little swimming pool this weekend or next.

Ballerina's art is getting better all the time. 

This is one of the pictures she drew recently. Things at least remotely resemble what they are supposed to be.

She's also become rather creative with her block towers.

Cheater Huevos Rancheros

When I don't have much time but want a taste of Mexico to remind me of that trip we took before we had kids, this is my go to recipe. Oh how I miss the Coco Bar.

Per person:
2 eggs
1 corn tortilla
shredded cheese
salsa
fresh cilantro, if you've got it.

• Heat canola oil in a small frying pan for your corn tortillas. Place corn tortillas in hot oil for about 30 seconds per side just to warm them, give them a tasty flavor and make them a little more pliable. 
• Fry your eggs as desired in a separate pan.
• Place a warmed corn tortilla on a plate top it with some cheese, your eggs, more cheese and some salsa.

See why this is the cheater version. . .

~And So That's What She Did.

Shoes and Ships and Sealing Wax, of Cabbages and Kings

"The time has come my friend to talk of other things, of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings. . . "

A few weeks ago our dryer decided to stop drying. . . 

on the first laundry day of the week. . . 

on the first load of laundry. 

Thankfully by fabulous sister-in-law happened to have an extra dryer laying around so we were able to catch up pretty quickly but in order to get the borrowed dryer into the laundry room my Beloved had to take the door off the hinges. So of course the girls assumed he was making a slide for them.

The hole in the laundry room door is a mildly amusing story. It was that way when we moved in. . . see how mild that was.

Really it has come in handy and we have thought about framing it out to look more like the dog door we use it as. We once had a Yorkshire terrier and she used it quit frequently since her food was in the laundry room. More recently Penny has been enlarging it for her own use.

My Beloved's parents and his sister, Aunt Nay, made the trek from Idaho for Suzanne's memorial. It was nice to have them here. Great to be able to focus on other things and know that my kids were in grand hands. Here's Grampy with Ham-Huck.

After the memorial we were all exhausted with aching feet. So we treated ourselves to a foot soak, apparently Beloise missed the memo about it only being for your feet.

Why not eat strawberries while bathing in the mop bucket?

On Monday they headed back to Idaho. Ballerina HAS to watch people leaving our house to see which way they go. I snuck into her dark bedroom to find her peering out of the window. Please disregard the giant pile of clothes by the window I had just gone through the girls drawers and haven't found a place for these hand-me-downs just yet. Also I believe that string is the string from my camera, that's been bothering me for a while. I couldn't figure out what it was . . . funny how I start to analyze pictures once I post them on here. ;)

Later that day it was nice out so we spent as much time out of doors as possible.

Beloise loves when her sister "reads" to her. I love to hear the story change every time.

Apparently we aren't feeding Dora enough.

Here are the baby chicks. . . not so baby anymore. They are nearly all feathers now.

Ballerina has been begging us to roast marshmallows so we finally gave in and blazed up the fire pit for the first time this year.

Yeah she just ate the marshmallow she was supposed to be getting for me!

And in case you missed my mug, here's one for you. . . 

FIRE!! See what happens when I try to pose for you!

Marshmallow face

This is rapidly becoming me new favorite photo of Beloise.

This is a regular occurrence at our house.

Like I said. . .

This crazy dog has her head on my foot. . . she's so sweet. . . we love her. 

Except when she rolls in pungent things and then wants to snuggle. 

Then we love her from afar.

~And So That's What She Did.