Attempted Family Picture

When Erin was here, we made a few noble attempts at a family picture. Do you realize how hard it is to get five people to look at and smile for the camera? 

Tyler was not having any of it, and neither was Katie.

Why, let's try it again, shall we? This was part of a green wall that ran down an entire corridor. It was pretty cool. Too bad Tyler didn't want to be seen with us.

Almost!

Random picture of Tyler touching the water

And again...the kids dunked their heads in this.

Looking out over the topiary garden

And here she is, the best of all the shots. No one has a finger up their nose, and no one is crying. Yep, I think that makes it a great family picture! :)

Party's Over (Waaaa!!!)

Our friend Erin left on Friday. Waaa! We had so much fun, despite contracting various ailments. It was so sad to see her go. Erin and I met in 3rd grade, when I got bused into the 'big town' for Triple E, which was a program for little smarties. As a side note, last night I was talking to someone who grew up in a 'small' town. Out of curiosity, I asked her what she meant when she said 'small' town. Forty thousand, she replied, like it was about as one-horse as you could get. I laughed and told her that the town I lived in was about 400 people or so, although it has exceeded 1,000 people in the last several years. Even when we moved to California, the population of our town there was under 1,000 as well. I didn't live in a town with a traffic light til I was in college. But I digress....I did have a point, didn't I? Erin...yes, we had so much fun. She taught Rachel and I how to make Mozzarella cheese, we went to Lancaster together...without kids!, I learned to make curry, Erin got many sewing lessons, we went to Longwood Gardens, and I made my famous fluffy buns! 

We read books to the kids, hit the Library book sale, watched funny youtube videos, and stayed up late every night, talking.

And I am pretty sure this might never happen again, but Erin made it her goal to catch me up on my laundry. It was glorious! I was completely caught up, and in fact even now I only have one load to do. Fabulous! We had so much fun, and I hope it won't be another 4 years til we see each other again. 

In other news, the Women's Retreat is over. Phew! I am so glad. It was fun, but I am exhausted! I will post a few pictures soon.

Longwood Gardens!

We went to Longwood Gardens yesterday. It was lovely! Here are a few pictures. More to come when things settle down a little. :)

Third Child Syndrome

We recently picked up a new batch of chicks to supplement our egg operation. We currently have 4, which turns out is not enough eggs for us. This batch shall hopefully remedy that, with extra for my parents. In fact, we are running some sort of weird co-op operation, where I take care of the chickens and my parents will be sponsoring a few. Its like 'Adopt-A-Chicken.' Dad has requested that we name their chicks X, Y and Z, but he should know me better by now! At least one of them shall be named Nugget, or something of the like. If you have any witty suggestions, let me know!

This is James' favorite chick, and the only one we have named thus far. Her name is Sunny (as in Sunny Side Up) and she is LOUD! We have already discussed (the chick and I) that if that keeps up, she's gonna be dinner. Sheesh! Actually, she only peeps when she's away from her peeps, and she makes sure everyone knows about it! 

Ain't she cute!? 

The thing with this second round of chicks is that it's like have a third child. Your first...you bathe them lovingly every night. You never put anything remotely dirty on them, and they are always matching. By the time the second kid comes around, they get a bath twice a week. A little spit up is A-OK, no need to change the clothes. They mostly match. By the time the third one rolls around, they are lucky to get a spit n' shine once a week, maybe a bath if they are lucky. They could roll in the sticky remains of their breakfast oatmeal (which is still on the table at lunch time) and you just wipe them off with a washcloth and call it good. And clothes?! Matching is so last season. That seems to be my approach to this batch of chicks. I checked them for the infamous pasty butt only once or twice. I feed them, water them, and forget about them. The kids do ask to hold them several times a day, so they do get a little lovin'. Tyler is even (remarkably) gentle with them. James is especially smitten with Sunny, and carries her around the house and yard. He lets her play in his play barn, and takes her outside to see her future digs. It is pretty cute.

And speaking of cute! How's this for adorable? Katie also loves herself some chickies.

Adventure

Our friend Erin came on Friday we have had such fun already! We have made cheese with my sister Rachel (awesome!) and had Easter with the whole fam. We visited Tyler Park, dyed Easter Eggs and have read several books. Today she went to DC on the train and will be there for a few days visiting a couple friends there. Then she's back for another round! The only (extremely) annoying thing is that we have been sick for the last 2 1/2 weeks or so. Stomach virus for the kids and I, Jeff with the flu knocked out for a few days, now weird cold-like symptoms and I lost my voice for a few days. I am so sick of being sick! Fortunately I don't feel 'sick,' just this pesky scratchy voice and mild cold-ish symptoms. Oi! I guess I will continue on my anti-bacterial campaign and hope for the best. I shouldn't have been so happy that we got through winter without any major sickness. 

Tyler Park: some sort of naturalized daffodils, with the kids frolicking in the background

Cheese! Literally, Erin taught us how to make mozzarella!

Random cute picture of Tyler at Tyler Park

I'd Like To Think He Won't Do That Again....

...But this is Tyler we're talking about. This morning, I was getting Tyler dressed and noticed that he had a pretty dark bruise on his deliciously chubby little thigh. Upon closer examination, I noticed two odd marks at the sight of the bruise. I was trying to figure out how he got it. Why do I do that with a kid that is perpetually bruised and banged up? I have no idea. Anywho...the bruise. It dawned on me. Yesterday we had let the chickens out for a frolic in the yard. Tyler, well, he loves his chickies. He was chasing them around as usual, catching them by whatever he could grab, then cradling them in his little arms. The chickens are very good humored about this. The only one that isn't is Big Martha (the one that was attacked) and she is too fast for him anyway. Tyler was wrangling one of his feathered victims, and got pecked! He must have really hurt the hen, because they never peck at him (only when he has a worm in his hand). He was crying pretty loud, and apparently she got him good enough to leave a bruise with two little beak marks on either side. So I asked Tyler where the chicken pecked him, and he pointed right to his thigh. Mystery solved! My neighbor commented that he wouldn't do that again, but this is Tyler we'll dealing with.

And speaking of neighbors, yesterday the kids started to get their energy back. We were playing outside and I remembered that back with the energy comes the bickering. They were fighting over who got to hold a particular chicken and my other neighbor saw them. She tried to get them to share, because she saw I was over in my garden. Shortly thereafter, we went inside. A few minutes later, she called and said there was a 'sanity saver' on the fence for me. I sent one of the kids out and there was a bag with three children's books for the kids. That made my day! :)

And one more thing, then I'll shut up. I promise. We are getting a new batch of chicks tomorrow. If anyone wants to come over and see them in all their fluffy glory, let me know! They're gonna be cute.

Round Two

So, the lovely people of Bible Fellowship seem to be a little too good at sharing, because we've caught round two of the creeping crud. Tyler had it last week, getting sick about 12 hours after being exposed to it. We went to church on Sunday and what do you know?! James and Katie got it that night. They started in within 10 minutes of each other, and it made for another spectacular nights' sleep. I am pretty sure I am going to quarantine the kids for at least a year, or six. My washing machine can't handle all this laundry, and neither can I. Oh, and did I mention that the kids passed it on to me? Oh, yes, it was lovely. Fortunately we are all on the upswing and it is a very fast moving thing. If only the laundry would disappear with it.

And in other random news....Jeff always asks some variation of 'What is this?' or 'What am I supposed to do with this?' when it comes to food. I mean, we have had tacos approximately 2,897 times, and he still asks 'How am I supposed to build this thing?' It drives me nuts.  This morning, I made eggs and toast. He looked at it and asked me 'What is this?' It's not like I am a terrible cook and the food was totally unrecognizable. I don't know why he asks. But anyway, this might surprise you but on occasion I can get a little sarcastic. (ha!) So, when he asked 'What is this?' I replied, 'It's shirt on a shingle.' (Shirt being our code word for...well...) No sooner had I said it then Tyler comes around the corner in his jammies and pipes up 'I want some shirt on a shingle.' And then I heard the bells chiming and the angels swooping down with my Mother of the Year award.

Valley Forge

First of all, I got my wish for a day at home. Tyler got the dreaded stomach bug that is going around like wildfire. Word on the street is that it is only a 24 hour deal, so for that I am grateful. Sleep sounds so nice right about now. Poor little guy is just lethargic on the couch. I am letting him eat a big candy cane, because he hasn't eaten anything since lunch yesterday and it was the only thing he seemed interested in.

A few weeks ago Mom and I threw the kids in the car and went to Valley Forge. James has been asking to go for a while now. It turned out to be a little cold, but we still had fun. The real story of Valley Forge is actually very sad. So many soldiers died there. The docent at the park said that it is a myth that they died from cold. He said they were all good, strong farm boys who knew how to build a cabin and a fire. Instead, disease and lack of food caused the deaths of 2,000 soldiers between 1777 and 1778. The soldier huts have been reconstructed, which are very neat to see. There are three bunks on each side of the fire that are VERY, VERY small. The top bunk is at James' height, and the lower bunks are so tight I don't think a grown man could roll over once he squeezed in.

Here are a few of the artifacts in the museum. The bottom left picture shows what they would strap to their shoes to walk in the mud. 

This is one of the soldier huts. Those are the bunks on the wall.

James was thrilled to find a play rifle for sale at the store that was in his price range. He has been wanting a 'hunting gun' for a long time. He has been using just about every day since. In fact, one morning before school he went outside to 'do farm chores.' He came back in and told Jeff had had 'shot like 5 squirrels.' Jeff told him he better go out and pick them all up, because he can't go around leaving dead squirrels everywhere. James had to think for a second before he realized Jeff was joking!

Spring

Spring is here. Warm weather is (mostly) here. And apparently that means I forget I have a blog. Things have been the same ol' around here. I feel like we have been too busy. Women's Retreat stuff, playing outside, preschool, art lessons, Bible study, the continued painting of my living room, and the usual...I just feel like I need a day, or a week of nothing! Good thing my friend Erin is coming soon. I am taking that as my excuse to do nothing but enjoy life. It will be nice!

Our 'Beach'

Here are a few pictures of our newly discovered 'beach.' I have a feeling we will spend a lot of time down there this spring and summer! It is so beautiful right now, as the banks of the creek are covered in happy yellow buttercups. I think Spring might be my favorite season in P-A with all the beautiful blooming trees, and everything getting green again. Even Tyler seems to be happy about the change in scenery and points out all the 'dah-uh-dills' he sees on the walk to school. 

I went to check on Katie the other day, and this is what I saw :)

Errrrrrr!!!

Here is James in front of his Science Project. He is giving me what I like to call the 'Jeff smile.' Because really, it's more of an 'I'll humor you while you take the picture, Mom' look. He was quite happy to take home a certificate, a ribbon, and a free Water Ice coupon. Speaking of water ice, yesterday was the first day of spring and that means free water ice at Rita's! I still haven't figured out quite how to describe Water Ice to my non-PA friends, other than its like a slurpee meets a snowcone, but better. I actually hate slurpees and snowcones so maybe that's not the best description. Anyway, while I do feel that in the world of water ice, Dairy Delight is where its at, Rita's is also good...and free on the first day of spring. Back when I was young and fancy-free, my sister and I went to several Rita's locations on free day and loaded up. Good times.

In other news, I went to the doctor yesterday to get my Thyroid checked and guess what I got diagnosed with? Asthma! Woo! Who knew. He asked me if I ever got short of breath. Uh, no. Then he diagnosed me with asthma. When I asked him why, he said because he could hear a slight rasp in my breathing. Huh?! He prescribed me an inhaler (that I can use up to 4 times a day as needed, you know, for when I get short of breath and all) and Singulair. He also kept my thyroid dose low, even though he told me that my dose will need to keep increasing as I get older, and this is the lowest dose I've been for as long as I can remember. All in all, very discouraging and now I feel that I must find a new doctor...again. I didn't fill the prescription for the inhaler or Singulair, because I am pretty sure if I had asthma, I would have noticed.

A Hat

I just uploaded pictures and realized that I have really slacked off on the blogging. I have pictures of James' science project, Valley Forge, our newly discovered sandy L-town beach, and more. I promise to post more pictures tomorrow, but for now...here is a picture of Tyler in his super duper Revolutionary War (?) hat. James saw one in a picture at Valley Forge and of course we had to make one. Guess what we made it from? Oh, yeah, an oatmeal canister. I am my mother's daughter. I just trimmed that bad boy down, covered it with construction paper, added a bill and a pipe cleaner band. Just like they had in George Washington's day!

Pinterest

There is this really neat site called Pinterest. It is basically like an online 'pinboard,' where you can 'pin' pictures of things you like. I like it because it is like a visual bookmark system. There is a wide variety of things to see, but I mainly dabble in the DIY/crafty/sewing/food areas. The thing about Pinterest is that you can end up spending your time drooling over stuff, and never end up making it. This month, I decided to make at least 4 things I have pinned. So far I have made soft pretzels, Parmesan breadsticks, bacon-wrapped roasted cabbage (mmm!), homemade glue, quinoa mac and cheese, bubble prints (total bomb!) and scrapbook paper seed packets. Now only a hundred and one ideas left to try! :)

All's Well

Everyone is happy today now that Jeff is home. Although he was only gone for 3 days, it seemed longer. The kids have had hard time sleeping when he was gone. Although Jeff didn't get home til about 9, the kids couldn't sleep because they wanted to see him. I kept hearing them talking, singing, etc. up until about 10 minutes before he came home. I went to check on them a few minutes later, and they had all passed out. Jeff went in and patted their heads and said goodnight, and guess what?! They all slept like babies. It was lovely! That also meant that I slept like a baby, which was also lovely!

The Tree

It's a sad day. As I write, 'our' tree is being shredded. I can hear each time they throw in a log and it makes me sad. The tree fell over in the hurricane last year on the greenbelt, and the kids have spent a lot of time playing on and around it. Initially, all the leaves were still on it, creating a room of sorts to play in. The leaves even changed colors in the fall. Despite the fact that the roots are exposed and the tree laying on the ground, some of the branches were getting buds. I knew it was coming, but it is still a bummer!

Here are a few pictures of the picnic we had last week with our preschool, before the tree met its demise.

Well, Golly Gee!

It seems like I haven't blogged in almost a week. We had a few computer glitches over the weekend involving the fact that we have a lot of pictures on the hard drive. Thanks to Jeff, the problem is solved and my pictures are back where they are supposed to be. Yay! We looked through some of the archives and found lots of funny photos, as well as those pesky 'were they really that small only a year ago' pictures. The kids are growing so fast, too fast! I have posted some of the pictures below, just for kicks. In other news, Jeff is in LA, cruisin' Highway One along the California coast and inspecting condensers in his spare time. I am hoping this one goes quick, because the kids are not handling it well. He hadn't even left, and last night Katie couldn't get to sleep til almost 10 because she was sad he was leaving. As of now, she and Tyler are still awake and they've been in bed over an hour. They like their Dad near to them., thankyouverymuch!!

This one is ridiculous, and I'm not sure why I'm posting it, other than that it is funny. It was taken at Christmas a few years ago.

Tyler: I wish I could keep him little and squishy :)

Proof that Katie has always had her own wacky personality!

Jeff as a kid

Aww! 

Katie

Responsible parenting at its best!

The day Katie was born

Goofballs

Sleeping Beauty

False Advertising

In a moment of despair, I went to the library to find a few books about Science Fair projects. Jeff and James picked out a Fox Hole Radio to build, and it wasn't working out. While I was perusing the library (one of my very favorite places) I saw a book called 'How To Fossilize Your Hamster'. You better believe I had to check it out. I mean, how cool would that be?! I brought it home and showed it to Jeff. He looked at me with that look, and asked if I would seriously go buy a hamster just to kill it for scientific purposes. (Says the guy who used to get paid to shoot prairie dogs...alas, we are turning into softies) The answer to his question is 'Why, yes, if I could actually fossilize a hamster...that would be so fascinating.' I believe he just shook his head at me. I was disappointed, although not too surprised, that the title was misleading. It went into great detail about how you could, hypothetically, fossilize your dear deceased hamster, who died from natural causes of course. If you have a deep sea bed handy, free of anything that might eat Fluffy (may he rest in peace) as well as several thousand years, the book says that fossilization is possible. Sigh. I guess I won't be fossilizing a hamster after all. Good thing the fox hole radio turned out! :)

P.S. I sat outside today, in the sun, in my bare feet, reading a book while the kids played. Now that's my idea of a good day!

I Might Have Squealed A Little

I was going to post something nice and sophisticated and intelligent today...oh, wait...I never do that. You would think you have come to the wrong blog, or that I had come down with some sort of illness. But seriously, whatever I was going to write about has gone out the window because my friend Erin emailed me and said she is coming to visit us!!! I am so excited it's ridiculous. I mean, this is going to be fun! We have known each other since way back in Second Grade. We have about a million things we want to do when she is here, including visiting Longwood Gardens, going to Lancaster, dyeing Easter eggs, canning something, sewing something, and eating cheesesteaks, pretzels, and water ice. Her husband told her not to get into too much trouble with me...poor guy has no idea!! :) This is going to be so much fun!

Pictures From The Week

Last weekend

Preschool Fun!