Trying to be a helper

If you read my blog a few weeks ago you would have seen that Mark had his work Christmas party at our house. Mark and Israel made all the food for it and had done all the grocery shopping the night before. On the list to make were these amazing cream cheese oreo balls that were dipped in chocolate. Mark had been talking about them for a few weeks...someone at work had made them and he couldn't stop about how amazing they were.

I helped him unload the car when he got home from the shopping trip and remembered seeing the cream cheese boxes but we couldn't find them anywhere when it came time to make the cookie balls. Cadence had helped bring stuff in, so we asked her if she remembered where she put the boxes...which of course she didn't. We couldn't find them anywhere!!

I found them in the bathroom cabinet this last week. Next to the extra soap, shampoo, etc. Of course that is where she put them, because they look like bar soap boxes. I had a good laugh to myself that afternoon. :)

Garden

This weekend we continued to work outside this time building a raised bed garden. I have always wanted a "real" garden. I've planted things here and there but they never really did well, so I am so excited to have a real garden bed!

I have been so blessed to have been able to talk to a lady named Jill (great name :)) on the phone and by email (her amazing house was on the garden tour we went on a few weeks ago and she has a great blog called www.sweetlifegarden.com). She was so helpful to us with the chickens and also garden advice. She and her husband have lots of raised beds and use a layering method that allows you to not have to prepare the soil underneath where you are planning on putting your bed. It is soooo simple and there is no back breaking work involved!

Mark (and Dylan) built the structure for me. You can't really tell in the picture but there is just grass growning where we put the box.

Then you lay down a bunch of layers of newspaper and get it wet. The kids liked helping out. :)

I found organic manure & compost from someones farm on Craigslist for 1/4 of the price it would have been from HomeDepot. We put down a good layer of manure...the kids thought this part was disguisting and were questioning why we were putting poop in the garden. :)

The manure will make it so that the grass will die out because it will be too hot for it to grow.

And then compost to fill the rest of the box up.

I am also planning to use hanging planters and other pots.

This is my completed little garden area. All ready for some veggies & seeds to be planted.

Can't wait to post some pictures when things are starting to grow!!

another missing tooth

Last night Dylan lost his 4th tooth!

This is a hilarious video of his tooth coming out. He wanted Mark to pull it out. Ughhh!!

(sorry for the lack of clothing...Dylan just got out of the shower)

He woke up at 5:15 this morning so excited because of what the tooth fairy brought him. He didn't go back to sleep because of the excitement. :)

Chickens have arrived!!

I have had a smile on my face all day today! This morning I decided to go to the feed store to pick up some chickens. We got 3 barred rock and 3 dominique (sp?). They are 3 1/2 month old...so we have to wait a few months before we get any eggs. I wanted this breed because I was told by a few people they are the most mild tempered. I originally was going to get full grown hens because I was impatient and wanted eggs right away but when I thought about it some more I decided to get younger (but not newborns) chicks because that way they would be use to us handling them and hopefully have a sweet personality. :)

I was so excited when by this evening they were ready to be close by us and would let us pick them up with ease!

This is our finished coop/run.

Isabelle was having so much fun. Not afraid at all...she was petting and everything.

Dylan right away was down on his hands and knees trying to handfeed them. He was excited when they came close right away. I told him they must like him a lot! :)

Cadence is our timid one and she has been pretty hesitant about being around the chickens. She will go in but as soon as a chicken comes near her she starts to cry. Hopefully soon she will feel more comfortable.

This is a video of me releasing them.

I am beyond excited about having chickens. It has been so fun to have the kids outside creating projects as we were building the coop and now playing with our new addition to the family. Stay tuned for when they start laying eggs! I can't wait!!

Chickens will soon be here!!

We've started on building the chicken coop! I have been so excited and can't wait for the arrival of our hens...or possibly chicks. :) We are planning on buying 4 to start with. We corned off part of our side yard, so they have lots of space to move around.

Mark has been a amazing craftsman. He has built everything so great!

This last picture is of Dylan inspecting the roost. He gave it the thumbs up. He is very excited and knows that it is his responsibility to get the eggs and make sure they have food and water. It will be a great way for us to be able to introduce chores. :)

Stay tuned. We are hoping to have the chickens by this weekend!

Pierced Ears

I had been thinking about getting Cadence's ears pierced for a little while now and yesterday we made it the big day! Our friend and neighbor Anna invited us to come along with her since she wanted to get her ears pierced also.

We made the trip to the mall and the girls were so excited. They both picked out the pair of earrings they wanted and Cadence was up first...she said she was ready.

Here she is before. :)

Getting ready.
This was Anna's before picture. She obviously is older and aware of what was actually going to be happening. It took her a little bit but in the end she was able to get them done!

This is the after picture. Unfortunatly they didn't have two people in the store to be able to do both ears at once. So needless to say the second ear took a long time to get done due to a lot of crying (not because her ear hurt any longer but because now she knew what was coming). In the end I had to hold her tight and the other ear got pierced. :)

This is her with them done and showing them off to me saying, "see, they don't hurt anymore".

Both girls are excited to have them done...and they survived!

Christmas Fun

Christmas was a eventful few days for us. :) The kids had so much fun and were on gift overload! We spend Christmas Eve with my side of the family. Unfortunatly Isabelle was not feeling well so she laid around and slept most of the time...she definatly was not her normal self.

Dylan loves to work on stuff and my parents got him his own toolbox with a few of his own tools, nails, etc. He loves it and has already built a few things!

This is how Isabelle spent the whole time opening gifts. :(

The next morning we opened gifts as a family in the morning and then we have had a tradition for a few years now with Israel & Kati that they come over for breakfast. Mark makes huge delicious breakfast burritos for us.

Dylan and Maggie :)

Israel bought Mark a ping pong table! It is Mark's goal to go undefeated against Israel for lifetime...so far his goal has been met. :)

Christmas night we spent at Mark's parents house. We had a great meal together and had lots of fun opening more gifts!

The excitement of opening gifts!

Thankfully Isabelle was feeling better and was able to be involved.

I feel very blessed by having really wonderful family.