A Chicken, by Any Other Name...

I know you're dying to hear more about the chickens-- they're just so darn fascinating!  And it's all good news, so I'm happy to share!

First of all, I finally have names for them all again.  This took up way more mental power than it ought to have.  Not that it's so hard to come up with a name for a chicken, but I just couldn't decide what to do about their names.  I mean, they look a lot like the chickens we had before, so I sort of thought we should just call them by the same names.  But at the same time, that also seemed too confusing, like we needed to clarify if we were talking about the current Lucy or the previous Lucy (may she rest in peace).

So for a while we just didn't call them anything except their color.  The brown one did this!  The yellow one did that!

But that felt like we were bad pet owners, honestly.  I mean, who doesn't name their pets?

So I finally came up with a solution I liked.  They have similar names to the originals, but slightly different.  So our first yellow chicken was Lucy Mack, our current yellow chicken is Lucille.  (And all you Arrested Development fans out there ought to love that.)  And our previous brown chicken (the rooster) was Sophronia, but our current brown chicken is Sophie.

Easy peasy.

Emma is still Emma, although the kids also call her Zippy.  And occasionally, the black one.  Because they get their incredible ability to come up with amazing names from my side of the family.  (Ask me what we called cream of wheat and what we called the road where you had a great view of Seattle?  Answers: hot white cereal and the view way.  Yup, we are that creative.  It just comes naturally to us...)

Anyway, the good news in the world of our backyard is that all three chickens are getting along splendidly.  This may seem like a dumb thing to worry about, but chickens can be downright mean if they don't like each other, even pecking an outcast to death, so I'm certainly glad we don't have any drama in that department.  This whole venture has had enough drama without fights breaking out among our own, thank you very much!

Forget backyard chickens, these are more like backDOOR chickens.  They don't really understand why they can't come inside...  But it thrills Colton when they come up to the house like this!

The other good news is that both Emma and Sophie are laying eggs very consistently now, so we usually get two new eggs every day!  It's so fun to go and collect them, and even more fun when they're still warm (usually late in the morning).  We've cooked with them a few times, and they cook up into delicious omelets (which are on the menu for this week!).  It's also fascinating to me to learn how to take care of real, farm-fresh eggs.  For example, they don't need to be refrigerated, and they don't need to be washed.  You just keep them on the counter, and they'll stay fresh for months.  It's amazing how healthy and easy they are when the chickens are well cared for and healthy to start off with!

The little eggs on top are all from Emma, the big ones across the bottom row are from Sophie.  Good little layers!

So, yes, life with chickens is good.  We're very pleased.  Now we'll see if we can keep them alive through the winter, I guess!

Rollercoaster Week

Before I ever met Craig, I was in a bad relationship and a bad place, and I got in the habit of calling my Mom up at least once a week, sobbing.  During this time, my Dad gave me the nickname Rollercoaster Girl, because he said my ups were way up, and my downs were way down.  He was right.  I was a ridiculous emotional mess then.  And it was interesting to see how once evil boy was out of the picture, I was able to stabilize back into a more normal, less crazy person.  It's been nice actually being me again for so long.

And don't worry, I'm still just fine.

But this last week has been enough to make anyone a little bit crazy.  This last week has had so many ups and downs, I hardly know where to begin to relate it all.  So it must be time to do some blogging!  Sorry for the novel that is this post, but it's all stuff I need to get off my chest.  Sorry for making you into my therapist or something...


Anyway, it began last Friday with Craig's fabulous idea: he decided we should get some pizza and take the kids to the park to eat.  I thought that sounded like so much fun that I posted it on our church's facebook page so any friends who wanted to could join in.  This is a scary thing for me to do, since I immediately began worrying that no one would come and I'd feel like a complete loser.  But I was in luck-- a whole bunch of people came and we had a splendid time!  Yay for Craig's great idea and yay for adding more friends to the mix!

As a special treat, we even took the kids out for ice cream on the way home, something which we have NEVER done before.  (Mostly because we're cheap.  And our kids tend to shy away from cold stuff so we worried it would just be a waste of money.  But mostly because we're cheap.)  But the kids loved the ice cream and thought it was the best day ever.  And it kind of was!

Except for later that night, as we were rushing around trying to get everyone not-sticky enough to put to bed, and I managed to accidentally kick the doorjamb so hard I broke my pinky toe.  That's kind of been sucking, I'll admit.  (It's not as bad as when I twisted my ankle, though, so there's that for perspective.)

So, yes, up and down.

Saturday was another good day, though.  Saturday was pretty much all up: the kids got to go to an awesome carnival planned just for them by our church, and Kendra and I volunteered that afternoon to stand outside a grocery store collecting food for a local food bank.  I can't say it was something I'd been looking forward to, but I was pleasantly surprised by how generous people were, and it was truly touching to let my little girl see the kindness of strangers.  And then once we were home, Craig kicked it into high gear doing yard work and making our backyard look decent again (while the kids and I chased the chickens around), so that was lovely.

A very Up day indeed.

So, naturally, Sunday had to be Down.

Sunday was awful.  Craig had meetings all day long, which left me in charge of keeping the kids happy, getting them clean and ready for church, and getting the house clean (which failed miserably as soon as my kids invited two neighborhood boys over, who got out pretty much every toy we own).  Then, as if that hadn't been fun enough, I had to sit with my four kids all during church and try to keep everyone happy.  While Craig had to go to a different congregation to give a talk.

I will tell you right now that it is not possible to keep four kids this age quiet and happy for an hour and twenty minutes.  (I also had to keep them from stepping on my broken toe or elbowing my pregnant stomach.  Also not easy.  The only plus here was that at least I didn't feel guilty wearing flipflops to church!)  So, yes, sacrament meeting was rough.  We survived it-- barely-- and I sent the older kids off to primary, ready to breathe a sigh of relief.

But before I could let out that happy sigh, a lady I know came up and began chatting my ear off about how contrary Bentley is (she apparently believes that his dislike of being hugged or eating chocolate is purely about being contrary, not any sort of actual personal preference).  She then moved on to pointing out how he couldn't sit still at all during yesterday's carnival (was he supposed to???) and wrapped that all up by suggesting I might have him tested for ADHD.  AND HE WAS THE ONLY ONE OF MY KIDS WHO SAT STILL AND DIDN'T CRY AT ALL DURING CHURCH.

Yes, let's speak to a pregnant woman with a broken toe who's just spent nearly an hour and a half wrestling four kids on her own and suggest that something's wrong with one of her kids.  What could be more helpful, kind, and Christ-like than that?

I've talked to enough people and enough of Bentley's teachers to think she's crazy and to not actually be worried.  But her incredible rudeness just kind of blew me away.  I'm still pretty angry just thinking about it.

I managed to escape from her and took Colton to nursery for the first time, and he actually didn't cry when I left.  Very brief Up!  And then I got cornered by a different woman who proceeded to spend twenty minutes telling me all her marriage problems.  I managed to get her to the bishop's office, hoping he could provide counseling, and when I tried to leave, she said, "No, go ahead and stay!" and launched right back into all her problems.  I was kind of relieved when I heard Colton crying and needed to go rescue him at nursery.  (He had tripped and fallen and was then inconsolable.)

Sunday was a very Down day.

Monday I got to Target and realized I'd forgotten my shopping list (down) but managed to remember everything on it and sort of felt like a rock star for that (up).  But then I got home and realized I didn't have to time to make any of the meals I'd planned (down).  Fortunately Craig pointed out that the girls' basketball team was doing a fundraiser at Chipotle that night, so it really was our patriotic duty to eat there and support them, so he saved us (up).

And then Wednesday.  Wednesday (yesterday!) was Bentley's birthday.  He turned eight, which is kind of an important age if you're Mormon, because he's finally old enough now to be baptized.  It's a big deal to us.  Craig and I stayed up late Tuesday night decorating, and I tried to make the morning special before he had to head off to school.  It went well, and I think he was having a happy day.  Up!  (And his party and everything else will be a different blog post, since this is already way too long!)

We dropped Bentley and Kendra off at school, and as we began walking home, Ryder ran ahead of me a bit (this is unusual, since he normally is at least twenty feet behind me).  I guess he was just excited about Bentley's birthday.  Before I even realized what was happening, he ran out into the parking lot, right in front of an on-coming truck.  A 5th-grader was standing there as part of their safety patrol program, and she snatched him right back and all was well.  I thanked her profusely, walked away, and then burst into tears.  It had all happened in about three seconds, but I realized that those three seconds nearly ruined my life (not to mention Bentley's birthday).

I never thought I would feel such gratitude to some little girl whose name I don't even know.

Up and down and up and down again.

I spent the rest of the day randomly crying when I would let myself think about how scary that moment was.  But also feeling so thankful that everything was all right.

What a week it's been.

I would really like it if next week could be boring.   Reeeeeeeeaaaaaaaally boring.

Oops

At the Color Vibe race, the "color" they throw at you is dyed corn starch.  This is good to know, because it does occasionally get into your mouth, so it's helpful if you remember that it is, technically, food.  As opposed to, say, sand or dirt or something.

And I was impressed with how easily it washed out of everything.  My white t-shirt was sparkling white after a quick run through the washing machine.  I was able to clap the worst of the color off my tennis shoes (which are actually older than my marriage).  And the kids and Craig and I all came clean in the tub.

There was only one thing where it didn't wash out, and that was Colton's hair.

Yup, my 18-month-old son has pink hair.  It's not super obvious, unless there's light shining on him.  Then his hair looks something like a sunset.  It's actually quite lovely, if slightly weird.  We've taken to calling him Pinky, which then leads to me singing the theme song for Pinky & the Brain.

It's not weird lighting.  It's actually pink.

Naturally, Colton had his 1.5 year check-up on Monday.  And to make things even better, Kendra had had a fever the day before and had to stay home from school.  So I marched in with three kids, the youngest of which was sporting pink hair and kept managing to fall off things and get hurt.  And then I announced to our pediatrician that I was having another one!  Because, yeah, doesn't that seem like a great idea for me to have more kids?!?!?!

Anyway, if there was ever a time to judge a mother, this looked like one of those times.

Motherhood can be such a humiliating experience.

The only thing that made up for it was when Ryder and Kendra got flu shots and didn't even wince.  That was nice, at least.

And a Texas Floor

So yes, the tiling went on for a good three-and-a-half days.  Craig has never had so much fun getting to hang out with his brother and Dad and they quickly had a whole system going with Tom cutting tile, Jason mixing mortar, and Craig laying the tile.  I hung out with all my kids in the family room close by (and occasionally slipped away for a nap!) and pondered how differently Craig's and my family "spend time" together-- my family is all about paying people to do the work and then eating ice cream or something...  So at least both families understand the importance of ice cream at the end of the day!

It was a big area they were tiling, but fortunately Jason had already done all the prep work and gotten up the old linoleum, so as soon as the baptism was over, the men wasted no time getting to work.

Laying the tile in the kitchen area

And the dining room as well

Trying to get the range into place again

Jason handing the final tile over to Craig

And placing that last tile

Craig contemplates all the grouting still left to be done

Grouting and sponging down

And ta-daa!  Finally, beautifully, done!

I guess the question now is, how do we lure Jason and Jeni to Virginia to help us re-do our kitchen?  :)

And Texas Cousins, Too!

We left Kentucky and drove two days to Houston.  Whew!  That is a LONG drive.  And knowing we'd have to do it again in a week didn't make it any easier!

Enjoying the Kentucky "traffic."  Something tells me we're not in Northern Virginia any more!

I also liked this random castle in the middle of Kentucky-- wha?

But we got there without any major problems and were able to see Maya's baptism, so that was exciting!  She looked like a beautiful princess in the dress her mom had made for her and we were excited for Bentley to see a baptism, since he'll be turning eight next week (!!!).

All ready for the big event!

Most of the rest of the time the cousins all played together while the men tiled Jason and Jeni's kitchen and dining room (which will be its own post, mostly a bunch of pictures of the floor).  So here are what the kids got up to, in no particular order, because I'm pulling pictures off both my phone and Craig's:

Jumping before it got too hot

Ryder and Eli playing together, in the only way 3-year-olds can!

Snuggle time.  But man, selfies do bad things to my chin(s)

This is how we eat when Grandma's getting the groceries!

Going to see Rio 2, and enjoying the air conditioning.  I LOVE that Bentley was willing to hold Eli's hand!

Grandpa holding a very worn out Colton at the water park

Choosing cupcakes to celebrate Jason's birthday

Grandma keeps Ryder and Eli entertained

Grandpa takes a break from tiling to play with his grandsons

Playing a little Rock Band

Colton gets into the whole rock band thing...

My sons are all sitting on me!

We hit Five Guys for dinner one night, and Kendra and Maya got their own table-- it made me laugh

The time flew by, and before we knew it, it was time to hit the road again.  We had a lovely time and I sure enjoyed pigging out on all the wonderful food and hanging out with all the grown-ups in the evening once the tiling was done for the day.  But I will admit that I was starting to miss my bed.  (Although much thanks are owed to Kamryn for giving up her bedroom for us-- if I'd had to sleep on an air mattress the entire trip, I might not have enjoyed myself nearly as much!)  Time to face another two days of driving...!

Kentucky Cousins

The day after Craig's birthday, we headed to Kentucky to visit my sister and her family.  I learned a valuable lesson from this: DON'T TRAVEL THE DAY AFTER SOMEONE'S BIRTHDAY.  Because there's a lot of work that goes into leaving for a three week trip, and you don't really want to do any of it on a birthday.  So packing, cleaning the house, and loading the car didn't happen until the next day.  And because we'd stayed up late the night before ('cuz it was Craig's birthday!) and Craig hadn't slept all night because he'd had like five Cokes or something ('cuz it was his birthday!), we didn't even roll out of bed until 8am!  So then we dashed around frantically trying to pack clothes and food and everything and tidy up so we wouldn't come home to a mess and give the chickens extra food and all the stuff you would normally do the night before.

It was a little bit stressful.

But I was kind of proud of us for being on the road (with the gas tank filled and a new pair of sunglasses for Craig) by noon.  All things considered, that was pretty good.  And we even managed to bring all our leftovers from Maggiano's with us, since they would have been spoiled by the time we came back and we NEVER EVER waste their Rigatoni D.  Ever.  And Craig somehow managed to cram five garbage bags of baby clothes that I'd promised to bring to Natalie into the van, in addition to all the stuff we needed, so that was pretty impressive, I thought.  We're not going to be able to do this once our kids' legs get a little longer!

It's only a six hour drive to Natalie's home in Ashland, so we made it there with only one bathroom break, and with a gas tank nearly on empty by the time we arrived.  Phew!  And we were just in time for dinner!

While we were there, we didn't do a whole lot: Natalie and I hung out and sorted the baby girl clothes I'd brought for her (she would go on to have that baby two days after we left, so I just barely missed getting to meet my newest niece!).  And mostly we let the cousins all play together, which is a wonderful thing. 

A little bit of TV time so the adults can get some peace and quiet

It can be tricky convincing kids this age to get along, so I was pleased with how well Caleb and Ryder did

Samuel, Caleb, Kendra, Colton, Bentley, Ryder

It was fun to watch Bentley and Samuel playing chess together.  They don't have all the rules down yet, but they're close!

Dinner at the Kids' Table

The kids enjoyed wearing Natalie's Civil War hats and running around fighting and screaming and being crazy

It was kind of nuts, but in an awesome fun cousin-y kind of way!

Kendra wanted a picture of her holding the hat

Craig was starting to get a little stir-crazy from just sitting around the house, so one day we took the oldest kids and went and explored some nearby caves.  That was pretty fun, too!

While we waited for our tour, the kids practiced panning for gold.

Apparently you could buy little bags with sand and fossils and things to pan for, but they were having so much fun without those, that we didn't see the need to spend any extra money!

So excited!

Even Colton was excited by the muddy water!

About to enter the cave!

Most of the gang (you can't see Colton on Craig's back)

There's Colton, grabbing the most uncomfortable nap ever.  He was just lucky Craig didn't back into that ledge right behind them...

Pretty view coming out of the cave

I loved the contrast between the green and the rocks here

On the last day of our stay, my Mom arrived, so it was wonderful getting to see her again, even for just a little bit.  We were sad to have to leave the next day, but we needed to make it to Houston in time for Maya's baptism (which should be my next post).  So that was our visit to Kentucky!  Natalie seems to have been a bit camera shy, but considering how very pregnant she was, I can't say that I blame her!  If you want to see pictures of her adorable baby Nicole, hop over to her blog!  

We were awfully glad to get a chance to visit them, especially now that they'll be moving across the country in the next few months!  Guess we'll have to start saving up for plane tickets...!