Back to School Celebration!

The evening before school started, I hosted a Back to School Celebration for our little family. Since both boys will be starting new chapters in their lives (B to Kindergarten and E to Preschool) I thought a grand celebration was in order.

I made Texas Sheetcake.

I set the dinner table with our china, silver, and crystal.

I made each boy their own special crown.

We enjoyed a feast of Spaghetti and homemade garlic bread.

We devoted the entire dinner conversation to school related topics. We wanted to know about their plans at their new schools, what they were looking forward to most, and what they were nervous about. I tried to discuss goals for the year, but that went over their heads. Perhaps next year.

It was a great evening and the boys really enjoyed the celebration in their honor as well as getting to have dessert!

Just like spaghetti!

We got some worms for the chickens the other day. They were so excited they could hardly contain themselves! So, how does a chicken eat a worm? Just like spaghetti!!

Swimming

After an entire summer of whining, complaining, and crying at his swim lessons, E surprised us the other day and just decided to swim. Just like that.

16 weeks

I am in desperate need of some cute skirts and dresses to accomadate my expanding belly. Where can I find them? Anyone? Help! Oh, and they have to be comfortable and not have that huge pregnancy belly band that can be so constricting.

The Mysterious Egg

I went out to the chicken coop the other afternoon to collect Harriet's egg (Lola had laid hers in the morning) and when I opened the nest box lid I found TWO eggs in there. One was obviously Harriet's and the other looked a lot like Lola's eggs. Now I am pretty sure that chickens don't lay more than one egg in 24 hours, so who's was it? By the process of elimination, I had concluded that Cutie had laid her first egg. Henny's eggs will be either green or blue. This morning I found Cutie in the nest box doing her thing. So, it has been confirmed. Henny is the only chicken remaining to start laying eggs. We are really looking forward to getting 4 eggs a day.

His advanced breakfast palate

Our little B-Man loves breakfast. He takes after his father that way. He likes the usual things: cereal, bananas, pancakes, scrambled eggs, waffles, french toast, etc. But it is the other breakfast foods he eats that make his breakfast palate advanced. Before he was two this kid would gobble down lox and capers like it was his JOB. He would beg his dad for bites of lox off of his carefully assembled bagel. Of course, Prince Charming couldn't have been more thrilled. Now he could enjoy some lox and bagels with his son (since his wife gags at the smell of them). This child would eat an entire package of lox if we let him.

Another favorite of his is poached eggs with super salt and super pepper. He loves the runny, gooey center of the egg. I find it interesting that a kid would like such a thing. But what I find even more interesting is his approach to eating it - a process that will best be described by pictures.

Three Cheers for Harriet!!

She did it! She finally did it! Having matured to egg-laying age back in June, our oldest hen finally produced her first egg. She was sneaky, too! I didn't even know she was in there. I just happened to check the nest box before closing the coop up for the night and VOILA! It sure is pretty, too. I love all the tiny brown speckles. Harriet's eggs will eventually become a dark chocolate brown color. I am wondering if the speckles have anything to do with that.

Thank you, Harriet! Now get your sister hens, Cutie and Henny, to start contributing already!

(The dummy plastic egg that you see is there to encourage the hens to lay their eggs in the nest box. I didn't think that would actually work, but it has so far! I love how close Harriet's egg is to the dummy. I am guessing she was sitting on that sucker when she was laying her egg!!)