And then there were 4

This is Henny.

Or should I say this WAS Henny.  I realize that this blog is getting a little crowded with chicken posts, but I want to add my two cents.  Henny, our oldest Easter Egger, died today.

We got Henny, and three other hens, back in the spring of 2009.  After reading a lot about city people like myself that were keeping chickens, I thought that I would give it a whirl.  I loved the idea of having fresh eggs and I knew that my kids would think they are great.  I was right on all of my assumptions.  Keeping chickens has been so fun, entertaining, and EASY.  Plus, they pay their keep by giving us fresh eggs every day.  The chicken poop all over our porch, well, that sucks.  But the eggs!  The eggs are great.  And that is why we keep them around.

Earlier this summer we lost a hen due to the heat.  I knew that it was bound to happen, Phoenix is hot.  I felt pretty awful when I found her because normally I check on them several times a day to make sure they are staying cool enough.  That day I didn't check on them until late afternoon.  I was nervous about telling the boys about the passing of one of our little pets.  When their response was, "Can we see her?!" I knew that they wouldn't miss her too much.  Tossing her in a bag and throwing her out with the trash felt weird to me, but I wasn't about to bury her.  With plenty more hot days in front of us, it was possible I could have holes all over my backyard with little memorials attached to them.  I thought that a bit excessive.  Later that night I was preparing chicken for dinner and E asked me if it was our dead chicken.

Being down one chicken meant that we had less eggs.  Not good.  I happened to come across someone who is trying to get rid of some easter eggers.  I called her up and tell her I will take two.  Phew.  Now we have five.  Plus the two new ones lay blue/green eggs.  I'm happy.

So, today the story was pretty much the same.  I am gone all day.  I didn't even check on them in the morning.  Later in the afternoon I go out to give them some scratch.  I see 4.  After a brief scan of the backyard, I knew.  I found Henny in the coop.  Most likely dead for hours.  I am puzzled because it isn't hot anymore.  I guess it was just her time.  After bagging her up and disposing of her, I went inside to break the news.  B sighed, asked why, and then went back to doing his homework.  E said, "Which one was Henny?"

When I was a young child, I didn't have the experience of having a pet die.  I remember worrying about it because I didn't want to miss them.  I suppose this is good practice for them.  Our English Mastiff is 9 and I am certain she doesn't have many years left.  I just hope that when I have to break that sad, sad news they don't ask me, "Which one was she?"

A Moment

There was a moment tonight (after feeding and putting The Peach to bed, but right in the middle of preparing dinner when I had to step into the garage and get the dog food so she would stop barking at me) when I just stopped.  I stumbled into my garage, tripping over a child's shoe with the disgusting, slobbery dog dish in my hand and I stopped.  Now, Arizona is known for creating some beautiful sunsets I know.  And sometimes I think I take them for granted.  Yes, it is pretty.  I will see another one tomorrow.  But for some reason, this particular sunset made me stop.  It was quiet.  It was calm.  (Ignore the gross dog dish in your hand.)  It reminded me that each day has something good in it, I just have to slow down, stop and look.  Then, after standing there for a moment just enjoying the stillness in the garage, the sunset reminded me to run inside and grab the camera.  While the moment won't last forever, the picture will.

How hard is it to shop at Trader Joe's?

What began as a benign shopping trip to Trader Joe's with all three children, quickly turned into grocery shopping hell.  Granted, I wanted to sneak this "quick" trip in between picking kids up from school and eating lunch.  I knew what I was dealing with (loaded and cocked weapons), but I was certain that the appeal of pushing the small shopping carts around the store would be enough to distract them from their grumbling tummies.  Boy was I wrong.

It all started with B stealing the cart that E had selected and claimed it as his own.  Now E is in tears and we haven't even gotten inside the store!  After grabbing another cart and making our way in, E rammed B in the back of the legs and claimed, "That's what you get for stealing my cart!"  Now B spins around and pushes his cart into his brother's cart effectively blocking the entry way and several lovely people simply wishing to get inside and shop.  Meanwhile, The Peach is on my hip just taking it all in.  Poor girl.

Why do my children do this to me?

I realize that this situation is escalating and will continue to get worse.  I manage to pull them out of the way and have a quick chat and tell them they need to knock it off and start being the good helpers they agreed to be when we were back in the car.  Once we start shopping, they begin to fight over who gets to put what in their carts.  They push and race each other in order to get "more" of what I am shopping for.  I decided to trade off putting items in each of their carts.  Thinking this would nip the competition in the bud, B (too smart for his own good) realizes that when we grabbed the last item, it went into E's cart and therefore had MORE than B had in his cart.  Now my 6 year old starts whining and complaining.

With the desire to get out of there as quickly as possible, I usher my two hungry and tired boys (with The Peach still on my hip) to a check out lane.  B gently pushes his cart up to the nice gentleman who would be checking us out.  E thinks it is appropriate to ram the cart he has into B's while the Trader Joe's employee is trying to unload the tiny cart.  This is when I question my choice NOT to beat my children.

I take a deep breath, complete my transaction, and remind myself that they are tired and hungry.  Once in the car we have a nice chat about appropriate behavior in public places and that making each other angry to the point of tears is NOT what we are looking for.  After a few apologies to me, I remind them that they were unkind to each other and now need to think of something nice they can do for each other.  B thinks this is the WORST PUNISHMENT IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD.  E on the other hand comes up with an idea quickly.  I told them that it didn't matter what they came up with as long as it is KIND.  B very begrudgingly told me that he would give his brother a hug.  After hearing the tone in his voice I reminded him that he should be gentle.

I would think that with 6 years of parenting beneath my belt I could have seen this coming from a mile away.  I guess I just hoped it would turn out the way it played out in my head.

The Peach is 9 months old

It is hard to believe that this child will be turning one in just 3 short months. I am amazed that I gave birth to her not even a year ago. She has transformed from a newborn blob into this bubbly, happy, baby! Those with newborns take note - the sleepless nights don't last forever. They also don't stay small and tiny forever. Fortunately they still smell good.

So, what's the latest and greatest with G? She is crawling all over the place. She has mastered climbing up the step from our den into the dining area. Once she gets her hands up there she lays flat on her belly, sticks her legs straight out, and reaches as far as she can and pulls her body far enough forward so that she can get her knee up there and then she is off. Her favorite things to check out are the dog dish, my printer, the french door windows, and whatever the boys are playing with. She finds such joy in playing with (destroying) whatever they have created. She also pulls herself up to her knees whenever she finds the opportunity. She hasn't attempted to pull herself to standing yet and I haven't seen her move from crawling to sitting. She might do it, I just haven't witnessed it.

She is getting bigger - especially her head. Her head circumference (18 inches) measured in the 90% percentile. Her weight (17 pounds, 15 oz) and height (27 1/4 inches) both measured in the 50th percentile. Sometimes I look at her and wonder how that bobble head doesn't tip her over.

She is continuing to advance in the food department. I have been lazy and haven't made new things for her to try. However, now that she is 9 months old it is time she figure this finger food thing out. I have given her bits of pear, avocado, and chicken. She plays with it and expects me to feed it to her. I am still only feeding her 2 real food meals a day. I need to move to 3. I just really don't want to have to make THREE breakfasts in the morning. I will be glad when she starts eating what the boys eat. That will become very handy. She still hasn't had any grain so I am trying to come up with some good breakfast options for her. I might try soaked oatmeal this weekend and see how that goes.

Here are some of the things I'm loving lately:

She thinks her brothers are hilarious and will laugh at silly faces and when they just simply drop a ball on the ground. It is seriously the funniest thing she has ever seen!

When I carry her around, she kicks/swings her right leg.

When she is tired, she will lay her head on my shoulder and suck her thumb.

When we go outside and she sees the chickens, she will babble and blow raspberries as loud as she can.

When we pull into the garage she squeals with delight.

When I'm nursing her, her top hand explores my face and plays with my necklace.

When I'm feeding her in her highchair, sometimes she scrunches up her face, smiles, and does this sniffing thing with her nose.

I just love this little girl and she is just growing up too fast. This age is so fun and I love how all of her problems can usually be solved with food and a nap. While I am ready to move forward to all of her next stages, I am trying to keep one foot firmly planted in all of her baby-ness. I know it can't stay this way, so while I can, I take every moment to nibble and munch on her cheeks. Oh those cheeks!

My Attempt at a Home Remedy

Now that the kids are back in school, illness tends to creep back into our home.  So far, no one has been terribly sick.  However, E has been coughing and coughing and coughing for the past few weeks.  That seems like a long time, right?  I should probably take him to the doctor.  I am sure that it is just a virus that is working its way through his tiny body.  Neither Spouse nor I have caught this cough.  Neither has The Peach.  Thank goodness for that because baby coughs (and croup!) are the worst.  As for B, he is starting the cough.  It is time to try to nip this in the bud.

Enter the home remedy.  Apparently mixing a tablespoon of honey (preferrably raw) with 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon can knock out a cold in three days.  So, I will try feeding this mixture to my children (except the baby of course) tomorrow and see how it goes.  I might just put mine into a cup of tea.  That just sounds tasty!

I will follow up in 4 days with a report.  Colds begone!

Our Mission

A while ago, Prince Charming and I put together a "Family Mission" that includes a statement about our purpose in this family as well as some values that we cultivate in our home. Getting this onto a poster of some kind was on my project list for quite some time. I am happy to say that after a gal I fancy agreed to design it for me, it is now hanging on my wall! I am also happy to say that the odd Beatles poster has been replaced. Now all I have to do is clean up that messy corner!

I made cream cheese, ya'll!

This little adventure started when I needed some whey to preserve the mayo I wanted to make. This is a very easy way to make whey (teehee). Way, whey...get it? I grabbed a new carton of my favorite yogurt, lined a strainer with some cheese cloth (I could have also used a tea towel) and put the strainer in a bowl. Then I just left it on the counter. Before bed, I poured off any collected whey and then stuck the bowl/strainer combo in the fridge.

The next morning, I poured off any of the whey that dripped out over night. Then (because my pitcher was holding OJ) I tied the little cheese baggie and hooked it over a wooden spoon and put it in my blender. It went right back into the fridge until the next morning. I did pour out the whey that dripped out before I went to bed.

In the morning I poured off the rest of the whey and noticed the cheese baggie had stopped dripping! The cheese is ready!! I just put it into a tupperware, put the whey in a mason jar, and I was all done!

The process did take about three days, but the effort was minimal. And the cream cheese is tasty!