My little luxury

This is me, getting a haircut...IN MY KITCHEN!!  I am so lucky.  The fabulous woman who has done my hair since I was small, comes to my home to give me a haircut.  She owned her own salon for many years and after she sold that business, she worked in another salon.  When she got tired of that scene she decided to do home visits.  Now, once a month, she rolls up with all of her supplies and gives my boys and I a trim.

I will be the first to admit that I do miss the appeal of going to a salon and walking out with a new look.  But, given the choice of finding someone to watch the kids, finding the right hour between nursing, chauffering, and napping OR having her come to me and get the boys taken care of too, I choose the latter every time.

Haircut day has been met with some resistance in the past.  I have seen full-blown freak outs over haircuts.  I believe it is because they don't want to stop playing for 5 minutes, because once they are in the chair it is all fun and games.  Now that they are older, haircut days are becoming more exciting.  B has realized that he has some creative input as to what his hair will look like.  E typically wants the same thing done.  However, he always just gets a tiny trim because longer hair looks good on him and I am not ready to say goodbye to his curls.

It is a truly happy day when Chris comes over.  We all get fresh hair cuts and I didn't have to wait in a salon or pay top dollar for a two minute child hair cut.  Please don't ever, EVER retire!

Our Saturday Ritual

The Downtown Phoenix Farmer's Market

After eating a tasty breakfast, I like to pack up the family and head downtown to the Phoenix Farmer's Market on Saturday mornings.  Ever since switching to a real food/traditional diet, eating locally, organically, and seasonally has become very important to me.  I am so thankful to have this little gem downtown.  I can find farm fresh veggies, cheeses, honey, pastured chickens, grass fed beef,  and eggs (if I didn't have my own chickens).  All of the vendors are so friendly and are happy to answer any questions.  The boys really like it when our veggie guy cuts up a piece of fruit and shares it with them.  All of the produce is so lovely and sampling is encouraged!  E has stuck his hand in the cherry tomato bin more than once to sample the bounty.

The market is always buzzing with people, eager to fill their bags with their favorite items and excited to explore the vendors who are new to the market.  When I go, I have all three kids with me so my mission is to get what I need and then get out.  However, I would like to go alone sometime soon so that I can sample the goodies at each booth and get to know my favorite vendors better.  I am glad that I force my kids to come with me to the market each weekend.  I believe there is a lot of value in knowing where our food comes from and I am pleased that my children are growing up knowing this.

Overheard

Amee: How was trick or treating?  Did you see any scary costumes?

E: Yes!  And they scared my nuts out!  But don't worry, they went back in.

Just trying to keep it real around here.

I am wondering when and where he started referring to his **ahem** as nuts.

Halloween 2010

The Peach was in a bit of a mood on Halloween. Most likely due to the interrupted nap and not being held by me.

We managed to distract her enough to get some smiley shots. Both of the boys wore this costume and when I find the pictures of B, I will post all three. They were all cute little pumpkins!

I wanted a shot of all three of them and I took about a million pictures and this was the best. The others were a combination of E yelling "cheese" and B looking off at something else. The Peach was either crying or looking at the pumpkin. My little pumpkin was in bed by 5:30, so she didn't enjoy the trick or treating madness.

The boys on the other hand, gobbled up their grilled cheeses and donned their costumes eager to join the masses whom had already begun ringing the doorbell. E was a wizard and B was Indiana Jones. I am grateful for this action shot (and his red crocs).

I am ready to get all of Halloween put away, but B seems to be living in his Indiana Jones costume. I guess I will start with all of the decorations. No one seems to be interested in those anymore.

From A to Z

A few posts ago I mentioned that a friend of mine had asked me to become a part of a blog she was creating. I believe I mentioned that I was worried I wouldn't be able to come up with content. I am happy to say that so far I have been able to fill my space with something or other. I am still trying to find my groove. It has been a lot of fun so far and I am excited that we are finally sharing it with the world!!

From A to Z is written by 4 women living in different parts of Arizona. We write about living in and raising families in our respective cities. I have traveled to and lived in both Flagstaff and Tucson. I haven't been to The Ranch in Winkleman but I am really looking forward to that trip someday. I am somewhat charmed by ranch life, so that will be a fun adventure.

If you have a moment check it out. It has been so much fun being a part of this creative process. I promise, I won't stop posting here. Halloween pictures are coming soon!

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.