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!!)

14 Weeks

I still think there are three babies in there.

The first egg

Yesterday, I found Lola making a nest of sorts in one of my plants. She has never spent any time in this plant before. She was there for about 30 minutes and while she was there, she was finding dead parts and moving them aside. She kept spinning and sitting, making herself a perfect, round nest. Then she left.

Today, around the same time, I found her in the nest she made. She was there for a long time again doing the same behaviors. When I went to peek on her, she had left leaving in her place a perfect, tiny, brown egg.

She does have some work cut out for her, though. Her egg is pretty small compared to a grocery store egg. This is normal, it will get bigger as she matures.

Congratulations, Lola!! Woohoo!!

"The Invitation"

I found this little ditty while cleaning out my desk today. I got it at some presentation in college. I guess I liked it because I have kept it for 10 years!

The Invitation

By Oriah Mountain Dreamer (a Native American Elder)

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.

I want to know what you ache for,

And if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are.

I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love,

For your dreams, for the adventures of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon.

I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow,

If you have been opened by life's betrayals or

Have becoming shriveled and closed from fear of further pain!

I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own,

If you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you

To the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful,

be realistic, or to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you're telling me is true.

I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself;

If you can bear the accusation of betrayal

And not betray your own soul.

I want to know if you can be faithful

And therefore be trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty

Even when it is not pretty every day,

And if you can source your life from God's presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine,

And still stand on the edge of a lake

And shout to the silver of the moon, "Yes"!

It doesn't interest me to know where you live,

Or how much money you have.

I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair,

Weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done

For the children.

It doesn't interest me who you are, how you came to be here.

I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me

And not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied.

I want to know what sustains you from the inside

When all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself,

And if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

Third time around

Now that a lot of people know that I am pregnant, I find a lot of them making the same comment. "Wow, look at you! You are already starting to show!" Maybe they are surprised because they just found out and think that I just found out as well. Nope, I have known for quite some time. Whenever I hear this, I simply smile and nod. Inside I am thinking, "Yes, I know. My belly is huge. Thanks for pointing that out. I wasn't aware that my pants don't really fit anymore." Don't get me wrong, pregnancy is exciting and close friends and family become anxious for that baby to arrive. But, here I am just 12 weeks along, and my belly sticks out far enough for someone to notice. Allow me to illustrate.

Here I am 20 weeks pregnant with B.

Now here I am 16 weeks pregnant with E.

Hold on to your hats, folks. This is me today. Just 12 weeks along.

Goodness gracious! I am either loosey goosey (some may argue that is how I got this way to begin with) due to two prior pregnancies, or there are three babies in there. Either way, heaven help me!

Our 4th of July Adventure

Like we do every year, we headed up to my parent's cabin for the 4th of July. We had a wonderful time. The weather was beautiful, the company divine, and the food plentiful. I always feel like our trip is too short. While we were there, we packed in plenty of activities! We took the boys to a fishing derby the morning of the 4th. All kinds of people had the same idea, so it was hard to get a bite on our lines. The boys still had fun, though.

We took our annual picture and then prepared for the parade. We gussied up the buggy with all kinds of festive gear then headed over to the parade. There were a lot more participants this year which made it fun. After the parade we had some hot dogs for lunch and then headed back to the cabin for a much needed nap.

In the afternoon we got out the remote control Cessna and flew that around the golf course. When I say, "we" I mean Papa and my Prince Charming. The boys were just aching to play with it, but unfortunately it is fragile and would be crushed in their enthusiasm. But they each got a turn to fly it. But, most of the time, they were retrieving it!

Papa got his hands on some sparklers and some firecrackers. Black cats. Boy those were loud! The sparklers were the most exciting for the boys. E just wanted to watch and B got up the courage to hold one himself.

B got to attend his very first golf clinic. He was so excited. He carried his golf bag everywhere.

Our trip wouldn't be complete without some s'mores. Even I had some.

While I type this in sweltering heat, the boys are still up at the cabin with Amee and Papa for a week without the parents enjoying the cool weather. Both were excited to be alone with them. I had a hard time leaving them up there. While I am looking forward to some time to myself, as soon as I left them I wanted to go back to get them. There is something unnatural about not being where my children are. Prince Charming said, "Just wait until they go to college." Bottom line, I don't like being apart from them. However, since that is the situation, we are going to have some fun. A trip to Vegas with Aunt J is planned and very much looked forward to! Vegas, baby.