Friday Thoughts

My weekly Friday thoughts. . .

My weekly inspirational bathroom mirror quote.  Say it, mean it, show it.  Love it.

And look what we finally got yesterday!  Hello baby chicks!

And this little guy could hardly contain his excitement!  He loves them!  We got 6 Production Reds and one Americana because it lays blue/green eggs and the kids thought that sounded cool.  So, hopefully come August we should be getting a bunch of fresh brown and blue/green eggs.  Yeah!  So they are in this container in the house for about a week until they get too big and smelly :), then they will move to a bigger container in the garage until all their feathers come in and then they can be moved outside to the regular chicken coop.  So fun!  I am so not a pet person, but I don't consider chickens pets.  I consider them food storage :)

Have a great weekend!  See you Monday!

Blue Jeans Week 38

I have been trying to blog for the last 2 days, but my computer has not been cooperating.  Love modern technology :)  So (finally) here was our last week. . .

Sunday:  This was our scene in the library as we listened to General Conference--legos, legos everywhere--do not step-beware!

Monday:  Mr J and Miss O put some finishing touches on their lego house this afternoon.  We love legos at our house. 

Tuesday:  Our roof is done, I got some pumpkins for the front porch, and we had some rain.  Life is good!

Wednesday:  We had some dear friends visiting, and they have a 1 year-old that my kids just adore, but I forgot how toddlers that age will not sit still for a second--especially for a picture :)  Too cute!  Mr J especially wanted a picture because our little friend is wearing the outfit Mr J bought for him when he was born--Thomas the train, of course.

Thursday:  Ben and the kids (but mostly Ben) have been working on a new chicken coop.  We are so lucky to have a neighbor that has a huge wood shop and will let us build anything there and use anything he has.  Love our neighbors!  He helped Ben and the kids bring over the new coop today so we could move the chickens in.

Friday:  The new coop with the chickens all moved in.   It is nice!  Way to go Ben and kiddos!!

Saturday:  Ben and the girls coming back from a bike ride this afternoon.  The weather has been so beautiful!

Hope you all have a great week!

Blue Jeans Week 37

We are enjoying the cooler fall which, after this horrible, hot summer, we just love!!!  Hope fall is in your neighborhood too!

Sunday:  I haven't taken a recent picture of the chickens lately, so I got one today.  They are laying now, so we are loving the fresh brown eggs.  We have 6 laying hens.  5 sort-of brown ones in this shot, and then one black and white, but she is her own person/hen and doesn't like to be with the group, so I had to get a picture of her later this week.

Monday:  Miss A's last volleyball game was today, so I caught a picture of her with her awesome coach, who also happens to be one of my best friends.  She is the best coach!!  Love you T!  Thanks for all you do!

Tuesday:  Got a picture of Miss Black and White Hen today.  I think she is the prettiest of the flock. 

Wednesday:  I surprised the kids by picking them up from school today and heading to the Dr. office for flu shots.  They didn't figure out what we were doing until we pulled into the Dr. parking lot.  They were not amused, but we were all brave and survived--even me, although our arms were pretty sore the next day.

Thursday:  After the previous day of traumatic flu shots, I needed a Girls Lunch Out.  So we headed out of town to a greenhouse for mums, pumpkins, and pizza for lunch.  Nothing beats great friends.  What a blessing!

Friday:  Miss E got into the 100 point AR reading club at school and got her t-shirt today.  She was very proud.  She has turned into a super-reader this year!!! 

Saturday:  This weekend was our Church's--The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints--semi-annual General Conference.  We don't have local meetings, but we watch our services on TV or the internet Saturday and  Sunday from our church wide General leaders and our Prophet and President.  It is such an amazing experience.  Unlike the unpleasant flu shots earlier in the week, these meetings have been a wonderful spiritual "shot" or boost that I really needed.  I so love my Savior Jesus Christ and all that He does for me.  So grateful for my family, my faith, and my church.  It was a great weekend, and to keep the kids entertained and sort of listening we play conference bingo with Reese's Pieces.  They listen to what the speaker says and find that topic on their bingo card (like faith, Christ, love, etc), and when they get bingo they get to eat their pieces (plus extra too:)

Hope you all have a wonderful week!  God bless!

Blue Jeans Week 34

Sometimes I am amazed at how slow the days seem to go, but then I am equally amazed at how fast the weeks go by.  Why is that?  How can that work?  So here is our week of slow days that flew by :) 

Sunday:  Sunday dinners don't have to be fancy.  We had chicken chip soup which is hands down probably the most favorite recipe of our whole family, and it is so easy!  I think it was originally called "six can chicken soup" and I think I found in on allrecipes.com, but we call it chicken chip soup.  All you need are the above 6 cans, then grated cheese and tortilla chips to garnish when heated.  So easy!  So, grab a pot and get ready--mix one can chicken broth with 1 can cream of chicken soup until smooth.  Then add 1 can black beans (do not drain), 1 can cooked chicken, 1 can corn (drain) and 1 can diced tomatoes (we blend them up first so no one can actually see they are eating tomatoes :)  Heat and serve with cheese and chips.  You don't have to use canned chicken, you can cook your own and put it in about 1 1/2 cups.  I am so glad it is getting to be soup weather! 

Monday:  For Labor day we got a big surprise--our chickens, which were born in April, laid their first eggs!  Miss E was the lucky one to find 2!!!  So looking forward to fresh eggs!

Tuesday:  I picked up Miss E and Mr J from school today.  They usually ride the bus, and I got this picture of them carefully looking both ways before they crossed the street to get in the car.

Wednesday:  Grandpa was out of town today, so Nana needed a buddy to spend the night with her so she wouldn't be lonely.  It is very convenient that she works at Mr J's school as his librarian, so Mr J got to be Nana's date and go out to eat with her and then spend the night and go to school with her.  He was super excited and they had a great time!  A school night sleepover, doesn't get any better than that!

Thursday:  Miss A #3 at the net ready to go for her volleyball game.  She is awesome at serve receive--gets the ball exactly where it needs to be.

Friday:  We have some friends that moved to our town from Mexico, and her mom (who speaks no English) was visiting from Mexico, so they had us over for dinner for Mole (chocolate chicken) and it was very good.   Here I am with my friend and her mom--now normally in any picture that I am in, I am the shortest, but I sure felt tall compared to these friends--that is rare :)

Saturday:  Mr J and Miss E disappeared this afternoon, and I found them in the front yard.  When I asked what they were making they said, "A fairy house."  Ah, love it!  Making fairy houses is the best!

Hope you all had a good week!

Blue Jeans Week 12

I thought this week that spring finally arrived, so I turned off the heater at the beginning of the week, and by the end I had to turn the A/C on!  I want spring, not summer already!  Thankfully we only had the A/C on for 2 days, and now it just feels like spring!

Sunday:  Twice a year our Church has a world-wide General Conference where our services are transmitted world-wide via satellite, the Internet, TV, etc, and talks are by our world leaders and prophet.  We watch the meetings at home over the Internet.  It is a great spiritual feast and boost which is just what we need!  Miss O is watching General Conference Sunday afternoon.

Monday:  Update on our art wall.  In one of the hallways on the first floor we created an "Art" wall.  We put up the kids' artwork, and I try to take pictures when we get new additions to our art collection. 

Tuesday:  Had some good friends from out of town visit.  Mr J got to play with one of his best-est friends, and they had a kool-aid tea party.  Always such a good time with good friends!

Wednesday:  A friend asked me about my treadmill the other day and if I used it a lot, "Oh yes," I replied, "I use it all the time" but I neglected to say that I don't necessarily use it for the purpose it was intended :)  It is in my craft room, and it makes a great sorting table, and when it finally gets cleared off it does get used for other things too--like actual walking--sometimes. . .

Thursday:  You may remember that one of our chickens died a few weeks ago?  Sadly, another died, and so we only have one lone chicken, so we went to the farm store today and bought 4 more chicks to replenish our chicken shortage.  We intended to get 6 chickens, but they were out of the green-egg laying chicks (these above are brown-egg layers), so we have to go back next week.  There is nothing better than fresh eggs!

Friday:  Spring is busting out all over!  Red bud trees are one of my absolute favorite things in the spring.  After school we went to the library, and they had this beauty blooming in the front.  Too bad they don't stay this color all summer.

Saturday:  Every Saturday in April means soccer at our house.  Had 3 games today and both our #10s did awesome!  It was a beautiful sunny day, and we are loving this soccer season!

Hope you all are seeing some spring or signs of it!  Have a good week!

 

Blue Jeans Week 8

Sunday:  Our bedtime routine always starts with reading scriptures.  Tonight we did it up in our room, and our bed is the favorite place to read for the kids.

Monday:  Another bedtime routine, is the kids are allowed to read by themselves for 30 minutes (time allowing) after they are all ready for bed.  Miss O and Miss E love doing that.

Tuesday:  Tuesday routine involves me volunteering in the kids' school classes.  Sometimes I am lucky enough to be in Jesse's during recess.  Today they had indoor recess, and he got to play with the Lincoln logs.  He loves playing with those.

Wednesday:  For the girls' church activity tonight they got to learn how to tie a tie.  Miss E practiced very hard at it, and they are one up on their mom since I don't know how to tie one.  They will have to teach me now.

Thursday:  Front page news!  Miss E and my mom (who happens to be her school librarian) were on the front page of the paper promoting our town's reading project.  Our town picks 2 books each year and encourages everyone in the town to read them.  They hand out free books and have activities to go along with the book throughout the year.  The book this spring is The Wizard of Oz, thus we have the 2 good witches :)

Friday:  Sad day.  Miss E went out after school to feed our chickens, which are not pets but we have for egg production (see this post) and came running back in "Dad!  Dad!  One of the chickens is dying!!"  Sadly it did die, and we think it might have had a heart attack or stroke, but Ben and the kids buried it that evening.  Miss E made the gravestone.   Goodbye Miss Henrietta chicken.  Thank you for your brown eggs.  We will miss them. 

Saturday:  As part of our town's reading The Wizard of Oz  they showed the movie for free at an old movie theater in town.  It was the first time my kids had ever seen the movie.  What a classic.  They all enjoyed it, and especially the free, unlimited popcorn, too ;)  Hope you all had a good week!

 

Dyeing Eggs--both brown and white

In case you didn't already know, we have chickens at our house. We have 3 Rhode Island Red laying hens. They give us pretty and very yummy fresh brown eggs. With Easter coming up we were wondering how it would be to dye the brown eggs?
Now I didn't hard boil many brown eggs. I bought 18 white ones to hard boil and only hard boiled 4 brown ones. Why, you ask? We aren't big hard boiled or deviled eggs fans around here, and from experience I know that we end up throwing out our dyed eggs after about 2 weeks, so I wasn't about to waste all my good fresh brown ones on egg dyeing. I didn't have a problem wasting the white store bought ones :) So on Saturday everyone got to work. They had big plans. . .

These were their results. We were impressed with how the brown ones dyed. Can you spot the original brown eggs? There are 4 of them. (answers at the bottom of post). They took the colors a deeper shade and turned out very pretty. I wanted to show you some pretty creative egg dyeing by my girls and Ben. . .

Hello! Did you know eggs can wear glasses too?

A pretty tri-colored egg. You have to have a steady hand to get the lines straight as you hold them in the different colored dyes. Way to go Ben!

Good-night! Sleep tight! Don't let the egg bugs bite!

(answers: dark brown/orange on left, dark purple in upper left, dark red that says "Easter" with a heart on it, and Ben's tri-colored one are the 4 brown eggs, did you guess them right?)