an egg confession

I can't eat our hens eggs plain. There, I said it.

I gladly use the eggs for baking and they are beautiful and delicious. I feed my family fried eggs, scrambled eggs, and omelets for breakfast, but I just can't partake. Why? The yolks are unbelievably yellow. Scrambled eggs aren't a pale hue in our home, rather an eye stopping yellow similar to a school bus. And yes I do add milk to them. I'm serious. I know our eggs are more healthy but I can't get over the color. I recently heard duck eggs were wonderful and I almost puked in my mouth. So, with all this I am committing to eat one of our hen eggs by the end of 2009. I'm scared already!

a lil harvest this year

So, our pumpkins were VERY late getting in and thus harvest is a lot slim. BUT, I am reminded of the summer joys of caring and watching over the pumpkin plants. We had fun! Next year, we will plant sooner. Next year, we will plant more plants and have an official patch, as I don't think 3 lil rounds constitute a patch. Next year, we will have pumpkins for all our friends! How many pumpkins comprise a patch?

*Sadly, I delayed in photographing our robustly challenged pumpkins. They rotted quickly, thus having a very short front porch life. They were returned to the field to be enjoyed by critters.

love to cook

Our house is preparing for Grandpa's arrival and one of the things I most look forward to is blessing him with yummy food. I enjoy cooking, but LOVE to cook for others. Dennis, my father-in-law is a lot like his son Ted, or maybe that's the other way around. :) These men love to eat and enjoy any kind of food. This makes experimenting a total blast for me. I have elaborate meals planned in my head, but even if they don't all come to pass I know what does will be enjoyed. To try something and not be able to fail, ahhh the best canvas to work with! I can't wait to fill your belly Dennis!

Work

work- the effort applied to complete a task.

There's nothing like good old fashioned physical work. Ted's labor of choice lately has been collecting wood (more like whole trees!) and splitting it for firewood. Today, I took the garden a part and cleaned out the chicken coop. I realized I'd been missing hard physical labor. At one point, my tomato cages were such a mess I was ready to throw in the towel and let Ted take over when he got home, but instead I "dug deep" as he would say and cut the wire to pieces. When the plot was cleared (about the size of a large bathroom), I almost roared, feeling such a sense of accomplishment. I see this same need and satisfaction in all my kids. We were created to work and to "dig deep" as Ted would say.

Socks! Oh socks, where art thou??

I love washing laundry, but am not a fan of folding and putting away. I totally fizzle out carrying the warm load to the couch. On top of that, I despise socks! With 10 feet in our family, I find it frustrating from the beginning, and that is never a good attitude to go into a task with. Can anyone relate?

We worked outside this am, cleaning the coop and ripping out the garden. I told Will he couldn't come out until he had socks and shoes on, it was cold. He came out and I didn't notice anything peculiar. After our work, I showed Will how to build a bike ramp. (Will I be sorry for this later?) As he road on the ramp again and again I noticed his socks. The only socks he could find, not surprisingly, were his soccer socks with built in shin guards and ankle bone pads. With his pants on I hadn't noticed. I had to laugh and commit to folding socks today, no matter my attitude.

Simple Curtain How To

MATERIALS

1. Tea Towels (2)

2. Safety pins (10)

3. Twine

4. Copper pipe (1)

5. Mounting hardware (2)

Mount a 5/8 to 1/2 inch diameter copper pipe to your wall as the rod. In the plumbing section of a hardware store, you will find copper mounting brackets. Place one at either end by fastening screws in the top and bottom holes.

Use the 2 tea towels as the curtains. Place 5 safety pins at the top of each tea towel, then "thread" a piece of twine through and tie it to the pipe.

Other ideas? Sew a piece of ribbon and use them as tab curtains tied at the top.

Voila! Curtains in less than an hour. :)

*My plan is to change them out seasonally. The curtains pictured are for fall.

My youngest is 3, how can this be?

Her birthday came and all of a sudden our little pumpkin is a little girl. It's amazing how that can happen in a mother's eyes literally over night.

This year, we celebrated with a giant cookie cake. :) In the morning, I often ask the kids what they dreamed about. 99.9% of the time Lydia responds, "I dreamed of cookies mama." So, it seemed only appropriate to have a cookie cake this year. I love being your mom honey.