Menu for the Week!

We are all so very happy to have a working kitchen!  I have never been so excited to plan the weekly menu and list.  Here's what's cookin' at our house this week.

M - Homemade whole wheat cinnamon rolls, fresh fruit

       Pigs in a blanket (made with organic chicken sausage), raw veggies

BBQ chicken and roasted veggies

T -  Oatmeal with dried fruit and nuts

Homemade mac n cheese, raw veggies

Felafel in pitas with cukes, toms, and wicked garlic dip

W - Eggs and Biscuits

Salad greens with cottage cheese & other fixin's

Homemade pizza, salad, and homemade chocolate pudding (friends over for dinner)

Th - Whole Wheat Sourdough Pancakes with berries from the garden

Lentil & Rice salad, with fresh herbs and feta

Leftovers

F-  Granola, homemade yogurt and berries

PB & J on homemade bread, apples and raw veggies

Meatloaf (a new recipe from a friend), garlic mashed potatoes, some other kind of veggie

S -   Oatmeal with fixin's

Roast lemon chicken, rice pilaf, spinach salad, and homemade bread (company for lunch)

Leftovers

There are also plans to fill the cookie jar.  Which was the boy's first request after the kitchen became functional.  ha ha.  And I hope to make blueberry muffins as I have some fresh blueberries in the fridge.  We are very excited to go to the local market this week!  Our first time of the season.  I wonder what treats await us there!

What's on the menu at your house this week?

A Full Day

A late start today...lingering in our jammies long after breakfast.....here's Hen playing dominoes.  Okay, really he just takes them all out of the tin and puts them all back in over and over again. :)

We spent the morning exploring our new space.  Moving things in.  The lights are up! and working!  Hurray!

Then bath time. 

Next we got out the microscope to further investigate Lavendar's shed skin.  Once we pulled it out of her cage we were surprised at how pristine it was.  Intact from head to tail.  

Isn't that amazing?  We took a small piece from the belly near the tail to make a slide.  It was interesting to look at with magnification.  

We also did some building today.  Which for the most part is a daily occurrence if you count Legos as building.  The boys love love love to build with Legos.  They would spend the entire day doing that if I let them.  (I have before that's how I know)

We also did some construction work today.

We put together a new bench for the entrance way to the back door.  They had fun with this.  Cricket and Owl like the idea of the building more than the actual assembling itself.   While Badger gets right in there and hangs in with it until it's finished.  That boy is something else! :)  They each are really.  :) :)

The day finished by Papa coming home and taking us "out for fish fry".  Yum.  Then we walked down to the little carnival that is in town for the weekend and watched people riding the ferris wheel.   Then late bedtimes as we noticed the first fireflies of the summer.   I feel content.  Full.  And a bit sleepy.  I think I'll go snuggle in with J, who has already fallen asleep on the couch.  'Night.

June 1

Have I told you how incredibly awesome our kids are lately?  Well, they are.  I'm pretty sure it is through no fault of my own, by the way.  I just am so impressed with how laid back they have been through this whole remodel process.  For the most part they have just gone with the flow, helped out when needed, gone without clean socks, etc.  And considering these things would've been quite a challenge for them just a few months ago, it is quite amazing.  I'm so thankful for this, because the last thing I wanted to worry about during all of this was whether or not they were still thriving.  *sigh*  And now we are almost finished so yay!  We are all still well.

This little guy, however, continues to give me a run for my money every single day.  Oi!  He just is so busy and social and busy.  He wants to be right with me every second of the day (and night) and being in the carrier isn't enough.  He needs to be talked to continually or he hollers.  Seriously!  It is a challenge for me to be sure, because sometimes I like to have private thoughts. LOL.  

Also in the news....Lavender  shed her skin!  SO exciting!  We have plans to look at it under the microscope.  

And here are a few recent pictures of the remodel. (yes, I know...super random post...at least you can count on me for something!)

The cabinets are still not done and for the most part that is my fault.  I am frustrated with myself about this, but really what can be done about it?  Not a whole lot.  The time alloted me at present to work on these things is after the kids go to bed and by then I'm sooo tired.  I'm thankful that I got a few days of uninterrupted time to work last week.  Unfortunately each cabinets needs the equivalent of 5 coats, which is part of the deal.  Anyway..I hope to get them finished this weekend.  (Someone please tell me it's possible for me to finish these!)

The stove is all hooked up and ready for use!  Now where ARE the pots and pans?

Lunchtime at the new counter.  So fun to see their bright faces excited about the new space.  One of the things I have learned about having more than three kids is that space counts.  You might not have lots of room, but you can still create many spaces.  Especially for learning at home, it works well for us to have lots of different spots to move through throughout the day.  I'm so glad for the new space this remodel has made for us!

Tomorrow....the plummer hooks up the sink and faucet!!!! Oooo and dishwasher!!!!!

Lovely things are Growing....

an heirloom variety of Iris (here when we moved in)

forget me nots (one of my favorites)

wild columbine (a native)

a lupine that graces our front yard

the wild rose outside our new dining room.  i hope to be seated at our dining room table all together in time to see the blooms on this fellow.

i'm not sure if you can see it but there are sooo many buds!  i can't wait for the rose hips that will follow.....

i'm not sure of the name of this guy...a daisy perhaps?  i like how pink he is....

another columbine.  such a beauty isn't he?

Kitchen Update

The wall color.  Feather Grass is the name.  Strange name.  Nice color.  How DO they pick paint names anyway?  I imagine someone sitting on a couch with a cup of coffee in one hand and a swatch in the other and then thinking, thinking.  Then she spouts off  "feather grass" and someone else writes it down and there you have it.  I would SO like that job.  ha.

I truly love the color.  It's the kind of color that you don't really notice at first, but you just feel it.  It changes depending on the light, but not in an irritating-what-color-are-you kind of way.    Anyway, I like it.  I hope you do too.  You should come to my house and see it sometime.  But you may want to wait a bit before you come...say....until there is a place to sit and running water.
I still love the big window.  Here you can see some of the cabinets.  The still-not-installed cabinets.  Ahem.
Do you see the floor? *squeals of excitement*  It's awesome!  J is putting it in.  It's a maple laminate.  We hope to finish it this weekend.  I say "we" because he has helpers.  

Millie's Haircut

The dog is a luckier girl than I'll ever be.   She got to spend 2 hours being groomed this morning.  Sounds nice doesn't it?

Before

After

 J says she looks like a shorn llama.  (it's true. she does.)  

And don't worry, we took the decorative bandana off as soon as we left the groomer's.  What is with people putting clothing on dogs?  It seems sort of humiliating to me.  Millie seemed to think so too.  The first thing she did when she got home was sniff out a good spot in the yard and roll around in the dirt.  After all, if you're a dog you should smell like a dog.

ps.  I know the pictures aren't the best quality....but I haven't any new batteries for the camera and am too busy painting while making sure my children remain fed and alive so I haven't gotten around to getting new...and also the dog does move around a lot...it's actually surprising I got her in the frame at all!

Today I took pictures....

Aren't they sweet?  Two days old now....

There are quite a few of them this time around.  30 meat birds...to be shared with our friends.  We are going to brood them for the first three weeks.  Then they will be raised on our friends' land.  Then we butcher them together.  Yeah....it's not as bad as it sounds....and it's important to know where your food is coming from.  An assortment of 12 laying hens.  Some of them are Auracanas....like the two darker colored ones in the picture below.  Aren't they beautiful?  The brown striped one actually has blue eyes!  They are such pretty hens and they lay blue green eggs.  
I love this little black one.  She is really friendly and will come right up to any of the boys.  She also is the first one to the feeder when it is replenished.  I like this picture because she fits right into one of the slots in the egg carton.  :)

It's been really hot here lately.  We've been doing alot of this.......
This picture is just funny.  So I thought I'd show it to you.  Nothin' like a doggie kiss.

Here are two pictures of Hen and I in our jammies. 


We are tired.  So there have been plenty of mornings lately where we have been hanging out in our jammies till lunch.  We've been reading a lot and building legos and planting potatoes.  Today I started priming the kitchen.  It's taking me awhile since I am tired and painting ceilings is not the job for a tired person.  But I am determined to finish in a timely fashion.  So here I go.....a little painting before bed.