IT'S FINISHED!!!

Here is a bit of what we have been doing lately.

I bought 5 pounds of peanuts to make peanut butter with, and then spent the next 4 days shelling peanuts 2 hours a day. It was something fun to do while watching the kids play. I earned a few blisters and became the worlds greatest peanut sheller.

We also worked on this! I should actually say that Tyler worked on this, while the girls did this.......

He didn't seem to mind much though.

Luckily tyler didn't have to do it all on his own. Our excellent neighbors came to help, and Alex did her fair share of losing screws and nails.

Finally, after much anticipation, we were done!

And what did we make?

A CHICKEN COOP!!!

No one was more excited about it than Heidi.

We have 6 beautiful new girls to add to our family. 4 are about 5 months old and will start laying eggs in the next month or so. We also have 2 bigger "Easter Eggers" that are about a year and already laying!

Alex and Archie think it's great.

We go out and check about 5 times a day for "Surprises" in the laying boxes. It's my favorite part of the day.

So they are called Easter Egger's, because they lay colored eggs. Tinted more like it, but here are the first 3!

Every morning I get up, feed the kids, and then we go play with the chickens.

Alex is not at all afraid, and the chickens are very nice and even let her pet them. We have had plenty of people tell us "you know, eggs don't cost that much." But we arn't just doing it for the eggs (although it's wonderful to know your eggs are safe and the chickens are treated nicely). These are my pets. Tyler got a dog and I got 6 chickens. They are so much fun to watch, and unlike the dog, someday they will actually have earned their keep! I recommend chickens for everyone!

So there we have it, our farm!

I'll post better pictures of the coop later, I wanted to paint it before I posted at all, but life is crazy and there are plenty of 'needs' todo before I can ever get to my 'wants'!

It's starting to cool down, but the fun is still heating up.

This was one of my more favorite Alex outfits lately.

She has finally started to accept the camera in her face all the time. We have been practicing sign language a lot lately. I laughed my head off when I asked her to say cheese for the camera, and she said it and also signed it at the same time. Maybe I've been drilling a big too much?

I thought I was hilarious today when I finally tried this out. Don't worry I sewed a new cloth seat for the stroller since Alex had ruined it by sitting in it about 3 weeks after she got it. I reinforced all the stress points so this baby could probably hold me without breaking. I just think Heidi looks like a little giant in Alex's toy stoller.

I had to take her outside to show Tyler. He thought it was funny as well. Alex thought it was fantastic, but had to be cautioned to walk very slowly and take baby steps. She did great and Heidi loved it.

We are working on potty training again.

The only thing cuter than these pictures was watching Alex shuffle through the house, trying to run in heels 6 sizes too big.

Saturday I found this swing for $30 on KSL.com!!! All the neighborhood kids love it, but not as much as I do.

Friday we had a family picnic at the park. Archie learned how to ride a bike.

Heidi and I chilled on the blankets.

There were bubbles involved.

The Sunday before last we celebrated my big brother's birthday!!! It was a fun day, but very hot.

Alex loves her Kara.

What a cutie.

Here is an unfinished glimpse of a project ALMOST finished. Finally, a year after moving in, Tyler let me put up my picture wall. We didn't want to put nails in the wall, so we got a bunch of those COMMAND strips that stick to the wall but come off real easily, almost magically. It's my happy place. I'll post a better picture once I get the living room cleaned.

Here is a project in the works. I won't spoil the surprise of what it will be, but I'll tell you what it was..... This is a children's play house, turned into dog house, turned into.......

We got it from the free adds, once again on KSL.com. Good thing I didn't look inside before Tyler tore it all out. Apparently this play house had granite counter tops, a sink that if hooked to a hose would actually work, and cupboards galore!!

Watching Alex walk in and out and look through the windows was almost enough for me to ask Tyler to reassemble it and clean it up a bit for the kids to play with. Then I remembered the 3 wasp nests he mentioned used to occupy it, as well as the black widows and dog smell, and I decided I didn't want the kids in there after all. Don't we have a great view from our backyard? It's almost like living on the farm again. Hopefully it won't be too long before I can post the AFTER photos!!!! Stay tuned.

Summer Rain Storms

Yesterday it rained. Unfortunately Alex was asleep during the storm so we didn't get to run around with umbrellas in the yard. When she woke up, we met up with Archie and Kate and decided to go on a walk to Grandma's house.

We are very lucky to live across the street from a lot of horses.

It always makes for a fun walk to church.

The best part about the walk were the rain boots.....

.... and the puddles.

I think Kate and I had as much fun just watching these two as they did running through every puddle.

And there was lots of running.

And splashing.

And running.

And more splashing.

And every now and then there was a little bit of stillness and silence.

But I liked the laughing and running the best.

Don't you just wish you were 2 with some snazzy rain boots?

We looked at the horses some more.

climbed a fence.

walked next to a fence.

and dragged our hands on a few more fences.

It was a fun walk.

On the way back Daddy came and met us and got to share in a little bit of the fun.

Don't you love a good rainy day in the middle of summer!?!

In other news...
I may be terrible at the instant win SOBE game, but Fresh Market was having a sale, and that paired with my coupons got us 14 SOBE's for the price of 3. Yep, we are set for life.

Fridays in the summer

Alex has become particular about the clothes she wears. Unfortunately she has not yet learned how to match. This means half the time she looks like a beautiful little girl, and half the time she looks like a mismatched little orphan boy.

This was one of the good days.

Our driveway is a happening place. The front yard is quite nice, but we live on a busy road and I don't yet trust Alex not to run out in traffic on a whim. Therefore we play in the drive way with the car parked to block the kids from the road. Because all our toys are located on the driveway, our house looks like it's a continual yard sale with the slides, sandbox, chairs, bikes and cars gathered at the end. It also attracts the neighbor kids.

Fortunately Alex loves all our neighbor boys, and loves it when I babysit them, or they drop by unexpectedly to show off a spiderman costume or a special toy.

I like having the "fun" house, where all the kids want to gather. Even if chasing them all around and playing referee gives me high blood pressure.

Heidi loves to sit and watch the kids play. She is the most patient, unassuming baby I've ever met. I love her dearly.

Alex is a goofball.

I love her too.