last night, i pulled weeds. it was totally by choice, and it was a fabulous way to spend an hour or so in the evening. kenny and the boys were just over the hill walking the grounds and playing on the jungle gym, so i could hear the fun they were having even over the music playing on my ipod.

as i stated before, we inherited three larger-than-life flower gardens. if you'll remember, i was rather pregnant when we moved into this house a year ago, and then spent the summer with a newborn attached to me, staying in the shade. so gardening was the least of my priorities. but those flower beds grew and grew. the weeds overtook the flowers and we were left with huge weedy messes by fall. i vowed not to let that happen this year. so we're already starting. a bit late...but we're weeding!

by chance, the previous owner stopped by today and i asked her about a few of the flowers that are popping up already and what i should expect. i was hoping she wouldn't notice that i spent some time already digging up all the tulip bulbs that haven't produced a flower for the past two springs...and the daffodil bunches that also didn't bloom. i guess some bulbs get old? this seasons' weather wasn't much of a help either. but tthe cold and rain/snow didn't stop the weeds!

as i was happily weeding in the bed between the house and garage (something tha ti can see from teh kitchen window, so it willb e nice to have something lovely to look at this year!), i came across something very odd. i knew that moving to the country would increase our chance of seeing wildlife, but i never imagined i'd see something straight out of star trek.  i unearthed the most unearthly-looking things. kenny assures me they are merely perennials called "jack in the pulpits." here is what they look like right now:

here is a closer, more freakish look at these perennials:


i pulled all the surrounding weeds to allow sunshine and rain to water down on these alien horns. 

i pulled and scraped and raked and weeded some more and then i realized that i could be pulling out the beginnings of flowers and plants that i thought were weeds. i'm a novice gardener. (mom, if you're reading, please come up and help me soon.)

so i need to find some perennials to fill in what i might have pulled up. any suggestions? i love perennials. all you need to do is keep the weeds away and no replanting each spring and summer. here is our row of peonies that pop up without me doing anything (except plowing over them in the fall with the lawn tractor). and they're gorgeous. in a few weeks, they'll be full and green with light and dark pink flowers:


i am told this is primrose. whatever it is, i want more of it in this garden and less of what is growing around it. the color is not captured in this picture...they're stunning.

so...fill me in on what is in your perennial gardens. i know of a few...like the easy-peasy hostas and lily-of-the-vally. but i'd like to fill in these beds with color. so...hit me with your best suggestions, please!

a month ago, i signed up at OrgJunkie's blog for a whole room organization challenge. today we have pictures to show the final product - and even a bonus area where "organization happened."

i love that this project happened during spring. it was a great way to spring clean clutter from these areas and other areas in the house!

without further ado, here are before and after pictures of our very high-traffic areas: the enclosed backporch (playroom) and the office.

Before

the coat and shoe "area":


bookcase in the office:


After



all the toys put away!


a shelf and cloth bins for the boys' books:


their "craft" table with toy bins on each side:


their "thinking chairs" (if you watch Blues Clues, you'll understand why Rowan and Sawyer named them that) in their little "book nook area." they enjoy a good book and a cup of milk and snack in these chairs:


this is my favorite change to the room. i brought a hardly-used bookshelf down and put it in the corner with a reading lamp, and the magazine rack. kenny and i spend a lot of time in these chairs while the boys play, or while we all read. so now there is an "grown-up" area for books, magazines and a table nearby for a cup of coffee:


the new coat, shoes, and "muck boots" area:


each shelf in the office has a purpose: reference shelf, cookbooks, bibles (between the two of us, we have a lot of bibles), and learning-type books:


And...  as an added bonus, and through inspiration from this organizational challenge, i organized my cleaning closet from store-bought chemical-laden products...



...to all natural (mostly homemade) cleaning products:


1. What was the hardest part of the challenge for you and were you able to overcome it?
it took me a while to wrap my head around what to do with the stuff, and the piles and the unused, old and broken toys in the playroom. i finally just started chucking everything into piles of "keep," "give away," or "storage." fortunately the winter coats and boots went away to their proper bin in the attic.

2. Tell us what kind of changes/habits you have put into place in order for your area/room to maintain its new order?
two rules:
(1) we have a LOT less stuff in the playroom. there is only enough toys that will fit in the toy bins with the lid on (that is a hard and fast rule. if we can't close the lid, then something has to go). we don't store piles of old mail and old papers on the table in the playroom anymore.
(2) there is a place for everything...so if it doesn't have a "home" in the playroom, it doesn't belong there. clean-up is so easy now that we can put toys and diapers and books in their proper places.

3. What did you do with the "stuff" you were able to purge out of your newly organized space?
we took a trip to Goodwill where i unloaded a lot of winter clothes, coats, toys, and books that we don't use any more. i found an empty bin in the attic where all the winter boots went, and i stored away the winter coats.

4. What was the biggest lesson you learned from this experience?
less is so. much. more.

5. Now that you have completed the PROCESS, do you think having and keeping your space organized will make a difference in your life?
i tend to get really antsy when our house is a mess. and since we spend the majority of our time on the back porch in any season, i would prefer it to be clean and orderly. i'm much less stressed when our house is clean. and that's a big job. so keeping at least the few rooms that we use the most ordered will make me so much less-stressed out.

i'm a neat-freak. and i've lost the OCD side of that since marrying and having kids. because other things take priority - like reading and playing with the boys, making meals, and spending quality time with each other as a family. 

well, in my world at least.

i know i've mentioned him before, but he has just released a new cd (i still write "album" instead of "cd." i'm a child of the 80s, what can i say?), so he's due more accolades from me. because he's not going to make "the today show" and "the view" rounds promoting his new cd. he's just not that type. so for all three of you who read my blog, take it from me: you're going to want to buy his latest cd.

martin sexton can sing. he can write. he can sing back-up. he can do it all. but what he does best is perform in front of a live audience.  i've seen him live twice. once at a free outdoor concert at the andy warhol museum in pittsburgh whilst he and other artists (kim richey, for one) taped shows for the world cafe inside for WYEP members. this is where i was introduced to his music.

i have his music and i love listening to them (usually when i'm driving alone so i can turn it up really loud...the boys don't appreciate the finer points of martin just yet), but his live performances are perfection.

you might be thinking that i'm using a lot of hyperboles in my descriptions. to me, they're dead-on. the man is the perfect singer-songwriter.

go here for a great little clip of "the making of" his latest single, "happy." it's one of those songs you listen to in the spring, when the world holds promise again of warmth and sunshine; when you're driving with the sun beating down on your arms and you could care less about not having any sunscreen on (because it's only april and you start to freak out about that around may 4); when an ice cold beer replaces your favorite glass of red wine. "happy" makes you just that.

i can't wait to hear what kenny has to say about this entry since he's not the biggest martin fan at all. remember, we have fairly different views on what is good music.

i keep getting questions about the chicks...and it is about time i update you all on those precious little critters.

they are two weeks old today! they're almost double their original size already. their wings are forming, feathers are popping out all over their bodies; they're lanky, their feet are huge. it's like they're all hitting "that awkward phase" at the same time, and at such a young age!

we always talk about how our kids grow so quickly...let me tell you: watching human babies grow is like watching grass grow, or paint dry, compared to the lightening speed at which chicks grow.

we took them outside and "penned" them in with rowan and sawyer. at first they weren't sure of the grass, the sun, the ROOM THEY HAD TO FLY (they take this little fly-jumps all over the brooder and they keep hitting the walls). but they got used to it fast.

here is a golden buff perched on sawyer's foot.

the boys love to feed them, pick them up, pet them...here are two golden buffs, a buff orpington, and an araucana eating out of rowan's hand:



as i type, it is 9:28 eastern time and kenny is working tirelessly in the garage on the coop. he's very concerend about the comfort of these chickens: the coop will stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter. i think he knows that i would be very concerned come the first snowfall, wanting to bring all 15 chickens (if the hawks, owls, and dogs hadn't gotten any of them over the summer and fall) inside to stay warm. so my husband assures me that they'll be toasty. in their coop. outside the house.

it should be all built in the coming weeks. the chickens are getting big enough to go outside for longer periods of time, and will very soon be living outside the house.

i think i'm experiencing my first anticipation of an empty nest. those little chicks are growing up so fast...they're going to be out and on their own in weeks, and i think i might have to go buy a candy red sports convertible to be able to handle it.

Menu-planning Monday has been left in the dust recently as life as become well, very unstructured. Illness and chickens seem to throw off the balance. I planned our month of meals over the weekend and Kenny and I spent a very romantic date at the grocery store Saturday evening (really...it was great to stroll the aisles and take our time). So we're set for the month!

We have a very international-inspired menu this week. It was all by accident, I promise. I guess I subconsciously threw in the American standard meatloaf and potatoes because we'd need some sort of break from the spices. Fortunately, we love 'em all.

We are having company for dinner on Tuesday. I hope they like Indian! (Does anyone call dinner guests "company" anymore? Or is that so "yesterday?")

Monday, April 30 - Aloo Gobi over rice
Tuesday, May 1 - Chicken Tikka Masala with leftover Aloo Gobi
Wednesday, May 2 - Meatloaf, potatoes, peas
Thrusday, May 3 - Asian Noodles Satay with vegetable
Friday, May 4 - Teriyaki chicken and salad
Saturday, May 5 - Peanut Ginger Beef
Sunday, May 6 - BBQ porkchops and salad

Lots more menus over at Laura's place.

last night, adam played some sort of cruel joke on me. and then on kenny. and then on both of us the entire night.

kenny had bible study last night, so i put the boys to bed all by myself (which is a great feat, in and of itself. because rowan and sawyer seem to unload all of their bottled-up energy that they didn't have at dinner time and will not simmer down until their head hits the pillow. and even then it takes some settling down for them. and adam is just at the age where evening=fussy. so bedtime is about 45 minutes of crazy).

so last night, after fussing for a bit, i put adam in his crib at 7:30. the boys and i settled into a bedtime story on the back porch five minutes later when adam began to scream. and scream. and scream. so i borught him to the porch with us because i thought he felt as though he were missing out on some award-winning bedtime story and he couldn't possibly sleep through the night without hearing it.

but that wasn't the case. he didn't want to be with us either. so i walked him around, then layed him down on his belly in his crib 15 minutes later. he was out.

25 minutes later, i put the boys in their beds. they were out in 30 seconds. and 30 seconds later, adam was up screaming again. it took me walking him around the front yard wrapped in a blanket, listening to the summer cheepers to settle him down. he finally fell asleep on our bed. i transfered him to his crib and he was quiet.

for 20 minutes.

by this time, kenny had arrived home, and i gave in. i told kenny that he had screamed ALL NIGHT LONG (a slight exaggeration...but only slight) and he took him downstairs to try and calm him. 10 minutes later, i gave in and joined them on the porch. 10 minutes later, he was asleep after walking him around the porch. we were convinced that he had an ear infection. or a stomach ache. or an allergic reaction to the democratic debate (um...if that's the case, he's so not his mother's son). so we brought him to bed with us. which is saved only for the "sick child" occassions. we were sure we had a sick child on our hands.

at midnight, he was still asleep...moving around a little and stirring, but falling back to sleep quickly. by 2:00 a.m. i was dangling from my side of the bed since he was lounged out all over my side. by 6:00, he was awake and gurgling, cooing, and talking just as he does in his crib when he wakes up. i looked at him and said, "there's nothing wrong with you, is there?" he just giggled and cooed. i was rather thankful he was healthy, but that little stinker got just what he wanted: a night of rest on a pillow-top king sized bed right in between momma and daddy.

we'll see what he has up his sleeve tonight...

I never have anything to contribute to the weekly "Works for me Wednesday" over at Rocks in my Dryer, although i do always get some pretty good tips there.  But this week, I have a great little tip to share with all of you. The best part is...it's environtmentally sound!

There are several organizations that you can sign up with to get rid of your junk mail. You've all heard of the "Do Not Call" list?  There is a "Do Not Send" list as well, and here is where you sign up for it. It's free!

Another great organization that does this AND plants a tree every month for every customer that signs up with them (it's $36/month), is Greendimes.

Get what you want in the mail, and save/plant a tree at the same time! Visit other Works for Me tips here (every Wednesday!)

 

before you go snickering about how earth day is just a way for tree-huggers to get their own (recycled-only, please) hallmark holiday, i'd like to point out that there is a lot of good that comes out of observing good earth-stewardship practices.

for instance, and i'm not saying i'm a big fan or anything, but OPRAH dedicated an entire show this week to environmental issues, and how the average household/person can make small changes in their daily lives to make a big impact. Oprah is watched by millions of people. Surely more people will begin recycling and reusing, now?

there are also earth day celebrations in many cities and towns across the country making people aware of the need for change in how we live. so how did you ring in spring by observing earth day this year?

we were so excited to be outdoors (on saturday) where it was sunny and warm. i spent the morning washing and line-drying all of our bedsheets (our room smells lovely - i can't wait to crawl into bed!). the boys helped kenny clear out the area around the firepit at the base of our yard (old dead leaves and lots of weeds. we plan to plant grass, have a few big rocks to sit on, and plant wildflowers and other indigenous plants). we planted a few plants that may or may not live (easter hydraneas and lilys...probably hothouse flowers, but it's worth a try), and picked up sticks that fell throughout the winter all over the yard (hundreds and hundreds of sticks and small- to medium-sized branches). 

kenny and i walked around the yard with the boys making plans for the flower beds (the previous owner had HUGE flower beds with just about every flower imaginable. i'm incredibly intimidated by these overgrown and weedy beds. but they need help), the shrub garden (yes, a garden of shrubs. it's becoming an eye-sore and i've never really liked it. we're getting rid of it by replanting the shrubs elsewhere in the yard and planting grass) and the vegetable garden. (kenny is currently starting heirloom vegetable seeds that we received as a thank you gift from our friend serina to plant out in the garden by the end of may). i also began the change-over to completely natural cleaning products and cleaned our laundry room bathroom with water, baking soda, and vinegar.

but we did spend a good part of the day frustrated at the lack of recycling recepticles in our county. in fact, we spent a good part of the day looking at neighboring counties and admiring their recycling programs. i am planning on calling the recycling department monday morning to get the skinny on the lack of recycling in or area. goodness knows, we don't need everyone burning their plastic containers every saturday this spring and summer (since everyone in the country seems to burn their garbage).

if anyone reading this knows anything about starting a recycling "system" in small-town america, please give me your best advice. not that i'll be doing it, but i can at least make a lot of noise.

we ended saturday by cleaning out the chickens brooder's bedding. we've done this a few times already since monday and we are just shocked at how quickly these little chicks are growing. their wings are starting to get bigger and they stretch them out and mock-fly around the brooder. rowan begs to pick them up about 400 times a day.

tomorrow is a picnic lunch at moraine state park after church!
enjoy the sunshine!

during snack time this morning, rowan looked at me and said, "are you hammered, mommy?"

all i could do was laugh. when mama laughs, everyone laughs (which is probably why when mama is cranky, everyone is cranky!). and then after about 2 minutes of hearty laughter, rowan asked, "why did you laugh, mommy?"

back up a few hours when i was getting the boys dressed this morning. i was leaning over our bed, dressing adam when rowan started walking around the bed hammering imaginary nails with an imaginary hammer into the perimeter of the bed. when he got to me, he "hammered" my legs to the bed and i pretended that i couldn't move. i told him to use the back of the hammer to "un-nail" my legs from the bed. he thought this was hilarious.

so i guessed that was what he meant. i answered his question: "i just thought your question was funny because clearly, i'm not stuck to the bed right now!"

to which he answered, "that was funny mommy! you were hammered to the bed!"

eventually he'll see the other funny side of the story. but not for a long time, i hope.

it was FREEZING yesterday. add to the cold, it was WINDY. when we ordered our chicks back in early march, it was 60 degrees. i imagined us picking up our chicks donning shorts and t-shirts, sunshiny day and all. the sun met us in ohio, but pennsylvania was hidden under stormy clouds all day long (and we were in ohio all but one hour).

so it didn't REALLY take 10 hours. but we left at 10, met kenny at 12:15, and were on the road by 12:30. it took us over two hours to get to the hatchery in polk, ohio, which was really quite nice and not at all what i expected. we parked the car, got out and stood next to a penske delivery truck with literally thousands of chicks in boxes inside, waiting to be mailed. it made me happy that our little chicks were to be riding home with us, and not the noisy 1000-other chicks in the truck.

it was a long day, but totally worth it. the chicks are loving their new little home in their brooder in our laundry room under warming lights. the boys step up on their stools to be eye-to-eye with the chicks and they all run over to the glass to see the boys.

a few things we've learned about chickens from observation already:
 - when they are one-day-old, they suffer from narcolepsy. they walk from the water to where the light is warmest and stop mid-step, eyes begin to close and then fall flat on their face. or they fall asleep with their head still in the food dish. it was really quite entertaining for kenny, my mom, and i to watch after the boys were in bed last night.
 - they'll peck ANYTHING. they especially like to peck at harder things, like wedding bands and screws in the walls of their brooder.
 - they've stopped chirping so much and now when we hear them chirp, we wonder if something is wrong.
 - today, they all seem to fall asleep together, for about 45 seconds each. they've all had about 89 naps already since this morning.
 - just as a newborn infant, they'll keep you up all night. kenny came down to check on them (and their temperature) at least three times last night.
 - three brooder lamps shorted on us last night, even after checking them out last week. we have two normal bulbs in there now, keeping it at around 85-87 degrees (it should be close to 90 the first day, and down a few degrees as they grow).

adam, sitting in the middle seat with me:
 

the boys, with their new chick friends in between them in the back seat:




rowan, gazing into his new little friend's eyes. his friend wondering if he's her mother?


kayle, the tabby is "interested"


where the boys went the minute they woke up this morning:

what a day. i have NO energy to blog about our 10-hour trip to ohio...but my goodness, are these chicks freakin' adorable. seriously, it's like the energy and exhaustion right after giving birth.

i'm off to bed, but here is a few pictures of our baby egg-layers. :)

tomorrow (monday) is the day!

our 15 little chicks are still growing in their shells in the hatchery somewhere in ohio. they will be "induced" early tomorrow morning, and fully hatched by mid-morning. we pick them up in the afternoon and drive them home to their new brooder which has a fresh layer of pine shavings, a nifty new lamp to warm them at 90 degrees farenheit, and eager little boys who can't wait to smother them with love all over them.

pictures will follow once the excitement has died down in the household.