Wordless Wednesday- Happy St. Patrick's Day!

There Will Be Therapy In My Kids Future...

I decided to bake some pita pockets tonight to have for lunches and such. I then had the brilliant idea to make pita pizzas for dinner (kill two birds with one stone).



I have these beautiful daughters, who are just angels. So I make smiling faces on their pita pizzas.



Then while they were eating came the sure sign that I watch way toooo many zombie movies and allow my daughters to watch parts of said movies. Both my daughters would take a bite out of their pizza people and mumble "BRRAAAAAAAINS"...

Wordless Wednesday- Sisterly Love...

Its Monday, What Are You Reading?

This week I'm about 60% of the way through "Under the Dome" by Stephen King.

I have to say I found this book really easy to get into. That is one of the things I like about King's novels, how easy it is to picture yourself in one of his suburban hells. I can picture Big Jim Rennie and honestly believe the female version of him lives about 2 miles down the road from me.

Maddy is going to start "Are You There God? It's Me Margaret." We are starting to slowly have the birds and the bees talk and I thought this was a fitting book to read since it deals with all the craziness that comes with puberty. I remember reading this book when I was Maddy's age and thinking "Thank god, it's not just me that feels this way". We'll see how she likes it.


Bean got to go to the bookstore with us and picked out "Dora's Potty Book". She was very excited that it has a button that makes a flushing sound when you push it. Ahh, the simple joys of being a toddler.

First Crushes...

As my eldest daughter is getting older she is starting to have all those little rights of passage that every girl goes through. First it was her body starting to change a little as she prepares for puberty (my freak out on that here) and now her first crush.

I find it amusing that a lot of girls first start crushing on some random piece of our media, whether a fictional movie character or even a book character. For me, although I can't remember my very first crush, I do remember getting all flustery and telling my mom I was going to marry Eddie. Yes I said Eddie, as in "Eddie and the Cruisers".

Isn't he dreamy?

When I was a little older and could understand the mechanics of love a little better I found myself falling for a more intelligent guy, the proverbial "nice guy". And thats when Lloyd Dobler became my crush.

Plus Llyod drove an awesome car. I find it totally awesome that my youngest daughter was given the middle name Chevelle after that very make and model. (Ashlyn Chevelle Malibu just doesn't have the same ring as Ashlyn Chevelle?).
Now my 8 year old comes to me telling me that she loves someone. I smirk a little and ask who. She proceeds to drag out our very worn copy of Twilight and points to Edward (Squeee Go Team Edward!). So I ask if she means the book Edward or the movie Edward, and she of course answers "the book mom, duh". She goes on to explain that when she's old enough for a boyfriend she wants one who has a super fast cool car and who will protect her from everything. I smile and think don't we all.

And now I sit here and think, wow my little girl is growing up. And wow, we have the same taste in emo vegetarian vampires!

Rock City Park Olean, NY

During Maddy's birthday weekend she decided she wanted to go to Rock City Park. Its this great 3/4 mile hiking trail through some of the biggest rock formations I have ever seen. Since we have had a very cold rainy summer most of the trees have already started changing and losing their leaves so our hike was very beautiful.

Now with taking three small children hiking (they're 8, 3, and 19 months) our hike was probably over 2 miles long. They decided to ditch the map and take turns being the leader so we were lost many times.

We spent the afternoon hours exploring and hiking. It was great exercise for the girls and very relaxing for the grownups.

I love taking my daughters and niece out on these little day trips. It gives us a chance as a family to reconnect and slow down after a week of rushing around. And especially with Jay's departure looming in the near future, it gives him a chance to spend quality time with his girls.

If you are ever in the Olean area and are looking for something do for the day that is fun for the whole family and not expensive make sure you check out Rock City Park.

Wordless Wednesday- Grrrr!

Happy 8th Birthday Maddy!!!

On the 19th Maddy celebrated her 8th birthday. I can't believe my little girl is 8. I still think of her as the 2 year old who couldn't sleep without watching Cinderella 3 times in a row. Now she would much prefer to read a book (she's starting the Twilight series now) than watch a movie. It amazes me everyday how fast she grows. If you didn't know our family you would comment how much like me she is. I guess when it comes to nature vs. nurture, nurture wins in our house.

She had a great time bouncing in the bounce house and playing with her friends. Her Papa and Nana camped all weekend and let her and Dee stay in their camper with them.

Each night we had a bonfire and roasted marshmellows and the kids got to stay up late. On Sunday we took the girls to the Rock City Park in Olean. After hiking we got to get ice cream. All in all she had a really good weekend.

I still can't believe my baby's 8.

Wordless Wednesday

I know its technically Thursday and I'm a little late, so sue me...

Fresh Meat

Well we have completed the first half of our first time run of raising CornishX meat birds. It was time for our 6 oldest birds to be processed. Our babies were 9 weeks old this past weekend and definately big enough for "Freezer Camp". I didn't want to wait much longer because we ran the risk of losing some of them to either broken legs or heart attacks. Although I do not feel bad for raising them to be slaughtered, I would feel bad if they suffered at all. I was very proud of Maddy and Ash for not freaking out. They both watched with awe on their face as the birds were dispatched and bled. Maddy even helped plucking and somehow enlisted her friend Shannon's help.

It is very important to both me and Jay that our daughters are not sheltered, and that they understand and appreciate where their food comes from. Maddy is a little more sensitive and I worry sometimes that she will be upset, but so far so good. The more and more we get into this homesteading the better I feel.

One of the CornishX chicks at 1 week old (sorry about the sideways picture)

CornishX at 6 weeks

My baby on the chopping block

Maddy & Shannon plucking

More plucking fun