The Perfect Weekend...

We had the absolute perfect weather this weekend. It was almost 80 degrees and sunny. That is absolutely unheard of in WNY. And I should preface this whole rave about the weather with the fact that on Thursday morning I woke up to two inches of snow, then on Friday it was 76 degrees, and by Sunday I had sunburn. The weekend was made even more awesome by the fact that my husband asked my MIL to watch the girls from Friday to Sunday so we could take the Harley out.

Saturday we took a relaxing Harley ride after doing some work around the farm, and capped it off with an awesome dinner at Red & Trudy's in Portville, NY. They have these totally unique loose meat hamburgers on a buttered and salted roll, can we say yum?

Sunday morning my mom and stepdad came out at about 9am, so Jay could fix their brakes. We had a casual breakfast out at the picnic table with Dodge (the goat) nearby to snag some Timbits. My BIL and SIL showed up, along with my dad and stepmom, my aunt and her fiance, and my MIL and FIL showed up with our girls a little later.
After an impromptu BBQ lunch we headed into the village to enjoy the Maple Festival. While there we did a little shopping and got a look at a very messy baby. See Daddy decided to give Miss Chevelle her own ice cream cone, and Miss Chevelle always thinks she needs to eat the bottom of the cone first allowing the ice cream to melt all over her.

We got back home and Maddy decided to get into her bathing suit to play with the hose. I stripped Ash down to her birthday suit so she could get wet too, and not only did she manage to pee two seconds after her diaper was removed but she proceeded to go ahead and poop (yes I said pooped). My darling 14 month old squatted and had a little poop on the lawn. I have to say that is the first time I have ever had to employ the pooper scooper for a human.

All in all it was a great weekend and by Sunday evening we were all a little knocked out from all the fresh air. I can only hope this will set the precedent for the entire upcoming summer. The only thing missing was my sister and Miss Dee. I do so miss them when we have family get togethers on the weekends.

It's Been a Busy Week

My lovely husband went to another livestock auction last week and was able to secure us this years pigs and as a suprise brought me home some chickens. And the better part of the chickens was out of the five he brought home two were Buff Silkies, or better known as "Poodle Chickens" to my family!!!


All 5 of the big girls together

One of my Silkies, Birdzilla

All in all everyone is doing well, the bad pigs are learning to be a little more friendly and even tried to nibble my toes because they thought the nail polish was edible. Dodge, our goat, does not find them half as amusing as I do. They annoy her to no end. But she will be moved out to her bigger home hopefully this weekend.

What Happens When Mom Is At Work...

I only work 13 hrs a week at my "real" job. Thats only two days, Mondays and Saturday mornings. Well my husband tells me he is going to the local livestock auction to look for some pigs and a few layers to add to our flock. Next thing I know I am receiving this picture on my phone.

Yes that is the farthest thing from a pig or chicken as it could be. That would be a goat. Why my husband felt the need to bring this goat home I'll never know. But this is the newest member of our ever growing family. This is Dodge.

I have to say even though I felt extreme fear when I first realized I knew nothing about goats, I am now quite smitten with her. She is very affectionate and sweet. My girls just love her.

I guess we are now the proud parents of a moo cow colored goat. So I've spent all night on the computer learning everything I could about goats, order things for goats, etc etc. Lucky for us Jay had to run to the farm store for some chick supplies and got some food water dishes and salt lick. My neighbor brought over a few bales of hay, and Jay stopped at the feed mill for the chicks and got some goat grain. I have to say she is quite funny.

Gotta run, time to play with the new baby a little more.

Our Farm Life Has Now Started...

Well our pig pen and chicken coops are finished being built. We originally went to the farm store to get some supplies for the 6 month old layers and piglets we are getting next week. Then Miss Chevelle saw the baby chicks and went nuts. She got so excited she tried climbing in the pen with them. It was way too funny.

Jay, a.k.a. Mr. Softie, decided we had to get some babies right then. We had talked about getting some chicks to try out, but hadn't come up with a decision yet. Well he made the decision for us.

Right now they are in a temporary nursery, that is small making it easier to control the temperature. They are very cute, and man they can make me laugh. They jump up on each others heads peck the weirdest things. I am so excited. This is why I moved to the country so my girls could see all the different stages of growth. They will be helping to raise their own food. How cool is that?
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(This chick was sitting on its chickmates head, about two seconds after I took this picture the chick being sat on beat up the other one)

I'm now a cloth diapering Mama!!!

I finally did it. I switch over to cloth diapers, and now I'm wondering what the hell took me so long to do it in the first place. I guess I let the nay sayers scare me out of it. But now living in the country where we have to burn our garbage, I felt it was the right time. You see 'sposies don't burn completely and you have to bury the jelly stuff that is left over. I guess I just don't feel right doing that so it was time to make the switch.

I got my shipment of prefolds and Imse Vimse soft covers today. I was so excited to see the mailman. The prefolds went right into the wash and a few hours later Miss Chevelle had a nice fluffy butt.

She was really funny, she kept looking down and her diaper and going, "OOOOhhhh" and smiling. I think she really digs them too.

So now we'll just see how the next few days go, but for now we have one happy Mama and a smiling baby!!!

Oh, the Joys of Teething...

This is Ash in the middle of the scariest hour of her young life. She woke up this evening screaming and proceeded to continue screaming for over an hour. Not only was she screaming she would not let me hold her. NEVER in her short life has she not let me hold her. She also would not accept her zombie monkey. She ALWAYS takes zombie.

This is the first real time of problems teething. The most she's ever had was a little bit of a runny nose and not wanting a bottle.


This was just not my happy baby. I cried when I realized she wouldn't let me hold her. She is a Mama's girl and this made me so sad. But after some medicine (including a mothers savior, teething tablets) my girl was back to normal.

Now I know you probably think I'm over reacting about how scary this was, but if you knew my girl you would know how out of character this is. I actually thought she was seizuring at one point. But now all is well she is snoring away in her crib.

**UPDATE**
Following morning she was right as rain. Ate normally, drank from her cup, was as cheerful as normal.

Stupid PCOS Diet

Ok, since I posted an entry on my fab banana bread now its time for a little whining. See I have PCOS this syndrome that effects my endocrine system and causes me to be insulin resistant. It also causes amongst the many symptoms infertility and makes it very hard for you to lose weight (especially in the tummy area). My darling husband and I have been trying to conceive another child pretty much since Ash was born with no luck.

This is where the diet comes in.

See my lovely OB/Gyn told me that if you lose as little as 11% of your body weight it can regulate your cycles and get you to ovulate. After 2 1/2 yrs of TTC last time I lost my 11% and conceived Ash on no fertility meds. So about 3 weeks ago I decided to give it a shot again.

So I use the website www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate to keep track of what I eat and how many calories I should eat to continue to lose weight. I don't follow any of the "fad" diets, I just eat as healthily as possible and keep my carbs and sugar down. I also try and eat as many raw foods as possible with a lot of fiber. Let me tell you I do feel way more energy and feel great when eating good.

It's just so darn hard. Especially with a rail thin husband who eats, and I'm not exaggerating, 5 times the calories I do a day and doesn't gain anything. The man is constantly snacking, barely eats any fruits or veggies, and could polish off an entire 1/2 gallon of ice cream a night if our budget allowed. I also have two young children (plus my niece who's over all week), and its very hard not to eat what they don't finish off of their plates.

In comes the banana bread. See I bake this divine smelling bread, but alas it does not fit into my diet. If I ate even the smallest piece my blood sugar would skyrocket. So as fast as its baked it gets divided up into servings and either packed in lunches, frozen, or put out of sight.

But I am doing good. I have lost 12 lbs already and I will not break my diet tonight.

Yum, Banana Bread...

So after grocery shopping last night I was cleaning off the top of my fridge and found 7 very ripe bananas. So I got the bug up my butt to bake banana bread. I found my mom's recipe and decided to do a little tweaking to make it a little more on the healthy side since my husband pretty much devours any banana bread he sees. (I should note I did suffer the misfortune of losing one of the bananas to Miss Chevelle who throws a temper tantrum everytime she sees a banana that is not going into her mouth). So here's my recipe for a healthier banana bread.

Ingredients
1/2 cup margarine
3/4 cup splenda
4 egg whites, beaten
4 bananas, finely crushed
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 tablespoons ground flax meal
3 tablespoons toasted wheat germ

Optional: Use applesauce instead of margarine (I don't do this because it changes the texture of my bread) and 1/2 cup chopped almonds or walnuts

Directions
1 Cream together butter and splenda.
2 Add eggs and crushed bananas.
3 Combine well.
4 Sift together flour, soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture. Add vanilla.
5 Pour into greased and floured loaf pan.
6 Let the batter sit for 10 minutes for the banana flavor to fully permeate.
7 Bake at 350 degrees for 60 minutes.
8 Keeps well, refrigerated.



Here is the picture of the big loaf I made (not really sure why the picture is sideways...) sorry one piece is already gone darn DH. I also halved all the ingredients and made two small mini loave which I will freeze for my girls to have for breakfast next week.


(The mini loaves still baking)

My Baby The Klutz

Ash had a very terrible, horrible, no good very bad day (ah, how do I love Alexander the Great? Let me count the ways...). Actually it was more two days. Since having learned the art of walking at 11 months, my now 13 month old has had her fair share of missteps, tumbles, and outright falls. But starting yesterday it got worse. First she attempted to hold onto the tail of Yoda, the ugly pug, whilst he was spinning trying to catch his tail (dumb dog is 8yrs old and still does that). This resulted in her being spun around and falling head first into the coffee table. That would be bruise number one. Then today she tries to run while clapping her hands and doing her 'Axl Rose' dance. She proceeds to trip over thin air ramming her shin into the rocking chair that happend to be there to catch her fall. Later on today while at my Mom's for dinner, she banged her forehead no less than three times on the dining room table resulting in a nice bruise on the opposite side from the one she got taking on the spinning pug. My poor baby, somebody is going to call child protection on me. I don't know what to do with this kid, sometimes I think I should put her in a bubble like that kid from the wipes commercial. Tell me why my poor kid has the grace of an elephant?

One of those days...

I'm sure we all have days wear nothing seems to go right. It started out fine with Maddy getting ready for school right on time and the baby sleeping in until 9am. But then it started with a massive argument with Miss Dee about whether or not pudding was a food group and if she could have it as part of her breakfast (she eventually won and was covered in chocolatey goodness). It then moved onto Ash trying to grab onto the tail of Yoda who was spinning in circles. This resulted in her being knocked off balance and hitting her head on the coffee table. She now has a large bruise on her forehead. Then came naptime.

I don't know what causes 3 yr olds to decide just not to listen, but man can they be persistent in their selective hearing. I decided to let the kids burn off some excess energy playing outside and did get some cute pictures.

She was trying to "read" me my book, lol.

Here's Dee and Ash sitting on the bridge Jay just finished so we can cross the creek and get over to the pig and chicken pens.

Miss Maddy grooming our neighbors goats.

Finally, we had dinner and baths and after huge fits about it being sunny out at bedtime, it is finally peaceful in the house. The rugrats are sleeping, and now its Mommys turn to lay down. Goodnight.

A Little Mommy Crazyness

I'm not trying to whine but my kids can drive me a little bit crazy. After so many sleep deprived mornings that begin well before the suns up and days that end with a bout of insomnia, I tend to find myself getting a little closer to the cracking point. I am pretty much the sole care giver (my husband drives truck and is really only home a few hours per week), and can only take so much "mommy, mommy, mommy".

So I have this wonderful Mom myself who so unselfishly asks to keep my daughters at her house for 24 hours straight (she's a saint isn't she?). I of course jump on that and we exchange children at lunch yesterday.

I came home decided to get some yardwork done by trimming up some of the trees in the creek. I come across several really cool rocks, and guess who I want to run and tell? Maddy, my oldest daughter who is at Nana's. Later that day I built a really cool waterfall, again who do I want to tell? Maddy.

So now its about 4 hours before I get to pick my girls up and I find myself really missing them. How's that for crazy? All I looked forward to all week was a day by myself and yet I can't even make it that far.

Ultimate Blog Party 2009

Wordless Wednesday

What my grandmother told me was true...

When I was younger my paternal grandmother would pick up some of us grandkids and we would go on little adventures. Sometimes she would take all of us to the movies, where she would employ us older kids into helping with the little kids and there million and one potty trips. Sometimes she would take us to the Buffalo Airport (prior to 9/11) to watch the planes take off and land, and to walk the terminal over and over. Our favorite adventure though was one as simple as a playground or park. She would take us kids to Glen Falls to feed the ducks, Island Park to wander around, or many other playgrounds. She would tell me little things from time to time being that I was the second oldest grandchild and someone to talk to. The one thing that always stuck with me was "all this fresh air and running around knocks them out everytime." Well now that I'm a Mom I try to use any wisdom I can find. So when it is a not so frigid day the kids and I are outside for as long as we can brave the cold.

Well when its not so nice out sometimes we need to invent things to do. Sometimes we roll down the hill in the backyard portion of our property.


Sometimes we put on our muck boots and slog through the creek.


Other times we just throw stones.


But in the end what my grandmother said is true...



A little bit of fresh air always knocks them out!

Let me introduce you to all the players

Since I'm going to try and make this an everyday ritual I figure I should introduce you to all the major players in my life. Here it goes:

Jay- The snowman to my bandit, the love of my life, my partner in crime. He is a 32 yr old truck driver whom I started dating in 2004 and married in 2006.

Madison ("Maddy")- My oldest daughter (I guess I should mention only this once that technically she is my step-daughter). She is my girly girl who would spend hours at the mall, doing her hair, painting her nails, etc.

Ashlyn Chevelle ("Ash" or "Miss Chevelle")- My youngest, the princess of the cheese smile, the eater of pinecones, the evil baby, my tomboy.

Kelly (My little sis)- She is my rock, my bestfriend, the person I turn to for all things geeky, my Silent Hill companion, my horror movie buddy, couldn't live my life without her.

Cassidy (The Dee Dee Monster)- She's my niece, my god daughter, my comic relief, the funny one, she can drive me insane and make my heart melt in the same sentence, don't know what I'm going to do when she goes to big girl school and isn't at my house a few days every week.

Mom & Scott (My mom and stepdad)- My support system.

Dad & Karen (My dad & Stepmom)

And last but not least me....

My intro

Well first and foremost I owe everyone a quick into. My name is Shannon (or Shay as my close friends and family call me). I am 27 years old and have recently moved to the country after living in the city of Buffalo, NY for most of my life. I have an awesome husband, Jay, who drives truck for a living. I have been blessed with two daughters, Madison and Ashlyn Chevelle (one through marriage and one through birth), and since the birth of my youngest have been trying out life as a SAHM.

Last week my sister asked me how I went from being a "street rat" to a country girl. I have put a lot of thought into this question and have not really come up with a good answer. I'm guessing the reason I have such a hard time with that question is because I have always felt like a country girl. I have always loved the earth, animals, and everything old fashioned so it wasn't much of a leap for me. We own a small home on close to 10 acres of land about five minutes outside of the village. Right now our homestead consists of a large yard area, a creek, and a large amount of fields and woods on the otherside of the creek. As soon as spring really hits gardens (both vegetable, fruit, and flower) will start being tilled and Jay is in the process of building a chicken coop and pig pen. I guess the final decision to "go country" was made when I was pregnant with Ash. Maddy was at an age where she should have been enjoying playing outside, riding her bike and the likes and I realized that in the neighborhood we lived in it just wasn't possible. I was too afraid of her being caught in the crossfire of a drive by or what the ramifications of her watching people deal drugs all day would cause. So we stayed inside. And then with a new little one on the way it finally sank in that this isn't how I wanted to live. I wanted my children to be able to go outside and explore. To tell me they were walking to a friends house and not to have to worry. I have always tried to let my children to experience life at their own hands without a lot of intervention (unless a safety issue was at hand) and that just wasn't possible. So we made the big move, and I really haven't regretted it for a minute.

Living in the country has been an adjustment for all of us but not as big of one as you would think. Maddy got very lucky and our only neighbor close enough to actually call a "neighbor" has two little girls not much older than her, so she was able to make instant friends. She now comes home from school and asks if after her homework she can go out to play, and I can say YES!!! She is able to play outside with out me watching her like a hawk. She can take the cow tunnel under the road and go to the neighbor girl's farm across the road. She has daily interaction with farm animals and nature in its purest form. My youngest gets to play in the mud and learn how to walk on grass. My niece gets a little break from the suburbs a few days a week and gets to come out. What can I say? I love my new life.