Random Ramblings

Brian says I am more of an extrovert than I claim to be, and maybe he is right since today is my first day of being home on spring break with only a 4 year old to talk with, and here I am at McDonalds for free wifi and connection with the outside world.

Last week was Brian and the kids' spring break. While we didn't do anything big, there was plenty of fun to be had including Elijah shooting guns with his dad at a friend's shooting range, days with both sets of grandparents and a trip to Indianapolis. We went to the Children's Museum and out to lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe.

Honestly we went to Indy because there was a small concern about baby's heart and I needed to see a cardiologist. We didn't really tell people because we were pretty sure that it wouldn't amount to anything and didn't want to cause unnecessary worry. Thankfully, we were right. Mary was born with a small hole in her heart that wasn't detected until after she was born, and it closed on its own. Everything was fine with this baby too, as we suspected, and we were in and out quickly and had almost the whole day to play in Indy.

So my spring break will be at home this week with Emily, fairly quiet and restful. I have a few outings planned, but otherwise I think I will work at the house. I am anxious to get the garden going and we will need to get some new baby chicks. We've already had our first round this spring, but they are gone already. Such is the circle of life when you live close to the earth. Both girls have held dead chicks in their hands in the last few weeks. We cooked 6 of our original 10 when it got unexpectedly warm and we didn't get home until late. The remaining 4 made it to the coop last week, but the kittens got them. So, Brian's next job is to be working on a chicken fence. Our mature hens are laying every day now and Emily loves collecting eggs. Her favorites are the blue ones. She will report, "Good news! There were ____ blue ones today!" Right now we are getting enough to buy an extra dozen per week from the store, but we'd love to be able to be fully self-sufficient and even sell or give some away each week. It's awfully fun keeping them.

Signs of Spring

We are just LOVING all this warm weather. It has been in the 80's for the last week and our yard has just exploded. Trees are in bloom, flowers are growing, we have been sleeping with the windows open every night.
Brian cut a hole in the side of our garden shed to put in a window. We are hoping to use it more as a potting shed, right now it is a small dumping ground for garden tools, hoses, etc.
Elijah worked on the huge mound of straw. We moved several loads to the garden.

Here I am at 25 weeks!

Adventures at Turkey Run State Park

Mary practices her balance crossing a fallen tree
We ended up on a trail that we didn't intend to be on--there was a running river. But the alternative was hike back where we started from (at least an hour), so we decided to forge ahead. It did end up being the most fun and adventurous part of the trip.


All smiles at the end of the trail!