Make Way for Ducklings

For the last 2 years in April, we have had new baby chicks.  Our flock of ladies now boasts 11, which is plenty enough for a home on half an acre within the city limits.  This year, I finally gave in on the ducks my husband has been wanting for some time. We thought we were getting Khaki Campbells, but instead ended up with 2 Welsh Harlequins and 1 Ancona.  And they have already stolen our hearts.

At the end of next month we are adding 2 runner ducklings.  By then, these littles will be swimming around in a wading pool!  :)

A Place for Shoes

We have the dreaded split entry at our house.  I have never liked split entries in houses, even as a kid. I love our home, but admittedly this is the feature I do not care for.  One wants for the entry to their home to be welcoming and comfortable, which is near impossible to create with this layout!  Not only does it serve as the main entrance to the house, but is also the landing for the only stairway between upstairs and down.  With a family of 7, we can never all be in this spot at the same time.  There no room for us all to be bending over putting on shoes and such, as well as dangerous because of the stairs!

I was pregnant with #5 when we first moved into this house over 2 years ago.  Within the first week, as I was making my way from the upstairs with a basket of laundry for the downstairs, with my big belly, and I was tripping over shoes on the landing (6 people's worth!).  Obviously this creates a situation!  It was then that I started thinking about solutions for our entryway, not only to keep it safe, but to be visually welcoming and pleasing, too.  With so little space to work with in that area, it was a challenge.

My first thought was that we need to build out, and make the entrance to the house larger.  This remains the long term goal, it just has to.  We need an area large enough for us to be getting ready to leave the house as a family.  However, there's no telling when we will have funds for that kind of project.  So until then, we have a $99 Hemnes shoe cabinet from IKEA.  It is narrow, and just tall enough.  It has 4 compartments, which at first I was worried wouldn't hold everyone's shoes, but especially with little kids shoes, you can cram several pair in per compartment!  The adults each have their own (holds 2-3 pairs of adult shoes) and the other 2 are for all 5 kids.  It works, the shoes are rarely ever out, and it has space underneath enough for visitors to stow their shoes.  On the top we can put our keys and outgoing mail.  And the coat hooks that were already there I left as they were. There isn't enough space between the hooks and the top of the shoe cabinet to hang our adult size coats, but it's perfect for the littlest one's coats, bike helmets, bags, etc.

Wintertime Beach Day

On days like this, I almost cannot comprehend the beauty of this place we live in. Today by the seaside, blue sky with  gentle whispy clouds, the beach full of golden grasses, moss, lichen and gnarly pine trees.  The beach rocks in every color of the rainbow.  The freezing, churning ocean waters, and beyond that, mountains. And islands.  It was too windy along the coast today to be truly considered warm, even in the sunshine.  But it certainly wasn't winter cold.  It felt amazing, as it always does, to go to the beach on a sunny day in the wintertime.

Today we were at Deception Pass, which is probably our favorite spot when we can't think of anywhere new to have an adventure, or just want to be spontaneous.  There are so many beaches and trails to be seen within this state park. We were at West Beach today, which we have never really explored before.  We met up with good friends there as well, which always makes for a nice time! The light was incredible, and so we stayed until sundown.

It was on a beach at the edge of this coast of the Pacific, where I sat for the first time at age 19, and knew beyond all doubt that here was where I belonged.  Of all places I had ever traveled to, been to, lived, this was the place for me.  I sometimes lose sight of my surroundings, and that deep connection I feel to this place.  But I always find it again by the water.

begin again

i'm finally, really starting my Etsy shop, after meaning to do so for literally a year.  i had kept so busy with custom orders, things i made as gifts for friends and family, etc (not to mention life with a baby who doesn't love to sleep!), that the idea of building up enough inventory for a shop seemed just plain daunting.  but my husband was gently persistent that i take the time to get things going, even sitting by my side on the couch with the laptop so that i didn't feel intimidated.  i looked in on my empty shop, chose a photo to use as my banner, updated some information, and re-published the munchimodi Facebook page.  and i am already overwhelmed by the response from folks, and thinking i can actually make a go of it.  it has gone from being a little bit scary, to sort of exciting, watching this thing materialize.  i know i will be most excited once i have my shop filled and i get that first order.  but i can't even let myself imagine that just yet.  there's too much work to do!

as it is late and i don't have natural light for taking any pictures of what i'm working on at the moment, but hate to make a post without any pictures (blogs are all about the pictures, really, right?!), i will share a photo from my 6 year old's "tiny" birthday part last week.

spring

we love spring.  our winter was mild, so spring has been here for a while already, it seems.  we are back to living a large part of our days outside.  building a garden, planting our salad starts, swinging on swings, caring for our sweet little baby chicks.  laying in the sunshine.

 shifana and cordelia,  two of our week-old ameraucanas.  sweet little peeps!

november sunshine

the sunlight in the pacific northwest is different from anywhere else i have ever been.  i know i've said it before, but it's so true.  there is some kind of beautiful warmth to it i can't describe.

anyway, we've enjoyed many sunny days this november, and today was as gorgeous as the past week or more of them.  here are some photos from today.

knitting baby booties in the sunshine with my baby on my lap.

the chickens follow amalie wherever she goes with the cracked corn.

our cochin bantams - featherton, whisky, custard, cleopatra, and speckled marilla hanging out there in the back.  love these little ladies!

these days

i've been horrible at keeping up, it's march already!!  time is flying by.  we've had new things going on, the kids are in swim lessons, amalie has started taking ukelele, papa has a new schedule at school which allows us to eat dinner together as a family again.  i'm stripping wallpaper, planning paint colors, trying to figure out when i am going to lazure the walls in the school room.  and then the every day stuff, keeping dishes and clothing clean, making sure food is in the house, taking the kids to classes and lessons.

recently though, through the generosity of a friend, we acquired 4 sweet laying hens and a very nice coop.  we've wanted chickens for several years, but in nashville we were renting for the last year and a half we were there as part of our plan to move here.  and once we were here, we rented for over 2 years while we searched for the right house to buy.  now we finally have a home that we own and has plenty of wonderful space for having chickens, and everything just fell into place!

luckily the move to new surroundings didn't seem to spook the ladies too much, and they have been laying for us every day so far.  fresh eggs every morning.  the kids spend hours just observing the hens and talking about their interactions.  we bought them the organic feed they are accustomed to, as well as some cracked corn for a treat, and meal worms which they will eat right out of the kids hands.

for now we have some chicken wire set up around their coop temporarily, papa has some plans for what he wants to build for them permanently, and we picked a new spot where they will have more sunshine.  it's been a great excuse for school, as we haven't touched the actual school books in a few weeks.  we checked out books on backyard chickens from the library at each kid's reading level, so they can learn about their new pets.

other than that big bit of excitement, there are the milestones like losing both front teeth, as amalie just did this week.  she is so proud, she has been showing everyone.  and she looks completely adorable.

and then there's the pregnancy, 11 weeks left.  even though most times i feel so excited i can hardly wait, 11 weeks is sounding not that far off.  that's 11 more weeks of my family as i've known it for the last 4 years.  once this new little person joins us, we are forever changed, a new dynamic will emerge.  i know it will be wonderful, as it has been many times before, but it's still a feeling i get each time.  i want to be present and in the moment to enjoy my sweet family just as it is, and recognize this as a special time for all of us.