At the end of next month we are adding 2 runner ducklings. By then, these littles will be swimming around in a wading pool! :)
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
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! :)
At the end of next month we are adding 2 runner ducklings. By then, these littles will be swimming around in a wading pool! :)
Sunday, February 22, 2015
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.
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.
Thursday, February 19, 2015
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.
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