We have an egg!!!!!

Since we expected our first egg sometime in November, we have spent the past few weeks wondering whether maybe we weren't cut out to be chicken farmers. Surely we should have had at least one by now. What in the heck have we been doing wrong? It seems that we were just a little too impatient. Jason went out this evening to bring the girls some leftover cereal, and almost stepped on the green egg laying right inside the door. At first he thought to himself "that is the strangest chicken crap I've ever seen!" but he soon realized what it was and came running inside with it in his hand. Seriously, it was like Christmas at the Kent abode! Maybe we will have enough for an omelet by Christmas.

Conrad takes 2nd!!

This year was Conrad's 3rd year in scouts so it would stand to reason that he also made his 3rd pinewood derby car. This was by far his most successful year. He was 2nd in the whole pack! He hasn't been in the top 3 before. Quite an exciting day for young Mr. Conrad.

Check out the competition! Those look like some fast cars!

Oooooh, that was a close one!

Conrad's car is in lane 3 -- the white car with the coins on top...money makes everything better doesn't it?

Conrad with his super special super cool 2nd place trophy.

O Christmas Tree

We used a two-part approach this year to decorating our tree. Jason was home a short while during the weekend, so he helped me drag it upstairs and the 4 of us put it together. The next day the boys and I had GiGi over for dinner and then we hung the lights and ornaments. This made for a much more relaxed (and enjoyable) experience instead of trying to cram the whole process into one afternoon. As for the rest of the decorations, I waited yet another day and put them up during Rylan's nap. That way I got to put everything exactly where I wanted without any extraneous input.

Lego Mania!!!

Jason spied an ad in the paper last week that proved promising. "Lego Mania" about 1/2 hour from our house. It is an intricately designed town made entirely of Legos by the Central Ohio Lego Train Club. Last night Conrad didn't have piano so I decided to treat the boys to dinner at Max and Erma's and then a trip to see this display. They were thrilled! Most impressive to me was thinking about how much money they have tied up in Legos. I have bought many Legos for Conrad over the years and they ain't cheap.

They had a pile of Legos on the table so people could make their own creations. Conrad decided to make the great pyramids. I think he named it "golden pyramids".

Gotta remember that reflective coats don't work well with flash! :)

This is the whole display. Now that's a lot of Legos!

The gal working there didn't have much info, but said she did remember that this tower took 50 hours to build. Yikes!

The display included several working trains around the outside.

The Chicken Whisperer

Any time I can't find Rylan, I know to first look in the coop. That is usually where he is. Sometimes he is holding the chickens. Sometimes he is feeding them soybeans out of the field. Sometimes he is just kneeling down and talking to them. He is totally captivated by his 8 feathery friends. We should ask him to take a calendar out with him next time to remind them of the date. They should be laying eggs any day!

My kid can fly!

Or at least it looks like it, don't you think?

Trick or Treat

Well, it was no surprise this year that Rylan wanted to be Spiderman for Halloween. He is obsessed with Spiderman. Spiderman undies, Spiderman shoes, Spiderman shirts, Spiderman backpack... The best part though is that we already had the costume! Conrad wanted to be a Clone Trooper (from the new Star Wars series) which also wasn't much of a surprise since he has been following that show very closely. Jason was out of town so I was on trick or treat duty this time, and we rode the hay wagon as usual. Rylan rode it until we got to my mom's house and then got off to play with her. Conrad and I rode it the rest of the way down the street, making it 3 hours of trick or treating! If anyone is in need of candy, feel free to come help yourself! I think we will still have some left by next Halloween!

Sick Day Activity

Both boys were feeling under the weather today. We found out yesterday that Rylan had strep, and while he was much better today than yesterday he was still dragging. He started the morning by telling me his ear "wouldn't turn on". Conrad stayed home from school because his stomach was hurting pretty bad. I know when he starts carrying a trash can around with him things could get serious. And not wanting to have him known as the kid who always pukes at school, I kept him home just to be safe.

By this afternoon they were both feeling better so I thought we would carve pumpkins. Normally we would have already done this, but we've been slacking this October in the crafting department.

First they got out all of my Sharpies and drew their designs. Rylan was happy with his until he saw Conrad's, and then he wanted it to look like that. It was a little disappointing to him that it couldn't be erased.


Next came the carving and scooping out. I am NOT a professional pumpkin carver. Nor am I any good at making a pumpkin look like Darth Vader. That is what Rylan's is supposed to look like, though you would never know it!


Finally the creations were done! Conrad worked hard to separate the seeds from the goop. The goop went into the coop for a chicken snack and the seeds went into the oven for a people snack.

Photography classes...well worth it!!

I am taking an 8 week photography class right now at the Perfect Picture School of Photography on understanding exposure. It is expensive, but has been very valuable in improving my skills at setting exposure and forces me to think about creating a photo instead of taking snapshots. The class is well worth the cost when I end up with images of my boys like these! :)

Backyard Flock

We have chickens! Jason has wanted them ever since we relocated to the country, and has slowly been working on winning me over to the idea. I finally conceded about a month ago, and we started on a coop. We had a minor setback with the Ike windstorm because it actually knocked the coop over and blew it across the yard, but there wasn't any damage so we finished it this past weekend. Our original plan was to get chicks, but it is a little late in the year for them and we decided pullets would be easier to start with anyhow. I found 5 Barred Rock pullets on Craig's List of all places and we picked them up last night. They are adjusting nicely and are actually quite cute!! Much less noisy than I expected too. Hopefully we will have fresh eggs starting sometime in November. Conrad and Rylan have really taken to them. Conrad jumped right in there and started picking them up, and Rylan wants to take his leftovers out right after each meal. We will probably end up with 10-12 eventually, but for now 5 is just enough!

We've Got the Power!!

Wowee, it has been quite the week!! Sunday afternoon I decided to head to Meijer for a few groceries. It was a little windy, but nothing unusual. On my way out, it was so windy I could hardly push my shopping cart. It was comical looking around the parking lot at all of the hunched over people pushing those carts with all of their might. To make matters worse, it was kicking up the gravel so as I struggled I was being pelted.

On my way home, Jason called to tell me the chicken coop that we had worked so hard on Saturday had blown over. Thank goodness it wasn't damaged, but when it was all said and done it was shocking how far across our yard it traveled.

The 70 mile an hour winds seemed to go on forever. I've never seen anything like it before in my life. It was hard to even stand outside, and pretty soon our trash cans and grill had gone to visit my mom next door. Mom lost tons of branches out of her big maple trees and the top of a pine tree, but neither of us had house damage. Right before the winds let up our power went.

No big deal, right? I mean, our power seems to go out pretty regularly, and it is always back on in a matter of hours. Not this time. The windstorm left hundreds of thousands of people in Columbus without power. And to make matters worse (for us anyway) AEP had sent a lot of their folks down to Texas to help with the devastating blow they received.

Now, being without power is one thing. But us country folk out here on a well had to do without water too. And that ain't pretty. No water means no washing your hands. No showers. And the worst of all - no flushing your toilet! Luckily Heather B. across the street was kind enough to allow us to take buckets of water from her pond so we could once again flush. Nothing like taking a bucket of pond water with you to the bathroom.

We also found refuge in "Mr. Jason" and Jen's condo. We stuffed their fridge and freezer full of food from our house and mom's, and took full advantage of their working shower. We also cooked several meals there since our food was there anyhow.

Joan leant me some space in her freezer as well which is fortunate since there is no way we would have fit all the food from two stuffed deep freezers at the condo. And I agreed to go to Heather W's Pampered Chef only if she would let me shower at her house first. Gotta have my priorities straight.

Last night we got a real luxury. Jason and Amy had their power back on so they leant us their brand spaking new generator. We couldn't believe our luck, to be able to put the boys in bed with lamps instead of flashlights. Jason and I were just settling down to enjoy some tv when all the lights flipped on. That's right. We had the generator hooked up a whopping 20 minutes before the electricity came back on. Figures.

In the end, we were without power (and more importantly water) for 3 1/2 days. That is more than I've ever had to do before, but there are so many ways it could have been worse. We could live in Galveston, Texas. It could have rained and flooded our house. It could have been sweltering hot. It could have been winter and we would have been much colder and extremely stinky (hard to gather water from a pond when it is frozen). Even though I would prefer not have that happen again, it wasn't unmanageable. And hey, Conrad got two bonus days off of school!

More Visitors

Last week wasn't the first time I've spied deer in our yard. This pair was drinking the water that sits in back and were kind enough to wait for me to get the camera. Just gorgeous, don't you think?

Same Photo, Different Kid

Rylan started preschool today. I was a little apprehensive because he gets clingy at church sometimes when I leave him in class, but my worries disappeared quickly when we got to his room. He barely even said goodbye before he was off meeting new friends. When I picked him up he was all smiles, had participated in all of the craft projects, and was still telling me all about it when we got to Chick-Fil-A for his first day of school lunch. What an awesome day for him!

As a bonus, I had two hours completely to myself. I took full advantage and met Amy to go running and then out for coffee. I could get used to this!

Hummingbirds

We noticed we were getting a lot of hummingbirds visiting our flower bed earlier this summer, so we put a feeder out on the front porch. It took a while, but we have several visiting us now almost constantly. Seriously, you can look out there almost any time during the day and if you wait 5 minutes you will see one. They are the neatest creatures. So teeny, fast, and very feisty! I didn't realize how territorial they are -- if two happen to show up at the same time they fly off squeaking at each other. I've stalked them a few times for photos but they are so darned fast! I can barely even click the shutter before they are gone again!

Good Old Fashioned Fun

Rylan has really been missing his brother since he started school last week. Even though they were starting to bicker more toward the end of the summer, they occupy each other nicely during the day. With Conrad gone, he had to settle for time with Mommy, and I'm afraid that isn't quite as exciting.

To help him get used to being without his brother, I planned quite a few activities for Rylan last week. We went and played with his buddy Logan twice, we went to the pool, and one day we got the sprinkler out. It was so much fun to just sit there and watch him run around in the water, and squeal when it got him.

As a bonus, I found that Rylan behaves much better when he has had so much activity that he is exhausted. I need to keep that in mind. If he starts acting out I should just send him for a run around the yard!

My Third Grader

Yikes! Conrad is in third grade already! How did that happen? Time sure seems to whiz by faster and faster every year. Hilliard started school this year on August 19. Yikes again! I don't remember EVER starting back that early when I was little. I'm pretty sure Conrad didn't mind though. He seemed more than ready for a break from his wild and crazy brother. And Rylan is happy to have me to himself again during the day. So far so good. Conrad really likes his teachers (there is one in the morning and a different one in the afternoon) and has made some new friends who were not in his class last year.

Cool Riders

Conrad has been begging to be allowed to take a ride on Jason B's motorcycle for ages. I surprised him last weekend with a "sure, why not?" Conrad ran home as fast as he could for tennis shoes, and then they rode down to Conrad's elementary school and back. He was begging for another ride by dinnertime. Aren't these the coolest Harley riders you've ever seen?

Don't Blink!

On this particular day I remember trying to talk the boys out of playing in the snow because it was bitterly cold. They begged and pleaded so I got out all of their gear. As soon as they were out the door I went for my camera. I'm so glad I did! They were back inside within 15 minutes. I refrained from the expected "I told you so" response.

Old Man's Cave

Somehow we made it through the whole summer without a vacation. Jason has been traveling a ton for work and we have been trying not to spend too much money since we knew I would be quitting soon, so we decided to vacation "at home" with several fun things close to home. One of those things was a trip to Old Man's Cave. We stayed in a log cabin and did a lot of hiking at Old Man's Cave and Ash Cave. I think the boys' favorite part though was the cat that lived under the porch at the cabin. If I had only known, I could have just sent them next door to visit GiGi's cats!

Pinewood Derby

Look at this! Another scrapbook layout! We had so much fun at Conrad's pinewood derby last year. I don't think I've ever seen such an excited roomful of boys like I've seen at the pinewood derby!

Lined Up

It has been AGES since I've scrapbooked, and I was finally in the mood this week. I dug out this photo from earlier this year, showing Rylan and a huge line of vehicles (mostly John Deere). This is not an uncommon activity for him. I like to pretend like I'm not watching and spy as he patiently puts everything neatly into a line. Oftentimes even categorized by color or size!

Famous Farmers

About a month ago a woman came by our booth at the farmer's market and was taking photos. It didn't seem too strange because people do it all the time. Eventually we chatted with her and found out she waas scoping out a story for "At Home", a magazine put out by the Columbus Dispatch. She interviewed us briefly and moved on. We looked for the magazine for a few weeks without any luck so we kind of forgot about it. Then this past week someone came by and said "hey, I read about you!" Our picture didn't make it, but isn't it funny that we are only one of two vendors mentioned in the article by name?

(If you want to actually read the article click on the image to expand.)

Unique Visitor

You never know who (or what) you are going to see at "the farm". We've had a blue heron that we've seen nearly every day lately. I guess that is one advantage to having water sitting in our back yard. I'm not sure whether he is getting a drink or eating the baby frogs that are living there, but it is pretty cool to see him out there. He is extremely shy though. I can't get past my patio without him flying away!

We also have a hummingbird or two that have been visiting our feeder, but I can't even grab my camera before they are gone!

Party at Becky's! Flower lovers only!

So one of the things mom and I do for the farm market is flower bouquets. Even though it isn't her biggest moneymaker, we continue to do it because it is so much more fun to put pretty flowers together than to dig potatoes. One morning while sales were slow we were talking about how we could really stand to take some sort of flower arranging class. Almost as if her flower emergency alarm went off , Jill (the owner of "Flowers on High") stopped by to buy the rest of our bells of Ireland. We asked if she offered any flower arranging classes, and as luck would have it she had just started teaching classes in people's homes. We gathered up some friends, set a date, and had us a flower arranging class at my house. Now, you may think this sounds sort of boring. Let me tell you...it was not! She brought PILES of flowers, was super fun, and we all went home with a vase full of a dozen roses complete with greenery and gorgeous basket bouquets. We got a bargain and had so much fun putting together our creations! The best part was seeing how different everyones arrangements turned out using the same stash of flowers. One thing I didn't think to take a photo of is my floor. I have NEVER seen so many leaves and petals covering one floor. :) I think we will have to try this again right before Thanksgiving or Christmas so we can all make our table centerpieces! Who's in?

Exciting news!!

I quit my job. Yay! Oh wait, I meant to say....

I quit my job!!! Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is something I've wanted to do for years but there was always some reason to stay a bit longer. Wait for Jason's salary to move up a little. Pay off a bill. Whatever. But I've always wanted to be "just mom". Now I feel we are in a good place financially for me to take the plunge. Not to mention work has gotten more and more frustrating by the day lately. Some of you may ask "why?" After all, I have to admit I had it pretty good. I've been working for the bank for 10 years, and have managed to work from home for the past 8. But that's just it. I've managed. It hasn't been a breeze, believe me. Even though it is just 4 hours a day, it is really hard to fit 4 hours into a day where I am taking the kids to the park or spending the day at the pool. And with Jason traveling more lately, I feel stretched so thin sometimes that I go into panic mode. Now we can spend the day at the pool without me worrying about having to stay up until 1am putting in my hours, and I won't have to plop them in front of the tube while I sit on a conference call. I won't feel guilty sitting down and playing a game with Conrad during Rylan's nap instead of working. And that's reason enough for me!

With a little extra time on my hands I plan to spend more time with my photography. So I started a Farm Picks Blog to explain the story behind some of my "Farm Picks" photos. Check it out!!

Etsy...one cool website!

Have you heard about Etsy yet? For you guys it may not be that exciting, but for the girls it will be!! It is a huge website filled with wonderful handmade items, from jewelry to scrapbooking stuff. Awesome gift ideas and the coolest ways to browse I've ever seen (time machine anyone?) When I noticed people were selling their photos on there I decided to try my hand at it. Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE photography. I recently started selling my photos from around the farm (called it "Farm Picks") at the farm market and so far there has been a lot of interest. I thought a little Farm Picks Etsy shop would be a nice way to supplement it!

True Love

Jason loves gooseberries. I'm not a huge fan. They are super sour, and extremely seedy. But, they do make for a pretty plant. Jason has 3 gooseberry bushes at my mom's house. Last year they had a little bit of fruit, but Rylan ate them all before they were even ripe. We were told "a bird ate them" even though we saw him over there grazing. This year they were loaded. I know Jason has fond memories of gooseberry jelly, so I (with mom's help) made a batch today. Now that is true love...what a time consuming process! It took me an hour to pick them, an hour to clean them, and then another hour to get everything ready and actually make it. However, I have to admit, it is darned good. Apparently anything is good if you add enough sugar!

Baseball

We gave baseball a try this year. Conrad enjoyed it, especially since the neighbor across the street (Connor) was on his team and his dad was the coach. He made some new friends and so did I while sitting on the side cheering. However, we have learned with baseball and basketball that Conrad isn't excessively competitive so this may be the end of his sporting career. I think he would be just as happy to have a friend over to play, and then we wouldn't have to stuff our dinner in our faces trying to get to practice on time!