Budding Photographer

Yesterday Ezra discovered our old Canon PowerShot and went to town for almost an hour, chasing us around snapping photos and giggling. I haven't seen him that engrossed in a single thing in a long time, unless you count the toy ketchup bottle he's currently using as a teether. 

Here are some winning shots:

The last one is of me taking the first picture above. It is so much fun watching him discover and interact with his world. We are so blessed to be a part of that. Now we need to find the battery charger because he definitely killed it last night.

Also, did I mention he will be two in less than two weeks?! It's about time he mastered the camera, am I right?!

Kiss From a Rose

It was a midsummer's eve. The windows were thrown open and a soft summer breeze was floating through the house. The radio was playing softly in the background. Seal's Kiss From a Rose began to play and she turned it up, way up. We all began to sway to the music and sing at the top of our lungs. We were all completely taken over by the music, the dancing, the warm breeze. We poured our hearts into those four minutes. It truly was a magical moment. 

I couldn't have been more than 9 or 10. I spent a lot of time across the street at my hippie neighbor's house in the summer. I didn't realize she was a hippie then, but I can clearly see it now, illustrated in the moments like the one above. She wasn't concerned with social convention, she lived life in the moment. I want to be more like that.

I so easily lose myself in the never-ending tasks of daily life that I sometimes forget to just take a step back, breathe, and enjoy the moment. I am so focused on my "to-dos" and not focused enough on being present. To remedy that sometimes I look back to that summer night. I find a cheesy ballad on YouTube and I make my husband dance with me. Or I pick a song that the boys love (coughAaron'sPartycough) and we dance and sing. I don't do it as often as she did or as often as I should, but it's a start. I'll get there.

The WeekEnd According to My Phone

1. Saturday morning we did some landscaping in the rain. Well, it only rained for one of the 4-5 hours. It's one of the many joys of helping my small business owner husband! 
2. Red dyed mulch. 
3. Bitches get shit done. 
4. We have a chicken coop! It's not 100% finished, so the details will be in a future post. Bonus: I can see it from my kitchen window. 
5. Two days, one shirt. One cranky baby, too.
6. We have carrots coming up! 
7. This weekend was mostly rain, with little bits of sunshine in between.
8. Like I said, rain.
9. I love the ferns under our deck.

Not pictured: my husband sold three of our four cars (yeah, it was gross - two work trucks, two family cars) which will magically be turned into a minivan soon! Until then we're down to one truck and trying to figure out a good commute pattern for this mama. Working your ass of when things are going well makes it a whole lot easier. Taking risks is beginning to pay off which has me chomping at the bit to take a few more! Sell all of our belongings and move to Tahiti?! Move to a farming commune in Washington?! Let's do it! [I'm totally kidding mom, we love where we are! ;)]

Have you been taking any risks or leaps of faith lately? I'd love to hear your story too!

Rambles

Have you ever felt as if you were on the precipice of something? Something big that you can't quite put your finger on? But it's good. I've written about it a few times in the past few months but I am still figuring it all out. I'm not vague blogging, I honestly have no idea what the universe has waiting for me just around the corner, but I do know it's there. I can feel it in my bones. 

It's funny how life takes you to places you never dreamed you'd go. I never thought I'd get married prior to age 35 or have any kids. A house in suburbia and a corporate job by the time I was twenty? HA! No way dude! But such is life. You meet certain people who change your path completely and you don't even realize it until you're so far gone you can hardly remember why you would have ever wanted to go another direction. You grow, you learn, you evolve. Life would be a giant bummer if we all had to do exactly what we envisioned at age 15. At least for me it would. I'm glad the universe has other plans for us, ones better than we could've imagined.

So while I'm "waiting" for this "thing" to happen I'm continuing to push forward in my life, pursue some of our dreams. The husband's business continues to grow. Our summer gardening/chicken keeping season has started. Our boys LOVE any and all outdoor activities which we are happy to oblige. My coworkers continue to make me smile and simultaneously cringe when we get out of hand on the daily. [Cringe in a good way] Life if grand.

Sure I'm tired, could used 10 more hours in each day, more time with my kids, more money, etc. But overall life is truly good. It has made this waiting business a lot easier for me. Bring it on universe, in your own due time. In the meantime I'm going to grow some killer vegetables, go on summer adventures with my boys, eat some darn good fresh eggs from my lady chickens, and read every free moment I can in my new hammock. I'll still be thinking of you as I fall asleep, universe, but I know you won't forget me.

Chicken Runs!

Now that the coop is built and will be delivered tonight we need to figure out what sort of a chicken run to build. Who knew that almost 11 years after we "watched" Chicken Run on the night we met we'd be building one of our own?! High school romance is the most romantic kind, no? 

Option #1: Wood frame all around with chicken wire. Clean and simple but will they want more height to spread their wings? 

[via Chicken Coop How To Make]

Option #2: Double stacked wood frame and chicken wire with a door. Is a door necessary for cleaning? Does the structure need a solid roof on all or just part? Do we need the wire on the bottom to protect from predators?

[via Chicken Coop Designs Small]

Another Option #: Do we frame with either wood or metal posts and chicken wire, then use poultry netting on top to keep them from flying out? [This one's a bit extreme, but you get the idea.]

[via The Poultry Guide]

Option #4: Metal stakes and chicken wire. Voila, done! We know one of our neighbors doesn't mind chickens in his yard but aren't sure about the rest and definitely don't want to make any assumptions. This also gives us more flexibility to flex the run around to keep their environment fresh.

[via Rich Soil]

Ideal Option: A gigantic run that is framed in wood and just plain huge. LOVE IT. But we don't have space for that really. [Ideally IDEALLY we'd live on a giant farm and let them roam free. But you know, 3/4 acre here] 

[via Feathers Animal Housing]

So those are my weekend plans. Choose a type of chicken run to build so I can get these messy birds out of my house! Then I'll be scrubbing the carpet for the remainder of the weekend. Git it gurl! The glamour of my life knows no bounds.