Inside

Yummy fingers!

Ancient Greece.

Friday was ice day! Temperatures went into the high 20's and the dreaded ICE was on the roads. Schools were cancelled and kids everywhere rejoiced.

One of the hens had icicles on her feathers.

Inside, we turned a horse into a beloved unicorn.

 And we kept chugging right along with Ancient Greece (seems to be a hit!).

The kids decided to celebrate their dragon's birthday.

Eaden had her annual gymnastics banquet at a nearby country club Friday night.

 She won the hardest worker award! To be honest, out of all of the awards, THAT is the one I would most want her to win. So I am VERY proud of her!

Oh Well

I did not quit facebook. But I will scale back my time spent there. I will!

For MLK Day we thought about how we would like to "leave our handprint" on the world. Eaden has been wanting to help the homeless for some time now, so that is what she said. Naia wants to plant flowers and vegetables which we will be doing soon enough!

While Eaden was at gymnastics I took Taven and Naia to meet Aidan at the Arboretum. See! I am having REAL face time! There wasn't too much activity, but I did manage to get this picture of a Large Orange Sulphur on a Camellia.

Even though Eaden did not get to come with us on our walk, I showed her the picture. She made a page for the "Animal" section in her notebook.

After picking Eaden up from gymnastics we went to the store and bought some snacks we thought homeless people might like to have. We made bags for them and the kids are eager to hand them out. They did whine a bit about wanting to eat the snacks themselves, of course, but came around in the end. Eaden even made rubber band bracelets for all of the bags.

On Wednesday, we decided to check out a new place, Sheldon Lake State Park (new to us). We got lost and got in a wreck! We were lucky to have only minor damage to our car. After driving around looking for the place for...forever...we made it! Our visit started off great because we immediately saw a Great Blue Heron (no picture), many White Ibis, Great Egrets, and more!

But our most awesome moment was spotting this Osprey!

 The park had a really neat observation tower!

 Next time we must remember binoculars!

We are planning on bundling up and staying in for the next couple of days as freezing rain is expected!

LIVING Life

I always think about what a hypocrite I am. I tell people to go outside, don't work, spend time with your kids, go on adventures...and I stare at Facebook half the day. So, like I've done many times before, I'm quitting the social network. Not because I don't enjoy staying in touch with my friends and family, but because I DO! I'm cutting back on the computer and increasing real face time. Hang out with me! I'm begging. Come have a beer! If you don't drink, I have tea...and water!

For my friends and family that cannot hang out much, I am starting this blog. I will update every Friday. I also will keep my Pinterest account because it is extremely helpful to me as a mother and wife.

In summary, less computer MORE people, less inside MORE outside, less facebook MORE real books (made from paper!). MORE music, MORE making, MORE gardening, MORE journaling, MORE camping (without cell phones), MORE loving, MORE family, MORE listening, MORE living!

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Come and join us! Please! Text or call or email...

We killed one of our chickens last weekend because we had too many eggs and really too many chickens for our little space. Also, my husband has been talking about eating the white hen for quite some time lol. He killed it and cooked it in his stew while I was with the kids waiting for my nephew to be born. The kids were upset of course when we told them, but they understand that chicken comes from chickens! They also all ate the stew...after they forgot it might be their beloved friend of course.

After making these turkey crafts at the library, Naia said that one of her candy corn feathers was coming off and I told her I would put some tape on it when we got home.

Naia - "We don't have any tape!"

Taven - "Yes we do. We have duck tape. You have to kill a duck."

Me - "You don't have to kill a duck to get duct tape!"

Taven - "It was a joke."

Me - "Oh. Pretty good one."

 Mid to late Fall and Winter are outside months in Texas! The kids are almost ALWAYS outside. Although we don't have fields to run around in and woods to explore, they have their favorite spots.

The table out back is one.

 They pretend it is a boat and they fish off of it with a bucket tied to a rope.

Now that we do not let the chickens roam and keep them fenced in, little man is also free to run the poop free backyard.

 The garden bed out front is their other favorite spot. I've given up planting anything here and it is totally worth it.

 Here are the kids inside playing dentist. Naia is a great patient...and the dentist is actually quite mean.

 Taven colored on himself and I asked him what he was trying to draw. He said "a beak."

And here is Taven with his new cousin. However, he refuses to call him cousin and will only call him brother.