Egg-Ceptional Size

Tonight when I went to collect the eggs, I found this big ole honker! The egg on the right is an average sized egg from our girls.
I have tiny hands, but still...that thing is HUGE! I feel sorry for the lady that laid it. I'll know which chicky popped this one out tomorrow. She'll be walking funny, I'm sure. :)

In the egg crate-- can you spot it?

What about now? We are still averaging 6 eggs a day. Tonight I got 7. This is just 2 days worth. I love all the different colors. Some have little speckles, some are oblong, some very round, some pointy. I read an article that Cornell University did a study to sex eggs. If it's a pointy egg, it's a boy. If it's rounded, it's a girl. I can't wait to test this theory out. I have lots of girl eggs.

Can you spot the boy eggs?

I'll have to ask my sister in law, Kerry, her opinion. She went to Cornell's Vet school...She's a smart egg. I'm sure she'd be a round one. :)

New Year, New Arrangements

We decided to turn Pyper and Raegan's nursery downstairs into the playroom. They were using it as such anyways, so moving the crib out and reorganizing the setup was logical since 4 kids under the age of 4 use it daily (our nanny brings her two boys ages 2 and 4). We moved the girls upstairs into their "big girl room." So far, it's been a success.
We moved Pyper's clothes upstairs and Shannon bought some shelves for toys.

Raegan's clothes were moved upstairs as well and her side became the craft closet. I like to have the crafts accessible to each child. It's a great way to instill trust and the concept of cleaning up.

The music corner. Pyper loves to play the piano and sing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star..."

The reading corner.

Today, we played with water beads. Have you ever heard of them? You get them in the floral dept of Walmart. $2 a bag for these tiny beads of fun! Add water, and they grow. Pyper is very sensory driven, and anything with texture, color or sound thrills her. In this picture above, I set up all her "toys," pulled up her Learning Tower to the sink and waited for the introduction (after her nap.)

These are the water beads close up after sitting in water for about 5 hours or so. These are pink and turquoise. They grow to the size of marbles and are squishy. Great sensory integration!

After the introduction, Pyper decided to make "cupcakes." She's big into pouring things from one container into another and loves water play.

Getting her hands into the mix. She did try eating one, and realized they weren't very tasty.

Here, she's dropping them one by one into a jar. She likes the sounds of the "plopping," telling me about each step she did and what she liked about it. She played with the water beads for 2 hours while I made dinner, paid bills and fed Raegan. I feel VERY comfortable leaving the room while Pyper plays in the sink...the Learning Tower is very sturdy and has a large platform so she can move about. I think I'll add some water beads to her bath next time!!!

Frozen Chicken(s)

I can't help but chuckle every morning when I come in and see the chickens roosting underneath the red heat lamp. I think of the popular fried chicken chains that keep their chicken warm under their heat lamps. Except mine are still alive...
Mable had just laid an egg, and stood up and let me get it out from under her. She's so sweet.

Anna eating her breakfest.

Goldie eating the left over hay...

Snow birds

The Halls Are Decked...

At our house, we believe that family is everything. We believe in the magic of Christmas. Pyper believes in Santa. But first and foremost, we believe in Christ. Without Him, we wouldn't have what we have, and wouldn't know true happiness or joy.

Counting our blessings daily, Shannon was able to capture me with mine. Oh, how I love these little ones. I've noticed now that we have children that Christmas has become more than just presents under the tree, baking, and decorating. It's watching the absolute awe of the magic of this season across the face of Pyper. She mailed Santa her pacifiers on Saturday morning and in return, he mailed her the movie Tangled. She squealed with joy, clapping her chubby hands, and hopping up and down...

Our Christmas tree tops at 10'. We've had it up since before Thanksgiving, and have thoroughly enjoyed it.

Pyper decorated it with her first ornament...my mom buys the girl's their first ornaments, and Pyper was VERY proud to display hers.

She is certainly our gift from God.

One of our first family ornaments. Guess we need to buy another one to add Raegan's name! I have a love for anything with frogs and thought these jolly frogs were adorable.

This was one of my Grannie's ornaments. I love the satin ribbon that we use to secure it to the tree. We made it a point to hang all the older, much loved, breakable ornaments up high to prevent the temptation for those chubby fingers to grab them.

One of my many frog ornaments

Pyper made this one over at Shannon's cousin's house. I love it and will cherish it as much as the older, more glamorous ones.

This puppy is one of 2 that I have. They come from my dad's Christmas trees when he was growing up. I love how the paint has worn off, showing how much they are loved.

I got this one when my mom and I went to San Fransisco a few years ago on a girls weekend. It was so much fun!

This picture cracks me up. This was last weekend at my in law's house. Pyper loves to hold Raegan, but we don't fully trust her holding her, because she loses interest quickly and will just jump up leaving little Raegan wondering what happened.

Saturday mornings beg for Christmas pancakes!

Spreading the cheer all the way upstairs!

My sister in law, Kerry, bought this for me my first Christmas with the family. I just love it. I think it demonstrates why we celebrate.

Our Nativity scene. The last few years, my mom bought me pieces to this every Christmas. I have it displayed this year on our entry table, so those coming in can see it first thing. I love it.

Our wonderful friend, Jenn, made this basket for us. I love it. It sits on our dining room table. Jenn is so talented. She has endless energy and makes the most beautiful gift baskets and flower arrangements. We're lucky to have her as our nanny, too! The girls love her.

Shannon's aunt Linda gave us Frosty. It's really for outside use, but we loved it so much, we put it in our music room. Pyper adores Frosty, and hugs his neck.

That's it! I hope this Christmas season fills you with love, laughter and boundless joy. From our home to yours, we wish you a very Merry CHRISTmas!

Unplug Them!

You may wonder what in the world am I talking about? I'm telling you to unplug your kids, folks! Turn off the TV, the computer, the iPods, the Play Stations and even the phones. Unplug them and plug into what your kids need: You. Creativity. Imaginative Play. Fun. I know this is difficult. Especially now in a day and age when it's sometimes easier to have the TV babysit the kids and you escape into Facebooking or just browsing the web. I'm guilty of this, too. But now that I'm more aware of how much Pyper needs ME and creative outlets, I have forced myself to unplug her and ME. This is an ongoing transformation, I won't lie. Just last night, she wanted to watch TV in our bed while I cleaned up the house from a fun weekend. She's recovering from a cold and ear infection, and is feeling a bit under the weather. So, I didn't feel TOO guilty for letting her get some TV in and have some quiet time. I can also get my housework done a lot faster without her underfoot asking for me to hold her or just whining that I'm ignoring her. Sometimes, TV is necessary. But not all the time. I've stopped Facebooking at home. I limit my internet and computer use while in our home. I try everyday to do fun, creative things with Pyper and just enjoy my girls being little and inquisitive.

Bake cookies with your kids. Pyper has really developed her love of anything to do with baking and cooking. She loves to whisk eggs, stir soup, and push the buttons on the food processor. Let them help you cook--they will more likely eat what they helped prepare!

Play with boxes. I picked up 4 huge boxes at work that held car seats. They were going to throw them out, and I stepped in and saved them. One thing I've learned--kids will play with the box before the toy. Jenn, our nanny, made this creative playhouse for the kids, cutting out shapes of different colors and sizes for the kids to learn from while playing. It is now covered in shapes that Pyper and I cut out last Sunday. Pyper loves to use the glue stick and "decorate" her house.

She will disappear for long periods of time and when I go looking for her, she's in her playhouse playing with her stuffed animals.

Shannon told her to get her markers and "paint" the inside walls. She loved this, and had a ball decorating her house...

These kinds of crafts are great when it's too cold outside or rainy to venture out and play.

But when it's nice out, take the kids out! Two weeks ago, we walked in our first family 5K. It was in honor of Thomas Musser, a little boy in our small community that lost his battle to cancer last year. Our tiny town and surrounding communities raised almost $20K!!! All proceeds went to St. Jude's, where Thomas received his treatments.

It was participating in this 5K that made me really re-evaluate the time spent with my little ones. How would I be remembered spending time with them? Them watching TV while I was engrossed with something silly on the Internet? I didn't want this to be my legacy with my kids. We, as parents are our children's first teachers. Start teaching them to use their imaginations, and creativity. You'll be amazed at how much better everyone will feel.

Judging a Book By Its Cover...

I was surprised to find this egg yesterday. It's the first one I've found that looks like this. I've read about eggs that have soft, puckered shells, except this egg is hard. I'm guessing that it was probably laid soft and as it dried, it hardened.
Look at those funky ridges...

Can you spot the wonky egg?

It's unusually large, and oval shaped. Shannon refuses to eat it thinking it's contaminated or something. I personally find its uniqueness comforting. We all can't be perfect, right? And besides, my mom told me to never judge a book by its cover.

It's EGG-celent!

Lately, when we go into the chicken coop, we see one of our Buff Orpington girls sitting on eggs. Above is Goldie. She and her sisters, Honey Pot, and Ida Mae have become broody, wanting to sit on their eggs all day long. We gently pick them up, and put them outside with the others so they can free range. We're not ready for a clutch of chicks yet. They don't seem to mind to much...
Here are some of the eggs that we have gathered. Everyday, we get eggs. Anywhere from 3 to 8 a day. It's amazing. If we let them out earlier in the morning, they lay their eggs in the horse's run in shed, or in Pyper's plastic play house. We have EGG-Ventures to try to find their nest's and stashes. It's a lot of fun. If we leave them in the coop until noon or so, there are always beautiful eggs awaiting us in the box. Or if the girls hog the boxes, then sometimes, we find eggs on the ground.

I made my dad some over easy eggs, and look at the color of these yolks! That, my friends, is the sign of healthy, happy chickens that get to free-range for their food. The yolks are almost neon orange. You can taste the difference, too. So rich and creamy, lower in cholesterol and higher in omega 3's. Yummy!

Pyper and I made a batch of cornbread. Can you tell the store bought egg from the fresh farm egg? The store bought egg pales in comparison...literally.

Something to think about the next time you pick up a carton of eggs, huh? Try to by from local farmer's markets or find someone like me, that has happy, healthy chickens laying delicious eggs!