I brought home a bag of dirty dishes from my Midwifery conference yesterday. Oh, what a sweet treat for Amos, who thought it was wonderful to stick his head inside the bag and lick all the goodness off of those dirty plates. Being the eager pup that he is he just plunged himself in, not taking notice that he put his head through the handle. We had to laugh and take videos before we let him free. hehehe.

The First Half Dozen

Don't they look like pretty Easter eggs?
They are fresh from the hen and tasted oh so good!

For your viewing pleasure....

I was finally able to upload my videos of the girls playing Guitar Hero.
Aren't they hilarious?

I tried everything to rotate this video with no success. Sorry.

Meet my Little Ladies

Went to pick up my hens yesterday. They are Banty's which means they are much smaller than a regular hen (therefore: less food consumed, less poop and smaller eggs). I have 2 Ameraucana's and 1 Barred. The barred is already laying and we got our first egg this morning! The Ameraucana's may be laying but the woman we got them from isn't quite sure. In any case, they should begin laying soon.

The biggest challenge is Amos. No surprise there! We can't figure out if he's excited or terrified. Maybe a little of both. But he sits at the back door whining and scratching to go out and when he's out he is barking and terrorizing the chickens!

I hope I learned my Lesson!

Things have been going fairly well on the allergy elimination diet. Surprisingly I've had very few moments of truly craving a food I shouldn't have. I've done a good job of keeping the pantry stocked with foods I can eat. I have felt quite satisfied with the food options I have. I have been eating more vegetables and fruit, cooking more and eating out less (or almost never...I've been to Burgerville twice and the only thing I could eat were french fries, not a good option.)

After one month of success, and two more weeks until I can begin introducing some foods back into my diet, I made a big mistake this last weekend. I was making cookies for a wedding reception (LOTS of cookies), and they looked so good, I decided to take a taste of the cookie dough.

Well do you think you could resist oatmeal cookies with golden raisins, coconut and nuts?

Then that bite turned into more bites. Then I ate a baked cookie (and they were quite large). Then grandma came over with a VERY LARGE cookie for the kids. You know the kind the size of a pizza. And since I'd already blown it that day, and even though I was in the middle of making a healthy bean soup for dinner I made the big mistake of taking a taste of that VERY LARGE, chocolate chunk cookie. Then one bite turned into more bites. Then it was time to go to the reception, where there were even more cookies than the ones I made. I didn't eat another cookie, but I did eat some bread and fondue.

What was I thinking?

I guess I just wanted to make sure to expose my body to all of the major food groups I was to avoid...wheat....sugar....dairy. I felt a little yucky that night. But the real suffering kicked in the next day. I guess after avoiding said foods my stomach had a little seizure or something. I was in so much pain. The surprising point? That pain lasted for 3 days!

Today I feel much better, but not completely back to where I was before the lapse in judgement. I think I needed to screw up to realized how great I was feeling before. And I did feel great! I know at times it will be difficult to avoid the foods that cause me pain, but I think after that experience I can remember that the suffering afterward is NOT worth it!

And really, if I can still eat food like this I will be ok. I have been experimenting with flours and sweeteners that I can eat and tonight we had blueberry waffles for dinner that were delicious! Especially because I can have real maple syrup with them. I also made a peach and blackberry crisp that brought on visions of summer with each bite, and I had lots of bites. YUM!

Urban Farm Fresh Eggs

I'm going have chickens again. This time on a much smaller scale. I'm getting 3 banty's, which are much smaller, therefore we have a smaller coop. Hopefully this will be easier to maintain, yet give us an adequate number of eggs for our family. Mario is always so willing to take on MY projects. He worked most of the day to finish up the project. It's done except for the nesting boxes-they need to have a hinge on them so we can open them and retrieve the eggs. I've got the chickens reserved for me, and I decided to get hens that are just about ready to begin laying. This will be easier than raising them from chicks (though maybe not as much fun for the kids), and we won't have to wait long for the eggs.

Amos trying out the chicken coop.

I wonder how much he will terrorize the newest animals to join our family?

Happy Valentine's Day, my sweet!

He really does make me laugh, every day! I may not always be in a good mood (OK, I can be a moody bitch to live with) but he always does something that makes me laugh. Take this picture above. For no reason he puts on his cowboy hat, climbs into bed, and makes some smart ass comment that cracks me up. Or when he acts like Amos to get attention (because everyone thinks I love Amos the most). Or the night the girls dared him to run outside in the snow, 20 degrees outside, in his spandex. I have pictures. But really, it would be mean to post them!

Thanks, honey for putting up with me. For making me laugh. For being willing to have fun with me. For listening, talking and growing with me. For taking care of our family. I love you for giving me a life I've never had before. A life of love, trust and fun!

Family Sleepover

Kathy, Rene, Mario, Kelli, Savannah and Amos. Tyler was taking the picture.

Rene and Mario

I really love entertaining. Usually it's my family or our closest friends, who are just like family, that we are entertaining. And it's usually just a meal or game night.

I love cleaning the house, preparing the food and using my best dishes.

But having Mario's brother Rene and his wife Kathy stay with us was an extra special entertaining. I guess because I don't really know them it felt like I was really hosting guests. I spent two days cleaning the house. REALLY cleaning. Like scrubbing the silverware drawer and sweeping away cobwebs. I even got the dust bunnies under my bed! Now that felt good.

I made reservations at a restaurant in West Linn, five-o-three . I realized on the way there that it wasn't such a smart idea to take out of town guests to a restaurant you yourself have never been to. My choice was based on the fact that I had a gift certificate to use (so me!), but the choice turned out to be a good one. The portions were not large, but the freshness and flavor were wonderful. The waiter was helpful in helping me choose a dish that would work with my dietary restrictions. The only difference I would make next time is to NOT share a dish with Mario. I wish I'd had the full order to myself!

We had a lovely visit and stayed up late after dinner eating popcorn and visiting. They are a lovely couple. As Savannah put it, they just seem so nice and perfect, and yet sincere. The next morning Mario had to leave before any of us woke up, but I loved preparing a breakfast of eggs, french toast and orange slices for the rest of us. I thought it might be awkward to be home alone with them, but it was not. It was comfortable the way it should be with family. Mario's family always makes me feel this way.

I hope we will have many more opportunities to spend time with those we love!

Guitar Hero

So around here we are still totally stoked about our Wii. I think I'm the most excited of all. Not just because I love the games. (I do) But because I think it's the most time we've spent together as a family in a long time. And it's the most fun we've had together, too. When someone turns it on it seems that everyone congregates to that area and begins watching, soon they want to join in, which inevitably leads to some kind of competition.

Last week I asked the girls to teach me how to play Guitar Hero. I felt like a big, uncoordinated dummy to begin with. My whole body was tensed up, my wrists would hurt and my eyes would go buggy after a few songs. But I was surprised at how fun and addicting it is. I knew I was improving when I could play a song without my butt being tensed up :)

Then I found "World Tour" on craiglist. This is an entire band; microphone for vocals, drums, guitar and bass. We haven't been able to play all four at the same time because we only have 2 wiimotes, but we're on the hunt for two more (they're just so dang expensive!) But so far it's fun to play 2 at a time.

We've been unlocking new games on the wii fit, too. My new favorite is the boxing. It doesn't seem like much of a work out, but boy am I out of breath afterwards, and every muscle in my back hurts. I've even lost 2 pounds since making my mii. I still have a long way until she's not chubby, but I'm going to make a valiant effort anyway.

I took some video of the girls playing our "World Tour" band, but I haven't been able to upload them. I'll put them up when I figure that out. Maybe I'll even give you a little peak at my boxing.

Doesn't Emilia just look like a cool rocker chick?

Savannah is unbeatable on the guitar, even with Amos sleeping on her.