better!

Hi ladies!  I have had such a productive and restful past few days, I thought it was time to take a break and blog about it.  All in random order, as usual!

We were all really sick last week.  After we got home from Preschool on Wednesday, Shea threw up out of nowhere, and then continued to throw up every 30 to 60 minutes after.  Then Jeremy started to feel sick and also was up the entire night throwing up.  Thankfully, Hailey only did it once and then worked everything out the other end, but she definitely felt sick - the next day, everyone stayed in bed until 11AM (unheard of in our house!) and then laid on the couch doing nothing.  I felt sick all Wednesday night and Thursday, but didn't throw up until the evening.  I'm glad Jeremy was home from work - we basically traded off sleeping and taking care of the kids.  We all went to bed at 6:30 on Thursday night and got out of bed around 8 the following morning.  It still took a couple more days to feel totally back to normal, but oh my goodness, I am SO thankful to not be so sick!  I completely cleaned and sterilized the house - I think I did 9 loads of laundry between all the towels and sheets and blankets we went through.  Not to mention that nearly every time the kids threw up we had to change our clothes (me included).

Of course, Saturday night, Shea got a cold and so he has been sick the past two days with that.  Today he has just laid on the couch listening to Magic Treehouse on CD and took a nap.  I hate to see my kids sick, but honestly, it was a nice break today to be able to catch up on some projects I have been wanting to get to.

I finally made my winter warmer pillows!  I am happy with how they are turning out.  I need to make a few more tags and get some more thread before I can finish the rest, but here are some pictures!   These are my three options for covers: a soft white fleece, a tan muslin and a printed gray muslin.  The actual pouch with the corn kernels is a bright green muslin.  I still need to take real pictures, make tags with use/care instructions, and figure out shipping costs before listing them on my shop, and finish putting together about 20 more covers, although they will be partly made-to-order, so its not essential to have them all done before listing, it just takes much less time to do them in assembly-line type production.  It takes nearly no time at all to make these, and I am surprised that I am enjoying making something so mundane.  I also finished this small messenger bag and 3 other bags I need to take pictures of and list.  I have so many other projects in my head I want to get to, but I am making myself finish these warmer bags first.

Jeremy and I have been out in the yard nearly every day this past week - the sunshine has been wonderful!  We put Hailey down for a nap and then head out.  I have never enjoyed working in the yard so much, and it is starting to look so much nicer.  I haven't quite gotten into the vegetable garden area yet, but will be in there soon.  Here is the bed I have been working on - I wish I had taken a before picture - it was SO crowded and crazy looking.  Jeremy added in the fence (from a different part of the property where we took it down) and I did a ton of raking and pulling up plants.  This area makes me happy and encouraged to tackle more of our yard - there is SO much to do with all the area we have around us, I don't think we will ever run out of projects.

I am halfway through this book.  I think it is the best book on gardening in our area I have read so far!  I am really excited to start our garden and am trying to get through it as fast as possible so I can start with a bit more knowledge this year.

And of course, some pictures of the kids!  Hailey is always cracking me up.  I wish I had a picture of her from yesterday - before leaving for church, the kids were playing babies together.   They were walking around with the baby carseat and Hailey was pushing the stroller with babies and had her little purse on her shoulder.  When it was time to leave, she got her coat AND her purse and wore it to church, carrying it everywhere with her.  So crazy how old she is getting. 

I gave Hailey her first braid this week!  It's amazing that she stands still for it.  I ask her if she wants me to braid her hair, and she will nod her head, get the brush, and go stand by the couch.  How very different it is to have a girl :)

Our chickens are getting big, fast!  I don't know if I mentioned in my last post that we picked up 3 more?  Well, they are going through their food super fast now - one almost escaped from the box yesterday.  I am getting excited for when they can move outside.  It will be much easier to clean their coop than this box, and they can have a bigger feeder then too.