I felt like I had a very productive day yesterday. I went out and did a huge grocery trip with the kids. Finally restocked our pantry and have an actual meal plan for the next week and a half. I got caught up on some cleaning and cooking, and have a little more I want to make ahead and freeze today.
I spent some time playing Legos with Shea while Hailey napped and did diaper laundry. I still haven't gotten us back into the swing of schoolwork or me working out yet, but I decided to just let it go until Monday.
After dinner, The power went out at 6:30PM and didn't come back on until 7:30 this morning. I'm not sure why, it wasn't stormy at all last night. It came at just the right time though - after dinner and after I finally got a shower.
There was Kingdom Kids up at the church, so we decided to go see if there was any power. There wasn't, but it was just Shea and his cousins there, so Gramma and Papa (who run it) did songs and puppet shows in the dark, and then they shared a snack. All the kids had so much fun - it was such a special night. I remember having "black out" night at Awana growing up, and loving it so much. When we came home, we put the kids in bed and heated up some tea water on the wood stove. Jeremy really wanted toast so he made some on the stove and we ate it while reading our books with flashlights. After a bit, we just cuddled under blankets and played a card game. I don't know why the power being out instantly makes me feel like I'm 10 years old again, but I love it. It is such an interruption to life. It was so quiet in the house without the refrigerator or Hailey's fan going. The kids slept great anyway, and I loved the quiet. I forget how out in the country we are. And how thankful I am that we heat our house with a wood stove when the power goes out!
1. cleaned the kitchen, including the empty canisters in the pantry, cleaned and prepped all of our vegetables for the week. 2. made a mushroom, black bean, and brown rice soup - it was AMAZING and devoured by all of us. 3. it poured rain and I enjoyed sitting on our couch listening to it come down on the skylights. I even walked outside for a moment and stood in it. So refreshing. 4. Reading again. I'm actually ready 4 books right now. One that I can't put down is, "The Hidden Aggression of Girls". I've had it sitting by my bed since summer, and am only now getting to it. I have several more coming from the library too, so I need to finish these! And my book club is starting up again with a new book, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle".
My binder. This has been a brainchild for a while and I finally found some time yesterday to put it all together. It has our "rhythm" (sort of a daily guideline of what we do and when it happens), a to-do list for me, activity/school plans for the kids (a weekly and a monthly sheet for planning), meal planning and grocery lists, and a monthly calendar. It has been very helpful the last few days in keeping myself focused on the house and kids during the day, and my hobbies and interests at other times. It also helps me keep my goals and to-do list shortened so I don't try to go crazy getting everything done and not have enough energy for the kids.
Jeremy and I have been getting antsy to get outside and start getting the yard ready for spring. I have lots of plans in my head for our garden this year - I'm excited I get to start earlier! But I need to get it down on paper and start collecting some seeds. Our chickens will be hatching any day now - one of them hatched early, but the others haven't shown any signs yet. My friend, Amber, who is part of the preschool co-op, has a big flock and we have been talking casually this past year about getting some chickens from her. She is giving me about 10 chicks for free, and I'm going to take the kids over to see them hatch when they are ready. They will live in a box for about a month or so before we move them outside. Jeremy's dad is building us a chicken coop for Christmas and has been collecting lots of wood for free the past few weeks. Shea is ecstatic about having pet chicks and has been coming up with names already.
So, expect a lot of cute little chick pictures soon, ha ha.
We will probably give back any roosters we end up with, I think we are just going to have hens for a while and then possibly add to the flock later on with some fertilized eggs. I am picking up a book from the library today titled, "The Chicken Whisperer", so hopefully I learn the rest of what I need to know from that for now! Looks like my little homestead is starting to come together :)
Currently, the kids are playing peacefully together in the other room, I really want to heat up the leftover coffee from breakfast and enjoy a sip before I get going on cleaning up from breakfast and tidying up before Jeremy gets back (he's only working a few hours today) and we go out to finish some errands.
Love to all!
What a great post Becca! I loved reading about all the fun you had during your power outage. I haven't experienced a long one in awhile, it would definitely remind me of being a kid too. That's so wonderful that you guys have a wood stove! I hope that someday when we have a house (or next time we move), we'll have a wood stove. I love the heat and smell they give off, and plus they are great backup for when the power goes out in winter. Your backyard is so green! I forget how green Washington stays through winter. Outside we just have brown and white, it'll be awhile until I can feast my eyes on green grass. I'm excited to hear how your chickens go! It'll be so fun for the kids, you have to tell us what Shea names them all. :)
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