Happy Easter

This year I was so excited for Easter. It was Liam's first and he actually was old enough to semi-participate. I set the easter baskets all up.

As soon as Chris and Liam woke up I set Liam right in front of the baskets. I anticipated him taking everything out since that is what he likes to do lately. And...

He wanted nothing to do with them. Didn't even want to look at them.  So I figured we could go outside and take some nice pictures and. . . 

All he did was cry. All day long. . . frustrating to say the least. All my hopes were dashed.  Oh well. Maybe next year.

We tried out his new bubbles. Which made him stop crying long enough to get this picture.

And this one. 

We did finally get his attention by bringing the chicks outside to play. He liked this, except when we wouldn't let him touch them.

The chicks seemed to think that Chris was Mama Hen.  They hung out around/on him the whole time

And when he left them they all huddled together and squawked until he came back. All in all it wasn't a bad day. After this we went to church and Liam seemed to calm down. After that we had a nice meal and walk.  It just made me realize there is no planning when it comes to kids. Sometimes they have hard days just like we do, even on holidays.

A bonus picture of Zoe enjoying Easter :)

Springtime

I am going to start this post by saying I am a hippie. That is right. I bottle my own food, my son wears cloth diapers, I recycle, and now we have some chickens :) 

This is how I was raised, and I never knew how odd it was until I started working, and talking to people at work.  They are all amazed that I would do crazy things like recycle, or grow my own food, or heaven forbid cloth diaper (gasp).  They would talk to me like I was a crazy person. Why would I go through all the trouble of doing all that work when I can go to the grocery store, buy already bottled food and disposable diapers, and just throw away all the excess. Why do I do this?  I feel accomplished, I love knowing exactly where my food came from, or exactly what touches my son's precious bum. It also feels right in a way I cannot explain. This is how people survived for centuries, and I love that I can live my life a little closer to that.

The time of year has come to start readying the garden. Liam loves to help. It is a nightly ritual that we go outside. Chris and I work while Liam gets as dirty as he possibly can.

He loves the grass, but does not like it to touch his bare skin, so he crawls around like this.

So happy to be outside

Do leaves taste good?

Dirt sure does not! 

A cocoon I found out in my garden. I am pretty sure it is a moth, but I have never seen one hatch so we are going to try.

I cannot wait until my garden starts producing.  Last year I didn't get as much bottling done as I would have liked because we had a brand new baby to figure out.  As a result we ran out of salsa, tomato sauce, and applesauce in February. That leaves us with at least 6 months of wasting money on grocery store food. . . So my goal this year is to get ALOT of canning done. After all we have one more mouth to feed ;) 

In Loving Memory of Tuck

Tuck. . . We will alway remember 

How much you loved to play.

How much you loved your walks.

How you could close cabinets.

How you loved to eat wasabi, or anything for that matter.

How you loved to dig in the pillows.

How you would do anything for a treat.

How you loved to go on car rides.

How much you loved the garden.

How you loved to drink water out of the shower.

How much you loved us.

But especially how much you loved Liam. 

Anytime he was on the floor you would come over and lick him.

You always wanted to sleep in his room.

If we couldn't find you it was because you were under the crib.

If Liam cried you would waddle into his room to go check on him.

Liam would tug on your hair and you would just let him.

But most of all we will remember how much we loved you. 

You were the best pup anyone could ask for.

We love you and miss you terribly.

Save us a spot in puppy heaven.