Spring Break, My Birthday and Easter!

Ryan had a second opportunity to go to Nepal over spring break with peers and students at Willamette University, and the kids and I braved it out home alone.  Well, thankfully Aunt Leah was around to co-parent with me!  With her help, we had a successful week - after a pretty rocky start.  My long time pet and sweetest cat ever, Supi, fell ill the Wednesday that Ryan left for the airport.  I picked her up that evening from the vet and we were able to spend one last evening cuddling and loving her.  

As part of her farewell, I went through old pictures and the kids drew some for her as well.  She is buried up under the big apple tree in our yard, and will be a sparkling kitty star in the sky for the rest of time.  

We had one nice day before a week of constant rain, so we were able to get some gardening done after a breakfast of pancakes.  

 The kids also each earned $10 of spring break spending money, which they decided to add to their piggy bank funds to pick out some new toys.  Kyran wanted a pet fish (meet Blu-bluey, the Betta), and...

Sylvie is the (very) proud owner of a brand new Easy Bake oven.  

The week was filled with indoor activities, 

and after Ryan got back...

it was the next spring event....getting chicks!  

We've added four to our existing flock - Dotty, Daisy, Fwhitty, and Teenie are joining Welsum, Nettie, and Astrid.  The chicks  live in a tub in our living room and are growing amazingly fast.  

Quickly around the corner from that was my birthday!  We celebrated the Sunday prior, and took a nice hike and picnic up to Bald Hill.  It was a beautiful day. 

We came home and had my dinner choice - pad thai with angel food cake, berries, chocolate and cream.  I got some wonderful gifts, 

and a BIG surprise!

I can't wait to hit the water on my new board.  I was so excited to have this gift, and very touched by everyone's birthday gifts and greetings.  Thank you all!  I also had the privilege of having my birthday cake on my actual birthday baked by my daughter!  Yum!  

And then Easter was hot on the heels of my birthday.  We decorated our front window and planted Easter grass in preparation.

On Easter Eve, we decorated eggs prepped food for the big day.  

The kids made out pretty well with their Easter baskets this year!

And it was a lovely morning for an egg hunt.  

We had a nice meal of brisket, potatoes, black eyed peas, asparagus, and of course, lamb cake!

Signs of Spring

We had a few days of wonderful weather this past weekend, and went to work on our yard.  Our plum tree was blossoming, and the whole orchard smelled lovely.  

We revamped our raspberry patch, and made some improvements to our blueberry patch.  Hopefully we'll increase our yield this year.  We also added two new variety of cherry trees to the front yard.

Kyran was quite the helper, and let the chickens out to do some work in the raised beds.  He made sure they were all back in the coop.  

I battled many blackberries, to some degree of success.  I won't post a picture of my arms, but let's just say I have some war wounds!  Blackberries would take over if we let them.  And unfortunately, our blackberry "weeds" don't even produce berries!

Spring break is next week, and we hope do some veggie planting and get our new chicks. Spring has sprung!

February

February has been a busy month at our house.  Of course, one of the big highlights is Valentines Day.  We enjoyed making and sending valentines to friends and family and schoolmates...and receiving some in return!  Prior to the big day, Corvallis was hit with another huge snowstorm and we enjoyed another break from work and school.

Sylvie "celebrated" her half birthday - halfway to eight already!

As a Valentines Day surprise, we surprised the kids with a quick trip to a cabin near Bend.  We had a great time ice skating, sledding, hot tubbing, and spending time by the fire playing games and watching the Olympics.

Lastly, I got to go on a trip of my own - I made a trip to Seattle to visit some old and dear friends.  It was a lovely time.

Weekend at Home with the Kids

The kids and I spent some quality time together when Ryan traveled to New York City this past weekend to play a concert with one of the projects he is involved in, the Douglas Detrick's Anywhen Ensemble. He was excited for this trip, as their new cd was being released...and he'd get to spend some time in the big city with his brother and other friends. 

Back in Corvallis, Sylvie was hard at work selling Girl Scout cookies.  Thanks to family and friends, and her hard work hitting the streets and knocking on doors, she was able to sell 161 boxes...which qualified her for a Samoa charm bracelet incentive.  Needless to say, she was ecstatic to meet that mark.   

Friday night we had pizza and movie night, and the kids went to bed wanting pancakes for breakfast.  I had anticipated that, so I had picked up some buttermilk to make Great-grandma Holen's recipe.  The kids were overjoyed.  We shared stories of my Grandma Schroeder making the same recipe for me when I was a kid, and how if cousin Hanna was there, I would have had to make a double batch!  

I finished up a t-shirt dress I had made for one of Sylvie's friends birthdays, which was easy and fun - using an old t-shirt and attaching a skirt with ties.  Sylvie tried it on for me, and was happy to give it as a gift...as long as I make one for her too.  

Since I was in full-on homemaker mode, I also whipped up a batch of Chestnut Flour chocolate chunk muffins.  Since going gluten-free three years ago, I've been exploring different baking options.  Using nut flours instead of alternative grains is something I've been liking more and more.  

Also, I decided it was finally time to do something with all the felted wool sweaters I had been saving up, so I cut them up into some squares and sewed up a blanket...which both Kyran and the cat put to immediate use.  

These lucky kiddos also had a post-Christams package from their Grandma Biesack - super fun gifts!  Sylvie got a Pippi Longstocking book, movie, and dolls.  We read two chapters immediately.  Kyran got some new markers and an art pad, and already has put together quite the collection of drawings.  Also, an Etch a Sketch!  

After the kids went to bed, Leah and I continued with our "Girls" marathon.  I hadn't seen the show, and we decided to try to make it through both seasons while it was just us girls (which, I'm sad to admit, also meant that there were several technological difficulties with the whole production!).  We ate plenty of popcorn and made it well into Season 2. 

On Sunday, it was time to get the house ready for Ryan's return.  The kids helped with cleaning and baking a welcome home cake.  Once it was ready, they were on the edge of their seats watching out the window for their dad.  

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