easter from Josie's point of view

While hosting Easter, my niece Josie grabbed my camera and took about a hundred pictures. What a gift to the host! I love going through them, seeing the day from her perspective and how she chose to capture each part. She's got a cool eye for pictures...very candid and artsy.

we got baby chicks!

Well, we have some introductions to make. These sweet chicks have joined our family and we love them to pieces and one day, we may eat them in pieces. But until then, I'd like to introduce you to six chicks. 

First, meet Eggs.

Before we got our chicks we asked Ivar what we should name a chicken, and he replied quickly, "Eggs." This sweet chick is called an Easter Egger, as she has the blue egg gene. How fun would that be?!! Naturally, when we learned this fun fact, we decided that she would be Eggs. (Note: there is a 50/50 chance each of these ladies is a rooster. Time will tell.)

We love Legos. I know you're not supposed to have favorites, but we sort of do. On Saturday, just before we left to pick these birds up we asked Ivar for another name. He was playing with his duplos at the time. The awesome part about Legos is that she is one of those chickens with the feathery/furry legs! She is a Cochin Chicken, and super sweet to hold.

Ivar loves for me to retell him stories from our day. This is a huge part of our bedtime routine. So when I tell the story of our chickens I tell him, "...And then the four of us drove to Zumbrota and got our chicks from Theri." We found Theri through Craigslist after realizing many places have a minimum order or 25 chicks. She is wonderful and had such an amazing variety. I would have never imagined we could have such unique birds. Zumbrota is also a feathered foot Cochin.

Ivar named this one too.  It was a random name choice, but actually fitting in a way since on the way home, with chicks peeping on my lap, we stopped at McDonalds drive through. We told Ivar that out of respect, we wouldn't order chicken nuggets. The girl at the window asked how our day was going and we told her awesome...we got baby chicks. She was super excited and asked to see them, so Rory held the box tipped through the window so she could see.

Hamburger is a New Hampshire Red and after the photo shoot today Ivar has lengthened Hamburger's name to Hamburgerpoopedonthecarpet. That bird will never live this one down.

Our very favorite line from the Little House books is in Farmer Boy. Almonzo is six and oversleeps one bitter winter morning when he is supposed to be doing his chores in the barn. His mother yells up the stairs, "Monzo! You be sick? It's 5:30!"

Rory and I wake each other up with this line quite often. At like 8:15.

Almonzo is a Welsummer and will lay dark brown eggs.

I got so excited to name our chicks after I read a friend's blog post about her chickens. Her kids named the birds, and one of her boys named his Chocolate Chip Cookies. I laughed out loud. What a great name.

This was our last bird to name and with such lovely butterscotch coloring, I thought this bird might be excited to know it has a buddy in another state.

Butterscotch Cookies is a Buckeye.

We are in love with these birds. It's hard not to get attached. They currently live in the downstairs bathroom in a cardboard box with a heat lamp. I spend a lot of time holding them. Rory is drawing up plans for the chicken coop. And Ivar keeps asking for a butterscotch cookie.

March Reflections: the importance of sleep and melting snow

March was a slow month with lots more snow and cold while rejoicing at every single sign of spring!

Above, Elsie is wearing a bonnet that I wore when I was her age. I love it. I think she'll be wearing it a lot this spring. Because guess what? She's a red head. Not sure when I can officially call it, maybe baby hair changes color? But at the moment it seems I will have a fair skinned, red head. (As if she could get any cuter!) I'm already nervous about skin protection.

Alright, without further adieu, here are my March Reflections:

Sleep is WONDERFUL
Elsie is sleeping for 10-12 hour stretches now. And we are new creations. I still wake up and obsess over stupid things and am trying really hard to break the middle-of-the-night routine of self critique. Reading lots of books and having helpful conversations. Feels like progress.

Long Winters eventually bring Great Joy
Historically, I like winter. I always get excited about snow and on the whole, enjoy the season. But this year it was so cold and the ice made walks outside treacherous. So outdoor play wasn't really an option, walks seemed risky and the winter was/is long (25 degrees today...) Everyone is feeling it. Everyone.

However. When the snow does start to melt and the temperatures do warm up, there is a shared elation that it hard to describe. If it's 40 degrees we ditch our big coats and make fast runs from our cars into buildings. People attack their driveways with gladness, helping the water flow into the street, assisting the snow in melting faster anyway we can. Some shovel their banks out onto the road so the blacktop can melt it quickly. We get desperate. We are ready to see green grass and tulips and daffodils and tree buds. The sound of ripping the plastic off of our windows sounds like many hallelujahs. We are so ready.

Brussels Sprouts
I've been making brussels sprouts for lunch lately. And it was only after emailing someone about this new favorite veggie did I realize that the Brussels is plural. I've always called them Brussel Sprouts.

Now, if you're looking for something yummy, put some olive oil (quite a bit) and onion in a skillet, throw in your halved brussels sprouts, let them brown up nicely, cover with a lid and then add some chopped salami or ham or already cooked bacon. And then sprinkle with a bit of sugar (they are so bitter!) or some chopped apple and walnuts and finally some Parmesan cheese (I like shaved...)  It is so yummy and hearty and Rory likes it too.

Ivar does not.

I am not finished yet.
I hosted the Groves family for Easter yesterday. It was my first time hosting for a holiday since we now have the room to have the family over. The day was nice, but I didn't have the coffee stuff together for the dessert, didn't have the forks or spoons ready and just felt sort of scattered. I told Rory that I want to check out some Emily Post books at the library and maybe take one of those refining classes where you balance books on your head. Rory said, "you mean finishing school?" And I said, "Yes! I am not finished yet!"

And now, be sure to come back tomorrow for a big announcement. We have added to our family. More than doubled it, in fact. These pictures might kill you with cuteness.

holy week

A friend of mine pointed me towards Ann Voskamp's blog this week. The quote from above is from Thursday's post and her words gently reminded me of the gravity of holy week, of our savior who suffered and therefore knows our suffering. When I read her writing I remembered His wondrous love. It seems every holy week I am in need of a reminder like this. It's why I love Palm Sunday, Maunday Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday so much.

And then I read Beth Moore's imaginative story of what may have happened between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. If you have a few minutes I highly encourage you to go and read this retelling.

a request for prayers

 "Calvin is now resting in the Pediatric ICU. The surgery went well. Once started the plan to go forward with the graft proved successful! This was what we were feeling God said the plan would be. This is also the less traumatic to Calvin's body."

This came in last night. Please continue to keep Calvin in your prayers. He will be sedated until Wednesday so this fight isn't over, but the surgery went well and for that we are all so grateful. 

Earlier this week my favorite miracle, Calvin, turned two years old. I wrote last time about Calvin after he walked into my kitchen with his mom and dad. You can read all about that visit here.

Today Calvin is going back to the hospital for another surgery. And in the words of his dad, this is the most complicated and medically dangerous surgery yet.

His dad wrote the following on his Caring Bridge site:
"Over the past weeks as the surgery date keeps getting closer we have felt the weight of the situation set in heavier and heavier.  We have been called upon by God to bring up this little boy and take care of him.  We know he is God and continually have had to give him up through this process time and again.  Although we didn’t have to wait like Abraham did for Isaac, we do feel Calvin is a promise and we have to bring him to the alter again.  I never would have known the weight that comes with this if he wasn't my own son, being a father puts a spin on it.  I feel these past two years have brought me closer to understanding God’s love for us, that he sent his son to be in our place.  

With that all said, a peace about everything has been given to us.  Please pray for continued peace, health, strength and endurance to keep up with this race.  Specifically for the surgery pray, for wisdom, that God’s hands will perform the surgery, a hedge of protection and quick healing for Calvin.  We are calling on you, our prayer team, to pray, enlist more warriors to join us in petitioning heaven for this little boys most complicated and medically dangerous surgery yet.  We thank you for standing with us.  The surgery will start at 3pm on Friday and is planned for 3 to 4 hours.  We will update once we have news to report.  Please comment and let us know where you are praying for Calvin, it comforts us to know our friends are with us."

So today, on Good Friday, please pray for little Calvin. And for Scott and Emily, his strong and courageous mom and dad.