Archive for June, 2013

Ring Master MomJune 26, 20132 Comments

My Little Ladies

My husband James grew up with chickens in his backyard while living in Australia. My Aunt had them too, but it wasn’t something I was excited about until I actually had my own backyard and was trying to figure out what to do with all of this space! James and I lived in a one bedroom apartment till our son was born and we moved on up to a two bedroom condo. Once we ran out of room with our daughter, we were lucky enough to score a house with a great backyard.

We didn’t add chickens right away, but what sparked my interest even more was one of my friends suggested we take a class together in raising chickens. Since I knew little to nothing, but James knowing so much, I thought it was a perfect opportunity to play catch-up with chicken knowledge.

http://www.growbetterveggies.com/ Love Apple Farms holds tons of great classes and I was distracted before I could even register for one!! I’m pumped to have bees at some point, but my hubby not so much.

The grounds are beautiful to say the least, and this was the view – in the Santa Cruz Mountains

Lots of greenery between the classroom and where chickens and goats were kept

This guy loved the attention

The class was easy to understand and we got 4 chicks at the end!! I was trying not to squee too loudly when we walked in and this is what we saw

These 4 came home with me and it was great to watch everyone hold and love them

and watch them sleep

They grew super quickly

and love exploring our backyard.

Here they are in their awkward teen phase – middle of losing their fluff and gaining feathers. The black one is named Lacey since she’s a laced wyandotte, Matilda is the golden one and she is a buff cochin. The other two are Betsy and Abigail, named for famous American ladies since they are the ameraucana breed.

Once they were old enough to go outside, James built a lovely coop and then we added a chicken run for them. The first night in their new coop, my son Patrick stayed by their side to make sure they all went upstairs to sleep together. He always calls them his girls!

They don’t produce eggs yet, but it’s great to show the kids a little responsibility and see how the interact with the girls.

Here they are at 2 months old. I can’t wait for fresh eggs soon!

Ring Master MomJune 18, 2013Leave a comment

Nail Polish

I love painting my nails. It lasts longer than makeup (and those of you who know me know how often I wear any!) and there are an endless amount of ideas with color combinations and decorations. I have always had a large collection, starting back to when I was about 12. I used to keep everything in a giant tin but that made it difficult to view all of the colors. I bought this great storage rack and love how everything is now out in the open. My two favorite brands are Sinful Colors (can’t beat the price, selection, and durability) and Chanel (always first with the next “It” color and the polish glides on perfectly every time.)

Ring Master MomJune 18, 2013Leave a comment

Play

A great place to take kids that’s nearby is play located in Downtown Los Altos. My kids love the variety of toys which seem to be switched out constantly. They have a reading corner, foam pit for kids with lots of energy, craft room, building blocks, costume closet, thinking toys, a music area in addition to yoga, music teachers, etc.
There’s a new theme each week so there’s always something new to create and explore. This is one of those best kept secrets around here and one place my kids always request we go.

From our last few visits:

Ring Master MomJune 18, 2013Leave a comment

Organization and Cleaning

I try to have a clean house. Having one with two little ones and a husband who counts as a little one is next to impossible. I am not at the extreme of having it vacuumed every night and you can probably pick up some dust if you slid your finger over my mantle, but everyone has to pick up their toys (hubby included!) before bedtime.

Anyone who knew me as a child knew that my room was messy. Jillian Jigs is too close to real life. Every toy and piece of clothing was out and I did not mind. Everything would be shoved into my closet for any family event, but it was a disaster most of the time. It wasn’t until i heard this piece of advice as a teen that it finally clicked for me. “Put everything away in the correct spot the first time.” When I heard that, I thought to myself, “Well, DUH.” Guess who didn’t do that, though – me. I would pick up a bracelet and put it on my bed and it would move around in a magical dance just like the sorcerer’s apprentice. Except that it never made it to the correct spot.

I started finally putting things in their correct location and was surprised at how quickly i was able to clean. A modern day miracle, right? It seems like it because a lot of friends want to know who my housekeeper is (currently she’s a cranky lady who doesn’t get paid enough…hint, it’s me) or how my children have clean rooms. As long as you put something where it belongs, you’ll have a house clean in no time, and always know where your car keys are located.