The Week In Pictures - March 20th

     This week was spring break for us.  I was SO ready for it and had big plans for all of the things that I was going to accomplish.  And almost none of my 'list' got done. Looking back, I now realize that I had completely unrealistic expectations of how the week was going to go.  Ha. Funny how things work that way sometimes.  All in all, it was a good week, though. We stuck close to home and enjoyed time with friends and explored new places. 

     Spring has definitely sprung here in Oklahoma.  We enjoyed beautiful weather the first part of the week.  The cold has come back for a few days, though--seems like it happens this way EVERY year--and scarf weather is not quite past us!

The Week in Pictures

     This past week was a full week of school, exploring, and being challenged to live a life of LOVE! The boys and I started the week off visiting the park that we used to live behind.  Though I do love where we are now, I miss the big park with it's walking trail and open spaces.  The boys had a blast hunting for crayfish after a spring rain, while I walked the trail and tried to capture spring with some pictures! 

October Favorite Things: The Colors of Fall and Cider!

I love the colors of fall, the warm reds, oranges, bright yellows, and purples!  Mums are always a favorite of mine to have on the front porch, along with a few pumpkins and perhaps some pansies!  We pulled most of the old landscape in the front of our new house and have yet to put anything back in.  So, having some color on the front porch is nice, especially considering that there isn't much grass in our front yard at the moment either.  All in good time!

I also love the smell of cider simmering on the stove top during the fall!  My favorite cider recipe is very simple to make.  Just take some basic bottled apple cider that you can find at most stores (just make sure that the only ingredient is apples!) and pour some into a saucepan.  Add a cinnamon stick, a few whole cloves, and 3-4 thin slices of a naval orange.  Let is simmer on low for an hour or two, depending on how long you have.  The longer it simmers, the better it gets! Enjoy!

October Favorite Things: Chickens and Bees

One of my favorite things about living where we live now is that we finally have chickens again!  We really enjoyed having them when we lived in California!  A few weeks ago, we were able to purchase some Rhode Island Reds, not quite at egg laying age.  They've been so funny to watch, but as of yet they haven't been quite a friendly as our old chickens.  These are easily scared and don't seem very interested in us yet.  Hopefully that will change.

We have made an interesting discovery, though.  We've wondered from the start if two of our seven 'hens' were actually roosters.  I did some research into the matter today.  We have yet to hear them crow, but are 99% sure that we've got two roosters on our hands.  They've got saddle feathers, huge tail feathers, and strut around like a rooster might.  Yikes.  So, we'll what happens with that!

As for bees, they are still on the list.  At this point, I'm hoping for early spring!