life is good

time flies.  i really hate that it does.

we had a great time in st. george.  the temple was awesome, 7 hours in barnes and noble- uninterupted, and we went hiking.  it was great.  

while we were gone, preston had his induction into the n.h.s.  i guess it was kinda cool. 

it's spring break, which i'm so excited for.  but it doesn't feel anything like spring.  i'm hating the weather these days.  seriously- i'm almost ready to move.  9 months of winter and 3 months of nice is almost as bad as 9 months of summer and 3 months of nice. 

my garden is in, my starts are going crazy, and my herbs are looking good. 

between the goats, pigs, bees, ducks and chickens- it's getting a little crazy.  but the ducks are so cute.  i've got to take some pictures.  they are so much more mellow and fun to watch than the chicks. 

my calling is extremely demanding lately.  it seems there is always something i'm planning or shopping for regarding relief society.  tomorrow night is 'technology safety' night, and we're doing a sit down meal.  i'll be relieved when it's over. 

i love general conference weekend.  love it.  this one is going to be especially fun, and warm.  i can just tell.  :) 
 

lincy

this is what lincoln looks like on any given day at our house.

(notice the church shoes, perfectly fitting pajama pants, garden gloves, monkey backpack and batman cape.)

he INSISTED on getting this cow costume on.  size 18 mo. i believe.  he could barely move in it.

we are the champions my friend!

so, let's see- last thursday was sunny and beautiful and i made plans with will to get up saturday and plant some of our garden.  (the early stuff- broccoli, spinach, cabbage, peas, carrots, etc.)  friday morning i woke up early and when i looked out the window:

(it didn't stop our chickens from foraging out in it though.) 

so instead of planting a garden saturday (because you can't plant when the ground is mud) we did some projects around the house and cleaned out all of the cabinets in the kitchen.  not as fun, at all.

sunday was clayton's 10th birthday.  his dinner choice was fettuccine alfredo with chicken, broccoli, salad, and rosemary bread.  dessert was razzleberry pie and blondie brownies with ice cream.  (i'm sure they were good- i get to start eating sugar in 4 days!  but i'm mostly excited for oatmeal- weird, i know.) 

yesterday  i took the boys after school and got them each set up with a checking and savings account at the bank.  we should've done that a long time ago.  but now they each have a debit card and can carry that instead of cash.  clayton was thrilled.  it cracks me up.  he actually has more money than any of his brothers.  he's just better at saving.  it was also brigham's championship game for his jv basketball team.  i was a wreck.  they were down by one at the half, so i went for a walk by myself outside.  by the time i came back in they were up by 12 and there was only 4 minutes left in the game.  they won- and brig was holding the ball for the final seconds.  it was exciting and i was sooooo relieved they won!! 

AND it was dad's birthday.  (well, kind of.  it's really on the 10th, but he's celebrated it on the 8th for the past 65 years.)  so we went straight from the game to mom and dad's house for a late dinner.  he's having dinner on the 10th with his biological brother.  so much has happened there.  i'm happy for my dad- he has a whole new family to love him and become a part of his life.  it's all working out so well now. 

animal, vegetable, miracle

has anyone read this book?  written by barbara kingsolver. 

and while i'm asking questions- does anyone know much about publisher?  anyone ever use it or have opinions on it?

what EVERY 16 year-old wants

preston's birthday wish.  not even joking.  he wants it to be entirely his, as a pet, and he'll walk it around the neighborhood.  he doesn't even like our farm wanna-be lifestyle. 

i'm totally going to cave. 

finding content

i've read a lot lately about happiness, and finding content. life is so busy- and probably will be for a very long time. i find it's hard to be content with so much always going on- and so much on our plates (and minds.)

will and i are always obsessed with the next 'project'. we talk about wanting to move constantly. (just to get a farm.) we're taking on pigs, we want a cow, will wants to grow fish, the greenhouse, maybe guinea fowl, (those are funky- but fun) a duck for the kids for easter, a windmill to supplement energy for our home.... and on and on. seriously. sometimes i wonder if we should just chill and be happy with triple crown lane, our chickens, goats, and murderous dogs. :) you know- like the key to being happy is being content with the current situation.

but it's hard to do.

i have been looking all over for a magazine that just came out (it's brand new) called urban farm- sustainable city living. it's put out by a company that also does hobby farms- which is one of my favorites. so i was really excited to get my hands on this magazine. yesterday i stopped in at ifa, and they had one copy sitting on their rack. thrilled, i purchased it and before i could even read it, will had it and he and some of our friends read through the whole thing. and guess what? now there's more on our list of 'wants' and things we desire to 'take on' than there was before. this magazine was written exactly for people like us.

maybe the key to happiness and content right now is for us to stop researching so much, and just implement the things we've already decided we want to do.

all i know is lately we feel like kids in a candy store and we want to taste one of everything!

tragedy

yesterday morning we awoke to an awful situation. i got up- and one of the first things i do when i get out of bed is open the blinds and look out to see the weather/sun, and to check on our chickens. the first image i had as i looked out our bathroom window was our bassett, dixie, walking across the yard with one of our chickens in her mouth. i screamed for will. he went running out into the backyard to stop her. it was too late.

our rooster, whom we've always disliked, is gone. we can't figure out what in the world happened. he never flies over the fence. the only thing we could come up with is that he maybe flew over to collect one of the girls (because sometimes they'll fly over) and before he could get back to the other side, dixie came over to play. (as mad as i am at her, she is a bird dog. she did what her instincts tell her to do, but we realize we have a problem now.)

so even though we never liked the rooster, he played an important role in our flock. he was their protector. he'd constantly make sure they were all near him, and he'd wait while they ate to be sure they had enough. it was strange. on one hand he'd peck all their feathers off and drove us nuts. on the other- he was very good to them. and they're lost without him. we're not sure what to do now. replace him? the ladies would never respond to a new male the same. frustrating! oh- and now dixie will likely try attacking them again. (she's got the taste of them now.) chickens aren't all fun and games- i guess.

but the chicks are fun. these are really bad pictures- but they're all we've got so far.